A sanctuary in the bay

Although I am not a Catholic, this church, "Our Lady Of Peace” has given me the deepest enlightenment in my life!

I still remember the first time I came here was on Christmas Eve, just at a very difficult time of my life. Coincidentally, the church was also very close to the biotech company in Sunnyvale that I had an on-site interview previously. I arrived one hour earlier to avoid anything that might interrupt my interview, so I decided to find a place to have lunch and practice my interview, and the church is exactly adjacent to the plaza where I went to before the interview!

Therefore, as long as I arrived at the church, I had recalled my extreme anxiety just before the interview! This biotech company is only within walking distance to my cousin’s clinic, so I remember at that time I felt so frustrated because the happiness and success that he has were so far away from me! As a result, the first thing I did in the church was praying for getting accepted and hired by that company! I had been unable to find any job in the biomedical field since I graduated 8 months ago, so I urgently needed the God’s help!

When I raised my head after praying, I suddenly found the guidance from the God! I saw Jesus above the altar wearing very shabby clothes, miserably stuck on the huge cross. However, the two very pretty angels at the both sides of Him were wearing those fabulous and exquisite dresses. The big contrast just told us that Jesus has paid our sins and suffered for us so that we can receive the good care from our guarding angels! However, we often take this for granted and forget to appreciate how lucky our situations have been, just like a freed prisoner complaining about the little things in his life, forgetting the freed life is always so much better than the life in prison. Therefore, I have learned to take easy on whatever happens to me, and no matter my life is up or down, I always believe that God will arrange the best for me!

However, there were still some challenges after my enlightenment. Two days later, I was invited for another on-site interview at a biotech company in Redwood City for a even higher level position as a postdoctoral scientist! I got the job offer on the same day and expected to receive some documents to fill. I thought my prayer was answered and thanked God from the bottom of my heart! Nevertheless, the hiring manager has suddenly changed his mind when I just arrived home. Another challenge was my grandfather’s passing away. When I went to the church to pray for him, I thought I heard the God told me that he would get well soon, so it was very difficult to accept the things were not what I expected at all. I was also very frustrated that I've always faced a lot of obstacles every time when my dreams almost came true.

I almost lost my religion from these bad things, but after pondering for a very long time, finally I realized that we will never understand the God’s plan with our limited wisdom. Therefore, whenever I am discouraged or frustrated, I just tell myself that I need to trust that the God will protect me and help me to go through any kind of hardship! Just like the lyric from Wanting Qu’s song, “The Courage of Love”, says:


When there is no way to escape, I learn to pray

Forgetting all my sadness, the courage of love reignites

https://mojim.com/twy110462x5x1.htm







Thereby, even if only one of thousands of my prayers is answered, I will still feel graceful enough to stand firm for my belief! Since a courageous love is not afraid of hurts and a passionate heart is not scared by challenges, I believe as long as we follow the direction given by the God, He will give us a brightest future with endless happiness!