The Bigamist Amongst Us

There was a rich merchant who had 4 wives. He loved the 4th wife the most and adorned her with rich robes and treated her to delicacies. He took great care of her and gave her nothing but the best.

He also loved the 3rd wife very much. He's very proud of her and always wanted to show off her to his friends. However, the merchant is always in great fear that she might run away with some other men.

He too, loved his 2nd wife. She is a very considerate person, always patient and in fact is the merchant's confidante. Whenever the merchant faced some problems, he always turned to his 2nd wife and she would always help him out and tide him through difficult times.

Now, the merchant's 1st wife is a very loyal partner and has made great contributions in maintaining his wealth and business as well as taking care of the household. However, the merchant did not love the first wife and although she loved him deeply, he hardly took notice of her.

One day, the merchant fell ill. Before long, he knew that he was going to die soon. He thought of his luxurious life and told himself, "Now I have 4 wives with me. But when I die, I'll be alone. How lonely I'll be!"

Thus, he asked the 4th wife, "I loved you most, endowed you with the finest clothing and showered great care over you. Now that I'm dying, will you follow me and keep me company?" "No way!" replied the 4th wife and she walked away without another word.


Prayer Beads
The answer cut like a sharp knife right into the merchant's heart. The sad merchant then asked the 3rd wife, "I have loved you so much for all my life. Now that I'm dying, will you follow me and keep me company?" "No!" replied the 3rd wife. "Life is so good over here! I'm going to remarry when you die!" The merchant's heart sank and turned cold.

He then asked the 2nd wife, "I always turned to you for help and you've always helped me out. Now I need your help again. When I die, will you follow me and keep me company?" "I'm sorry, I can't help you out this time!" replied the 2nd wife. "At the very most, I can only send you to your grave." The answer came like a bolt of thunder and the merchant was devastated.

Then a voice called out: "I'll leave with you. I'll follow you no matter where you go." The merchant looked up and there was his first wife. She was so skinny, almost like she suffered from malnutrition. Greatly grieved, the merchant said, "I should have taken much better care of you while I could have!”

Actually, we all have 4 wives in our lives:

a. The 4th wife is our body. No matter how much time and effort we lavish in making it look good, it'll leave us when we die.
b. Our 3rd wife? Our possessions, status and wealth. When we die, they all go to others.
c. The 2nd wife is our family and friends. No matter how close they had been there for us when we're alive, the furthest they can stay by us is up to the grave.
d. The 1st wife is in fact our soul, often neglected in our pursuit of material, wealth and sensual pleasure.
Guess what? It is actually the only thing that follows us wherever we go. Perhaps it's a good idea to cultivate and strengthen it now rather than to wait until we're on our deathbed to lament.

Matthew 6:24-34

24“No one can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.

25“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?27And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life?28And why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin, 29yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these. 30But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith?31Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’ 32For it is the Gentiles who strive for all these things; and indeed your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33But strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34“So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today’s trouble is enough for today.

Love is ... part 2

I like Necco wafers. For me there is excitement in the unwrapping of the end of the package and placing that little chalky-flavored bit of candy right in the middle of my tongue. Those little bits of flavor bring back special memories of childhood for me. One of my favorite recurring memories is of my grandfather sitting in his recliner, smoking his pipe and sharing his wafers with the grandkids. The rule was that Pop-pop would open the candy roll and take the first one, then each grandchild would receive one in order of your descending age, but … if you didn’t take the color that came up when it was your turn, you had to wait until it was your turn again during the next round. Sometimes one of the kids would choose to not take the little piece of candy that was offered and would try to get the next one that came up because that was his or her “favorite”. That never worked with my grandfather! He would remind us of the “rule” and how we each took our turn, and we each had a choice to take what we were offered. Then he would go to the next grandchild. There were many times we would take the little wafer when we didn’t care for that particular flavor! As I grew up, I wondered if we took it because we didn’t want to “miss our turn” or because we didn’t want to disappoint Pop-pop.

