Declaration of dependence

Recently, I've been thinking a lot about what it means to be dependent on someone else. That's pretty random so I'll explain. I don't have a car here in Texas, so I've had to be depend a lot on other people to help drive me places. Wherever it is - hanging out at friends' houses, visiting professors, going to/from church when it's dark, going to the store - I always depend on someone else to drive me. Now before I came here, I was kinda worried about this situation. I really dislike asking people for rides because I don't want to be a burden, but I knew that was something I was going to have to do. What I didn't know, however, is how awesomely generous the people of West Texas are. While I have had to ask for rides a few times, most of the time people just go out of their way to offer me a ride. This has taught me a lot about how amazing selfless love can be. I just hope I can adequately pay my friends back for their selflessness.

Going back to the idea of dependence, this whole concept reminds me of a talk I heard on Notre Dame Encounter #87. One of the students gave a talk during the homily of one of the masses. The Gospel for that particular mass had these verses:

"When you were a child, you used to fasten your own belt and go where you wished, but when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will fasten a belt around you and take you where you do not wish to go." - John 22.18

The student commented how this seemed opposite to what our society considered normal. Afterall, in the US, children are supposed to learn independence as they grow and become adults. However, in this reading, the student explained, people learn to become dependent as they grow older. She then went on to explain why dependence is so important. First, it is important to become dependent on God. Especially when times become confusing or difficult, we must learn to trust that God will be there with us through it all. Second, we must remember that we are not solitary creatures and so learn to depend on one another. We have each other to depend on, because goodness knows that all of us cannot do everything by ourselves.

So maybe, in the end, it is a gift that I don't have a car here in Texas. I've had to humble myself to realize that I can't go everywhere I might like without having to rely on another person. I've received such selfless love on the part of my friends. And I've been constantly reminded that I must depend on others, but that if I do, I can go so much further than I ever could have gone by myself. Therein lies the true meaning of dependence. Together, whether depending on God or each other, we can achieve so much more than we ever could have on our own.

Paz.