Interlude: Blurb on gift giving
There is nothing more frustrating than wanting to give someone a gift, but s/he adamantly refuses it. Today I decided to revoke a gift that I had indicated that I would give to a certain somebody. The reason was simple: despite the fact that it was the best possible gift in that league of gifts (yes, millionaires would buy this exact item), the potential gift receiver was skeptical, and that too for no apparently logical reason.
The reason for me offering the item to that person was simple: s/he would be blessed by it. No conditions attached. No strings either both literally and metaphorically. But his/her apprehension is now beyond me!
Two accounts from the gospel have been wringing in my mind of the past few weeks. The first is Jesus encounter with the woman at the well. The gist of that account was this: when Jesus asked the woman for water, he was in fact looking for an opportunity to give her a gift. She eventually received that gift and as a result her and her whole town were blessed by Jesus.
The second is the one where Jesus describes the kingdom of God like a king who prepared a banquet for his son and invited all his friends. They all turned down the invitation and the king got quite fed up with them. He then invited anybody else who would come. They came and were blessed with the exception of the one who came dressed as if he was the centre of attention, and not the King's son (for want of a better description.)
I know that part of the reason Jesus shared that second parable was to communicate that the gospel will be preached and accepted by those who were not initially favoured. He also meant to warn his disciples against being those who do not get on with the programme of the kingdom of God by being distracted by the day-to-day aspects of life. And lots more. But these stories together present to me a pattern, that you never have to force an issue, even if it is a good one.
To him who will receive a good gift joyfully, let him receive it. But as for the one who spurns the gift...
Today has been an interesting day. I did a little more work on "Good sheep, Bad Sheep" which left me begging the question: what is the function of an apostle? The answer to this was very important since in the "Good Sheep, Bad Sheep" paradigm, the apostle is certainly an authority that deserves discussion. But I have only met one and he was also an evangelist anyway.
Somewhere in the back of my mind I knew to light upon Revelation 2 because I suspected that the word 'angel' there had something to do with the word 'apostle'. As the greek lexicon I consult revealed, both words mean 'sent one'. How my mind put two and two together I dont know. I have way too many of those literary coincidences. Perhaps it is as a result of reading the scriptures over and over again, or from my learning of Latin, French and German. Perhaps it is residue from teaching I heard sometime back or a book that I read but cannot remember the author, book or chapter. Who knows. But they happen quite often.
The bottom-line is that it was that "still small voice" again, that same voice that, aside from provoking me to thought on "Good Sheep, Bad Sheep", has been telling me that it's time that drew the boundaries in certain relationships and send people packing.
In this town that I am in, I currently have 4 friends. The first is a guy, whom I absolutely adore, but is sadly going thru the most horrible emotional circumstances. The second and third are two girls both of whom I have had the pleasure of developing a friendship this year. The fourth is another lady who has been a great friend to me, but is taking some strain right now that I dont really know how to handle. I only go to church with one of those people. Of the other three, one's not a christian, another goes to another church and the last was once part of my church.
Tonight, one of the many decisions I made was to make a new friend. I invited him/her for a coffee and /she It happens to be somebody who has tried really hard to give me stuff, but I was still sussing him/her out, to see what s/he really wanted. On Sunday, a horrible day to me on account of illness, stress and solitude, s/he called me wondering why I wasn't at church. The next day we had lunch together and s/he was so patient with me despite the fact that I was verbally incoherent and not able to keep my attention for more than a second or two. When I get sick I feel so embarrassed because I'm not my normal chirpy self, and feel naked and open to abuse, but that lunch time s/he really put me at ease.
It's funny that I discovered that some people had a problem with me missing church. At first I was a little troubled and angered at it thinking, "Next time I have a bloody Sunday, I should tell everybody who is 'concerned' about me how I am doing." Who the concerned ones are, I don't know. They certainly weren't the ones who called me that day.
