My favorite season is here again! There is something really joyful about December even if you don't celebrate Christmas. It's the lights, the sales, the anticipation of a new year, the red cups in Starbucks. But December also passes quickly, as I've learnt it from previous years. Before you know it the merriment is over and you are left with your Christmas decor to pack and ambitious resolutions you might not fulfilled. So I have decided before it passes unnoticed I am going to try to soak in it and blog weekly this month. It will be short entries but I try to be honest in my expressions. Hopefully not only my writing be a self discovery process for myself but also a blessing to readers, whoever you are :)
There have been moments this year when I accused God of stopping from writing my story. Life can fall flat from my grand expectation sometimes. But, I have also felt moments where I feel really close to Him, through the blessings that I journal, through the night pillow talks, and through different people and places I have encountered. So, it is safe to say that it has been one roller coaster year of relationship. It has proven how inconsistent I have been and exposed my selfishness of the things I want for myself.
At the start of this Advent season, I started reading a really good book: Mockingjay from The Hunger Games Trilogy (I'm sorry if for a moment there you thought that I'm reading some heavy philosophy book or something more substantial). I have not finished it and am currently reading chapter 18. I bought it right after watching the second movie, which eventhough I love, left me heartbroken by the way they it oh-so-abruptly. Anywayyy, I digress. Wait, one more thing: GO TEAM GALE!!!
Ok, now, really, anyway, in this third book, there is this part where Katniss (the main character, for those of you living under a rock) was sent out for a mission. She was heavily guarded and also has an earpiece for Haymitch her trainer to tell her everything she should do. Haymitch is riding the hovercraft which follows Katniss' moves. Unexpectedly, in the district where Katniss went, there was a surprise attack by airbombs from the enemy which hit the hearby hospital. Driven by compassion she ran towards the hospital. And annoyed by the feed from Haymitch who was ordering her not to, she took out her earpiece, practically cutting off Haymitch's access to her.
To cut the story short, she did not die, although heavily bruised. Before the next mission, Haymitch gave her three options of earpieces: the regular one, the one with a metal brace which can only be opened with a key, and one to be permanently implanted in her ears. She, of course, did not want the voice of her trainer 24/7 in her head. She promised to never take the earpiece out again and follow Haymitch's instructions closely. Then he said, "When you are on the ground, remember I'm airborne. I'll have the better view, so do what I tell you."
I imagine myself like Katniss (I want her attitude and braided hair), many times making decisions on my own, ignoring the instructions given to me because I think I know better. I am sometimes also frustrated when things don't happen my way. Often, I take threw away my earpiece. For a while, I can still do nice things, laugh, be a good person, but they all wear off quickly because I can't see the big picture anymore. Only when I am connected to my "airborne trainer" do I know more about what is happening around me and how to react to them.
I may not be Mockingjay and my God isn't some drunken hot middle aged hunger game victor. But, it's a nice comparison. Wouldn't I want to listen to somebody who holds the map, the war strategy, has the bird view of everything? I would. But because I see things differently from Him, I don't trust Him all the time. Wouldn't He want to implant an earpiece on me? I bet. But He doesn't, because obedience and faith cannot be forced. He wants me to love him by choice.
This season, let us put back on those earpieces and listen closely to His whispers. Remember that He always that bird eye view.
Happy first week of Advent!
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