Bouncing back

The knowledge that people bounce back from the doldrums -- and with a vengeance too -- gives me so much hope.

When a budding actress committed suicide after battling depression, three local celebrities came out to share their depression story. Sharon Cuneta, Jaya, and Janno Gibbs bravely admitted how dark it all was. Although they did not reveal details, it is good to know that I am not alone. And that even the stars from on high could fall so low as I do.

As time went by, I am reminded of the other names who came forward the same way, i.e. publicly via mainstream media. TJ Manotoc once admitted how bad it was for him to grow without a father. Look at him now: a very successful sportscaster on no less than ABS-CBN.

Arnold Arre, popular comic strip artist, confessed in a TED Talk that he went through depression because he was unhappy with his life: no girlfriend, no joy in his work, and so on. Thankfully, he found redemption in creating comic art.

The popular frontman of Sugarfree band, Ebe Dancel, made the same confession. All throughout, he seemed to feel pained doing it, but all the more that his humbling gesture inspired.

The personal witness of these brave people -- who all happen to be differently gifted -- gives me the idea that I too can recover from personal distress. I'd like to let them know how thankful I am for taking the risk in shedding some of their precious few of what's left of their privacy, which must be a sacred space for famous people like them.

The case of wealthy saints

Some saints are known to be wealthy. Who are these saints in particular? I'd like to know more about them. Specifically, I'd like to know why they became saints in spite of their wealth.

One famous saint, Francis of Assisi, became a saint not because he was wealthy but because he disowned his inheritance. Francis' story somewhat sent a Buddhist message: that material wealth is evil and thus to be spurned. But apparently, that's not how authentic Christianity views wealth. The Church's magnificently beautiful cathedrals, like the ancient ones in Europe, in fact affirm materiality, art, wealth, instead of looking down on them, as though to say everything that God made is good.

Why did materially, financially rich saints got canonized anyway? One easy answer being bandied about is that because they were not attached to, or were detached from, their worldly possessions. Another easy answer is that they used their worldly goods for the glory of God, or in concrete terms, in support of God's work here on earth, as in ministry to the poor, etc.

Perhaps we can make the same analogy for power or lofty positions. Some saints were kings, queens, princes, princesses, bishops, perhaps even governors or politicians of some sort. This drives home the message that earthly power is not evil per se, just as earthly wealth is not evil per se.

This urban mashup has a lot of reading up to do.