About Christianity

they say life is like a journey, and that when you are born you start walking, and until the end when you reach the destination you die. well essentially it is true, in a way. but they often missed out many important parts. from one end to another, there are many roads to take. one road split to many roads, and further split up, and sometimes they join back.

life is like a road in which when we walk, we cannot turn back. maybe small mistakes is like taking a wrong sideroad, you can go back to the main road easily. a big mistake would be like taking a road that turned away from the highway. no matter the case, there is no turning back, because what is done is done, and time cannot turn back. maybe, you can say, one second of our life is like walking one step.

of course, no 2 people can take the exact same road from one end to another. there may be people who will walk the same road for a period of time, but we are all designed to have a road of our own. a road which only we can walk, a road which only we are suitable to walk.

and then some of you might say, that is unfair. some will say others have a peaceful road made of gold, while their road is filled with wars and poverty. some might say they see others having a busy road with many people coming in and out, while their road is just an empty road without a soul. some of them will say they have a smooth road, while theirs is a road full of holes and traps. i hope you get the analogy...

because we are created differently, and put in different situations, we have different paths to take. a path we have no choice but to take, or a path that we felt it is suitable for us. as we walk along the road, sometimes we might see other people and be envious of them. why are their roads so smooth and peaceful? why do the people who walk on that road seem so carefree? why do i have to walk my road? is it even fair?

sometimes we take things into our own hand. we try to get out of our path, and to get into the other lane. sometimes we succeed, sometimes we fail. but maybe, in the end, we are not happy. you might get what you aimed for, but is that what you really wanted? maybe, in the end, you realized that you have wasted your life for nothing.

maybe i have no right to make this post. because as my usual flaw of my posts are, i did not take into account those who are suffering a lot. maybe, if i am an african child starving, or a chinese girl sold as a sex slave, or maybe an iraqi child growing up in the war zone, i would risk and bet my life and try to my last breath to get out of the situation.

i thought if i say 'stick to your own lot, everyone' i will be saying irresponsible things, saying things i did not understand. because if i am one of the people suffering like this, i thought i will definately look at the person who said that to me as a hypocrite.

i think i got my point out. there are roads you do not want to take. put it simply, in our normal lives, why are some people born ugly and others pretty? why are some stupid and some intelligent? some sick and others healthy? some have a happy family while some have a broken family. why do some have many friends while the others have no friends? the list goes on. to tell everyone to stick to their own road is saying irresponsible things. because at one point or another, everyone, even in their most blessed situation, would want to change their road to a better path.

i think i am still going to say something irresponsible. because i could not think of any other way to say it. sugarcoating what i am going to say is just going to make me insincere and fake. so, if you are offended, i am really sorry. maybe because i have a blessed life, so i could actually say such things as if it was nothing.

i think, God put us there so we would walk that path. walk down a path He intended us to walk. a path only we can take. everyone has a purpose to fulfil, something we have to do. in order to do that, we need to walk that path.

have you ever met someone who said, 'i understand. i used to be like you...'? when we have troubles, sometimes we met people who had the same problems with us. they give us advices. they encourage us. they tell us, 'it is a hard road, but you can do it.' because there are people like that, so we can continue walking. because there are people like that, we can pick ourselves up when we fall, that we did not fall and not get up.

maybe, as you walk along the road, you will find people who find that path tedious to walk. then you, who already overcame, who already is familiar with the lane, can help or walk together with the people. because only you walked that path, so you are more suitable to help them than the rest. the guy who walked the lane beside you could not do a better job than you. because the guy who walked a different lane, could never understand the feelings of those who walk your lane.

maybe, you find your path dark, or colorless. maybe it is a scary road, or a tiring road. there are roads that have obvious difference from the rest. those who are in a civilized society are obviously more fortunate than those in war zones, despite all their problems such as worrying about finance. those who are starving are obviously less well off than those who have to scrimp and save to buy bread for dinner.

that is the extreme case. if we lessen the gap, we can see some people who need to support their families while studying. some have to endure the nonsense of an alcoholic or gambler in the family. compared to the rich man's son/daughter whose worry is they have only $100 dollars a week for allowance, the former is obviously less well off.

what a dull road. maybe it is not even dull. maybe it is just plain dark. you might wonder, how long more do you have to walk? or maybe, is there even a need to continue walking? in fact, is there anyone who cares if you continue walking?

if i have to say, i would say yes. there is someone who cares. God cares for you. if you are sad, He is sad. He might not transfer you to another lane, but He will walk down the road with you. He might not give you a smooth road made of gold to walk, but He will give you a pair of shoes so you can continue walking. He might not give you a detailed layout of your path, but He will lead you in front, to guide you. He promised that if you follow Him, you will find your rewards at the end of the road. if you walk with Him, the scariest road can turn into the most peaceful road. the darkest or the colorless road can turn into a bright and colorful place.

