A short lesson about COMPASSION

I heard a sermon given at a pastors' conference about human trafficking ~children being slipped out of their home countries to another country to be sold and raped multiple times.

It is bad enough that they were illegally "shipped" to another country to be raped there. The image the speaking pastor painted in the listeners' mind was tragic. Sixty young girls shipped out in a small "container". Before they even reach their destination, thirty of the young girls have already died. After "serving" as sex slaves for multiple men, these 30 young girls were then shipped to another place and on their way out at sea, there was a group of coast guards on the ship's path and fearing that they would be checked or questioned, they threw all 30 young girls into the sea to drown. Only 5 survived.

!!!!!

Truly, who would not be moved by this tragic story?
Truly, it would evoke compassion in the hearers' hearts.

But what is COMPASSION?
Is it compassion to feel sorry for these young children?
Is it compassion to shed tears for the plight of these children?


I love how the pastor used the verse in Luke 14:

"But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame and the blind" (Luke 14:13)

Too many times, we throw banquets and invite only our friends, brothers, sisters, relatives and rich neighbors.

Whereas, Luke 14:12 says:
"Then Jesus said to the host,"When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends or brothers or sisters, your relatives, or your rich neighbors, if you do, they may invite you back and you will be repaid"

And this pastor, he said:
                 "Let us spiritualize and argue~I think it means a "banquet of the heart". I think it's a heart attitude~you walk by the poor and you go: "I'm having roast beef with you in my heart"

!!!!

So true.
Is this compassion?
Is it compassion to feel at the bottom of your heart that you would like to share a meal with the poor?
Is it compassion to say it in your mind that you are enjoying roast beef in your mind with the crippled or the blind?

Compassion is not COMPASSION until you actually do something about it.


Until you actually take a step to help rescue young girls from human trafficking.
Until you actually share a real meal with the poor, the blind, the crippled....
Until you actually move and take action for the good of the less fortunate
Then that is COMPASSION.

My Thanksgiving

 "...And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive..." (Matthew 21:22)


It was a journey.
My journey.

I have walked through this path before.
But I lost my way and took on a different path.

On and off.
I kept getting bumped out of the straight path.
Lured away from it by the busyness of the world.
With always a ready excuse...
a justification for not doing what I should do 
and a justification for doing what I should not do.


 "The servant who knows the master’s will and does not get ready or does not do what the master wants will be beaten with many blows" (Luke 21:47) 


I knew what God wants His children to do.
I knew what God asks of His children.

Obedience.


"But the one who does not know and does things deserving punishment will be beaten with few blows. From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked. (Luke 12:47-48)

I cringe.
I have long accepted Christ in my life. 
I have long known about His love.
I have long known about His grace.
I have long known about His faithfulness.


I am one like the many others who have known Him and accepted Him 
but who fell out of the right path, anyway. God expects more from me.

I am one of them.

I am one of them who have approached the Throne of Grace many times before.
I am one of them who kept running away even after knowing and receiving God's grace
I am one of them who run not because God will not forgive but who run because they know God will ALWAYS forgive. 

We run because we are ashamed to ask AGAIN and AGAIN and AGAIN


But God is good. 
And His goodness is not because we are good. 
His goodness is because HE IS.

God gives Himself to all of HIS children 
He is infinite.

It is not as if God's grace and mercy will ever run out that if all His children will ask for it, only some will receive and some will not.

"An infinite God can give all of himself to each of his children. He does not distribute himself that each may have a part, but to each one, he gives all of himself as fully as if there were no others" (AW Tozer)

The trials we experience in our lives are like a nudge from God. 
They are His ways of gently pulling on the "leash" that connects us to Him.
We are indeed on the other end of a very long leash ~ so long that we could stray and depart from the path that God appointed us to tread on as if there was no leash at all.
But when we get too close to danger, He does pull on the leash and draw us near Him again.

We even resist His nudges.
But He remains patient with us. 
Because he wants to build our faith and He wants us to develop perseverance. 

 "Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience". (James 1:3)

James, a servant of God said:
  ^"Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance" (James 1:2-3)

This is what my journey is all about.
The constant falling off the right path.
The straying on the other end of the leash.
The resistance to the nudges.
The constant approach to the Throne of Grace

Human nature.
When we experience trouble, we approach the Throne of Grace.
We seek and we find.
We ask and we receive. 
We knock and the door is opened to us.

And then we will tread the right path.
Until we find ourselves straying again.

