Pilgrim’s Pit Stop: Rock Bottom

I have been hearing the term rock bottom too many times recently. Late in July, NBA player Jeremy Lin openly admitted that he has hit rock bottom in his athletic career. A friend who has been struggling financially described to me, his current situation as hitting rock bottom. The commencement speaker in our graduation ceremonies last June shared her rock bottom experience in the past to the audience of graduating seniors, parents and the entire faculty and staff of the school. In social media, there are more depressing news and posts about the state of the country and the world. I couldn’t help but think that humanity and the world have hit rock bottom.

In personal, local and global contexts, the doom and gloom of hitting rock bottom is inescapable especially in this day and age. Like everyone else, I do have moments of doubt, worry, fear and anxiety. Events in my life of late made me feel I have hit rock bottom. I sometimes ask, is this part of the transition to midlife? My husband who seems to have a stronger resolve in the changing cycles of life simply called it as growing up and growing old. What I find funny in the midst of all these is my acceptance of this inevitable pull of gravity towards a place called rock bottom. 

One cannot always stay at the zenith. What goes up will eventually go down. It is the law of nature. Sunrise and sunset. Night and Day. Consolation and desolation. I have acknowledged this duality and continue to seek the graces to be had when journeying through peaks and valleys. It is an adventure where God often surprises and lend humor to my often serious take on life. He wants me to smile and laugh. What a wonderful way of loving. 

Pope Francis continues to preach about smiling through tough times. Easy for him to say? Look, the man has only one good lung. Go to the Pontiff’s Twitter page and his message of hope and faith is like a Patronus charm casting away Dementors. I turn to my Ignatian Prayer app, the 3 Minute Retreat, and there I find assurance when reading the Scripture and reflections of the day. In prayer meetings and deep conversations with friends, I discovered that everyone has fallen into that pit of loneliness and desperation. Yet, I see them regularly continuing on, keeping the faith, sharing their spiritual travels in the darkness and in the light. At some point, I realized that our purpose, really, is to become guardians to the isolation that others feel. Companions in the journey, indeed. 

So what of rock bottom and the forces that pulls us down towards it? We have all been there and so is Jesus Christ, God’s only son. 

*For the August 2019 issue of the Magis Deo Newsletter