I was at the park having breakfast yesterday...of course not alone, I'm not so sad. But we were observing the families that were there. The wholesome, peaceful picture of fathers and sons, mothers and daughters in the playground, dogs so large, and hairy, I can only call them bears, and pigeons who shifts their necks like the Egyptian dance with every step they took, yes they do, if you have not yet noticed. And at the corner of the park there was a basketball court with lost teenagers playing basketball. Strange how we transform from beings so dependent on our parents to teens who scream for independence, and then to adults trying to recover from the dark ages of teen hood. Where did we go wrong?
The peaceful picture, with the very apt climate, and orange leaves (cause it's autumn), got me wondering if it was better to raise a child in Australia or in Singapore. But I shall not digress into that topic, because it'll just take all day.
This morning, I was doing my quiet time before church, a short passage in Thessalonians, and I came across this verse in chapter 2 "Therefore we wanted to come to you--even I, Paul, time and again-- but Satan hindered us." (verse 18). And I realised that Satan does not like us Christians gathering (no surprise), but this verse suggests that Satan will try means and ways to distract us, get us to make detours, and eventually lose sight of what was so precious to us. Assignments, tests, group work, exams. Have they become the centre of our lives?
So at church, I saw this carnival like thing being set up just outside the church. I asked what it was for, and my friend told me it was a fund raising stint for the kids, which ironically or not, had beer. Anyhow, during the service, there was this irritating bagpipe playing outside, I suppose for atmosphere music (how strange, a bagpipe), and I found it so hard to focus on the sermon. How apt it is the verse in the morning, and hindrance later. Are we being hindered?
