Keep On Loving

A friend from Chicago shares how she was able to rise above a frustrating situation to love Jesus 100%. This encourages us to also “keep on loving” amidst our many commitments.
I was in New York visiting friends when a huge snowstorm hit the city and closed down the airports. Being from Chicago, I was not new to bad weather, but it was nearing exams at school, and I was anxious to get back home. Once La Guardia Airport finally reopened, I went back to rebook my flight to Chicago. My friend Elisa, who also shares the Focolare’s spirituality of unity, accompanied me to the airport.

After waiting three hours among hundreds of stranded and aggravated passengers, I got the bad news that I couldn’t fly home until several days later. I became very upset and frustrated, crying because I felt helpless. Elisa kept pushing me to keep on loving Jesus even in this suffering. I tried to change my attitude and see things positively. With my friend—and some calm—I realized that even with the rescheduled flight, I would still make it back to Chicago in time for my exam. Perhaps God had a greater plan!

Before leaving the airport, we saw another stranded passenger, who was very upset with no one to pay any attention to her. My friend and I immediately let go of everything; I left behind remaining anger and worries in order to love her as I would Jesus. She needed help; she failed to find a flight back to Denver, had no place to stay, knew no one, and her cell phone had died with no charger to power it up. She feared the big city. We approached her, and I offered comfort by telling her about my situation. Offering her food as well as our phones to contact her boss and family, we convinced her to let us drive her back to where she had previously stayed. On our way there, we began to share about our lives and backgrounds. She calmed down, thanking us because she didn’t feel completely alone anymore.

After dropping our new friend off, we decided to visit some friends and tell them about our “different morning.” There, our car got stuck in the snow with three other cars. Already in such a great mood from loving our neighbour, we decided this was another “gift” in our day, and we kept on going: we dug out not only our car, but all the cars, so no one else would find problems leaving or entering that parking lot. Even happier despite the strenuous work, we went inside the house and shared our experience along with hot cocoa and great laughs with friends! The day really proved the strength of Jesus’ presence in the midst, as promised in the Gospel. The blizzard weekend in New York turned out to be quite an adventure—to “keep on loving” goes a long way!

By Sasha Ongtengco — Compiled by So Youn Rosa Kim