Cruising together

“After the tragic sinking of the Costa Concordia cruise ship in Italy this year some people have criticized the desire of others to travel which they consider a waste of time and money. For me instead, travelling is a way of meeting new people and getting to know new places, and it also broadens my perspectives in life. If I had children I think I would encourage them to travel as well, so as to help them appreciate the diversity of cultures. What is your opinion on this?”
- Josephine R.

In my life I have rarely encountered anyone who didn’t like to travel for leisure.

Just look at the many programs on T.V. showing us all the wonderful and exciting adventures and fun to be had in travelling all over the country and abroad too. Logically, travelling entails money and time, especially if one plans to travel abroad.

For the less wealthy, it may mean long-term saving, cost-cutting and wise planning just to be able to go on a trip with the family. But personally I feel that anything that facilitates the encounter between individuals, peoples and cultures is a wonderful way of building bridges, crossing borders, and navigating through an obstacle course towards a more united world.

Yet, actually, to do all these things, it is not really necessary to go abroad or to take a trip on a luxury cruise ship. To be with our family day by day is already a challenge – to share space, time, expectations, habits that are different from ours.

Sometimes we may even wonder from what planet our kids come from! What is important is to create a new style of life which is based on openness, trust, respect, generosity and above all: love. So whether we are on a bangka (wooden canoe) or on a cruise ship, our everyday lives can be an adventure if we consider each encounter an opportunity to build bridges, to enrich ourselves with that gift which the person before us represents.

Letizia Magri Grita and Ting Nolasco

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Closing the past

“I am enrolled in a university, and a member of a sports team. I also have many friends. I could say I am happy, but every time I have to make an important decision, my past weighs down on me and I feel blocked. In particular, thinking of my many failures, I am afraid of falling down again.”
- Eli C.

Our life journey is made up of several stages. Sometimes we find ourselves standing on soft grass and at other times stepping on rocks and brambles. What helps us to go forward is concentrate on the goal that we’ve set, and calmly taking one step after another.

Certainly, even after having reflected well and decided on his path, one can still find himself or herself unable to move because he’s blocked by a past failure.

The negative emotion related to a failure or the failure itself may be blocking you and making it seem that the next step is truly impossible.

So what should we do? The first thing is to accept the past, but at the same time to focus on the present, on the path before us, and then to slowly take one step at a time.

We can practice opening and closing the doors of each stage of one’s life so as to help ourselves stay in the present, leaving behind everything, especially those things that weigh us down. We can do this each moment, every day - closing the door of that day in the evening, and every morning opening the door to a new day, forgetting what mistakes we or the others have committed. It will be a new and beautiful chance to start over again every day! When at times I feel the weight of life’s burden, I always remember the phrase that Jesus said to the woman who had a burdensome past: “Your many sins are forgiven for much have you loved.” And then he told her: “Go in peace.”

It is love, then, that not only shows that we were wrong, but it gives us strength not to stop before difficulties but to overcome them. It’s the same love that makes us feel we are being watched over by God, and also the love of, and for, the brothers and sisters who journey along with us.

Francesco Châtel

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