The Divorce: Part I and Part II
Part IThe Beginner had a pet which follows wherever The Beginner goes.
Well, I use "had" here, simply because that pet is no longer by The Beginner's side.
But for a period in time, it was close to its master.
So very close.
The Beginner called it Python.
And just in case you are wondering,
Python isn't a snake...at least it wasn't at that time.
It was a beautiful animal, it looked like the mythical phoenix, but more than that.
The Python aroused awe and wonder from all other animals in the animal kingdom.
It was...phenomenally, beautiful.
Python was obedient and submissive, and absolutely loving to The Beginner.
However, after some time, Python's love for The Beginner began to grow perverted.
It wanted to be just like The Beginner...but it did not dare to express it.
And Python hid this desire within it for a long, long time.
And one night.
It all erupted.
Python saw how marvellous the light glistened from The Beginner's Heart of Gold, while The Beginner was fast asleep. It was a light that was far too attractive, far too lovely...and definitely...far too tempting for Python.
And so it went for the Heart of Gold on The Beginner's chest.
Python knew that taking the Heart of Gold would mean killing The Beginner.
But Python could no longer withstand the lure of it.
And although Python had heard numerous stories of how The Beginner's Heart of Gold could kill as much as heal, Python decided to take a chance.
He was afterall, The Beginner's pet. He knows how compassionate The Beginner will be.
And so, Python went for it.
Its claws stretched forth...towards The Beginner's Heart.
"Surely, you know that you will die."
Those words rang in Python's ears. It was as if The Beginner is speaking to Python from The Beginner's sleep.
But Python went for it still.
And in the shadow of the moonlight of that very night...The Beginner's Heart glowed...and then radiated the brightest light ever.
In that instant, Python was transformed.
And it became what we know of the python today. It grew to became the ugliest creature destined to die a horrid death one day.
And in place of its ivory beak and sparkling feathers, were fangs of the most fearsome kind, and scales of the most hideous morbidity...
In giving in to the darkness within its heart, Python has fallen.
And onwards from then, Python vowed...
To destroy The Beginner.
Part IIAnd Python was there when The Beginner started The Village.
Ah...yes, The Village, which you and I talked about previously.
The Village was the dream of The Beginner.
The Beginner had been wanting to build a perfect dwelling place for a long time.
So one fine day, The Beginner did it.
The Beginner started to build The Village.
And the more The Beginner did it, the more The Beginner loved it.
And so, The Beginner built a civilization with The Beginner's bare hands.
Houses were constructed, dams digged, rivers opened up and roads paved.
The Beginner did them all alone.
And when it was all done, it was the most beautiful place to live in, on planet Earth.
The Beginner brought the poorest and the most disregarded people on the surface of the Earth into The Village. The Beginner want to shine light from The Beginner's Heart of Gold into the lives of these people.
And so, The Beginner gathered from all corners of the world, orphans and widows, the poor and the dying...into The Village.
Healing took place from the moment these people entered The Village.
Healings of the body, healings of the heart, they all took place.
The Beginner wanted the people in The Village to live with The Beginner, and at the same time also have control over the place they can call home.
And so The Beginner elected from among all the people in The Village, a boy, to be The Chief of The Village.
Hope and peace was only before their eyes.
And The Beginner was very glad.
Because this was the dream at the back of The Beginner's mind all along.
And if only we can end the story here and say "The End."
But Python would not allow that to happen. Remember, he was all out to destroy The Beginner?
Oh yes, and all that The Beginner love, Python will destroy...
And The Chief of The Village will follow in that familiar path of Python...and I can't wait to tell you what took place on that fateful day.
It was the day the Heart of Gold had its first crack...and blood...yes, red human blood dripped from it.
I'm sorry, but the story is heading to some really sad turns.
The Beginner
[ The Writer would like to apologise for taking such a long break to manage his exams. Stay tuned for more stories on The Village from now... ;) ]Have you heard of the term "The Beginner"? I'm sure you do.
