LIFE IS AWESOME, LIFE IS BURDENSOME

I think life is a paradox – full of absurdity, irony and contradictions within contradictions!

Life can be awesome – when things are fine and dandy, when friends are nice and lovely, when comfort in life is lighting up all around. There is no care in the world. We sing with gusto: “God is good all the time.” The blessings of the Lord seem to be chasing us and we are on spiritual cloud nine!

We live in the Father’s unconditional love – His goodness and mercy follows us all the days of our lives – and we are elated, ecstatic, jubilant, euphoric, overjoyed and in seventh heaven! Oh what a thought: God’s goodness is for us and with us and in us! There is no severity of God because we are living in the grace dispensation – only good. Pain is a curse. Pain is not in God’s vocabulary.

I wish that’s the kind of wonderful picture of a Christian life at all times. I wish we can live in this sugar-coated, rainbow-painted, and chocolate-filled dream world. Life is awesome, indeed!

Life is burdensome too. Sometimes, our fantasy world comes crushing down.  It’s twelve midnight for Cinderella. Someone asked a question: If the shoe exactly fits Cinderella’s feet why did it come off? It’s a mystery just like life itself. Princess Fiona (in the movie Shrek) was different by day and by night! I think life is full of absurdity and irony. It is contradictions within contradictions! Many times when it rain, it pours! Life can be full of unusual events – painful ones, depressive ones, and mysterious ones too! I know what it means to have my world come crushing down. I know what it means to be overwhelmed with anxiety, worries and fear. When my heart is overwhelmed lead me to the Rock that is higher than I

Whoever tells us that there is no pain in this world is insane. Whoever blames the government, the people around us, the system, and family upbringing are really out of touch with reality. I will blame it on Sigmund Freud though! We are then no better that Adam and Eve!

Who can blame us mere mortal when we desire heaven, when we desire the quick return of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. How can we not understand why the black slaves of yesteryears sang songs about Beulah Land, about a land that is fairer than day? How can we not pine for our Bridegroom-King? Our longing for the return of our Lord is real, is emotional, and is pivotal to our faith journey!

Think with me – we cannot bear to be alone without people around to love and be loved. We called that loneliness and depression. We long for relationships. We long for friendships. Yet we cannot stand people and wish we are alone and relationship becomes burdensome. We wish we could disappear somewhere and be alone. We called that relationship overload and depression!  Take marriage: there are those who are INSIDE who wish to get OUT and there are others who are OUTSIDE dying to get IN! Hello – there’s such a thing as a gift of celibacy.

There are more paradoxes in the teachings of Jesus than we care to ponder upon. Jesus teaches us that in order to live we need to die. That doesn’t make sense! He said that in order to receive we need to give. There, it’s illogical. Another one: in order to go up we need to go down. That’s why my conclusion is these: life is awesome, life is burdensome. My attitude in life is to praise God in whatever situation that I may be in – in good times and in bad times – but in all times be contented.

My simple life philosophy: in whatsoever state that I am in I choose to be contented! I will see life as awesome – walking in relationship with my Father in heaven. I will see life as burdensome – only for the brief span on this earth because this world is not my home. I will plough through life. I will bear with the pain, the discomfort, the betrayal, the anxiety and stress, and the evilness of a broken world. I will learn to enjoy the beauty of God’s creation in the midst of darkness. I will not let the evil, the violence and the injustices in this world keep me from appreciating the beauty of humanity and the beauty of relationships. The goodness and greatness of God will be my daily praise and meditation. I will praise the Lord at all times. I will worship and adore Him for He is good!

How about you?