For a lot of us, this would be regarded as “a long time ago”, and though I suspect most of us have no recollection of this date, you will remember these 4 digits by the end of this post.
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1968 was one for the memories.
The Bad.
- After three years of being deployed and fighting the Vietnam War, Anti Vietnam War protests were made throughout the western world.
- Martin Luther King Jr spends a day in April at Lorraine Motel in Memphis working and meeting with local leaders on plans for his Poor People’s March on Washington. He was shot later that day and declared dead just an hour later.
- This led to the Civil Rights being signed, which made it an uneasy time in America. With much rioting and protest.
- In France, “Bloody Monday” marks one of the most violent days of Parisian student revolt.
- Senator Robert Kennedy, former Attorney General and brother of the former president John F Kenned runs for presidency in March. He was shot and mortally wounded in June.
There was some good coming out of 1968 of course.
- The Boeing 747 made its maiden flight.
- Air Bags in cars were invented.
- Dr Christian Barnard performs the first successful heart transplant (hooray for doctors!)
- The first Automated Teller Machine was install in the U.S (did you know that was what ATM meant?)
- The Emergency 911 telephone service was started in the U.S to provide a single number for reporting emergencies 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
However, something else would save 1968 from being a year that everyone wanted to forget. The saving grace? Three men in a small capsule, sitting on top of a crazy huge rocket marked with the letters NASA. They went on to make the first manned space orbit round the moon. (hint: this was not the moon landing, that would happen a year later)
Their mission was to orbit the moon in a progressive step towards putting a man on the moon. However when they went round the moon, it was another planet that got their attention. This was what they saw.
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| The Good Earth |
And with the whole world watching live, Frank Borman, Jim Lovell and William A Anders took turns reading from the book of Genesis, verse 1 to 10, and ended with this;
“And from the crew of Apollo 8, we close with good night, good luck, a Merry Christmas – and God bless all of you, all of you on the good Earth.”
All of you on the good Earth.
Those words combined with that picture put everyone’s reality back in check. We weren’t the centre of the Universe, and in actual fact, we were really really small, just a little blue orb in space. Sure it was a bad year, one with much hatred, pain and tears, but no matter how big our problems were, especially with each other, we all shared a common thing, we are all inhabitants on the good Earth.
In the same way the people in 1968 got their reality check, we too have to get our own. Sometimes we focus so much on our problems until it becomes our world and consumes us, but we forget there is so much more out there, so many things that are bigger than ourselves and especially our problems.
Friends, I’m not saying you should disregard your problems or denounce your grief. If there is something to be settled, settle it. If there is a time to mourn, cry and mourn. But let’s keep these things in perspective and never let them become our world. Why?
Because we weren’t meant to live this way.
“No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death or life, neither angels or demons, neither the present or the future, or any powers, neither height or depth, or anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
– Rom 8:37-39
– Rom 8:37-39
Remember 1968. With the love of Christ, nothing is impossible.
From the land of predator surveyors,
The Stranded Homesick
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| Its not easy to be me ... |
It is not uncommon to want to be understood, to have others agree and back you. Whether it be key decisions in life: school courses, job offers, life partners or on everyday solutions: where to eat, which petrol to pump, even which undergarment is most comfortable (CKs are still the best, no debate there).
But what everyone does seek for, is to be understood personally. Why do we feel better opening up to someone who has been through the same situation before? Is the advice better? Probably. Is it just plain easier? Yeah maybe.
But I think before all that, the difference is knowing the person understands exactly how we feel. No need for wisdom here, not yet at least, no need for words even. Just the nod and sigh of someone who truly understand the pain, confusion or whatever it is you are battling right now.
That nod, it’s priceless.
Hebrews 4:15 goes something like this, “For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin”.
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| Jesus: So .. you sure you know where Kuching is? |
Jesus : sympathizes with ALL my weaknesses? Ever had this thought: “Sure it was easy for Jesus, I mean … His God!”? I know I have. It is hard to imagine a God deity would understand the problems an average human goes through.
But here’s the good news – He does.
Stressed?
He sweat blood just thinking about the cross, beat that.
Betrayed?
Jesus was abandoned by His closest in His hour of need
Squabbles between friends?
how many times did Jesus had to put His disciples back in check?
Tired?
Jesus had times He wanted to retreat to a quiet place to rest, but people kept pushing more from Him
Angry
You should have seen the scene in the temple, not a Jesus you wanna mess with
Frustrated?
So many times the bible has shown Jesus asking why the disciples had no faith, or why they did not understand the parables
Sadness?
Shortest verse in the bible that shows how much pain He felt when Lazarus died.
I could keep going on, but here’s my favourite, one that our society suffers from greatly. Self image. I mean how can the Son of God have insecurities about his looks right? Bring on Isaiah 53:2. This is what Isaiah prophesied about Jesus the messiah.
“And when we see Him, There is no beauty that we should desire Him.”
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| Did Jesus ever say to Mary: Look Ma, no eyes! |
You might not take it all in at face value but here’s the catch, try to imagine the most ordinary looking friend you know (please don’t let that person know, or anyone else for that matter :p), and now imagine him/her coming up to you one day and say, “Hey, I'm the Son of God”.
