“In the end, we
must all answer for our mistakes.”
...words uttered by
my grandmother during a heated discussion with my mom. It has become painfully apparent
that, after my grandfather’s death, I am now the black sheep on both sides of
the family. It is even clearer that those words were directed towards me rather
than my older cousin.
The actual
history between my cousin and I shall be saved for another time. What I would
like to discuss is a bigger picture. “With what does God concern himself?” What
are the mistakes we must confess and serve penitence? Indeed, this is an
age-old question in which the answers vary from each religious sect and each
individual person.
My grandmother
raised me to believe in Catholicism…in the Saints. My mom raised me to have a
strong faith in God…in Christianity. Events in my past led me to create my own
deeper faith in God – in a higher power – and what my purpose in life is…or
should be.
With that said,
let us go back to my grandmother’s words…
“In the end, we
must all answer for our mistakes.”
Granted, the
obvious answer for my mistake would be pride. Simply for the reason that, at
this point in my life, I believe I have no mistake to apologize for. I believe
that God would not look down on me and tell me that I will not enter those
pearly gates of Heaven. I understand we have our religious sects dictating
virtues and vices, but to what extent does the almighty God judge us? We all
have our moments of weakness, but is that what He counts against us? I think
not.
I believe we have
a purpose in life. If we follow the word of God and spread the gifts that He
provided us – the talents within each individual – we need not ask for
forgiveness, because we have served His intent. Even through our vices, we use
our experience, our struggles, to help others in their time of need. We send
out the word of our higher power, be it Buddha, God, or Muhammad, so on. We
send out positivity and productivity into the world. It is in that way, we can
further our progression in humanity. We do not judge or condemn those of
different views, but we assist them in contributing to a bigger picture. The
need to progress…the need to educate…the need to stay positive in a dreary
state…this is the bigger picture and this is what we work towards.
If we use these
gifts from our higher power, if we reach out to help others learn and work to achieve
their goals…we need not ask for forgiveness from our small misdeeds. We can
stand proud and say, “I have listened to your word and shared my talents to
help build this world you made.” In the end, we can state, “I have helped many
and harmed no one.”