I learned a lot of life lessons from those rolls of chalky candies. I learned that life is good - even if whatever you are dealing with isn't your favorite part. I learned that when we are given the freedom of choice we must accept the consequences of our actions. I learned that as I grew older, there were more and more people I needed to share with in order to be able to enjoy the piece of life I was offered.

And then there were all the flavors! How could I not learn that life was about all of the flavors and experiences that we encounter? Some of were hard to distinguish between, but others were so rich and colorful that you could not help but want to savor them slowly and enjoy them down to the very ... last ... moment. ahhh...

I don't think my grandfather planned on teaching me or my siblings or my cousins all these lessons from a simple roll of candy. But I think it would please him to know that he taught us how to love life, to love others, and to love the simple things that memories are made from.

Miss you Pop-pop.

"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails." ~ 1 Corinthians 13: 4-8a

Love is ... part 1

"You really shouldn't say 'I love you' unless you mean it. But if you mean it, you should say it a lot. People forget." --Jessica - age 8

These past few weeks have been bumpy for me. I have had some uncluttering to do in my head and as I've worked to clear my mind I've had to step away from blogging. Pardon the absence. And, I'm glad to be back!

I found the above quote as I looked for something to describe the way God loves us and how we can show that same love to others. There were loads of romanticized quotes on love; cynical quotes on love; judgmental & opinionated quotes & silly quotes on love. But, from the thoughts of a child I saw a purity on the thought of what love truly is.

It seems to me that love is about relationship. Sometimes it is a family relationship, the love between a parent and child - regardless of either ones age. Sometimes we see love in the acts of sacrifice by soldiers and their families - a patriotic love, a love of their country and way of life. Sometimes we see love grown out of a common bond between people who have a shared tragedy in their lives - the death of a child or the devastation of a hurricane. But it seems to me, love is about a relationship that is built between people.

That is why I like what Jessica said about love. Relationships are fragile and easy to hurt, harm or break. So we shouldn't say "I love you" unless we mean it from somewhere in our common bond of life. And if we mean it, we really should say it often so we can strengthen those bonds and build each other up and enrich our relationships.

May you know love ...

Hear You Want a Resolution!

You say you want a resolution
Well, you know
We all want to change our world
Talk to me of transformation
Well, you know
We all want to change our world …

I’ve been thinking a lot about what my New Year’s resolution will be this year. Usually, I avoid making resolutions until November so I have a better chance of being successful at keeping them, but this year I have been convicted to make some changes sooner. So, here goes … let me know what you think and help me remain accountable by checking on me to see if I am keeping my resolutions throughout the year!

My Resolutions for 2010:

1. I will give away a piece of me this year by reaching out to people who need a friend or words of encouragement or just a simple hello. Since I have a love of writing and desire to be in relationship with others, I will pursue this resolution by developing the Flat Jesus Project. This project will be designed to help others exchange words of encouragement and network (webpage) with others through the exchange of cards and letters, as well as books and … (and I will seek help from the greater social community to accomplish this.) – I will keep you posted as this is developed.
2. I will be a better steward of what I have and what I need by using what I already possess. Sometimes this will mean giving away what I possess so that others can make better use of it than I would. It also will mean using the knowledge, contacts, intelligence and God-given resources that I have.
3. I will increase my trust in God for my provisions by resisting the urge to add material things to my household. When I see pretty paper for scrapbooking that I just must buy – I will buy a book for a needy child or make a donation to a literacy center or find some way to give back instead of hoarding. This goes for shoes (did I really just say that?!?), clothes, household items and even food!
4. I will spend my time in study of scripture not just for work and supporting others, but so that I may also grow in my personal relationship with God.
5. I will take care of myself and become healthier – my body, mind & spirit. This may be lived out by taking one week this year to just relax and enjoy time with my husband, getting into a fitness routine, or reading a book for pleasure!
6. Finally, I will allow myself to use this YEAR to accomplish these resolutions – not just the first week of January – and if I am not successful one day, I will accept that failure only comes from not trying a second, third, twentieth or even a 364th time!

Okay, so these are my resolutions for transformation, what are yours? How can I improve mine? Would love to hear from you!

Blessings ~

Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. ~ Romans 12: 1-2