The race...

It was a monday morning. Heavy traffic. Driving by itself is difficult. Requires perfect eyes, hands, legs co- ordination, demanding complete presence of mind. With Indian roads and no rules, each driver is the king of the road. It seems as one big circus adventure act. But oh, I know, driving a two wheeler was also scary once. But now, its a piece of cake.. and am sure, I will sure say the same for 4 wheeler driving!

So sitting in the rear seat, letting my mind wander, it stuck me, how we would need the following.
1. Destination. Know where you are headed. Be it to your workplace, shopping, park or beach, or just a long drive, you would have to have a sense of direction, the 'WHERE'. That keeps you in check for other secondary things like, where you have a U- turn, where you can park, where you can stop by for a snack, slow down, take a short route or anything.
2. Fuel. Are you fully loaded? or empty? Can you survive till your destination. Fairly simple eh?
3. Patience. Giving way.Be it traffic jams, an over bridge, a level crossing, or the highway, people are always on the move. They try to get ahead. And sitting behind the wheel, you learn patience, to sit still and give way, and yet move on.

Life is a rat race, in a competitive world. We all run, day in and day out. These 3 things do make lot of sense. 1. Destination. My purpose. What drives me on. Puts me in the right perspective. Helps me see every secondary thing WITH RESPECT TO my sense of purpose.
2.Fuel. Do I have enough energy, strength to move on? Am I charged up, for the days activity? Like a spring, you can get fresh living water every day. But do I dip in to drink it?
3. Patience. Oh I have so many fellow travellers like me. My aunt, my parents, my siblings, friends, in laws, my manager, my collegues, teammates everyone in their own vehicle. We share the same road, and we sure have to learn to give way and not honk at them.
Life is a journey.. very apt!

Hebrews 12:1
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.

Angels...

Complete strangers or friends who cross our ways unexpectedly, call in time of distress, or help out just at the hour of need are sure are considered as angels.

But recently read Frank E. Peretti's books 'This present darkness' and 'Piercing the darkness'. Good novels, fast paced in everyway, but opens your eyes to a new dimension. That you have unseen angels, beside you, encouraging, protecting, and leading you. And then you have lil devils, trying to distract you, and keep you in trouble. ALL THE TIME.

Complacency, Confusion, Hatred, Anger, Despair, Discouragement, Deception, Doubt, Fear,Lust,Jealousy are some of the devils that hover over us. The angels are helpless and bounded, unless the victim,draws strength from the Lord, or some third person is praying for the victim. Then the angels raise their enormous silvery wings, and take the shiny sword and fight the demons.

Though it is a fiction, it sure is scary to know, that you are surrounded by invisible beings. And to know in day to day activities, we could be easily fooled by the devil, IF we are not careful. .......... Discouraged? Confused? Check who's next to you... ;o)

It also, emphasizes the importance of prayer. Praying for your family, relatives, friends, colleagues, people in authority, govt, sick, homeless, orphans, prisoners, destitutes, people you happen to meet or see on the way. Every prayer has its answers, in ways we may never understand. But God is working, always working in the background.

For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways;Psalms 91:11.
Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?Heb 1:14

Seize the moment!

You can see it only in the open, and not in the city. The vast sky. In Mahindra City where I work, you have ample space. Every evening, the dusk brings a beautiful painting across the skies.

I bet, there's an angel appointed by God, whose job is to just paint the sky, blue, red, orange, pink and what not. The brush strokes are visible. But the catch is, they last for under a minute. If you don't see it, u have missed it forever. The evening sky changes every second that, it is breathtaking and you could just look at it in awe.

Oh yeah, I've wondered, that on one fine day, the angel will go on a strike, saying, that nobody watches his painting! How plain the sky would be then!! So, now I ensure that I look up, thank God for the painting he arranges every day, to just make my day!

I often, compare the present with the past or the future, for which a good friend reprimands, saying live the moment. "Just live the moment, dont let it go by to regret that later! " .
If you don't live it, u have missed it forever.

Lesson from Mr.Moon.

Fresh red plump tomatoes( in vegetable shop), bunch of flowers on trees( they look as if they laugh), single flower ( looks like smiling), Swaying trees( trees of the field clapping their hands), the drizzle on the face, the breeze against your hair and yr face( as you ride a vehicle) ..and all time favorite is the moon..half moon, the smiley moon, full moon.

So, this was one of those moon days. After a long day in office, started home late. That's when I spotted the moon. It was extra bright.white. Full, and almost bulging out from the sky. Just beautiful. Unable to contain it, I called one of my friend in prev company, to check it out. Bearing my pestering, he left his desk, to climb upstairs to check the sky. But lo, he couldn't spot it. We were, say 20 kms apart. When I could see the moon in a clear sky. There it was too clouded, and the moon was behind the dark clouds. Strange.Same moon, same city.

Learnt a lesson that day. Situation could be same. But perspective might/could differ. A fact. Got to accept it. Honor it. Agree to it.

Expectations!

To my orkut profile's "Inspite of everything, I still believe people are good at heart", a dear friend scraped, saying, 'You are bound for great disappointments then'. I had replied saying 'Expectations results in disappoinment, I don't expect them to be good, I know they are good'.

But at times, I do expect my family to be more understanding, my friends to be more caring, my team to be more responsible. I have an imaginary standard set, and when people fall short of it, I get all upset!

And as I was walking from home this morning, I realised how wonderful our God is! He is the only one who accepts as we are. Without any expectation. Then it struck me that the opposite of 'expecting' is not 'not expecting' but 'accepting' as they are.

