By Christopher Khoo
Sometimes, when life gets me a little down, and I feel that I have long battles to fight (such as a lingering illness), I find that it’s helpful to boost my morale by focusing on what I call “little victories”.
Very often, if I find it hard to even get out of bed in the morning because I just feel too exhausted to do so, I’ll just say a little prayer. It can be a simple Hail Mary or Glory Be. And that gives me just that little help to get on my feet.
And when I am at the breakfast table, and enjoying a delicious cup of hot Milo, a little thanksgiving prayer helps me to remember how blessed I am, and peps me up for the day.
It’s so easy these days to feel down with all the negative news that one is bombarded with: high-level corruption in countries, innocent people dying in unjust wars, natural and man-made disasters, economic uncertainties – the list goes on.
In the midst of all of this, it is easy to feel discouraged, feeling that there is little one can do to improve the situation.
However, what I have learnt is the importance of celebrating what I call “little victories”, or what American Jesuit priest and writer, Father James Martin, calls “little resurrections”. I remember in one of his online video sharings during Covid-19, he urged his viewers to look for the little things that bring hope and joy during that time of great physical, emotional, psychological and spiritual challenge.
For me, it would be making it a point to take joy in the little things that I experience from day to day: children laughing with their parents, people’s little acts of kindness towards the needy, a friend texting me to ask how I am getting on, a good warm meal.
Regular prayers throughout the day also help anchor me in God’s promise of His unwavering help, support and love. The decade of the Rosary that I pray in the morning, afternoon and evening; my half an hour before the Lord in the Blessed Sacrament, attending weekday Masses whenever I can, prayers with my parish community, family prayers etc.
None of these needs to be long and demanding, they just need to be consistent. Canadian priest and writer, Father Ronald Rolheiser, shares that for him, prayers such as the office of the Church, lauds and vespers, the Eucharist, and daily meditation “serve me well”.
“They hold me, keep me steady, and keep me praying regularly even when, many times, I don’t feel like praying. That’s the power of ritual,” he wrote in one of his online reflections.
And perhaps that is all that we can do these days – looking for God’s promise in the little things, trusting that He touches us through our prayers, believing that He is still in charge of the world and will, in His own time, make everything beautiful again.
(Christopher Khoo is a Singapore-based freelance journalist and educator).
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