It refers to an amateur, a novice, a greenhorn, right?
That's the way we understand it in our world...
Not in this village.
The mere mention of the title "The Beginner" never has anything to do with any common man.
"The Beginner", always have been associated with respect, prestige and even to some, fear. This is because, the title "The Beginner" is not just a mere title.
"The Beginner" is the name of the discoverer of the civilization of this village.
( "What?!" You may say..."Absurdity of all absurdities!" Yes, but this is how it goes in this village. A "beginner" refers to a person who "begins" something, here in this village. )
Stories were told from generations to generations about who "The Beginner" is and what "The Beginner" had done.
Some spoke of "The Beginner" as an old man full of wisdom, long beard and always dressed in robes...others passed on tales about "The Beginner" as a swift and suave warrior, full of chivalry and charm, weilding swords and spears on a magnificent steed.
Still, some spoke fondly of how "The Beginner" is a tremendous person with a Heart made of the purest Gold in the universe. They meant it in the literal sense. "The Beginner"'s Heart never fails to emit light wherever "The Beginner" goes, they say. Light just radiate about "The Beginner"'s chest. And just like all gold, it can melt too.
What causes "The Beginner"'s Heart of Gold to melt...?
Now that is an interesting question.
I will leave it to the next entry...which will arrive sooner than you think it will.
And if u noticed close enough, I did not answer any of the questions raised at the end of the last entry about "The Well". Well...(pun intended!)...all the questions raised so far, including the one above, will have their justified conclusion, in the next entry.
And patience, my dear reader, is a beautiful virtue.
The Well
The entire village depends on this well for all their water needs.
And so respected is this well that, songs and paintings were created to glorify it.
But it looks really like any typical well.
Old, broken, ugly...
Yes, ugly.
You know, fairy tales often have this twist about ugly things: they are really beautiful deep within.
But not for this well.
This well really is ugly.
And at the bottom of the well, you can see why.
The floor of the well lies an animal.
A rotting animal.
A rotting python.
A rotting python with a dead and rotting baby boy in its embrace...
And though the python is rotting,
it is not dead.
Every morning, just before sunrise,
the creature would open its mouth to chew a piece of the rotting boy,
unleashing the deadly stench of death into the waters of the well...
Just in time for the villagers to draw their daily supply of water.
I shan't write more.
How did it get here?
Don't the villagers know a thing about it?
Who is the dead boy?
The Small Village
Once upon a time, in a land not too far away, there is a small village.
It was a peaceful and lovely place.
Everyone lived harmoniously with one another there.
There is a well in this village.
And everyone drinks from this well.
However, unknown to all, the bottom of this well lies a deadly secret.
It is a secret which must never be discovered.
It is a secret which threatens to destroy the village.
It is a secret which must not even be talked about.
...so says the legends passed down through generations in the village.
But I am not a member of the village.
And I do believe I am therefore not bound to not reveal what I do know about the place.
I want to tell you about it...
The Great Difference
The biggest difference between Man and all of God's other creations
(including animals, plants, sun, the angels, etc...)
lies in the fact that Man and only Man alone,
is an Intrinsic Creation.
All other creation belong under the category of Instrumental Creation.
Intrinsic things have value of their own, and on their own.
Intrinsic creation exist for its own good.
Instrumental things have value based on their uses.
Instrumental things exist to serve a certain good.
Understanding the above will enable one to better grasp the reasonings for questions like:
- Why does God still allow options in this world, since Jesus is the only Way?
- Why does God leave Man in hell if Man refuses to believe in Jesus?
The above is just a brief introduction to this topic.
We shall talk more about it in time to come.
Instrumental Creation VS. Intrinsic Creation
Do you know which of the above you are?
Ponder, ponder.
Think and wonder.
Are you an Instrumental Creation?
or
Are you an Intrinsic Creation?
2 Advantages Of Being Under Cover
Ever felt like not submitting to spiritual authority above you?
