Comfort foods for the soul (13): Friends and neighbours aplenty
It’s been long held, almost as golden rule, that hirelings would flee under dangerous situations. This is unfortunate and doesn’t need to be. Just remember Dina and Darwati from Indonesia. They got to spend together with the 90 year old up to their final moments …
Comfort foods for the soul (12): Relief
Often in life, our behaviours and efforts attract criticism. It’s useless! What a waste! Comments like these zap the soul out of the most perseverant person. You and I both have seen enough of them. And when we are alone, facing negative people, it’s so painful …
Comfort foods for the soul (11): Relax. This isn’t your stuffs!
“How can there be such a good deal? One does all the bad stuffs and just believes in Jesus in the end! It was just too good to be true.” Being able to be forgiven, after a life of bad deeds is just unfair. This is normally valid. One weak link though …
Comfort foods for the soul (10): Gratitude brings relief
Ever regretted you lost the opportunity to be nicer to your parents who are no longer alive? Why did parents appear so unreasonable and irritating when they were alive, and when you were younger? Perhaps it had to do with immutable generational hostility …
Comfort foods for the soul (9): You are never ignored
I’ve heard that being in a crowd can also be quite lonely. Perhaps many of you reading have similar experiences. But when being alone feels and tastes like no one cares about you, then that gets scary. It’s as if whether you exist or not matters not a single bit. You were living a life of a dead hope. But was your hope really dried up?
Comfort foods for the soul (8): Peace is reachable
Peace. Such a popular word. So easy for some, remote for others. A poem-like verse (Luke 2:14) will naturally transition into the topic of the season: real peace. Where’s peace to be found?
Comfort foods for the soul (7): Always a chance
I only remember one day my mind recalled my dad had said he always prayed to his God. Even after he became too arrogant in front of Him, and suffered, he humbled himself, prayed to his God, and his prayers were accepted!
Comfort foods for the soul (6): Just watch the sound
All flowers, regardless of kinds, all turn towards one direction: the sun! Not just sunflowers! Botanists of course have fulsome explanations. I’m not qualified, so will keep quiet. What I ponder is this: What does the fact that flowers invariably do that say about the creation?
Comfort foods for the soul (5): Even ravens can be useful
Ravens are unclean and detestable, the case is closed. Who would touch them? No one would use them! But perhaps God! It’s recorded that the prophet Elijah was fed by foods brought by none other than ravens! There’s hope for someone like or labelled as ravens …
Comfort foods for the soul (4): “Who Knows?”
When the novelist Ngai Hong (倪匡) was asked if he had felt bad about his English when he first learned it while in San Francisco, his answer was brutal: WHO CARES! Two other words that perhaps have a stronger force are found in the Old Testament: WHO KNOWS …
Comfort foods for the soul (3): The dead in Christ shall rise first
“Several decades later we shall meet.” Those were my dad’s final words. Recently my younger brother recalled: “Just before she passed away in the hospital, mother kept asking me to pray for her to go to heaven.” Guess humans nearing the end have a built-in longing to be there …
Comfort foods for the soul (2): But God meant for good
Anger usually is short term. But it could be brewed into hatred. Morphed into vengefulness. It’s rare to be able to let go. It’s even rarer to be able to see a purpose and a role in it. Definitely a secret to happiness. I found someone …
Comfort foods for the soul (1): Sins Forgiven
My friends took me there to see this man known for working wonders with the power of God. That man saw us and went right to my deeper need. “Your sins are forgiven.” How insightful! But on that day, my concern lied elsewhere …