and then you might say, you don't believe in God. because you find no comfort for all the sufferings. because you don't see a God in all the time you were forced to take that road.

i cannot explain why is that. nor can i give a reason. because i did not go through that, so i do not understand. and because i did not go through it, i am not fit to criticize you. but if i have to say something, even if it is out of my place, is to take that very first step of faith. accept Christ into your heart, into your life. it might be a dramatic experience, it might not. but i know your life will change. you might not believe, but if you don't take the first step to follow Him, your road might forever be dark and scary. if you don't take the first step to walk with Him, you might be forever standing on the same spot, unable to move. and then, instead of gaining a loving relationship with God, you might lose more and more things.

i guess it is out of my place to say this. but if you can, why not take the first step? just a small little step will do. God will know what to do when you hold His hand.

'you are cruel. you gave her a hope that she could never reach. she would have been fine the way she was. but you came and gave her hope. if she never saw hope, she would have never known what is despair either.'

the above conversation, does it sound familiar to all of you visual novels fans (i am referring to fans who read VNs for their story and not for hentai only. for more details about VNs, go to my main site, games section)? if you do play VNs you would most likely come across this line.

i came across that few lines of conversation roughly 2 years ago when i was playing the game, and i could not get it out of my head even after so long. of course, i did not replicate word for word that conversation, since i depended on my memory from 2 years ago. regardless, the most important thing is that the main idea is still the same.

ok. so. what happened? this girl was suffering from many things since she was a kid, all the way till she grew up. a boy, without knowing fully her situation, gave her a hope that she could be free from her suffering. the girl had not held on to any hope, until that boy came and gave it to her. like the above said, it was a hope that she could never reach.

moral of the story? am i moving on to the moral of the story too fast? lolx. ok maybe i should say something more.

hope is cruel. this is the topic of my post. everyone knows, that we need hope to survive. he who has no hope has no purpose. he who has no hope cannot live life fully. we see people down and we give them hope. we see people struggle and we give them hope. correct? most of us do. but before we give them hope, maybe we ought to think a little bit more.

many people give others hope, even though they knew or maybe they knew not for certain that the hope can never come true, no matter how much he try, no matter how much he hope. for example, you tell a cancer patient that he would get better and recover. you tell a person whose beloved will wake up from a coma. maybe something near to us, you tell a person everything will be all right when you know it is not. familiar? very. i am sure most of you do that.

to give people hope knowing full well they cannot get it is not only cruel, it is downright irresponsible. you may think you do a good deed by giving people hope. you may think you helped him or her by giving her hope. but if you give a person an anticipation of something that will take more than a miracle to come true, then you are just deceiving yourself and the unlucky person. in the end, the one who suffer more would be the person you had encouraged.

or maybe, you give a person a hope that may be achieved through a lot of effort. but the thing is, you give him or her hope, and then you leave her alone. you did not help. all you did is to talk nice. if you give a person hope and leave him or her to struggle for her own, what is the use? you would be making him suffer more. the process may even backfire.

what does that makes us? hypocrites. again. i seemed to always use this word in my posts. i guess it must have become my favorite word. yes. talk and no action. talk without sparing a thought for others. talk and forget. we don't think of the consequences. he is down. we must encourage him. she is in despair. we must give her hope. so? what is the point if they had a hope they can never achieve? we cannot just talk, we must also pull them up. give them a reasonable hope. you don't tell a 4th stage cancer patient he will live on for a few more years. you don't tell the wife of a man who became a vegetable that he will wake up.

of course, i admit hope is neccessary for life. without hope there is no life. but what i want to say is, if you want to give people hope, give them the right kind of hope. a hope which can be attained. a hope which could drive them to move on, not to drive them into further despair. extreme example: you convinced the wife of a man in a coma that he will surely wake up. she believes you. the next day, he died. tell me, what would the wife feel? sad before you gave her hope. sadder after you gave it to her.

moral of the story? i think i got the moral and the main story mixed together in one lump. regardless, there is one hope we can always trust. that is Jesus Christ our Lord. because to Him, impossible is nothing (my favorite addidas phrase!). He will not give you the wrong kind of hope, and what He said, will happen, because He don't lie. Because He is not a hypocrite.

remember, hope is cruel, and the person who give the hope is a cruel and downright irresponsible hypocrite if he do not give the right kind of hope and drive people further down into despair. giving hope is not neccessary doing a good deed, giving the right kind of hope is. also, when you give people hope, it is for their sake, not for your own sake of 'oh i did a good deed today!' mentality.