Check out these two benefits:
1. Acknowledging God's Sovereignty Over Me By coming under the leadership God has assigned for me, I recognise that God knows better than me. Sometimes, I think I know better, but that is a path too familiar with fools. God never promised me with leaders who will meet up to MY expectations, and I have to be careful to not think that MY expectations are the best for me.
2. Pride-grinding At Its Finest "Consider others better than yourself" - When I feel superior to my contemporary, pride is fostered within my soul. When I feel superior to my leader, I find myself in a similar mindset which Lucifer once possessed. Obedience is precisely so called, because, to do something which I would do in the absence of an order, do not require obedience. I crush that looming hint of self-centredness within me when I obey God's authourity over me. Like Theologian Stephen Tong would say, "合理的是训练，不合理的是磨练"。And I find myself learning how to grind my pride and ego - the very things which can pave the path for me to hell.
Mind Over Heart
When I don't feel like reading the Bible,
When I don't feel like reaching out to friends who need to know the love of Jesus,
When I don't feel God is near me,
It is time for me to stop letting my heart rule my entire being
by what I "feel",
It is time to let my mind tell my heart what to do.
My mind will direct my heart.
Because my heart can be so prone to fail to detect what is REALLY the best for me.
But...
Would that mean...that I am being dishonest to myself?
Would that mean...that I am not being true to my feelings?
No.
Because,
What good is it to me, if I am so "honest" and "true" to my feelings,
But, yet I lose grip of the best thing about life: God?
I do know one thing,
It never was about me, to begin with.
Solitude
Everything in its time, Father.
I look to You, Father.
To You...
Father.
R.E.A.L. Fellowship
Are we having real Fellowship?
One of the 5 purposes of a Christian's life is Fellowship.
However, how often do we truly fellowship?
Is having a drink at a coffee house, fellowship?
Is having lunch together, fellowship?
Though these are ways which allow us to connect with one another well,
we have to be aware that the biblical definition of fellowship differs quite a bit.
In Acts, we see the lifestyle of the early followers of Christ as being closely-knitted where they broke bread frequently.
There is something about the time spent together for those early Christians.
They grew stronger and deeper in Christ as they spend more time together.
On this note, I began to take a closer look at the type of activities we label as fellowship...and realise that more often than not, we may fall short in this area.
R - Readiness to share about life's happenings.True fellowship always opens up one to another.
This first layer of Fellowship is whereby we spend time updating our lives, the interesting happenings of our lives, the good, the bad and the ugly, to one another. Perhaps over a bite or a drink too.
However, we must never stop at this level, as to do so would render the gathering nothing more than a social gathering.
E - Expressive about spiritual walk.This aspect of Fellowship breaks the resistance to talk about the 'sensitive' topic of our private walk with our Lord.
More often than not, we may find this coupled with reluctance as we may either find it as something too intimate to share.
Or we may just be guilty for not walking right with God recently.
To be expressive about our spiritual walk therefore allows us to encourage and spur our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ with how God is speaking and working in our lives.
Similarly, it serves to remind those who have wandered off, to return.
A - Acknowledge personal weaknesses.I personally find this area important especially for a group which is readily willing to share deeply about the things of God and their journeys in Christ.
A constant sharing about the goodness of God is right and good, but bearing in mind that there will always be some of us who may be in the desert, we ought to have a conducive atmosphere for some of us who are finding hard to see God in their lives at the moment.
Besides, spiritual pride is easily fostered in a group which do not value the confessing of our weaknesses to one another.
L - Look to God.The last aspect of true Fellowship is that we always look to God at the end of the day.
No matter how weak we may be, no matter how bad things may be, our ultimate focus should always be directed back to our Abba Father, the Maker of all things, to Jesus Christ, the Author and Finisher of our faith and the Holy Spirit, who speaks to us continually in our hearts.
A session which lacks this aspect, seldom lifts a person spiritually.
And if the session is peppered with much complaints and grumbles, it will result in a group of Christians indulging in a very worldly time together.
Looking unto God and repenting, will therefore be an inevitable step to close that session.
