Reflecting on Manny Pacquiao's first defeat since 2005 and another celebrity in the Philippines, Piolo Pascual, who may be on a plateau right now before he reaches another peak in his career, I could not help but think:
"It is easy to love someone when he is in his prime. It is easy to be friends or bless someone when they are doing well. It is easy to respect someone when they have accomplished so much and have done so well. Or frankly, it is easy to bless someone when they have done more than we have. But what if they have reached a level where the status is beginning to look uncertain. Will you continue to bless them, love them, be a friend to them and say good about them?"How about people in a lower status than you? A friend who has reached a breaking point and is going through a tough time? Will you find something good to say this person, respect him and love him even during this time? Will you continue to bless him (in words) and in action? Or will you cast one glance and go on with your life like the priest and the Levite in Jesus parable, "The Good Samaritan"?
Ravi Zacharias said that the question is not who is your neighbor but TO WHOM are you being neighborly? To whom are you showing respect, kindness and goodness even in downtrodden times. Begin to reflect this week of anyone you need to bless and commend for who they are and not for what they can offer.
And so concluding, am I saying we should still support Manny Pacquiao and Piolo Pascual? Perhaps yes. But even so, when their abilities and good looks have reached past age, they still have qualities that will never fade. Manny Pacquiao has blessed the poor in his lifetime. Piolo is a servant of the Lord and loves his God. Is that a quality worth of respect? For sure, yes. These are qualities that will outrun them past their abilities and good looks and will give them an inheritance in eternity that will not fade.
To leave you with a thought, I am going to post General Douglas MacArthur's prayer for his son:
"Build me a son, O Lord, who will be strong enough to know when he is weak, and brave enough to face himself when he is afraid; one who will be proud and unbending in honest defeat, and humble and gentle in victory.God is a Father too who wants to see his son or daughter with qualities imperishable that will last long before they are gone in this world.
Build me a son whose wishbone will not be where his backbone should be; a son who will know Thee and that to know himself is the foundation stone of knowledge.
Lead him, I pray, not in the path of ease and comfort, but under the stress and spur of difficulties and challenge. Here let him learn to stand up in the storm; here let him learn compassion for those who fail.
Build me a son whose heart will be clean, whose goal will be high; a son who will master himself before he seeks to master other men; one who will learn to laugh, yet never forget how to weep; one who will reach into the future, yet never forget the past.And after all these things are his, add, I pray, enough of a sense of humor, so that he may always be serious, yet never take himself too seriously. Give him humility, so that he may always remember the simplicity of true greatness, the open mind of true wisdom, the meekness of true strength.Then, I, his father, will dare to whisper, "I have not lived in vain."
Lastly, I'll leave a song for you today. Hope you will be blessed. Have a great week ahead!
Comments
Post a Comment