Reflections on Ps 134 (Br Terence Kesavan)

Recently, my sister made some cupcakes for a friend's wedding. There were many who came to tell me how great & irresistible they were. As I listened to their comments, and seeing how much they enjoyed eating the cupcakes, I wondered why I did not have the same enjoyment that they had.

As I reflected on the smile on the faces, I could only conclude, that I was so used to eating my sister's delicious cakes, that it was nothing out of the ordinary. For my friends it was better than the cakes they normally have, while for me, it was the norm.

There is a Chinese saying that goes <生在福中不知福> (sheng zai fu zhong bu zhi fu), which means one who is living a blessed life does not know his blessings. Similarly I realised that I had started to take my sister's cakes for granted, not fully appreciating the blessing that I had in my life.

This can also be seen in many other areas of our life. Our economic stability, our low crime rate and the cleanliness and hygiene standards of our country are often quoted examples of things that we so easily take for granted in our society. But more than that, all these are just a small portion of the many blessings that God showers on us everyday of our lives.

Our freedom to worship, the love of our family and friends, God's forgiveness and the many small miracles that works in our lives are just some things that we can get so used to, that we forget to be grateful and thankful for what God is doing for us in our lives.

As the Psalmist in Psalm 134 says

Praise the name of the Lord...
Praise the Lord for the Lord is good...
Sing a psalm to his name for he is loving...
For I know the Lord is great...

Let us not take out blessings for granted, and be grateful to the Lord for all that he is doing in our lives. I'm sure that the blessings that we have here on earth, are just a foretaste of what we will experience in heaven. If that is the case, I'm looking forward to the chocolate fountains, chocolate roads and chocolate houses in heaven.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Stay tuned for the next post by Br Cornelius Ching on 20th Oct 2010.