TERESITA TANSECO-CRUZ
On the ground is where I need to be to stay relevant to any meaningful endeavor. I think of Jesus in his last three years on earth. ON THE GROUND. Can you imagine him coming into our lives otherwise? Conveniently through texting, maybe? “Hey, guys – Luv u !”
From the 14th floor of the building where I Iive, I watch the expanse of life below and feel its pulse as my own…pedestrians enduring the heat, vehicles traversing streets, rusty roofs, a busy bridge. Then comes a scene of deep resonance: boys enjoying basketball at a street corner, much like the basketball-playing boys from so many other corners whom we accompany in their brave and stirring journey to resilience.
For twelve years now, I have been part of a program offering disadvantaged youth, brutally shoved by life’s circumstances to the periphery of society, a chance to re-discover their true, innately good selves as God had made them. The road from longing to belonging is harsh and unfriendly. “I wanted to be included in the world, but it didn’t know I existed,” says a former street child. “ I thought I was worth nothing…no hope,” says another.
Being on the ground with these wounded, distrusting girls and boys has meant keeping them compassionate company face to face, heart to heart, all of us connected and equals in God’s love. It calls for empathy rather than sympathy; respect over pity. Gregory Boyle talks of “kinship such as God would recognize it. There is no ‘them’ and ‘us.’ There is only us.” We walk with these adolescents as they move towards lives of dignity, returning to their true selves and taking their rightful place among us, hope and trust restored. What a homecoming!
No matter the height of my perch, I am on the ground. Because “there is only us.”
My spirit rejoices. I give thanks to God.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts Baby. I too want to stay on the ground though it’s sooooo much easier to be up in the clouds. Up in the clouds I am shielded from the despair, the chaos, the look of despondency in the eyes of the poor which tears me inside.
I look forward to reading your next blog. I hope you don’t mind if I will share this with a bosom friend.
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