Some days since the monsoon set in can offer only a short time to be outdoor. I spent time revisiting the sights in the garden by looking at the photographs of recent weeks. The photo of the Kingfisher is the oldest among them.
A passage from the book of Psalms in the Bible came to my mind: 'The earth is the Lord's and all it contains, the world and those who dwell on it. For he has founded it upon the seas, and established it upon the rivers....' Psalm 24:1-2).
This passage brought me to consider the gifts that we receive from the earth while we live and flourish!
The photos above brought a sense of the blessings we receive for which we did not labour!
If the world and those who dwell on it belong to God, why strife and enmity between people on earth!
Our sorrow is profound when we think of people of Gaza now almost displaced from their homes. The photos of hundreds of people in Gaza with vessels in their hands to collect food from the supply centre add grief to sorrow, as some parts of earth have become a place of hate, strife, war and devastation!
It was while thinking about it, the story of Nehemiah of the Old Testament came to my mind. He was a steward in the King's palace serving the king. When he received the message that those who survived the captivity in Jerusalem were ' in distress and reproach, and the wall of Jerusalem is broken-down and its gates are burned with fore' (Nehemiah 1:3-4), Nehemiah, 'sat down and wept and mourned for days and was fasting and praying before the God of heaven' !
Nehemiah carried the needs and pain of others upon his heart. He prayed because he believed in a 'great and awesome God' (v5).
I live in a cottage surrounded by a garden of riches and provisions.
How much am I sensitised towards the needs of others in my neighbourhood!
The technician who came yesterday to mend the cable for our internet connection is migrating to Germany, where his wife found a job as a teacher. He shared the economic distress which pushed him to migrate! The talented young people from our village are looking for opportunities overseas.
I was reminded that people live in 'distress and reproach'!
While I live receiving the benefits from all that I am given, how much of space I create within me to remember, pray and reach out to those who are in distress!
The technician telephoned me later in the evening to thank me for listening to him!
M.C.Mathew (text and photo)
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