The Threads of God
Fernando Dangond, MD, was born in Colombia, South America. He and his wife, Monica, live in Weston, MA, and have been blessed with two sons Daniel and David and a beautiful daughter, Christina (the inspiration behind Build the Faith) who left to be with the Lord 6 years ago.
Dr. Dangond, is a neurologist and scientist who works for a pharmaceutical company developing medicines to treat devastating neurological diseases.
The night is dominated by silence and my internal peace is fused with the surrounding tranquility. I have learned to appreciate the gifts of solitude: in it, I find the space for prayer. If light is the lack of darkness, also our internal peace is the absence of worldly distractions. Life is rich in experiences and God gave us free will to choose, if we follow Jesus, a life with absence of darkness or turbulence, but splendid in light and serenity.
How wonderful it is to be alive on this planet! Thousands of generations have populated the earth and here I am, surrounded by loved ones, sighing, observing and praying. It’s an extraordinary and mysterious privilege! I see the lines on my palms, feel my body’s vitality, hear the assertiveness in my voice; everything that makes me simultaneously strong and fragile, realistic and idealist, ambitious and humble, complex and simple. The contrasts of the seasons, of the moon and the sun, are also permeating our human identity with each talent given to us by God, to make us unique, invaluable and irreplaceable. It’s a great blessing to be able to give thanks for being alive, creating our own destinies under the guidance of the invisible threads that connect us to God, in this diminutive planet, that moves as a lost sailboat in the vast ocean of the universe.
Why, if we all know that death awaits us, do we continue plowing forward, without thinking too much about it? The blessings of the Holy Spirit are divine graces that inspire and motivate us to give every next step and the energy for our spirits to feel compassion, build dream castles and then convert them to reality, shed tears of happiness, feel the need to applaud others, and be charitable. Every one of us is the producer, screenwriter and also actor of his/her own film. In the route of happiness, sometimes we make mistakes and lose our North, seeking light where there is only darkness or searching for the peace of God where there is worldly noise. Without faith, we end up ruining the script of our own life’s work.
In the middle of this merciless pandemic, I discover that I am very rich. My wealth is not in material things, but in my loved ones. They expand my spirit and get me closer to the light, when they worry about me, smile at me, or give me advice. In their eyes I glimpse the love of God.
I know I am an incomplete being and only the Holy Spirit completes me with His infinite love and light. This is why I always search for His power… in each morning, in each smile from my wife and children, in a remembrance, in the autumn leaves that fly playfully through the air, in a colorful butterfly, in the stars in the sky and in the starfish in the sea, in a beautiful budding flower, in a snowflake, or in a soothing, drizzling rain.
Blessings are little pieces of heaven that come down like threads from God, to perpetuate that dreamful sparkle in our eyes. They are the loving pats on the back of a parent to child, encouraging him to make his first steps. When I seek the threads from God with my actions, I exchange my fear and anxiety for faith and hope. I become a man who is really free, without spiritual or physical chains, willing to live my life following Jesus and his teachings, spreading his message of peace to every corner of the earth.