My journey. 
My life.

I experienced the NUDGE very recently.
A trial. 
A life-threatening trial.


And this even happened while I was not totally going astray.
In fact, I have been reading His words. 
I have been writing verses from what I have read. 


But I was LUKEWARM.
I was neither here nor there. 
And I know that with matters of faith, there are no in-betweens.
And that partial obedience is DISOBEDIENCE.

Live the Word, not just Read the Word. 
That is the difficult part. 
This is where we need the memory of an elephant.
So that what we read will be retained 
and will constantly remind us to live what we read.
LIVE WHAT WE READ


God is faithful.
God is merciful.

Through this life-threatening trial, I approached the Throne of Grace once again.
 I did not get a quick answer.
And the wait was painful.
But God developed patience in me.
And He gave me His peace.

I did worry. That's human nature at work.
But I did not kick and scream.
I did not panic.

I sought His wisdom, hoping to see His will for me.
He taught me patience.
He taught me to persevere.
He taught me acceptance.

I prayed for courage.
I prayed for deliverance.
I prayed for Him to change my heart.
I prayed for fear to leave my heart.

"Fear NOT"  
 The phrase mentioned in the Bible 365 times. 

He taught me: 
Do not fear. Every. Day.

He gave me peace. 


 "...And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive..." (Matthew 21:22)

I asked in prayer for deliverance.
For the histopathological report to reveal negative for malignancy.

The report took a long time to arrive.
I was given a date to check. November 5.
The doctor told me to wait another day.
November 6.
And then wait another week.
November 12.

Two weeks.

While waiting, I basked in the Lord's peace. 
I found JOY in reading His Words and penned out poems
I created a new blog chronicling my faith journey ~
That in my brokenness, I found GRACE  

I searched my heart for fear ~ all I saw was a faded shadow of it. 
Deep in my heart, I felt that I have received what I asked in prayer.

I set aside my waiting and prepared to celebrate my son's birthday with a Bible Study group that we had started attending.
Excitement! I saw an area where God's work can be done.
Young boys. Teenage boys attending the Bible Study.
I pictured my two boys serving the Lord.
Growing their faith and ministering to other young boys.

November 19, my son's birthday.
Early morning, I felt a prompting to call my doctor's secretary to ask if the histopath report is already available.I have sent her a text message the past week and she never replied. I didn't push.
So I called her on November 19.
She said yes the result is available. 

Did I see a shadow of fear? 
Yes I did.
Facing the moment of truth, there was a rush of mixed emotions.
Fear was one of them.

It was still early and the doctor's office won't be open until four hours later. 
So I went on with the day's chores. If I could only take the mixed emotions in my hand, I would put them in the shelf~ away from my body.

I started cooking lunch.
The frying pan caught fire ~ about a foot high.
I was startled. 
And the first thing that I thought of doing was to blow the fire out like I was blowing out a birthday candle.
If that didn't work, what would I have done next?
But it worked.
Fire out.

Cooking done, I went back to my desk. 
Opened my Bible. Psalms 84:11
This verse kept coming up.
I meditated on it. 
And then wrote my poem # 57 Sun and Shield

I closed the Bible.
Shield. Sun. 
What is God's image?
I have been struggling to remove the image taught to me by the old religion. 
I thought~ burning bush, pillar of cloud by day, fire by night; tongues of fire.


FIRE!

I had a brief visual whiff of the presence of God. 

I knew!

Outside the doctor's office, I looked at other patients waiting. My doctor shares her office with another oncologist, so most of the patients in waiting are cancer patients. I saw a few of them wearing facial masks and bonnets. My heart sank. The reality of sickness that could bring death of the physical body gripped me. 
The line that divides the possibility that I have cancer or I don't is a thin line. 
I have asked God in prayer for my deliverance. I leave it to Him. His will be done. 

Two hours in waiting.
Finally I was called in.
I had images in my head about my doctor's facial expression.
And maybe a whiff of her voice delivering the news.

She was so casual holding several sheets of paper in her hand. 
"The biopsy report is  GOOD...." 
She placed the paper down on the table and pointed at specific words ~ I did not understand a thing.
I was praying in my head - a prayer of Thanks. 

The Bible Study on the night of November 19, 2012 is a testimony of God's faithfulness and grace. 
It is MY THANKSGIVING.



 "...And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive..." (Matthew 21:22)

In Jesus' name....

Amen.

