Past reflections...

From my Facebook Notes, as written last year. For the sake of updating my blog, lol.

May 9th.

"Anne Shirley: Can’t you even imagine you’re in the depths of despair?
Marilla Cuthbert: No, I cannot. To despair is to turn your back on God."
- Anne of Green Gables

We all have faith. Perhaps a belief in things unseen. Or a trust in an omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent higher being. A confidence that we all have a part to play in the grand scheme of life, and the calm and peace that arises from knowing that all that happens is planned.
Yet we despair, we stress, we complain and whinge when things do not go our way. Faith is best manifested in acceptance - of both good and bad. For the trials and challenges we overcome are not without purpose. We learn, we change, we become better people for every hurdle we clear, every journey completed, every step taken.
We cannot see the trails we must tread, but at every fork in the road, we make a choice. A decision. To continue on the same path, or to change the direction. What governs our resolution? The here and now, or the destination we have in sight?

"We live by faith, not by sight."
- 2 Corinthians 5:7

April 20th:

"Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing, some people have entertained angels without knowing it."
-Hebrews 13:2-

Today's world is a dangerous place. And many times, I am inclined to be cynical and pessimistic, more inclined to believe in Man's evil than in the potential for goodness that lies beneath. We are brought up to be cautious, to not trust easily. We lose our naivete and innocence at an early age. I remember when I was nine years old, a boy went missing back home and until today, has not been found. The tension and fear and worry was almost palpable then. My mother would not allow my siblings and me to go anywhere unaccompanied. Rumours were flying everywhere- that the boy had been sold in Thailand, that his organs were harvested and put on the black market, that he had his limbs amputated to elicit sympathy from passers-by so that they would give generously to the little beggar boy...

It kind of makes me wonder, how am I to live the verse above today. I know I have to contextualize,and not compromise, but how do I show hospitality to strangers in today's day and age? Yet, God asks us to. And this verse struck a note in my heart. I do not know why yet, but perhaps it ignited this spark of hope that maybe, maybe all hope is not lost yet. Redemption is still possible, and not all mankind is corrupt and untrustworthy. Faith in God and His work in us and through us will never be misplaced. And He will never ever let us down. Call me idealistic, unrealistic or a Pollyanna, but I will have faith in Him.

"Strangers are just family you have yet to come to know."
-The Blue Man, as written by Mitch Albom-
The Five People You Meet In Heaven