“BETRAYING OURSELVES”

We are opposite to the animals; we are rational. We care for reasoning. Most likely, we do things because we have reasons of doing them. Because we are rational, we make principles. The principles that we have, serve as our guide in our daily lives. Most often, our established principles are being expressed through our words.

But, do we really mean what we are saying? Do we really believe on what we think we believe? Do we really fight for what we believe is right? Seldom have we neglected our words. A concrete example of which is based on my experience as a seminarian. Many people say to us not to engage on women and avoid temptations. People always say don’t engage on relationships while you are a seminarian; “asa raman na ug mapari na” (you can do it when you’re a priest) But when a priest commits relationships, these people are the same individuals that criticize them and look them downwards. I’m not saying that we should encourage seminarians to engage in a relation I just want someone to be honest to a seminarian.

We are always being proud of having been blessed and say we love God. But, do we really show our love to Him? In a restaurant, only a small number of individuals who make a sign of the cross before eating and yet, these individuals boastfully acclaim their love to God. Many people say that they do love their neighbors because they do not hate them. But is “not hating” a big reason for claiming that we love them? Is it not that the concrete example of loving our neighbor is helping them? Which is which?

Another instance is found in our political concepts. All of are absolutely in opposition to those officials who are corrupting our money. All of us hate them because they are the reasons why we are still poor and why our economy is still down. We often show our protests through rallies in which, pictures and images of officials are being burned. But during the elections, we still vote them even if they are proven corrupt officials, and the reason, because of money. We forgot that those money are the money that they corrupted; thus you are just participating in the corruption.

These show that we are against ourselves though we do not really put them in mind, we just become passive. It’s because sometimes we really don’t care for what we are saying. We fool someone including ourselves.

On the other hand, not all betraying of the self is bad. We call it sacrifice. In sacrifice, what we act hurts us for the sake of others. It is the greatest act of life; giving away our own interest for the sake of others. We try to neglect our being ourselves, and we try to leave our principles for the sake of others. That’s the best betrayal we could do to ourselves. We disregard our interests because we prioritize something that ourselves cannot benefit. Imagine a world of people thinking about each other’s need and not their own needs. What a wonderful world it could be. It’s realization is very hard but the challenge of Christ remains the same when he offered His life on the cross for the sake of His people. We are also challenged by Christ to nail on the cross our personal interests for the sake of His people.

In the end, we may find that what is important does not lie on what principles we are holding on (no one will follow them if you are not doing them). What matters is what we have done while we enjoy the gift of life. Let us not be afraid to take a step to change our ways of life. It is not yet the end. A popular saying may inspire us: “everything ends up right; if things go wrong, then, it’s not yet the end.” Be part of making things end up right.