The Memory of an Elephant

I'm sorry for venting.
Even if some say it is okay to vent.
To let the heart cry.


I know it doesn't help me feel okay.
I know it adds to my worries.


When I can just let it go. I choose to dwell in it.
When I can just quit worrying, I choose to mull over it.
Over and over


as if worrying and venting would change anything

Matthew 6:27 
"Can anyone of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?" 


I thought I have come to the point ~
that I can be at peace even with the thought of my own death


I have sought God's grace and peace
I felt that I have found it


yet the worries of the world still hold me captive
I am still a slave to my worried heart.


I do not have reason to worry.
How many times has God shown me
that He will never leave me or forsake me?

My life today is a testament to that.


Really!


I was worried.
I entertained the Deceiver who made me think I should worry.
I listened to his lies that even what appears to be good is bad.
I listened even when I know that God can even make something bad turn out good


Romans 8:28

"And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose."


O Ye of little faith
O Ye of little faith
O Ye of little faith


I feel the words as I read them.
I hear the words in my head.
I am one of them.

In the book of Matthew alone, Jesus used this statement four times.
O ye of little faith!


Yet records show that the phrase "Fear not" was used 365 times!

365
Just like the number of days in a year.

Everyday, fear not!


Matthew 6:30
Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which today is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? 

Every. Day.


An elephant is better than me.
Elephant memory retains crucial information related to survival.


I have a broken back that brings me worries everyday.
I read information on the internet.
I watch videos.


And they all say to get up from sitting down every hour.
Stretch a little. Walk a little.
Every. Hour.


But I don't always.
Elephant memory retains crucial information related to survival. 



I was advised to drink lots of water to keep the spinal discs lubricated.
But I forget.
I don't have the memory of an elephant.
Elephant memory retains crucial information related to survival. 



God commands us to keep His words in our hearts.


Deuteronomy 11:18
"Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads"


I should strive to have the memory of an elephant.

FEAR is a place

How do you know that God is speaking to you?
Would it really be crazy of you to say that you "heard" God speaking to you?
Would it make a difference if you say you "read" God instead of you "heard" God?

I read The Writer's blog everyday.
I have backtracked and read almost all of the 2012 posts.
So I decided to go to the archives and chose a year to start reading back.

I clicked January 2010 ~ planning to read from January to December 2010

The page opened to the January 30, 2010 blogpost: Weekends are for Growth

I see that the list goes backwards; the second in the list is January 29, 2010. ~Why Your Fears May Be The First Step In The Right Direction

I see I am in the wrong place if I am looking to start reading from January 1 onwards.

So I clicked on the back arrow~it gave me January 28. When You Are Afraid of Dying
Another click, January 27 Forgiven Much
Another click January 26 How to Handle Little People

This is really going backwards

I know now. Go back to the archives and click January 2010.
And then click the post for January 30 and instead of the back button, click on the forward button
>February 1, 2010. That's the way to go.
I should select December 2011 so when I click forward, it will give me January 1, 2010.

But before I could, I found myself looking at January 30, 2010 again. Weekends Are For Growth

I started to read:


 ‘Fear is like pain.

Pain is given as an indicator that something is going on. Pain says, “Hey, pay some attention here.” Step away from the flame. Get that splinter out. Cease what you are doing, the child is coming now. Go to the doctor and see what’s causing this.

Fear does the same.

Where fear pops up, makes itself known, there stands God, right behind me, right with me, saying,

    “Pay attention here! I am doing something with you. The timing of this fear is not by accident. Let’s have the conversation that needs to happen here. This is the topic. This is the time.”

Go there.”

Fear is a place of growth, a place where God “wants to do something with you.”


It struck me.
Is God speaking to me?

PAIN - that is what I have from the moment I wake up till before I sleep again.
Even through Dolcet and Lyrica - my pain medications.

"Pain is given as an indicator that something is going on".

Yes, something is going on.
I feel it.
It's the same as what went on ten years ago.

I had to have a spine surgery. Laminotomy.
The MRI showed disk herniation in my lumbar disks. L4 and L5
It got to an ugly place that I had to have the procedure done. And quick.

And then the next ten years was pain-free.
In between the years, I didn't have God in my life.

On the 9th year, I found my way back.

I heard about One Thousand Gifts.
Read bits and pieces of it.
I started writing verses for the Lord.
The seed of the desire to write One Thousand Verses was planted

It was good. I felt renewed.


