To Want or Not to Want; That Is the Question!

Recently, I invited a dear friend to have a coffee. I was sad and confused about some personal matters, and I wanted to talk with him. When we met and began to talk about the usual generalities between old friends, I noticed that he never gave the slightest sign of noticing my momentary confusion. We finished our coffee and left without ever touching on the subject that had led me to him.

Later, reflecting on that meeting and its outcome, it became very clear to me how free my friend was to simply be a friend, without questioning. He probably noticed the situation, and set aside the desire to ask because, if I wanted to speak, he was there to listen; his wanting was less important than his respect for me.

Continuing the reflection, I realized:
When I set aside my wanting, my will, I am truly free! I discovered that I can want anything, without worrying about right or wrong, or about what I myself or others will think of my actions, or of my wanting. Precisely because of this, because I can want, without worrying about absolutely anything or anyone, I am free to choose to do or not to do, to want or not to want.

I love the Holy Scriptures, and they reveal that my will, my wanting, fights against the Spirit who lives in me and who guides me, or can guide me, if I allow it, into all truth; a truth that is hidden behind the clouds of my own thoughts.

To be guided by the Spirit is to hear and give ear to the voice of the very Creator of all human beings, and it is what allows me to come out of this cloud and see reality more clearly. I believe He speaks with each one of us, and we need to learn how to awaken our sensitivity to His voice. He speaks to us in many ways, whether through people or situations, like this meeting with my friend, through dreams, visions, or simply and directly in our conscience.

Whoever is guided by the Spirit is not subject to the slavery of the law, whether it is the Law of God, the law of Men, or the Traditions, Social or Religious. In our society, these traditions were first handed down to us by our parents, by schools and by churches, and now also by the many Social Media. I see that our greatest challenge in the face of the avalanche of information we receive at every moment is to connect, and to stay connected, with the Divine that exists in each one of us.

A tip that may help is to start accepting everything that comes to us as something good, without any judgment or condemnation, just observing with a feeling of gratitude, even if it is not clearly defined in the situations. This attitude allows us to receive new things, outside our own thinking, and this does change the world, even if it is only our world, yours and mine.

Amen!