message of the day

message of the (good fri)day is - what i've retained, that is - is, PURPOSE (to be found trying to get my attention via a sledgehammer to the head); and ..see below.

-ahem-


as a certain pudgeyCHOKE - dignified - pastor told us a story just now when asking us the question, "what would you die for?"

he opened by recounting this autistic savant named johnny, who lived on rio's sandy beaches.

autistic savants are not just autistic, they are gifted. some savants can do phenomenal mathematics, some can repeat whole symphonies just by listening to it once and some have amazing photographic memory - and this one sculpts sand.

so each day, johnny would build sandcastles. sand sculptures, if you will.

he created magnificent sand sculptures of buildings, of scenes of amazing intricacy... and on the same beach, was a group of irritating typical hormonally-powered teenaged moronsCOUGH - boys - who would come along, and kick it all down. every day.

sometimes the johnny would cry, but most of the time he just let them: after all, it was only sand and there was always tomorrow.

then one day, johnny built a magnificent one of *his home, with its windows and doors, beautifully detailed down to the climbing bark that clung to the red brick wall surrounding his house. as usual, the teenage [deleted] came along, and began kicking it down.

but this time, johnny fought back. he wanted to protect his work. three big boys against one boy who builds sand sculptures... in short, they kicked his head in. he was sent to the hospital and was in the intensive care unit for two days before he finally died on the operating table.

and the question the pastor posed was, "what would you die for?"

what would you fight to save, what are you so protective of, that you would give your life for it?

...the above was a story - there was no johnny, and the tragedy did not happen (trust me, i was half-smirking to myself too when i heard the pastor say the above-mentioned was not true :/ ).


then he told us another one, this time a real incident.


there was this lady, inez, i think her name was, who was friends with this person, frank. they enjoyed the same things, they worked on similar projects ... inez had found things in frank that's similar to herself and frank found traits that are similar to his.

needless to say, they enjoyed each other's company very much. the friendship grew and later it had become apparent that their friendship could become intimate. the problem is, she is married.

it was apparent that he likes her, and she knows she likes him. she knew what she had to do.

so she typed this letter, addressed to him. it read: "unless a friendship is dead, it will always grow into something more. But when a friendship becomes something that compromises the commitments to those we love most, it can never be."

she mailed it.

in the pastor's words, "'i mailed it; i saw it disappear,' she said. 'it ripped half of me away inside, but once i had done that, i felt the burden shift. the problem has been taken from my shoulders, to be undertaken by God. it is only then it is out of my hands and dealt with by Him.'"

the pastor continues to say, "more often than not it is usually what you have to do before God may take the burdens from our shoulders..." (i think that's what he said in closing)

however inaccurate my recounting of his sermon** today, i do get the idea of what the pastor's trying to say. i found myself asking the same thing: what would i give up my life for? is there anything i would fight and fight hard to protect and retain?

..right now, i have nothing so very magnificent to fight for. other than My Lord, God's honour should anyone attempt to sully it.


but i know what i want in the future.

i want a home. i want a home, a big home, a house with a big garden, so i may provide sanctuary for my beloveds. i know that a sanctuary does not a garden make, but a sanctuary is more complete with one humongous garden. and anti-mossie devices, of course.

so. may my beloveds find peace in my house, a house i share with my husband. i will find that house, then i will create that home and fill it with love. i will be generous with food in the larder, so all who wish to eat need not scrounge.

thus i honour Him. praise be, praise be.




*actually, the pastor said johnny had sculpted jesus, the one with arms outstretched - the one that is erected in rio, i think. i had substituted it with johnny's home because it might be easier for non-christians to digest.

**there was another story the pastor mentioned, but i thought that might have been a little too much to wash down in one post.