viernes, 31 de mayo de 2013

Trapezes of the Soul, by Roberto Ornan Roche

Trapezes of the Soul

By Roberto Ornan Roche

                                 

I

 

The trapeze artist remains serene, poised way up high above the spectators. The safety net below no longer looks too weak or narrow, as it did when he was new. That was a long time ago.

 

Now he does not even consider the possibility of error - his hands have proven to be sure and steady.

 

Over on the far side, other hands are waiting for him, hands that thousands of times have not failed to hold him at exactly the right moment.

 

II

 

There are times in our lives when we experience trapezes of the soul. At such moments we must decide, with all the strength of our hearts, if we truly wish to release ourselves from our heavy loads and instead trust the sure and steady hands of God.

 

Although we now face many challenges and questions, we were first of all motivated to believe in the truth. Faith sometimes seemed to be lost, while promises were in conflict and seemed as distant as old memories.

 

But God helped us when we thought we would plunge out of control, and today everything depends on our own trust in His promises.

 

III

 

The first acrobatic performance will begin, but among the public is a Christian who finds it very difficult to believe in and trust God when tragedies occur around him, or even in his own life, and he lacks a true Christian understanding of life.

 

He believes that without faith it is impossible to believe in God, and that to be able to have effective and real faith it is necessary to understand why we are sometimes left with nothing in our hands.

 

In some moments he has felt himself to be like a trapeze artist. He has felt that he wants things that maybe he can never reach. Things that are a complete impossibility. But then, when he starts to feel that way, his heart is filled with sorrow as he imagines that during his lifetime he will come to regret giving up on his greatest desires, even though everything seemed apparently to be lost.

 

He has asked God thousands of times how to remove his pain. And amid such trials he feels, from time to time, that he lacks a safety net  that might help him try for a miracle in his life once again. When he loses his faith like that he feels that his life is crumbling and that friends are no longer able to say anything new that is encouraging.

 

IV

 

So "trapezes of the soul" means to come unbound into the hands of God, to trust in His arms and to keep faith alive.

 

It is true that the wrists hurt, becoming red and cramped after so much time spent on one's own efforts. They are swollen, with a lot of pain. But what will happen then if a person abandons the search for the most beautiful and important miracle?

 

 

V

 

The trapeze artists prepare for the execution of their last act, while the public applauds them. A moment before, all the senses were in their hands, in the accomplishment of each act of acrobatics.

 

Now the heart is looking at the crowd and a sigh escapes from the agitated chest. The faces are all smiling, but they are smiles that are plastic and fake. Yet everything was a resounding success.

 

Seated among the crowd, the Christian is thinking of "trapezes of his soul." For a while, his mind fails to accompany the public that surrounds him, fervently applauding. Instead, he is meditating about the many times when he felt like one of those trapeze artists, when he did not follow the life that the world had offered him and decided to pursue the difficult path of faith.

 

Due to the blessed hand of God, the trapeze acts of his heart were successful. He gave everything when he seemed to be lost; and in exchange for the faith of his heart he found a better destiny for his life and his own soul.

He felt as if he were receiving a big hand of applause from the sky. He was simply one more trapeze artist. The hands of God had saved him.

viernes, 24 de mayo de 2013

Eclipses en el Parque

Eclipses en el Parque

Por Roberto Ornan Roche

 

Mi niño eclipsó mi vida en muchos aspectos, ahora su vocecita es como el sonido de un arroyo, que me acompaña cada día. Mi amor de padre ha convertido todas mis frustraciones y errores en pequeñeces.  A veces me pongo a pensar lo inteligente que es, que nos parece a mi esposa y a mí que siempre va adelante en su crecimiento, no solo de estatura, sino que en muchas cosas nos parece tan virtuoso, despierto y hablador, más que un niño normal.

Cuando lo vemos cómo memoriza los nombres de todas las personas que va conociendo y cómo es capaz de relacionarlas con los seres queridos de esas personas, y hasta pregunta por ellos cuando no están presentes, simplemente como se acuerda de todo y hasta a veces nos llama por nuestros verdaderos nombres porque sabe que no nos gusta; y sin cumplir dos años ya sabe algunos colores, los primeros números y tantas otras ocurrencias que se van disfrutando con todo lo espontáneas y originales que son.

Entonces mi imaginación echa a volar, cuando lo veo repitiendo algunas frases de las canciones infantiles de sus discos, cuando lo veo con esa energía casi inagotable. Como todo padre, me lo imagino siendo alguien que puede llegar a ser bueno en un deporte y un excelente estudiante, quizás un maestro en algún arte, trato de atribuirle tantos talentos que al final en mis sueños no me decido por ninguno. Lo imagino a través de la vida y trato de tener la fe que lo podré acompañar durante una gran parte del camino.

Hoy cuando lo llevé al parque había un señor, estaba echado pensativo y tranquilo junto a una estatua del parque infantil, había una perrita haciéndole compañía. Cuando me vio jugando con el niño los ojos se le iluminaron. Noté que trataba de ser agradable y cortés pero apenas podía escuchársele la voz, porque tenía echa una traqueotomía por alguna enfermedad maligna en su garganta. Mi niño fue a jugar con su perrita y a conversar, el animalito está acostumbrado a jugar con los niños que visitan el parque y no había peligro alguno.  Hasta yo me sentí tan bien que también me senté a su lado. A veces la vida te regala momentos aparentemente insignificantes para que le demos más valor a lo insignificante.

Mientras yo sigo imaginando cómo será mi hijo cuando crezca y de disfrutar la gran e indescriptible bendición de verlo crecer, un eclipse sucede cada día, como en el parque. Una vida que comienza y uno simplemente anhela que sea mejor que la propia. Sé que él tendrá muchos retos en su vida, como cuando fue operado de un quiste dermoide con solo 8 meses de vida. Tan pequeñito fue entubado y sometido a anestesia general por varias horas, para retirarle su quiste benigno que tenía en su ceja desde antes de nacer. Con su vitalidad característica, estuvo toda la noche y la mañana hasta el mediodía sin tomar ni agua, pero aun con la aguja del suero en su manito, todavía así tenía una sonrisa antes de entrar al Salón de operaciones, eso me dio esperanza, a pesar de que fue un momento muy duro. Dios fue tan maravilloso que hoy en día se puede decir que no tiene cicatriz ni huella visible, una maravilla más, entre tantas otras.

Hoy vi  que nuestro diario vivir, con los pequeños triunfos y experiencias, es el cielo de nuestras vidas, donde suceden esos eclipses, siempre.

sábado, 4 de mayo de 2013

Review: Centers My Soul

I downloaded The Lighthouse of Asaph http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004VWQ3E0 several days before I found myself stuck somewhere with a long period of waiting. I opened my Kindle on my phone and began to read ... and felt as though the sweetest of words had found my heart. The agony of waiting lifted. I had found the reason God had delayed my day, just so I could find time to read. Now, I save the words for those moments, which come too often, when I can open my Kindle and read words that center my soul and remind me of God's goodness. And of people, like me, who long to walk with Him for eternity.
Eva Marie Everson
Author