Fun with the Cross

I recently read in “The Black Book” (It’s a book that was distributed in my church and it includes some form of preparation for each day in lent) a question which went,

                                   “What is lent about?”

Option a: Fasting and Abstinence

Option b: Baptism

Option c: The passion of Christ

I was shocked to read the answer as Option b: Baptism. Aren’t options a and c more relevant? But coming to a consensus, I realized that option b is most suitable because during Easter we renew our Baptismal Vows. But then came upon me the realization that Baptism is the sacrament of initiation, that means we are just getting started. We are preparing for a life in Christ.

Which means reading “The Black Book” daily is not gonna end with Lent, its gonna continue as reading “The Bible” for the rest ov oour laivesss. This is gonna be so tiring.

In fact I’m already tired, that I almost gave up ‘unabstaining’ from what I had tried to abstain from during this lent. But then the day came that I was sad about this and I was in church.

I was early to church as the bus service on that day (during Spring Break) required that I either come 35 minutes early to church for mass or go 20 minutes late. Having arrived early, I was asked to carry the cross in procession at the beginning of that mass. I was super excited about participating in the liturgy in this new Church. The last time I had a chance to do this was few months ago where I took the offertory up to the priest. I get excited about such things J

T minus 2 minutes and I was standing next to the priest with a heavy wooden cross in hand that supposedly costs 14000$ and I dare not drop it, ready to walk in procession. But then I wanted a photo of me carrying the cross and I expressed the same to Father R who was right next to me. He who is the kindest of people looked around to see if anyone had a camera. I suggested we use my phone camera in my pocket.

T minus 1 minute and Father R was holding the cross from my hand and I took out the phone and handed it over to another kind soul and I took back the cross and the photo was taken.

T minus 0 minutes and the procession went on smoothly led by the girl firmly carrying the cross upto the alter and the mass began. And her prayer was,

                              “Lord help me carry the cross

                                                            Tonight and always.”

Well it was a fun experience carrying the cross, so even if lent is only a preparation to carry the cross the rest of our lives, I’m sure God will make a way and make it an exciting way. Now I am all motivated :) God knows how to keep me going... I feel Rejuvenated to make this lent a fruitful one !

Falling

I’m falling down from a great height, there is nothing around me just air, I m falling at great speed. My hands are involuntarily trying to hold on to something, but all I catch hold of is the air.

I don’t know at what height I am, I don’t know when I will hit the ground. Time is passing and I’m still falling, trying to stop myself, trying to get a hold of SOMETHING. But I can only feel the air rush by me as I fall.

I’m very conscious and am waving my hands and legs around trying to save myself, and I got a hold of my Bible from my pocket. I immediately held onto it as if it were a branch of tree that will stop my fall, like it were a rope tied to a rock, like it were my teddy bear in bed, like it were my last packet of food and water, like it were the parachute rope...

Time went by, and I’m still falling, but I have something to hold on to. I've got a grip. I have comfort. I have no fear.

Time is passing, hours, days, years; I m falling all my life. I know not when I will hit the ground, but I have a consolation, a support, a foothold, a hand holding me and words consoling me.

Though I’m falling, I fall peacefully. I will let go of myself and enjoy the fall. If life is meant to be a fall, I will find a way to fall it well with the help of God.

P.S.: Are you falling? Here, take the Bible and hold onto it.

Act I Scene II

Cant believe I've been living so long in this world.. feels like a short while. My mind thinks only of the present moment, But my memory does not fail me as I am reminded of a long past.

A past I pleasantly think of... A lot of memories, from my childhood, youth and every little phase of growth..

Why does life change so constantly?

Why do we grow up?

Why should we move on?

I have spent several trillion seconds on earth.. I want every second to be meaningful...

But by God's grace I have nothing to regret till this second...nothing to regret but a lot to cherish. And I pray that by the grace of God and the guidance of His spirit, i may take every step in life in the name of Jesus, with confidence and never regret it.

Cos i like happy endings :) May I live to spread the love and peace which I receive through Christ. I want to be an example to others,  and want to give another reason to live for those who are suffering in their present life. I want to make my life meaningful.. but not just to myself.. but to all my fellow beings. For everyone is beloved in the sight of God. 

This can be a prayer.. But its also a poem from my heart.. It might include too much Religion. But Faith is my ONLY treasure. Faith in God , the Bible , Jesus Christ, are the reasons for my happiness and my motivation to live. They are the reason for my life to be beautiful in my own sight. 

I am writing this, at a point when I have taken a decision to move on, from one one scene to another, in the play of 'My Life' (or 'Life of Bue' if you please .. Haha) and  such a day is not the first of its kind , in my life. I have moved on many a times, from being a baby to a school kid, from one school to another, from writing in lead, to writing in ink, from short pinafores to salwars, from school to college, from cultural to symposiums, from first semester to eighth semester, from college student to 2012 pass-out, from student to employee, from having class mates to colleagues and team mates. From lead by principal to manager, from appointment confirmation to resignation. Life s constantly changing, today i have realized that its about time I make my life exponentially improve, in peacefulness, happiness, friendship, love and everything thing else that is good. I know I'll do it.. But only by the grace of God!

I don't like this moving on business :( but after trying to analyse my life and after writing this down.. I feel a lot better now... However I will surely miss being in what has passed.

But i m happy I am going to a new scene, with new actors and a new part to play. But I will always remember my actual role which is to entertain the audience, which in my play of life is God and His

greatness!

P.S : Ecclesiastes Ch:3

11 God has made everything fit beautifully in its appropriate time, but he has also placed ignorance in the

human heart so that people cannot discover what God has ordained, from the beginning to the end of their lives.

12 I have concluded that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to enjoy themselves as long as they live,

13 and also that everyone should eat and drink, and find enjoyment in all his toil, for these things are a gift from God.

I stopped waiting.

I was online, a regular Saturday evening, relaxing but waiting impatiently for someone to come online.

I waited for long, very long.

Then i decided to send a message to the person to notify that I am waiting for them, in the form of an image or something. I searched 'am waiting for you' on the internet and while i browsed through and came to the first result; it was a video saying 'I am waiting for you' and I thought it would be just the usual boring love songs you often stumble upon.  I looked into the description and spotted the word 'God' somewhere in the middle and I immediately opened it without a second thought.

I wanted to go to God, I was tired waiting, i needed rest.

Then the video played, it was an instrumental, with lyrics scrolling by. As I watched, I put God in the place of a human, and imagined Him in the same state that I am in and telling me 'I'm waiting for you'. I realized.... someone is waiting for me, and waiting for long, longer than I could ever know.

So I stopped waiting... and decided to write this post :)

The song was beautiful, started with a note about the return of the prodigal son, then it had many beautiful verses about God's concern and affection for me. At the end of the 3 minute video, I felt that my wait has meet its desired end. I am satisfied that my wait ended in this happiness of closeness with God.

So i wanna tell everyone to stop waiting, because there is no reason to wait when God has all the time in the world to respond to us the very next millisecond we raise a need to talk to Him. Why wait for something else when you can always receive something better with no wait. Have you heard of a fairer deal?

PS: Click to watch "I am waiting for you"