“As he said this, a woman in the crowd raised her voice and said to him, ‘Blessed is the womb that bore you, and the breasts that you nursed!’ But he said, ‘Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!'”
When I heard this verse yesterday it really intrigued me. What instantly leapt to my mind is when we perform a song in church or whatever and then this friendly auntie waddles up to you and tells you that you sing very well or that you're very handsome or that your mum is so fortunate or that you're so fortunate to be raised by your mum, and sometimes, even how much they wished their children will be like you...
and really, it feels like this verse is addressing just that.
As Jesus was teaching, a woman, probably awestruck by his teaching, blurted these words. Apparently the word "rather" does not have the adversative force we tend to have in English and so it means something just like "and".
So I don't want to go so extreme here. Jesus didn't say "no my mother is not blessed to have me", he was acknowledging that Mary was indeed blessed to have him, but he wanted to emphasise something else.
"Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!"
He doesn't want the lady to miss this. It is one thing to marvel at Jesus, it is another to be consumed by that marvel that you fail to notice the implications it has for yourself.
If Jesus is really that good with the word of God then the appropriate response is to listen to him and keep the word of God.
If the anthem was really that well sung then please let it have a place in your life. Don't stop at the marvelling, don't let the marvel close your heart from the work of God.
Tuesday, July 12, 2016
Monday, July 11, 2016
Ambushed by Grace
So I was initially quite sore about coming to new town because no other scholars were being posted to the school and... as a pattern continuing since JC, onto Army and into University, I feel like once again I'm being thrown into a new place alone.
It didn't take me more than just a few days to change my mind though. This place is pretty awesome. My mentors are all very kind and loving people who aren't the least bit uptight.
The HOD in particular is very enthusiastic about teaching me and exposing to the different challenges as well as the answers that she has developed over the years.
It was also particularly unexpected that a former schoolmate of mine should take me for social studies. The other younger teachers are also all really easy to interact with. There's been a bit of ugliness so far, but as a whole, all is well.
But I think most curious of all is bumping into former HOD humanities in PJC and the conversation we had.
It began with a casual question about whether I've been going back to PJC. I replied no and without him asking for it, I offered an explanation as to why I haven't been. For me it's about the bad taste the whole A levels results left for me, of how I felt like they were trying to market me or claim credit for my results... such that teachers would pretend to know me, or claim to have mentored me in the scholars programme (which I was never in to begin with).
And so, entering a serious tone, he told me that he could sense that I have many burdens and bitterness from that time that I have yet to put down. He told me about many things but I guess most importantly, he told me that I should come to terms with them and move on.
He also explained to me that a big reason why I got my scholarship was because of the principal's recommendation. That... was a very humbling moment for me. I've always found it puzzling how I got bumped for consideration of a higher scholarship, of how angering the permanent secretary did not jeopardise my chances and... I guess I used to attribute it simplistically to the idea that "well, I must be that awesome then".
This former HOD was quick to point out that he didn't mean that I have no substance, but he reminded me that the selection process is a lot more thorough than I imagined. His point was that be it as it may that I have bad memories from PJ, there are ways in which I am indebted to it, there are many things I learnt from it that I must certainly not discount.
He then concluded pragmatically that for the good of my career I should be careful to paint a holistic picture of my experience in school. He cautioned me from foolhardily expounding exclusively on the bad things I experienced.
"If you think of yourself as a perceptive person, why do you not show that you have perceived the benefits too?"
These circumstances are very strange and unexpected indeed and I can't think of a better way to say it than that it's like an ambush of grace.
I think about the frustrations that I still struggle with... the things (or person) that God doesn't seem intent on giving me at all... and I just want to weigh it with the grace that I've experienced these few weeks.
And I want my restless heart to repeat this after me,
It didn't take me more than just a few days to change my mind though. This place is pretty awesome. My mentors are all very kind and loving people who aren't the least bit uptight.
The HOD in particular is very enthusiastic about teaching me and exposing to the different challenges as well as the answers that she has developed over the years.
It was also particularly unexpected that a former schoolmate of mine should take me for social studies. The other younger teachers are also all really easy to interact with. There's been a bit of ugliness so far, but as a whole, all is well.
But I think most curious of all is bumping into former HOD humanities in PJC and the conversation we had.
It began with a casual question about whether I've been going back to PJC. I replied no and without him asking for it, I offered an explanation as to why I haven't been. For me it's about the bad taste the whole A levels results left for me, of how I felt like they were trying to market me or claim credit for my results... such that teachers would pretend to know me, or claim to have mentored me in the scholars programme (which I was never in to begin with).
And so, entering a serious tone, he told me that he could sense that I have many burdens and bitterness from that time that I have yet to put down. He told me about many things but I guess most importantly, he told me that I should come to terms with them and move on.
He also explained to me that a big reason why I got my scholarship was because of the principal's recommendation. That... was a very humbling moment for me. I've always found it puzzling how I got bumped for consideration of a higher scholarship, of how angering the permanent secretary did not jeopardise my chances and... I guess I used to attribute it simplistically to the idea that "well, I must be that awesome then".
This former HOD was quick to point out that he didn't mean that I have no substance, but he reminded me that the selection process is a lot more thorough than I imagined. His point was that be it as it may that I have bad memories from PJ, there are ways in which I am indebted to it, there are many things I learnt from it that I must certainly not discount.
He then concluded pragmatically that for the good of my career I should be careful to paint a holistic picture of my experience in school. He cautioned me from foolhardily expounding exclusively on the bad things I experienced.
"If you think of yourself as a perceptive person, why do you not show that you have perceived the benefits too?"
These circumstances are very strange and unexpected indeed and I can't think of a better way to say it than that it's like an ambush of grace.
I think about the frustrations that I still struggle with... the things (or person) that God doesn't seem intent on giving me at all... and I just want to weigh it with the grace that I've experienced these few weeks.
And I want my restless heart to repeat this after me,
"You are my Lord; I have nothing good besides You"
I shared this Saturday that these days I've been considering one thing, so as to not dishonour God. I've been asking myself if there were anything that I really wanted, that in fact, I also currently possess. It has brought much joy to my heart that... I really want to have a mended relationship with God and deliverance from my depravity and that in fact these things are granted to me.
It's like potato chips I say, it's like when I'm seated in front of the computer and I suddenly feel like having some chips and then I realised that I had bought some the other day but had forgotten about them. Realising that then, I find the chips and I am overjoyed, to want something and to actually just simply have it.
Now, that's a thought really worth meditating upon.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)