Accepting them as they are, with tantrums, with disagreements, with mistakes and all shortcomings.We are called to be like Him, in loving, caring, understanding and helping each other. We are called to be as 'true friend' to people around us as He's to us.

Oh, this is difficult, if the first step, of seeing the good in them-as God's image is not achieved.

Eph5:1 Be imitators of God.

I hate walking!

Read that as "I used to hate walking". Not that I LOVE walking now. Just that I don't mind walking!
Since childhood, due to weak legs or what ever, I have excused myself from long walks. I declined to go to shops nearby, even in emergency. There have been times, when my bicycle had no air, or my 2 wheeler had no petrol, and the entire plans were cancelled. I just wouldn't budge.
It all changed. ONE-In Mcity, its mandatory you walk between buildings. TWO-Our road to home is being laid for the past 8 mths and has been impregnable. So I walk.As I am forced to.

But it all changed. I got a friend who loves walking. She doesn't hype about it. No air about it. But I've seen her enjoy it. Being friend, you imbibe some qualities. I guess, I am absorbing it slowly. I learnt an important lesson as well. You need not tell anyone about the Good news, the good things, or advices. You just live it. As they get close to you, they just read and imbibe the news. Just as I learn from my friend.

"Your walk talks and your talk talks, but your walk talks louder than your talk talks. So walk not in darkness as children of the night. Walk EVEN as Jesus walked. Walk as children of Light. "

Black or White

I've loved this song, from school days.
"I only see things black and white, Never shades of gray...." Everytime I humm this song, it reminds me of the gray areas in my life. There can be Black or White. No gray. I am not always good. Neither am I bad. Neither the best, nor the worst. I am inbetween. Sometimes. Attimes. Oscillating.

But I am called to be 'Perfect', to be 'Excellent', to imitate Christ. Huh. Practicaly impossible in this world. My entire life will be spent in 'trying'. But what it actualy conveys is, 'not to settle for mediocrity'. To strive and be focussed. TCS induction has a video of Tata, saying 'No growth without learning'. When learning stops, growth stops too. I must learn, I would fall, get muddy all over. But what if I settle and get comfortable being muddy. That's mediocrity. The challenge is to shake off the dust, get up and move towards my goal. That's excellence.

So, here I am, trying to be more loving, forgiving, more understanding, caring, praying, in humility and servanthood. I can't remain in gray shade. I've made a choice, and am pressing on. With His help.

' More of you in my life...' . 'My heavenly father, wants me to be like Him...' 'Be Excellent in what is good' Matthew 5:48 '...be perfect..' Phil 3:12 "..but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me."
http://www.lyricsdownload.com/robbie-mcauley-teach-me-how-to-dream-lyrics.html - me n my bro changed lyrics and sing it in a diff way.. it is a lovely song :)

Walls or Bridges

Bricks. We all have that in our hands. Our words, our intonation, our facial expressions, gestures, the attitude, the mood, the way we carry ourselves.

Bricks can be used for building walls, or bridges, between us and people. To build someone, or break them/shut them up.

Like it or not, we do build something daily, everyday. Walls or bridges. Our deepest desire, to love, care, understand, respect, trust another person, to treat another person with dignity and put ourself in their shoes, to empathize, feel and love, ALL people we meet in our daily life is challenging.

Be it a driver, our house maid, yr mom, a friend, a colleague, a stranger, a security, a housekeeper, or just anyone.
What do I build? Walls or Bridges?

The love triangle...

I learnt this years ago, and its a simple truth. Any relationship on earth, is bound to have hiccups down the road. Be it a misunderstanding, a grudge, hurt or a disappoinment. It happens between mom-son, husband-wife, mom-daughter, friends. Reason being, our love is limited and expecting. To put yourself in others shoes all the time is difficult. To give 100% to someone, and receive lesser or none, is sure discouraging.

But when we see a person in God's image, and see God in him and love, not because of that person, because of your love to God, its a different experience. If you love the person directly, it has its own defects. Too much love/passion on a person, is bound to break up sometime as we see only the good in him/her initialy and then when we get to see the other side of the person, it stinks and hard to get by!. But when you love that person with God's love, it makes it possible. So even when there is mistake, or disappointment, we have a bigger love that can cover up everything.

Its important, that we bring God into ALL our relationship to make it strong and secure. We love the person not because of their character or goodness, but because of God's love for that person. I draw closer to Him and He draws closer to you. Thereby we draw closer to eachother and in Him we stand complete. It becomes easy to forgive, forget, understand, care, and love unconditionally. The triangular love becomes beautiful and unshakeable.

I Corinthians 13 only then becomes possible.
4Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
Ecclesiastes 4:12" ..A rope made of 3 cords is hard to break.. "

Taking a dip..

Difficult people. We have them everywhere. Be it neighbours, shops, buses, office, friends, relatives, or even family! Its just difficult to adjust and we are commanded to love them. Just as we love God.

Difficult. But taking a dip helps. Yes, another visualisation. I imagine God's love as a water pool. When I encounter an irritating person, I close my nose and take a dip. Let the water cover all of me. Water wets instantly. Fills all gap. Even minute hairline gaps. Getting drowned in His love helps. And as I come out of the water as if in baptism, my outlook changes, I could see as Christ sees. With love.

"Love your enemies.. " Luke 6:27
"Do unto others what you want them to do to you " Lke 6:31.