Flowers today, gone tomorrow...

Exams ended yesterday. Felt like one of the longest weeks of my life, though it doesn't seem so long in retrospect. In the afternoon of the first day of exams (last Wednesday), I saw these flowers in my garden. There were only two growing in a sea of grass. Beautiful white petals...



I had no papers the next day, but went to school anyway to revise. Managed several chapters of Chemistry while some of my classmates did the Physics paper and Li-Shia endured Business Studies. After school, we captured a once-in-a-day moment on her handphone: the time when both our birthdates meet;



That day, Mum made an excellent lunch of potato chowder, lettuce with Italian dressing and French loaf with pate and garlic butter. Prior to that, I was in the garden taking more photos of the flowers (by then a third had sprung up), when Kevin and George happened to 'feel sleepy' at the same time;



The third flower bore little droplets of water from the drizzle in the early afternoon.



On the walls of Borders in Times Square (and also The Curve, if I'm not mistaken), there is a quote by George Orwell which says, "Great novels are written by people who are not frightened." I like it.


Last week, a friend asked me why I cared so much about his/her problems. My answer echoes Paul's words in Galatians 6:2; "Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ."

There is an account in Luke, where four men carry their friend, a paralytic, to Jesus:

Some men came carrying a paralytic on a mat and tried to take him into the house to lay him before Jesus. 19When they could not find a way to do this because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and lowered him on his mat through the tiles into the middle of the crowd, right in front of Jesus. When Jesus saw their faith, he said, "Friend, your sins are forgiven."

Together, these inspired Steven Curtis Chapman's 'Carry You to Jesus.' And his words are what I would tell this friend of mine; that I will carry you to Jesus, even if I don't understand your pain... especially if I don't understand your pain.

I will not pretend to feel the pain you’re going through
I know I cannot comprehend the hurt you’ve known
And I used to think it mattered if I understood
But now I just don’t know

Well, I’ll admit sometimes I still wish I knew what to say
And I keep looking for a way to fix it all
But we know we’re at the mercy of God’s higher ways
And our ways are so small

But I will carry you to Jesus
He is everything you need
I will carry you to Jesus on my knees

It’s such a privilege for me to give this gift to you
All I’d ever hope you’d give me in return
Is to know that you’ll be there to do the same for me
When the tables turn

And if you need to cry go on and I,
I will cry along with you, yeah
I’ve given you what I have but still
I know the best thing I can do
Is just pray for you

I’ll carry you
I’ll take you to Jesus on my knees


Within two days of my 'photoshoots,' the flowers wilted. Perhaps this is what Jesus alluded to when he said (in Luke 12);

"Consider how the lilies grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today, and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith! And do not set your heart on what you will eat or drink; do not worry about it. For the pagan world runs after all such things, and your Father knows that you need them. But seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well."

And if God cares so much even for the halcyon grass, how much more he cares for us! Amen.