Friday, July 07, 2006

Thoughts and a blatant Christian plug

1 Corinthians 13:1-2

“If I speak in the tongues of men… but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I… can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge… but have not love, I am nothing.”

The following are thoughts about stuff after having several conversations I have had with my Net friends. You know who you are. The above verse was taken from the Bible and it will encompass most of the entry.

First of all, I want to say that with love and knowledge, there must be action that succeeds it. There is no point in having lots of head knowledge, but nothing is still done about it. It may be tough trying to follow the right path, but I want to encourage you that it will all be worth it at the end of the struggle.

Secondly, I think by having knowledge, one also needs to act responsibly. I suppose after coming out from the army, I’ve learnt several things in regards to information. There are various security levels across the board on who is able to access different types of information. And even so, not one single person will even see all the information there is out there. I think one of the reasons, even though it might not be the primary one, is to protect others from having otherwise passed useless information. I admit that I personally am a curious person and like to be in the know about things around me and my friends. But, I choose what sort of information comes out from me, mostly it’s because I’ve been entrusted in keeping it private, or maybe because, the other party asking doesn’t really need to know. It wouldn’t make a difference if I told the person or not. But, then again, much evaluation must go into whether or not, the person would be at a disadvantage when he is not told of certain things. I think (and I do hope that I did) that everything I say, or not say, would have a reason behind it. Also, I want to request if there was something I do not want to say, that there was a reason behind it, and trust me enough for not revealing that info to the person that asks it.

This brings me onto the next point. Another recent conversation I had with yet another friend was about openly revealing a secret that I thought I would be able to keep from him until such a time I would be able to surprise him. At the end of the conversation, I typed something that went like “in this time and age where we spend so much time of our lives on the computer (information age), a tangible gift becomes ever more so precious”. I have had the privilege of being on the receiving end when gifts were sent to me. It touched me deeply. I wished I could express the elation much better, but my vocabulary fails me. I think what makes an ultimate gift is this: Given not because of merit, not because the person deserved it, it’s all about giving just because. Or if there’s a slightest reason it’s because of a simple reason as “You are my friend”. Then, after all of that, when the gift arrives into the recipient’s hands, with no expectation at all the gift was being sent, that, makes it so much more satisfying.
While I laid on my bed after the conversation ended, I was somehow reminded that this was exactly what Jesus did by dying on the cross for us. He died simply because He loved us so much, not because we deserved it, but it was His gift to us. That thought put a smile on my face and I drifted off to sleep not long after.

Well, I hope you did enjoy the read. Comments are appreciated. And umm, I will be away for a while, as soon as you are reading this, will only be back a few days later. Therefore, I won’t be able to access the Net for the next few days. So I hope you guys take care while I’m away.