New!
Death is always sudden, no matter how prepared one is for it. The very millisecond that marks the departure will always be unpredictable. Even that of an object.
Its journey with me finally ended last Saturday. Signs of eternal separation appeared, hinting at an ending where i would be forced into making a decision. I didn't ignore it, just that I tried to prolong our journey and delayed the inevitable.
It was a quiet farewell. As it reached its end, it bade a silent goodbye with a last signal, delivering my words to one whom i would have to bid the same silent farewell to one day.
* * *
I'm still getting used to it, carefully handling the fragile lass. Heaven forbids that I let it touch the ground with great force!
SMS me your number!
[P.S/ Comp went cranky. Blogged on 11 Feb 05.]
What Do You Give Thanks For?
Will thankfulness ever cease?
We often give thanks when we are blessed in ways that seem right to us. Got a degree, got a job, got a raise. But then we find out that a job doesn't ensue with a degree. And when we find a job (or a job finds us), we realise that "all the works which have been done under the sun is vanity and striving after wind". Then when the pay is raised, we covet for more (or at least more than my neighbour). Then thanksgiving stops. Or like a tightened tap, thankfulness drips like droplets of water, as if rationing our praises. We forget that the tap ceases to exist without water from the Source in the first place.
"Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." (1 Thess 5:16-18)
When blessings are replaced by burdens, can I still give thanks in everything? When one loses all, what does one have to give thanks for? To find a reason to give thanks for has its limits, methinks. It's circumstantial. "Thank you for the breath of air that fills my lungs..." even when I wish that my senses would stop so that I can no longer feel the pain...? Not that it's wrong to literally give thanks for everything. But when everything one has is literally nothing, will he still be able to give thanks? If the basis of thanksgiving depends on what 'I have', then perhaps one is treading on shaky grounds, because there may come a time when all else is gone (save that breath of air which one may even wish be taken away as well).
"Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked I shall return there. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord." (Job 1:21)
As we sang
"Give thanks with a grateful heart
Give thanks to the Holy One
Give thanks, because He's given Jesus Christ, His Son...",
I'm just reminded that I should give thanks, just because of this One Reason. That because He came, because He has given, and because I know.
A turbulent, but scenic journey we are travelling in this life. Because He has given, we can "Be anxious about nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God" (Phil 4:6). He is the basic reason why the tap of thanksgiving should be loosened for praises to gush forth. Difficult in times of trial but definitely worth trying. Nothing more to lose anyway...
As the water gets choppy,
Lord help me hang on to you as my life jacket.
Help me learn to give thanks just because of You.
That You alone keep me afloat.
So I may sing with real joy in my heart:
"And now let the weak say I am strong,
Let the poor say I am rich,
Because of what the Lord has done for me
Give thanks".
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