Vulnerability

Speaking from the heart, or as they say, “wearing your heart on your sleeve” has to be one of the MOST difficult things to do…

At the moment when you make yourself vulnerable, you are an easy target. You can and most probably WILL get hurt. But…is it not better to be that way? Is it not better to live life, I mean really live Life? To be true to yourself, no facades, no fronts, no trying to appease others, or live up to what others want you to be?

Where am I going with this?

Well, for me, I need and want to be true in my writing. If I do not write from the heart, being true, honest and passionate, then how will I reach anyone? How can I agitate others if I refuse to become agitated when I write?

I do not have all the answers…heck, I don’t have any answers really. I simply have experiences that have helped me to grow. These experiences have helped me to realize that not only can we NOT go it alone, we SHOULDN’T go it alone! Thanks to Father Mario, “The Incarnation Principle” is deeply ingrained in our brains.

Here is The Incarnation Principle in layman’s terms, in this layperson’s terms:

As I said, we are not meant to go through things alone. We were not created that way. Even Jesus Himself was born to a family. God wanted a Mother, a family, a community to surround Himself with. If this was God, then what can be said about us? Yes, He was here to save us, and thus, He needed to be surrounded by us, BE one of us, but He was also here to teach us, and what better way to teach than by example.

We can and should find help, a sympathetic ear, guidance via family members, friends, a Priest, a Counsellor, a Therapist, sometimes even a complete stranger that comes into your life at just the right time…coincidence? I think not. More like an Angel. Any way you want to put it, there is always someone there. Really! There is! I know…

“I have been through some terrible things in my life, some of which actually happened.” –Mark Twain

Are any of us immune to bad experiences, to suffering? I didn’t think so. I remember a Professor of mine once explained suffering as gas in a gas chamber. The size of the chamber may vary, but the gas will eventually fill it. And so is our suffering. The size of the Cross may vary, but it is a Cross nonetheless.

My experiences, my sufferings, if you will, have helped me to finally understand that there is NO shame in hurting, there is NO shame in having experienced grief or suffering, therefore there is NO shame in telling someone. There is NO shame is sharing your hurt. There is especially no shame in ASKING FOR HELP!

I have sought it and found it. Was it easy? Heck No! First, I had to swallow that lovely pride of mine and realize that I was not good enough to handle it on my own! At least that’s what I told myself. That’s what the world had taught me, and continues to teach us all.
I told myself that I was not strong enough, that I was not smart enough, that I was not brave enough…I was so ashamed when I finally asked, OF ALL PEOPLE…my MOTHER, for help! You know what happened? She looked at me with so much love in her eyes as they welled up with tears and simply asked me, why had I not gone to her earlier…
Thanks, Mom…I Love you for that…

That act of humility showed me that there are people who want to help us. That we are not a burden. That our problems are not a burden on them. They want to help us because they ARE Christ at that moment! God is working through them to help us, to show us that we’re loved, that we’re cared for, that we are not Alone…

Another thing, as I mentioned, it doesn’t always have to be family. Friends and strangers have helped me when I needed it most as well…

When I first arrived to Canada, I was alone. No family, no friends, just my husband…And our relationship was going through some MAJOR strife…We went to this little Latin market on Keele, I believe it’s called “Gustitos de mi Tierra.” Anyway, the woman behind the counter, whom I have never met before, never seen before looks at me and says – well, she said it in Spanish, but I’ll translate 😉 – “You know that God loves you, right? That he wants you to be happy.”

Needless to say, I was more than a tad shocked. My first thought was that she was some bible-thumper. I was wrong.

She continued and started sharing her story with me. She told me how she had suffered a great deal as well, and how she would go to our Lord and tell Him, I mean really tell Him that she was His daughter. That she knew that He wanted her to be happy. Therefore, she was going to leave this big sack of pain, misery, sadness and suffering at the foot of His Cross for Him to deal with! And that I should do the same.
She went on to tell me that if I did not let go of the past and its painful memories that I would never be happy. She told me that I should forgive and pray. She told me that only through prayer would I find the healing that I so desperately needed. She told me…yes, she told me. She told me ALL of these things and she did not even know me…

I am not ashamed to say that her words moved me to tears. They were the words that I so desperately needed to hear. She was, at that moment, Christ. Christ helping me through her. The Incarnation Principle at work! And I didn’t even ask for it, not consciously anyway 🙂

That is just one example; I have many, many more, as I am sure all of us do.
Don’t chalk it up to coincidence! See it as what it is, God at work. It is the Incarnation Principle at work! It was the Holy Spirit guiding them to, and for us. It was the Holy Spirit working through them to help us.

So again, don’t be embarrassed, don’t be ashamed, don’t be hesitant.

Help is there.

God is there.

Well, I believe I have rambled enough for THIS post, there will be more to come, many, many more, God-willing. Besides, Father Mario gives me a lot to think about, as does Vlad and many of the Wonderful and Amazing people at St. Joseph the Worker, and everywhere!

May the Holy Spirit continue to guide our Way…

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