Lessons from Fatima

      Everything I should have learned in life, I've learned from Fatima. She is a blind teenage girl who is called a 'miracle kid', having claimed to have seen and talked Mama Mary. I watched the TV program, The Bottomline, for the first time. I truly could not describe the feeling that drew me in and glued me to watch and listen very intently to that very meaning-filled interview. There, for the first time, I felt the depth of one's innocence, the incorruptibility of one's soul. As I was digesting every word she uttered, I felt intensely magnified by her words as if the words were heaven-sent. Her words were simple, direct, and genuine.  Like the rest of the bottomliners, I felt embarrassed for myself. I was taken aback and startled upon knowing that here she is, a simple lass of less than eighteen years old, a blind at that, talked a lot about her love for God and Mama Mary as if she has really seen them. Not only that, she meant every word she said. She always started her conversation with the opening phrase, "I see in my heart,..........." It was so touching that she felt the realness of God and  Mama Mary without having the eyes to see, and just letting her heart to feel and believe what she felt in her heart. I felt ashamed and I have asked myself, am I the real blind? Why did it take me so long to realize what is essential in this life? While it is true that a lot of people including myself have eyes to see, we remained blind. We have blindfolded our eyes, we failed to see the reality unfolding before us. Our hearts are hardened by our senseless pursuits of power, knowledge, possessions and a variety of worldly things. We keep on climbing the highest echelon in the society and at the end of day, we've learned we are still kindergartens in this life. We have never learned that the most essential thing is not a thing and that the essential thing is invisible to the eye.
    It takes a simple girl's words to lead me to the most essential values in life: SIMPLICITY, FAITH and WISDOM.