And then, a stumbling block.
I retreated.
The one step I used to take towards God and the two steps backward that I take after each step~
 it became more than two steps.
Maybe 4, maybe 6...
until I found myself sliding all the way back to nowhere.

Slowly, I inched my way back.
I wrote verses again.
But didn't publish them.
I kept them in the drafts folder.

The familiar pain was back.
I went in for Physical Therapy
I didn't complete the treatment.
But the pain subsided. 
 I thought I was fine.


Before a big trial that was to come my way,
I started publishing the verses.

And then the news~ I need another surgery done. Hysterectomy.
It all went so fast. 
Recovered from it but even before the conclusion to it through a biopsy,
I started feeling disk herniation pains again.

Therapy becomes so much difficult because I am still recuperating from the hysterectomy.

So everyday, I face PAIN.
Worse than before.
Pain that wakes me up at odd hours.
Pain that makes me scream in the middle of the night


 "Pain says, “Hey, pay some attention here.”
And I listened.

I want to find God again.
Finding means looking for something somewhere.
Finding what I am looking for in a place.
But where? 

 
Fear is a place of growth, a place where God “wants to do something with you.”


THIS IS WHERE!!!!





Hebrews 11:6
 And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. 


And I echo The Writer's paraphrase of this verse ~ “It’s impossible to please God unless I do things I’m afraid of.”
 
Fear. I have fear in my heart.
Fear of losing my life.
Between a pending biopsy result and a herniated disk, God, don't I have reason to fear?

Fear is a place of growth, a place where God wants to do something with you

In my fear, I sought this place.
This place where I could find my God and listen to Him speak to me.
Even if I feared what He might say to me.

And every day, I come to this place of my fear.
To find new answers to my questions of fear.
And God shows me passages....and stories.....and strength.....and hope.....

I am growing in this place of growth called fear.
Faith increases.
Faith that God will show me what He wants to do with me.

And faith that even if I lose my life to this PAIN
He is still my God.
I am still His beloved.

The Writer said it: "How can we give them what we are only slowly coming to hold: God’s purposes are not for me to understand His plans: His plan is for me to understand Who He is."

Fear is a place for my Faith to grow.
Fear is a place for me to understand who God is. 

The Thanks Therapy

The last visit to the doctor when I was supposed to get my biopsy result, I was so anxious.

I have been holding my breath too long and it is still not there. 

She said another week.

When I wrote, One More Day, I talked about how I saw it as God giving me another day to listen to His words, to sing Him praises and to ponder more about the reason He is making me go through this trial.

I didn't know that He didn't mean it for one more day but ONE MORE WEEK.

And as I continue to write blogs and write verses and seek Him in the other blogs I read, I began feeling that calmness~that Peace that there is nothing I can do to change anything.That whatever the result is, there is nothing that I can do to change one letter in that medical report.

Philippians 4:6-7

6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.


The waiting is painful.
It is stealing my joy.
It is like having the sword of Damocles hanging above me.
Ready to snap any moment.


Until God spoke to me through my readings and listening to sermons that ALL IS WELL


The day that I realized that I have to wait another week, I felt that I have received God's peace.
I stopped worrying.
I even stopped thinking too much about it.


I have approached God's throne of grace and I have cried out to God the petition of my soul.
And He has shown me places in the Bible that gave me peace.


What I should continually do now is to give thanks.
To give thanks in all circumstances.
Because as I again echo The Writer's words: 
the Thanks Therapy is God's prescription for Joy


Since then, my daily conversations with God in my times of prayer have been filled with feeling His warmth, feeling Him actually telling me, "I will take care of the rest"


So that as I continue to seek His wisdom and write my verses and prose about Him and His love for a person as broken as myself, I have this peace within me.

How do I know?
Because I no longer jump up on my toes and break out into uncontrollable sobs fearing that medical report.


Days ago, I would be laying down and it would flash to my mind that there is a report to be anxious about
and I would actually feel anxious and afraid and I would cry and cry.


It definitely stole my joy!


God provided me with the peace that brought back my joy.
The peace that is the reason I can still write verses and blogs.
The peace that allows me to do the Thanks Therapy with all my heart.
The peace that shows me that no matter what, God is still with me.


God is with me because even after my surgery, we still managed to get my youngest son enrolled in the second semester
God is with me because besides the youngest getting enrolled, the middle son just also got a chance to get listed in a short-term skills course that will start soon.


And I thank God for everything every day..

