- "Peace is found in the heart of every human being, it depends on us if we want to keep it or keep it away" - Samuel Valencia.
Who am I, a lover of life, of nature, of freedom, of truth, of justice, a believer in God because without him I would not be here, he is the one who guides my steps. And he reminds me which is the path to follow. I had wasted a lot of time in life looking for happiness in the wrong places until I realized that it has always been with me, we focus on the material, and we forget that there are people who even without having only one meal a day, a pair of shoes and a single pair of pants are so happy, laughers do not complain about life and radiate happiness, their happiness is so great that we spread it.
I was one of those people, who believed that happiness materialized with a big house, a car, lots of clothes, shoes, luxuries. But how wrong I was. Until my father, because of a bad investment, we lost everything and my family was ruined. I emigrated; looking for happiness again. I arrived in the United States three years ago, now I am thirty-six years old. In the beginning, it was very hard because I did not master the language, I arrived at the home of some relatives.
Three months passed without getting a job, I didn't have a visa, I entered as a tourist, and I was afraid of being deported. The situation at my relatives' house became tense because the money was running out and I was not contributing for food. One day, tired of walking without getting a job, my steps took me right in front of a church. There, depressed, disconsolate, in front of me was that magnificent structure, the SAINT PATRICKS CATHEDRAL Church.
Suddenly I felt someone tapping me on my shoulder, when I turned around I saw a man of medium height, about sixty years old, kindly inviting me to enter this beautiful, silent place that breathed a lot of peace. I was surprised that he spoke Spanish and he said to me: "I can see by your look that you are overwhelmed, sad, tired and you feel that life weighs on your shoulders. I was speechless with everything he said, it was as if all that was written on my face. I couldn't hold back my tears and I told him everything that was happening to me.
The man looked me straight in the eyes and asked, "What are you going to do, give up, run away? It was as if he was reading my mind. Suddenly he stood up and said, I am going to ask you something and I want you to be honest with me, I nodded my head in affirmation; what do you think of God, I told him he is in heaven, he looked me straight in the eyes, and said if he is in heaven he is far away from you, right? I felt embarrassed and just looked down ashamed of my answer.
After a pause he said to me; I want to ask you another question, has God ever fulfilled any of your requests? I didn't know what to answer because I had never asked God for anything, I didn't even know how to pray. Between me and that stranger, a silence fell for several minutes. I broke the silence and asked him, are you the pastor of this beautiful cathedral? He answered; excuse my lack of courtesy, I have not introduced myself, I am Father Javier. One of the parish priests of this beautiful cathedral. I looked carefully at each space I could not remember the last time I was in a church.
Father Javier, if he didn't tell me that he was a parish priest I wouldn't have believed it, I felt so much affinity with him, a kind of connection as if I had known him all my life, he spoke to me as none of those who claimed to be my friends did, on the contrary, when my family was left penniless, I lost my car, my motorcycle and all those goods that I thought made me happy, they moved away from me, they turned their backs on me. How hard life is when you have nothing, they only approach me out of self-interest or self-benefit.
After spending several hours in that beautiful cathedral, Father Javier told me that if you want to find the answers to the questions I asked you and those that are going around in your head, I invite you to the mass that will begin in two hours, pay close attention to every word, to every reading and you will understand what is God's purpose in the life of each one of us. Without objecting I decided to obey the pastor and stayed to listen to the mass.
When the mass began, I still felt disconnected, I was only thinking about my problems, how I missed my rich life, my luxury cars, the parties, my clothes, and my brand-name shoes. The priest started the mass and even I did not listen or understand anything he said, because I was lost in my great dilemma. Suddenly I heard the following reading and that's when I reacted; "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose" (Romans 8:28) "To them who according to his purpose..." (Romans 8:28).
God has a purpose for your life. It's important to ask yourself and Him what He wants to do with your life! Suddenly I felt as if this message was for me and I began to pay attention to every word of the priest. Here were the answers to the questions Father Javier asked me. The life that I had before, despite the riches and comforts, was empty, it was only material things and the real richness is here in the heart, in the feelings, and in the achievements that are made with sacrifice and I never sacrificed anything.
When the mass was over and I was about to leave, Father Javier stopped me. He asked me the following question: "Now do you know where God is? I took him by the hands and told him yes father, he has always been here, in my heart, in the air I breathe, in every tree, in the sun I see shining, in the moon that looks at me every night crying for all my mistakes. why did it take me so long to find him, maybe my life would be different. I would not be living this situation. Father Javier passed his arm over his shoulders, with a calm voice he told me you are wrong again boy, God warns us, guides us, speaks to us, gives us instructions, but if you don't understand the signs, you will never listen to him. Until that moment comes that he tries to avoid, but it must come for you to look for him and retake that path and fulfill that mission that he assigned you.
Several days went by, as usual, I went to have breakfast at a cafeteria owned by some Cubans who prepared delicious food, I noticed that there was a notice that said the waiter wanted. I asked the manager, "Can I apply? I was immediately hired, I worked from seven in the morning until eight at night, from Monday to Sunday I had Wednesday off. I managed to rent a room, I became interested in culinary art, I enrolled in a cooking course, and I went from being a waiter to bring the kitchen assistant of the place. I understood that life is not only luxuries and material things. In this walk of life I understood four things:
God is in every step we take and does not let us fall.
The true reason for our existence is appreciation.
Humility is not walking in rags, in not having riches. Humility is having a noble soul and giving without asking for anything in return.
Friends look for you because of your economic position or when they want to get a benefit from you.
The true essence of life is there in that wonderful world that God provided for us; with water, oxygen, and food, and I ignored all that. I did not understand what my purpose was, the real reasons why I was here in this magnificent world. How wrong I was, today I am a new man, I feel a happiness in my heart that I never experienced before, now everything seems more beautiful to me, I appreciate, the sun, the stars, the moon, the beauty of nature, I even like it when snowfalls. It is something indescribable what I feel, every Wednesday I go to the cathedral of SAINT PATRICKS CATHEDRAL. To listen to mass is when I am not working, I take the opportunity to bring dinner and the dessert that Father Javier likes so much.
Blessed be that day that God guided my steps towards that beautiful church, where Father Javier was waiting for me, he was the instrument that God used to show me how wrong I was. I have been mocked by those who pretended to be my friends, and some family members, I have tried to persuade them and make them see how wrong they are, that life is not about wasting money, attending parties, or showing off the car of the year. Not because I am a living example of love, kindness, and humility, but because I am a millionaire. I am the richest man in the world because I have God in my heart. After all, he taught me that every one of us came with a mission, to follow his instructions and leave aside vanity, intolerance, and inequality. I am a new man.
Hello, it's a pleasure to greet you, I'm glad you gave me a chance to my article, I hope you enjoyed it, feel free to leave me a comment and I will gladly respond.
Original Content Samuel Valencia, all rights reserved to me.