Today my patience with many people finally ran out. A personal saying of mine on what patience is helped me arrive at that decision: patience is only patience because at some point it actually runs out!
The reason for me offering the item to that person was simple: s/he would be blessed by it. No conditions attached. No strings either both literally and metaphorically. But his/her apprehension is now beyond me!
Two accounts from the gospel have been wringing in my mind of the past few weeks. The first is Jesus encounter with the woman at the well. The gist of that account was this: when Jesus asked the woman for water, he was in fact looking for an opportunity to give her a gift. She eventually received that gift and as a result her and her whole town were blessed by Jesus.
The second is the one where Jesus describes the kingdom of God like a king who prepared a banquet for his son and invited all his friends. They all turned down the invitation and the king got quite fed up with them. He then invited anybody else who would come. They came and were blessed with the exception of the one who came dressed as if he was the centre of attention, and not the King's son (for want of a better description.)
I know that part of the reason Jesus shared that second parable was to communicate that the gospel will be preached and accepted by those who were not initially favoured. He also meant to warn his disciples against being those who do not get on with the programme of the kingdom of God by being distracted by the day-to-day aspects of life. And lots more. But these stories together present to me a pattern, that you never have to force an issue, even if it is a good one.
To him who will receive a good gift joyfully, let him receive it. But as for the one who spurns the gift...
Today has been an interesting day. I did a little more work on "Good sheep, Bad Sheep" which left me begging the question: what is the function of an apostle? The answer to this was very important since in the "Good Sheep, Bad Sheep" paradigm, the apostle is certainly an authority that deserves discussion. But I have only met one and he was also an evangelist anyway.
Somewhere in the back of my mind I knew to light upon Revelation 2 because I suspected that the word 'angel' there had something to do with the word 'apostle'. As the greek lexicon I consult revealed, both words mean 'sent one'. How my mind put two and two together I dont know. I have way too many of those literary coincidences. Perhaps it is as a result of reading the scriptures over and over again, or from my learning of Latin, French and German. Perhaps it is residue from teaching I heard sometime back or a book that I read but cannot remember the author, book or chapter. Who knows. But they happen quite often.
The bottom-line is that it was that "still small voice" again, that same voice that, aside from provoking me to thought on "Good Sheep, Bad Sheep", has been telling me that it's time that drew the boundaries in certain relationships and send people packing.
In this town that I am in, I currently have 4 friends. The first is a guy, whom I absolutely adore, but is sadly going thru the most horrible emotional circumstances. The second and third are two girls both of whom I have had the pleasure of developing a friendship this year. The fourth is another lady who has been a great friend to me, but is taking some strain right now that I dont really know how to handle. I only go to church with one of those people. Of the other three, one's not a christian, another goes to another church and the last was once part of my church.
Tonight, one of the many decisions I made was to make a new friend. I invited him/her for a coffee and /she It happens to be somebody who has tried really hard to give me stuff, but I was still sussing him/her out, to see what s/he really wanted. On Sunday, a horrible day to me on account of illness, stress and solitude, s/he called me wondering why I wasn't at church. The next day we had lunch together and s/he was so patient with me despite the fact that I was verbally incoherent and not able to keep my attention for more than a second or two. When I get sick I feel so embarrassed because I'm not my normal chirpy self, and feel naked and open to abuse, but that lunch time s/he really put me at ease.
It's funny that I discovered that some people had a problem with me missing church. At first I was a little troubled and angered at it thinking, "Next time I have a bloody Sunday, I should tell everybody who is 'concerned' about me how I am doing." Who the concerned ones are, I don't know. They certainly weren't the ones who called me that day.
Today my patience with many people finally ran out. A personal saying of mine on what patience is helped me arrive at that decision: patience is only patience because at some point it actually runs out!
posted by Al Wright | 9:54 pm
1 Comments:
ling give give give- and if he/she(as u so aptly put it) will not accept- you are no less poorer. actually quite the contrary!
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