Tuesday, April 1, 2003

PEOPLE
By Bob Garon
Finding Peace in the Lord

It is amazing how God works in our lives. Surprising how he can quietly sneak into our hearts
before we know it. How wonderful it is to watch him work in us.

I was reminded of this when I read the journal of an 18-year-old girl in the Nazareth House. There
in the beauty and serenity of our ranch, among the flowers and the horses can roam freely, this resident
reflected on God, life and her place in this world.

“Today,” she wrote, “was the First Friday retreat day. I especially appreciated the confession and
the meditation that followed afterwards.”

“I thought of what is important, what I should have, and the answer that came to me is peace of
mind. Peace with him and peace with who I am.

“Since I came to Nazareth, it’s the first time I’ve felt any peace of mind. When I was on the
outside, I was constantly in turmoil. I knew that somehow a part of me was lost and I just couldn’t find it.

“I spent so much time searching in all the wrong places, and finally it took Nazareth to find what I
was looking for – and it was him. I found God in this place and somehow he has occupied a place in my
heart. And as for me, Him being there gives me a feeling that I don’t ever want to lose. Somehow, with
him and my family, the emptiness I felt before is gone. It’s only now I see how much I turned to the
wrong places to feel complete.

“As I reflected and looked onto the swimming pool, I realized how much my life is like that.
Previously had dropped different objects in the pool and they caused the waters to ripple and wave. These
were the problems and the worldly things I got involved in. Now, the surface is calm and quiet and so is
the bottom. The things and events which happened to me are still there, but are lying quietly on the
bottom. They affected me before, but now they are part of me already in a way that I went through those
times and now I remember and learn from them. Those troubled times of mine are now etched in my
memory. I can say that I don’t regret them at all because if I had not experienced those things, then I
wouldn’t be here. I’ve realized with the knowledge I have acquired here that he loves me. I now know my
self-worth. There is not comfort like the love of Christ. ‘Taste and see that the Lord is good.’ (Psalm 33)

“Today was a day of peace. I’m now learning to balance the reflections on my everyday life here
and the things I see in my past. I don’t hate my past, like most people here do because I see it now only
as a chapter in my life that will remain open to the people I love because I know that they accept this
past. So I will keep moving forward and appreciate the gift of life that he has given me.”

(Published in the Manila Times)