S Magazine: Blog StarShowbiz Stars and Scoops

by Chin Chin Gutierrez

Tragedy can happen to anyone, rich or poor, to a celebrity or a private individual. But grace can happen to anyone too. In what seems to be a test, a trial or a tribulation, one could recognize grace. And this can be done with a deep sense of gratitude.

I learned that we need not suffer anything to distract or draw us away from knowing that each of us is a child of God: a loving being in a loving world. I wouldn’t say this with utmost urgency and importance if it was just simpler said than done. God’s love is the very anchor of grace and gratitude in this journey and one doesn’t need a tragic experience to know the joy that comes with living this truth.

I saw the fire that razed our house two years ago this month as a grace, for beyond what I know and truly accept, life took away what was no longer necessary. And this may perhaps be for the good of all. Yes, this is not just my story and not just about me.

When I was a little girl, my grandmother and I used to spend time putting together those jigsaw puzzles that had a thousand pieces. It was always so difficult to begin with, all those colors and shapes scattered around. Lola Nena would always say, “Be patient, let’s have fun… Start with the corners. Look for all the ones with a flat side so we could create the frame and see the size of the picture of the puzzle.”

But then soon after the frame was done, I’d start getting confused. “That’s why it is called a puzzle”, Lola would chuckle, “but if you look at what colors are similar and find the clues of the guide picture in each perfect piece, that would help you see that no two pieces are alike.”

What she told me made me feel that every piece of the puzzle was so special and perfect, and I valued the joy of finding even just three clusters of pieces to join together for along with a beautiful picture in the making was a beautiful soul sitting right beside me — with whom I would laugh and sing in awe at what we would find next, on whose lap I would lay while she told stories, and through whose eyes I would see the loving gaze of God.

Each of us is a special and perfect piece of this puzzle called life. Life is beautiful. And I’ve learned that we can see how we could all fit together in accordance with the beautiful vision that God has already given to us as we look at this picture through the eyes of God’s love. To see Creation through the heart of our Creator which is love… and compassion.

In this light, I cannot really say I’m going through a recovery stage because I truly recognize that I’m already “covered”. It may seem idealistic or impossible to respond in this way but with what I went through, I could sincerely witness that when we lose everything that we seemingly have become accustomed to having, we realize what life is not about.

Read the rest of this entry »