The Prayer Grotto

These are the days of Lent.

Days to Good Friday and Easter

It is really therapeutic to have the time to cool down and recall, recount and remember people, occasions and sometimes even conversations and expressions done. The church teaches right values, attitudes and dispositions at all times and on all occasions. But alas, surely the human flesh is weak and sinful, almost always doing things against what is taught and told.
This lent period is especially appropriate as it pulls us together to once again examine ourselves as truthfully as possible and then make amendments so that relationships are made right.
The Holy Book has time and again emphasised on the need to walk right with the people around us may it be friends, family and loved ones. It is a difficult path to walk for we are like living time bombs...ready to explode at the slightest provocation. And yet , that is precisely the yoke I have to carry each day. Talk right, walk right and be right in accordance to biblical principles. A heavy yoke which needs God's grace and pardon time after time.
But it is this living relationship that makes my belief meaningful. A living relationship with a God who prompts, corrects, loves and guides us each day through a constant reminder from the Holy Spirit and this impending inner voice that makes you want to walk in the light. May I be forgiven for the number of times I have failed. The beauty of the faith is that I am forgiven when I ask for it and I am reminded to go on.
At the cross, my sins are nailed and a sacrifice has been made for me. The pastor said last Sunday in church that nothing is free. I have been set free at a cost. The cost of death at the cross.
Greater still is the news that my faith is made relevant when Jesus rose from the tomb on Easter Sunday...a reminder that He is alive and He will come back again.
I look forward to this season, a constant reminder of our Saviour's sacrificial act at the cross and the hope of His return to be with us.
I see this walking relationship with God made real in a tangible way when daddy constantly avails himself to menial tasks in the church despite his tight and hectic schedule. Last thursday after dinner, he told me he had to be in church to set up a prayer corner for members to meditate during this Lent season. As usual, he piled up pots after pots of plants and I wondered what he was up to. Married for a good 26 years, I have the fullest assurance that he knows what he does each time and I was sure it would be another masterpiece.
Just a couple of days ago, a thought struck me and I wondered what had become of the corner. I vividly remembered him coming home last Thursday, all exhausted.

Mum : Hey you look tired. Why are you taking the beer?
Dad : I have so much gas in my stomach. I need to get it out.
Mum : How come? I thought you were moving about?
Dad : Yea...but the pots were so heavy and I must have pushed myself too far...so could have caused my stomach to bloat.
Mum : Didn't you get someone to help?
Dad : Nobody else around. I was alone.

He is like this. He would labour for a good purpose especially if it is for the church. It had occurred to me several times last week to pop in to see what he had done. But as usual the big excuse - no time. This morning someone sent me a mail to recruit members to visit the Prayer Grotto of the church for this Lent season. It said the grotto has been turned into a garden.

God has bestowed upon him artistic skills but most of all he is blesssed because he has a willing spirit to serve. This is a walking relationship. I have much to learn from it. A willing spirit.

May this Lent season be a reminder to me that much has been sacrificed and I could do with a more humble disposition before God.