Choco-Chip Cookie

The single most important difference between humans and animals is higher consciousness is that as humans, we are not only self-conscious, but we are aware of the fact that we are limited by time and space. We therefore value time and we regret it when we waste it. We celebrate birth as the beginning of new life and all the possibilities that could come about through them. Such a joy also entails expectations from that newborn baby. In contrast to the joy of new life, we grieve over death, because we know that we cannot cherish the loved ones we’ve lost anymore, in this world. Time, therefore, adds colossal value to the existing relations that we enjoy.


Sandwiched between birth and death are decades, years, months, days, hours, minutes, and seconds. We spend most of this time eating, drinking, sleeping, dressing, travelling, working, etc. While all of these things can become wearisome with time, there is a gift given to us by God- to keep our hearts warm. That gift helps us to draw meaning and purpose in the little things of life. That gift is the gift of friendship. And along with true friendship comes love, empathy, and warmth. Without friendship, humans would die under the burden of monotony. Even the devil likes company and he has a lot of it. I think it was a great friend who said – “Friends are the chocolate chips in the cookie of life.” I believe so!


I thank God from the bottom of my heart that He has given me a family of friends. I enjoy some of the best friends in the world. They not only add color and happiness to my life, but they show me my flaws in a constructive way. Proverbs 27:17 says that as iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend. Friends are the mirrors in life. They show you who you are, without negatively judging you. A true friend will criticize you to your face but will also have your back in your absence. A true friend is the one who honestly rejoices in your victories and sticks close through the defeats. They know every ounce of you, but they love you with every ounce they have. Through the thick thin of life, friends become a safe haven.


Joseph Scriven, when he was in the lowest valley of his life, wrote one of the most loved hymns called- What a Friend we have in Jesus. And friend, He is! The world sees Jesus as the founder of a religion called Christianity but Christians see Him through a prism. Christ is not just one thing to us. He is our all in all, He is our everything. He is our God, High Priest, Redeemer, Lover, Savior, and very importantly, a Friend. In John 15:15, our Lord very lovingly tells His disciples- “I have called you friends.” In an age when the followers would serve their condescending Rabbis, Jesus called His disciples, friends. Not only did He call them friends, but He also showed it to them, to us, and to the whole world. He died for them who knew Him and for us who did not know Him! He died for His contemporaries who saw Him, touched Him and ate with Him. He died for us who did not even exist two millennia ago. Only a friend could do that. Joseph Scriven felt that warmth reaching out to Him during the 19th century. We feel that same warmth envelop us here in our own lifetime. There are millions of people who do not know that Jesus died for them, personally. Oh how I wish that they will know about this true friend!


Jesus is a friend of friends! I’ve tasted His friendship and I have seen Him walk with me through the annals of my short lifetime. I am sure that you too have experienced some form of goodness in your life. Give yourself a break from the buzz of life and thank the true friend for His love. But, don’t just stop there! Cherish and love the friends that He sent your way, as if to say, “You can’t see me so I sent you these friends, to show you my love.”


“There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”
-Jesus

Checked in yet?

Psalm 34:8-“Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him”

Have we tasted the goodness of The Lord Almighty?

When we are traveling with luggage by flight we usually check it in leaving us with just our hand luggage so we are like free birds till we reach our destination. And then we need to stand around the belt and try to recognize our luggage careful not to bring home someone else’s. We also tie ribbons or some identification for us to recognize our bags at times. Don’t we? Familiar with this scenario?

Well that’s what we do when we travel. The funny story is, we carry all our hurt, guilt, fear and burdens of our past with us, everyday, 24/7! We don’t pass the check in counter and so we just have to carry it around . For instance I had this major fear of rain because of a mini tiny flood I was stuck in and ever since, rain always brings fear into my mind.

And so here’s the good news for you and me – we have a loving Father who is waiting for us to have our fears and doubts and worries checked in. The even better news is that there are no charges for excess baggage!

So let’s taste and see that the Lord is good and abide in Him and Let Go and LET GOD.

Lord, I’m handing over my thoughts, feelings, Monday blues, everything to you. Give me the strength to get through this day. Amen.

Tread the thorny trail

Matthew 7:14 “But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.”

There was a road in the college that I studied in, which diverged into two, a tarred road and a sandy road. Every time I walked past that road the philosopher in me would wake up and mostly think about “the road not taken” by Robert Frost (it’s a poem we learnt in school) and my most recent visit to these roads actually made me think differently than my initial interpretation of Robert Frost’s poem. I now think of choosing the narrow road not because it’s “the road not taken by many” or “the road less trodden” but because we are called by our Father in heaven to be a part of his perfect plan, the big picture.

I am reminded of the story of the Prodigal son who went for the riches of the world, but later came back to his father. We are like prodigal children almost everyday, but don’t really realize it.

Ida Scudder, Mother Theresa, Iris Paul, Graham Staines, to name a few had actually chosen “The road not taken”. They could have led their comfortable lives back in their homes but they heard the call of the Father in heaven who sent His one and only son to earth to save us for our sins.

Lord I hand over my time,my talents, and anything you ask of me today to you. Lord let it be used for your glory. Help me to face my day with heavenly grace and courage,guard my mouth and the words that come out of them. Lord be with me. Amen.

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