My child, my child, stop!

By Krixia Zhienelle A. Subingsubing
Third Year – St Augustine, St Paul College of Makati, Makati City

He ran around wildly, tears streaking down his face relentlessly. Not knowing where to go or what to do, he ran even faster, in hopes of finding someone or something to tell him what to do. As he was about to collapse, a young man dressed in fine silk purple robes cam up to him and said, ‘My child, my child, stop!’

Humans are complex beings. Our hearts are filled with selfish desires and egoistic designs. Our minds are closed upon themselves, feeding on their own ideas alone, thinking that any other idea opposed to ours is inferior and should be subject to rethinking. Our eyes are keen on looking out for imperfections and flaws. We are never contented, never satisfied, never at peace.

Some people are so blinded by the mad rush for acquiring greater wealth. Their desires, ambitions, and the will to accumulate as much as they are able urge them to run again and again – until they have forgotten what they wanted in the first place. They wallow so deeply in the need to succeed that they drown themselves in perpetual restlessness.

Since our hearts long for more, we run blindly in circles, finding nothing, because we do not know what we are looking for. Solicitude for amassing wealth and anxiety over preserving it denies one repose and serenity. We stretch ourselves further and further until the ends snap and we recoil upon ourselves. How ironic, it seems, that we rave for things we do not truly need. The ephemeral things like riches, fame, and recognition do not fill the empty spaces in our souls – instead, they only create more space for worry and stress, doing little to assuage the longing in our hearts.

How ironic too, that the person we often forget is the person who will save us from being bereft of peace.

Jesus tells us to stop and rethink for a while. It is more helpful for us to reflect and rethink than to embrace the sinful urgings of the world. He tells us not to lust with our eyes and hearts for earthly things that do not last forever. He tells us to stop making things complicated for ourselves – they make us forget when or where or how to stop. If we are in conflict with ourselves in trying to attain self-seeking and egoistic ideals in life, we will always be a prisoner in our own traps.

Jesus does not want us to deny ourselves of pleasure. He merely wants us to enjoy the simple things in life. He wants us to go back to moments when butterflies made our day and candies made us happy. He wants us to experience once more the richness and fullness of life we have lost as we grow older. The youth have always been close to Jesus’ heart, and he does not want them to suffer a hard life. He wants them away from anything that triggers them to sin, and he wants to keep them safe from the deadly lures of possession, power, envy, jealousy, pride and resentment.

Jesus wants us to stop seeking corporeal possessions. He wants us to invite peace into our hearts. For when a heart is not yet ready to stop trying to gratify itself, it will not know the joy of experiencing real peace.

Jimi Hendrix once said, ‘When the power of love conquers the love for power, the world will know peace.’

My child, stop running. I am what you are looking for.