ANO BA TALAGA KUYA?

I have a friend from high school who had to spend several years in college. More than the usual four or five years being spent for a bachelor's degree, he devoted two extra years of his life at the tertiary level. During his first year, he took up nursing, as it was the fad at that time. After a year, he shifted to culinary upon discovering his passion for food. A semester later, he shifted to computer engineering, motivated probably by his Internet addiction and online games. He almost got a degree after that: Bachelor of Science in Shifting, major in DOTA and Mobile Legends. In his third year, his mother intervened and encouraged him to take up Education. And so he obeyed his mother and finished college with BSEED. Today, he is not teaching, but rather hopping from one job to another.    

My friend is not alone in experiencing indecisiveness on what to do with his life. Many of us, at one point in our life, experience confusion; of not knowing what to do; of being torn between two choices. With plenty of choices at hand, we spend a lot of time and energy in choosing what we want in life. Take for example the water we drink. One has several options to choose from on what kind of water to take: tap water, mineral, spring, sparkling (carbonated/soda), distilled, purified, or alkaline. And to confuse us further, there is even flavored water which is (believe it or not) different from the juice. The abundance of options today leaves us blind from what is essential in life.   

As Christians, we too sometimes experience confusion in our spiritual life; in discerning what we desire in life. In the Gospel (Lk 7:31-35), Jesus compared the crowd to children in the market place who seem to demand different things and do otherwise. “John the Baptist came neither eating food nor drinking wine, and you said, 'He is possessed by a demon.' The Son of Man came eating and drinking and you said, 'Look, he is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.'” 

When confused, we are to pray for wisdom from God to discern his will in our lives and to seek direction from Him. So that in the end, we may not end up like confused children but rather live like children of God; with clarity and unity of mind and heart, who gives witness to God's wisdom in our life. 

Lest the Good Lord asks us: “Ano ba talaga kuya?” We must search for what we truly desire in life.