This thanks therapy took away the worry about the sword above me.
And instead filled me with joy and reassurance that God is with me, no matter what.

this asymptotic relationship with God

Every day, I make it a point to read Christian blogs.
Or listen to a sermon.
To learn things that I cannot learn by myself alone.
To feed my soul with the Bread of Life.


I cannot claim wisdom to interpret the meaning of all Bible passages.
So I pray to God before reading~~
asking Him to teach me how to understand His words.


I do not wish to totally depend on others' wisdom
but I do believe that the people I read and the people I listen to~~
they base their sermons and blogs on the Bible.


And I see the TRUTH of God's words in the way they share it
and the way they live their own lives.


Someone asked: "Are you taking the words of mere human beings as Bible truths"?

No.
But their words are not their own.
They extract God's words from the Holy Book.
They ask for God's guidance in teaching others.


I pick up nuggets of wisdom from other men and women.
They who write and speak about God's Kingdom and God's will for us.


Dietrich Bonhoeffer,a theologian who was martyred by the Nazis during the second world war, wrote:
 
“The Christian needs another Christian who speaks God’s Word to him. He needs him again and again when he becomes uncertain and discouraged, for by himself he cannot help himself without belying the truth. He needs his brother as a bearer and proclaimer of the divine word of salvation.”


That is how I begin understanding the deeper meaning of God's words.
By looking into other Christians' words and experiences.
Their encounters with God in different places and different areas in their lives make plain to me what the difficult verses want to convey.


The Bible was not designed to be an "easy read".


And each time I read other Christians' blogs or listen to what they share~~
Each time is an invitation to open my Bible and see for myself God's promises.
They teach me how to search God's words and build up my faith.
They teach me that all is Grace.
They teach me the value of my life and how much God loves me.



In the past, I have taken single steps towards God and later take two steps backward.
So that I never quite made it there.


This asymptotic relationship with my Maker is like a descending curve that approaches but does not reach the horizontal axis.


I want to know more.
I want to build my relationship with my Creator.
and I want to help others build their relationship with God too.
In whatever way I can.


First to start with my own family.
To bring my children closer to God.
And help them realize what their life is all about.


I want us to get to that point of actually reaching the horizontal axis.


An understanding and acceptance of what God's plan for each one of us is.
To understand that there is a reason that things in our lives happen.
That we may not understand everything because our thoughts are different from God's thoughts. 
To not fear death but instead look forward to the time we join our Creator.


There is so much more to learn.
There is so much more truths to know.
And I pray that the time left for each one of us to live our lives is enough for us to live according to His will.

One more day

I was supposed to visit the doctor's office today for a follow-up check-up after my surgery.
And to know the histopath result.


It is something I am anxious about.
No matter what one would say, a histopath is a histopath.
And it is scary.
It is the medical report that anyone would dread receiving.
Unless of course the paper would say "benign"


For some emergency reason, my doctor didn't make it to her clinic today.
Her secretary, who I sent a text message to, to confirm that I am taking a slot today texted me back within an hour after I messaged that my doctor will be out today and rescheduling me for tomorrow.


It took a minute before it registered to my brain.
It means that the last piece of suture that my doctor is supposed to remove today will have to stay another day.


And that I have to endure another day of this weird feeling knowing there is still something of the surgery that needs to leave my body so I can go ahead and feel that I am actually recovering from the operation.


And most of all, another day of holding my breath waiting for the biopsy result.


Last night, I have prayed and conditioned  myself~~prepared myself for that scenario~but avoiding fear and negative thoughts.
And I went to bed feeling blessed and secure in my thoughts.


For a week now, I have been through crests and troughs...
and highs and lows of confidence that everything is going to be alright.


I am human. It is but natural to feel positive one moment and negative the next.

But I refuse to entertain thoughts now that because of this one more day, all the good hopes that I have been building have come tumbling down. Because they have not.


I see this one more day in another light.
One more day to reflect on what this sickness means.in my life.


It is one more day for me to swing by Ann Voskamp's site to chance upon How to Stop Fears From Stealing Your Crazy Joy


Today someone told me "it's OK to talk to God but if you say God talked to you, you're crazy"


But God does talk to people.
Maybe not vocally.


I have heard Him talking to me many times.
But He used the voices of other people
Or Scriptures.
Or a book, such as one written by AW Tozer.
Or a song, by Don Moen.
Or a blog, by Ann Voskamp


 Like today.

"Lean back into Him.

