The Day I was Silent

Hi peeps, back after my 3rd/4th week of SOT! Lost count with my crazy schedule over the weeks...

This week, Pst Ming took all our lessons. Aside from charming us with his fantabulous humour, he also shared a story that impacted me a lot.

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*real story*

A man boarded the train in one of Europe's busy subways, dragging his 2-3 year old son behind him. He looked terribly unkempt, complete with messy hair, dark circles and a 3-day old stubble. His shoulders were drooped and his head hung low. He walked to an empty seat and slumped into it, his lifeless eyes staring blankly into the distance. His son wriggled free of his grip and proceeded to dash around the train cabin, jumping onto seats, throwing things at passengers, screaming, shouting, and generally making a nuisance of himself.

A passenger sitting opposite the man observed this situation for about 20 minutes. Apart from having his toes trampled by the tyrant of a kid, he had been interrupted from his reading by the chaos and noise generated. He resisted the urge to grab the boy and give him a thrashing, and contemplated confronting the father. After another 5 minutes, he finally stood up, strode across the train to the man, and said,

"Sir, I'm sorry. But this is a public train. Could you please stop your son from disturbing and irritating the passengers?"

The father blinked, and casted his lifeless gaze on the man standing before him.

"Maybe I should, maybe I shouldn't. All I know is, my wife -the mother of this boy- just passed away 30 minutes ago in the hospital."

With that, he lowered his gaze and resumed his vacant observation of the grey cabin walls.

The passenger, speechless and at a loss, stood rooted to the spot before this picture of gloom.

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Most of the time, when we observe situations and make our judgments, we fail to see the full picture. We neglect to understand the extent of pain or suffering the parties involved had gone through. Instead, we arrive at unfair conclusions and blast it out in self-righteous tones.

Have you ever criticised a friend? Have you ever complained about the way things are done?

Have you ever refused to cooperate just because you don't like the situation?

My answers to all the questions are yes's. What are yours?

In conclusion, I think you guys would surely go out and try to listen and understand more instead of judging people. On the other hand, I would like to beseech all of you to stand up for our leaders. Here's men and women of God who have laid down their lives for God and sacrificed countless time, energy and finances both for the church and for the welfare of their members: us. Lets lay down our lives to protect and serve our leaders, all the way from the pastors to the cell group leaders.

Why? Because though they are all not perfect, we do not see how many tears they have shed and how many sacrifices they have made for God and for their people.

When Pst Ming shared this story in SOT, I was struck dumb. I had to stop writing and reflect on my attitudes over the years. You might point out that no one sees the things YOU go through too. The crux then, is this: my leaders have maintained a top-rate attitude in spite of all things, and this great attitude goes up to heaven as a sweet-smelling aroma towards God. Dare you say the same of yourself?

I would lay down my life for these guys, to do my very very best to make their dreams happen. Would you?