By Coralis Rivera, student writer
As a teen in this modern-day society, it gets increasingly difficult to maneuver around one’s day-to-day life. It is plastered all over the media how teens and youth in general, constantly come toppling down on their cracked support systems.
There are endless stories on how the youth lose themselves — whether it be due to social media, their relationships or not having an outlet for their problems, etcetera.
The one thing that I have found that has allowed me to stabilize myself and be aware of my life and its purpose is having a foundation. My foundation is my faith.
Absolutely everything happens for a reason.
In the past, in moments of doubt and uncertainty, I assured myself that the moment that I was living in “will not last forever.” Time is constantly moving and in those moments, my uncertainty and doubts playing a role in my life (that I could recognize emotionally) served their purpose in being part of God’s plan.
Over the years, I learned how to trust God’s plan and know that in following His ways and serving Him, that all things that I go through will be in trusting Him. That all things that I go through for the good and the bad, I must be aware that it is all for Him and His plan for me.
In the biblical story of the prophet Jonah, he is sent by God to go the Assyrian capital of Nineveh to warn them of God’s coming judgement. Jonah was afraid of God’s plan and fled in fear that the people in Nineveh were vicious and angry since they were considered the enemy, according to where Jonah was from.
In fleeing from God’s plan, Jonah angered God and caused havoc in not only his own life but in the lives of others. When he repented, he praised God and apologized for not following His plan.
In the end, God’s plan saved the people of Nineveh because they repented their sins. In disobeying God’s plan, Jonah would have hurt not only himself and his relationship with God, but also others. Those who wouldn’t have encountered God without him and his actions.
This relates to my life, how I must trust that everything happens for a reason. The idea of having a strong faith in your foundation and purpose within yourself, ties to how you must have the belief in your faith in every circumstance and situation.
By knowing that you are serving the Lord and following His ways, you are aware and secure in what you believe in and the actions that you take.
Much like Jonah, we all go through trials and tribulations in our lives and journeys with our faith. We can learn from our mistakes and can carry on and build our relationships with not only God, but with ourselves.
Writer’s Note: I’ve glanced at this blank canvas before me one too many times. I’ve never considered myself to be a writer. I see the page before me as a blank canvas but it stands as a white void — intimidating and weary in a certain way that can only be described in my habit of hiding from the task for months at a time.
As I sit and type, I feel a weight lifted off my shoulders and a spill of phrases seep through the cracks of a wall. I started to write focusing on tasks pertaining to themes of work and stress. Constantly preoccupied. Filled to the forefront of my mind are responsibilities and tasks that were yet to be fulfilled.
There is a reason these words are here on this page and that my hands fly quickly over grey keys that have not once called my name over these past few months.
Rivera is a parishioner at All Saints Church, Williamsburg.