There is this way of living: abandon all worries and abide in Christ — all is well. 

The relief’s in the release of everything into the hands of God. Isn’t it all safer in His hands anyway? Abandon and abide — all is well."

The Writer says it right again.

ALL IS WELL.

 I smiled as I read.
And then I heard my son playing YouTube music of Don Moen's "I will Sing" album.
My son, his name is Donn too. Don. Donn.


I got out of my room to listen closely.


"Though the fig tree may not blossom
nor fruit beyond the vines
though the labor of the olive may fail
and the fields yield no food
though the flock be cut off from the fold
and there be no herd in the stalls" [Habakkuk 3:17]


Yet, I will rejoice in the Lord.
and i will joy in the God of my salvation
Lord we determine tonight
with all that's in us
that we are going to bless your name
in spite of every circumstance we are facing
we choose to cry
we choose to bless you

 Lord You seem so far away
A million miles or more it feels today
And though I haven't lost my faith
I must confess right now
That it's hard for me to pray
But I don't know what to say
And I don't know where to start
But as You give the grace
With all that's in my heart

Chorus:
I will sing I will praise
Even in my darkest hour
Through the sorrow and the pain
I will sing I will praise
Lift my hands to honor You
Because Your Word is true
I will sing

Lord it's hard for me to see
All the thoughts and plans You have for me
But I will put my trust in You
Knowing that You died to set me free
But I don't know what to say
And I don't know where to start
But as You give grace
With all that's in my heart



Yes.
All is well.
I will Sing.



because when life is HARDEST,
that is when you sing the LOUDEST.
The devil flees at a hymn....

how do you explain your religion?

When you are born and raised in man's religion, how do you tell them you have found what God's religion is?


You tired of rituals.
Of bending the knees to show the others in this religion that you know how to bend your knees.
But the real meaning of bent knees is lost.


You tired of hearing the principle of this religion.
"Come to church on Sundays".
It is just one hour out of the seven 24/hr days that you are given.
Come to church and you are done with what is required of you as a Christian.
Easy.


 I have been wrapped up in this same principle.
Clothed in it for a good many years of my life.
I never learned about earning my riches in heaven
Because I never saw concrete examples.


All I have seen is the pompous life.
The life of ease.
The life opposite poverty.
And the struggle to never become poor in material things.
Motivated by the way of "get", not the way of "give"
Covered by an outer show of the one-hour-a-week religion.


Short memory.
How did they even get to the place they are in now?
By fabricating a story to discredit another?
By accumulating riches with justifications that they toiled for it , therefore they deserved it?


Rituals.
Festivities.
Eating and Drinking.
Merriment.
All justified by the once-a-week ritual of singing, praising, kneeling, standing and honoring the "Jesus" who died on the cross but never left it as he remains nailed to this cross.
Even to this day.


When you start hearing of the hungry in many places~
Of children who die because of drinking unclean water~
Of people who eat only once a day, sometimes not even~
Of people who scrape bowls of left-overs hoping there is something left~
Even if you yourself do not live in the extravagance of good food and comfortable life,
Don't you feel guilt looming over you?


that even in what is considered poverty in the third world,
you still eat three times a day, snacks optional even...


and when your heart is stirred to want to give, to share, to serve~
is that God's religion?

“Pure and lasting religion in the sight of God our Father means that we must care for orphans and widows in their troubles.” (James 1:27)

“And if you give even a cup of cold water to one of the least … when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me.” (Mt: 10:42, 25:40) 

Big houses.

Comfortable homes.

Food well in stock.

To feed the friends in their one-hour religion

To get intoxicated and ridicule the Christians who say Amen for all things good and bad.

The religious who pray long-winded prayers that say nothing at all.

Like the people in the synagogues who show off their religion by what they do when they pray.

Matthew 6:5
"And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full.

All this for what?
For gaining a blessed, eternal life?
For earning a seat in heaven?
Trying to secure in advance a place for themselves after they die?
As if there is anything that they can do or give in exchange for their soul?

Mark 8:36
36 For what shall it profit a man if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul 37 Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul 38 Whosoever __ therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels

You don't have to come face to face with DEATH before you start appreciating your own life and the purpose of your religion.

FIND the MEANING of your own life.
Before you lose it meaninglessly.

We will all lose our lives. 
But its meaning depend on  how you defined yours. 

So how do I tell the next-of-kin why I gave up the one-hour-a-week-religion?

The answer really is, "Why not?"