Nel mezzo del cammin di nostra vita...

Nel mezzo del cammin di nostra vita
mi ritrovai per una selva oscura
ché la diritta via era smarrita.

Ahi quanto a dir qual era è cosa dura
esta selva selvaggia e aspra e forte
che nel pensier rinova la paura!

[Midway upon the journey of our life
I found myself within a forest dark,
For the straightforward pathway had been lost.

Ah me! how hard a thing it is to say
What was this forest savage, rough and stern,
Which in the very thought renews the fear.]

Dante, La Divina Commedia, Canto I

Midway upon the journey of life… The Bible says that “our span is 70 years, or 80 for those who are strong.” (Ps 90) Dante, the greatest of Italian poets made this the basis of the opening lines of his masterpiece The Divine Comedy as he made his persona traverse the path from Inferno to Paradiso at age 35. It was Dante’s actual age when he wrote the poem. And it is my age as I celebrated my birthday three days ago. Biblically speaking then, I am midway in life’s journey, which according to a certain author “represents the height of a person’s powers, midway between birth and death, the point at which life begins a return to its origins.” (R. Royal. Dante Alighieri, Divine Comedy, Divine Spirituality. New York: The Crossroad Publishing Company, 1999.)

In the poem, Dante found himself lost in a dark forest, rendering him fearful. Is this the state I find myself in at the moment? That I ask. What will be in store for me? Will I be fearful? Today I find myself more hopeful than before. Today I see not a dark forest but a bright light. La lumière—or la luce in Dante’s own tongue.

My birthday falls on the 19th of June and I share the same birthday as Jose Rizal (as well as Paula Abdul, Lou Gehrig, Elbert Hubbard, King James I, Aung San Suu Kyi, Blaise Pascal, Salman Rushdie and Kathleen Turner). And Rizal died at 35… Which makes me think: at 35, Dante gave the world the best of his poetry; Rizal gave to his country his very own life. I, at 35—what have I done? What have I given? I would like to believe that there is still a lot of time to give more of myself, if possible to die for a cause greater than my own poor self.

This is where the light comes in. The questions that I ask are not made in a dark forest but in an ambient that is bright; not in a pathway that is lost but one that winds into salvation. The questions above I ask in the midst of a community that is very supportive—confreres surrounding me with encouragement and care, seminarians eager to listen, teachers and lay collaborators who believe in me and willing to walk the extra mile with me, students who are docile, grateful and endearing, friends who are ever present and ever ready to lend an ear. Aye, midway upon the journey of my life/ I found myself in comforting light.