ACTUALLY, our whole life here on earth is a test God gives us, to see if what he wants us to be, that is, to be his image and likeness, sharers of his divine life and nature is also what we ourselves would want to be. Thus, we are given intelligence to enable us to know this truth about ourselves, and the will to enable us to freely choose to follow God’s will and designs for us or not. We should therefore realize very deeply and abidingly that the main purpose of our intelligence and will is to comply with God’s will for us. Using them mainly for other purposes—personal, professional, political, etc.—would be misusing these God-given faculties of ours. Of course, to pass the test we need to follow God’s will. That’s where we achieve our true and basic dignity as persons and children of God. That’s also where we find our true joy, where we use properly our intelligence, will and other endowments, where we enjoy our true freedom. But there are special occasions when this test God
Online edition of The Ilocos Times, a community newspaper based in Laoag City, Ilocos Norte.