Some of you might not admit it, but everyone definitely thinks, “Wouldn’t the Son of God look more …”, you finish that sentence yourself. And chances are, the people back then felt the same way. Now imagine Jesus, doing all the ministry you remember reading, with close to everyone thinking that same thought.
How’s that for self-image issues?
We have a God who truly understands anything and everything, so that He can relate to you and comfort you. So when you ever feel low in life, talk to the Man who understands.
But you know what friends? That’s not even the best part. So what if you found someone who understands, the problem’s still there and still needs solving doesn’t it? And sometimes solving the problem can be more of a pain.
Let me end on the best bit, not only does Jesus understands, He does something even more. I’m not going to spoil it for you, just read the verse after Heb 4:15.
From the land where 98% of cars get cleaned everyday,
The Stranded Homesick
P.S - for those who didn't get that last verse, its Heb 4:16.
P.S - for those who didn't get that last verse, its Heb 4:16.
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I make a wager. I bet you can’t guess what this curse is. If you indeed can without any sort of cheating (I will ask you to vouch in the name of the Lord hah), I will treat you to your favourite BBT.
At first I was confident enough to say dinner but I realized there are some really smart people here (not that they could guess what the curse is, but they can be really smart in cheating me!), and that I didn’t really have that much $$. So enough said.
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At first I was confident enough to say dinner but I realized there are some really smart people here (not that they could guess what the curse is, but they can be really smart in cheating me!), and that I didn’t really have that much $$. So enough said.
Had your try? Read on.
It is not wine, money, women (whoops, did I just say that?) or song, although having caught in any of these long arms would lead you to ruin. But here lies our greatest and most commonly made flaw.
We don’t come to God enough during our highs. (mountain top moments, not drug highs … duh)
But it is true isn’t it? I mean at some point we will thank God for the blessing, the end of the day, the end of the week … or for some, until someone has to point it out – usually to those who grumble that their lives are a slump.
Sometimes I imagine how God must feel and for some of you, you have seen this scene in the countless drama shows of our time. He left a wanted gift at your office table, sent flowers to your home when you needed happiness, answered a desperate prayer and we get overjoyed at the gift rather than the giver.
And all this He sees, while being right by our sides, never complaining, never tries to acknowledge His deeds. Just joyful that we are happy, but wishing we did see the biggest gift wasn’t in what we hold, but in whom we are held by.
They say it is in the low times, the valleys, the desert that we seek and find God. Sometimes it is the only times we find Him, and when we do, like naïve children, we demand an answer for the drought. Or worse, our interpretation of a conversation/relationship with God is us complaining and asking Him to either get something for us or do things for us.
Friends, let’s take a lesson from the bible.
“In times of prosperity be joyful, but in times of adversity consider this: God has made one as well as the other, so that no one can discover what the future holds.” Ecc 7:14
Let me paraphrase. We cannot understand why God uses adversity and prosperity as He does, but a man or woman of faith trusts God nonetheless. Or as Wiersbe said, “God balances our lives by giving us enough blessings to keep us happy and enough burdens to keep us humble.”
So true ain’t it?
So remember, when the good times row, let God to be the first person you thank, and when the bad ones hit, stop complaining.
Oh … and do let me know if I owe anyone BBT :)
From the land where people think a UTE is a baby goat,
The Stranded Homesick
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Trapped in a land where I don’t belong, disgusted at the fact my departure coincided with the arrival of favorable weather of my favourite season in the place I truly call home. My only comfort was to turn my attention to what was happening in the place where everything and anything happens. ZPH!
The end of this week marks Pledge Weekend. Pt2. Beta version, whatever you want to call it. Which brings up the every elusive question, “Why should I give? ... Again!”
Side fact - the church I grew up with, Christ Methodist Church, which literary was just a stone’s throw away from my place (that still didn't help my punctuality though) has been leveled to the ground. What was once the embodiment of my youth is now a flat piece of land. Very nostalgic when I first saw that vacant piece of dirt.
Fast forward to a ride home from my best friend’s (and soon to be Best Man) dad, and he was talking about the overhaul of building. He said something profound, “I hope in 20 years time, we wouldn’t find ourselves with this newly aged building, right back in our comfort zone”.
Then it hit me.
Giving from our comfort zone counts for very little. Its like giving the spare change from a cup of Pure Vanilla Ice Blended (yum!) to the girl asking for donations to some charity. Very quick, very painless. See that you have to give a certain blue note in the wallet however, is a whole other matter.
The Bible is full of examples of giving outside of ones comfort zone, a certain saint fasted (hey, its not easy man), was thrown into a den of lions and whose friends with cool names were thrown into a furnace. All because they refused to bow to an idol. Not exactly the essence of a comfort zone. Why, how, could they find the courage to do something so crazy? Its all about conviction.
In the end, my encouragement is this. Pledge to give what you feel convicted, not comfortable to give. It is not easy but what it needs is conviction, so if you have none, find the time to seek the Lord for it and He will give it to you. And you will find that you will stop asking why should you give but start telling people, why you give.
“For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love towards us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
- Romans 5:7-8 -
Yours truly,
the REAL lonely traveller
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