Blessings are often identified with good fortune, joy and happiness, dreams come true, and the like. But grace can also be found in our pain and suffering, failures and disappointments, our tears and fears, even emptiness and loneliness.
For what are pains and sufferings if not reminders of our unrelenting need for redemption and perfection. Our failures and disappointments point out our inadequacy that keeps longing for Him who is perfect. Our tears and fears are but our longing for our final home and destination where there will be no more tears and fears. And it is in our emptiness and loneliness that God eventually finds a place for Himself.
It was the years he was incarcerated that Ninoy Aquino became a broken man, feeling alone and isolated; only to emerge a more spiritual person devoid of any personal ambitions and ready to make the ultimate sacrifice for the country. I see the same thing happening today to Leila de Lima. Thirdy Ravena almost got broken by his one-year suspension from playing in the UAAP. But it was the year that he found himself and became stronger. I see the same thing happening to Leni Robredo, who in spite of all the insults and brickbats being thrown at her, keeps coming back stronger and even more committed to her values and principles.
I am always captivated by the sight of a rainbow. It tells me something that red, the brightest color, vibrates at the lowest end of the color spectrum. And violet, the darkest color, vibrate at the highest. Vibrating at the highest level, I can imagine the colors being subsumed into the totality that is the color white. Red is often identified with anger; and violet with enlightenment. it is when we are at our darkest moments that we are about to enter into the light.