Empty Tomb – a sign of Hope and Victory

Easter morning we went for mass, and the thoughts of my seven year old son Emmanuel,  who was with us last year was very much with each of us, yet none of us brought up the topic of Emmanuel.  While I was sitting in the church, a whole range of thoughts were just welling up, and I had no control on these thoughts, 80% of these thoughts were about my son, as the choir song, my mind took me back to last year, where I had my son with me holding his hands in the church and trying to control his dance.

He was extremely sensitive to music, and he was finding difficult to resist himself in the church, while the choir sang, I enjoyed with happiness, watching my son clap, swing and smile and happily attempting to sing, he used to be an attraction in the church, people sitting on either side, and front and back too enjoyed watching him.

Today he was no more, I was sitting with my daughter, feeling the loss, the emptiness, as I looked at cross, and thinking about the empty tomb made sense to me, I recalled Mary, mother of Jesus who suffered so much because of her son, yet she dared to walk with him to the Calvary, I could understand how much she would have cried, and how difficult it must have been to see her only son being tortured to death.

This brought in memories of my son, as I watched him lay in ICCU ward helplessly; I was unable to bear this pain. It’s a most painful sight for me, I did not want him to suffer, I wanted to take away all the tubes and the wires so that I can hold my son in my arms in his last part of the journey and let him go peacefully.  I felt as though my hands are tied, I suffered with pain and torments; it has become a torture for my son lying helplessly in the intensive care unit, and just like Mary who had to surrender herself totally, I gave up my little son who played in my arms, and is now been pricked and poked from all sides, given artificial support to survive, his face disfigured and marred.

I understand the anguish of Mary, who was watching her 33 year old son suffer unto death, and my pain is reduced, for I have perfect lady here who was not only simple and courageous, but women of great faith, faith that led her to join the disciples of Jesus in the upper room praying with them. Today I want to surrender myself to God, and walk in faith, for I believe he who has called me, will accompany me till the end to fulfill my purpose on this earth.

Easter a symbol of resurrection, life after a cruel gruesome death, where the tears of Good Friday are changed to joy on the glorious Easter morning, where death is swallowed up by the victory of resurrection once and for all. Today I allow my empty heart to be filled with the rays of hope and victory.

May the Risen Lord Bless you!

 

Suffering

This week has been very painful for me, for I missed my son so much as he alive last year for all the services, I enjoyed taking both my kids to the church services on all these days, I could not help but cry, as it brought to my mind beautiful memories of my son who used to sit quietly on my lap enjoying the music and watching everything that’s happening, around him. Yesterday as we participated in the way of the cross service at the church.

I felt the absence of my son, and I began to feel the pain that was so intense and deep, tears rolled down by cheeks as I accompanied in journey of the way of the cross, while I got involved in the prayers  I felt I was not alone in my life suffering,  as I came to a place where Mary’s eyes met Jesus carrying cross, I was struck by Mary, who handled it so beautifully well, bearing the pain of her son, and watching him suffer silently, it definitely must have been a terrible experience, but she continued her journey with faith and courage.  

This season I remember all those who are suffering and experiencing pain in their lives and pray specially that they be given grace and strength not only to accept their suffering but find meaning in their lives to continue their journey with faith, hope and courage. Here is an inspiration for all of us:  I received nothing that I wanted, but everything I needed:

·         I asked for strength, God gave me difficulties to make me strong.

·         I asked for wisdom, God gave me problems to solve

·         I asked for courage God gave me dangers to overcome

·         I asked for love, God gave me troubled people to help

·         I asked for favours, God gave me opportunities.

“God’s promises are like the stars, the darker the night the brighter they shine”. David Nicholas.

  
Happy Easter !

 

A Love Letter to Myself

Dear Angela,

It’s a pleasure writing to you, my inspiration came from my friend Corinne, who shared her love letter on her blog, Everyday Gyaan - thanks to her for she has motivated me to write a love letter to myself.   I have been planning to begin a self esteem file for myself, and ask a few of my friends to write a tribute for me,  while I am still in the process of learning to appreciate myself, I found her love letter, which I enjoyed reading.

I have never attempted to write you, today I dare to let you know that I have begun to enjoy your company, and I find you very interesting, I marvel at the way you have handled so much of pressure and problems in your life, and you are still so happy and motivated to live meaningfully.

There has been too many challenges especially in the last year, when you made a decision to quit working full time work in order to respond to your hearts call, exploring ways of living to make your life happy and meaningful.

I am happy that you gave yourself a chance to do what you want to and took a risk to explore opportunities wherein you could share your skills, and at the same time find fulfillment in what you did, I think it was a daring step, and you worked so much on your mind in planning, discussing and sharing with your close friends, listening to your heart revisiting your goals which you had been regularly setting for yourself.

I know that it has been tough for you to fulfill all the plans that you had evolved for yourself, but I loved the way, you let go of things and just went with the flow believing in yourself and trusting God to lead you and guide you to the right place at the right moment of your life.

Today when I look at all the choices you have made, and continue to make, there is a more of peace and less of regrets, otherwise, I know how you used to worry about small things and would like to have everything worked out for you - a ready made plan for your life, which you would want to share with few close friends, and keep thinking of it again and again, till you are convinced that you are on the right track.

All your experiences have made you a very grateful person; you have been eager to learn and opened yourself to new experiences in life, and I am glad that you are moving despite setbacks and limitations; you have also surrounded yourself with friends and books that are motivating and bring in a lot of insights.

Keep smiling my friend, relax, all the very best for whatever you desire to achieve, everything is working well with you, 

“We have to learn to be our own best friend because we fall too easily into the trap of being our own worst enemies.” – Roderick Thorp

Be Happy!

 

Decluttering the Mind

courtesy : Free images from Google

While I was clearing up all the old clothes, unused items, some toys and some kids wear, I was feeling happy, as it created more space, and fresh air to move in freely, and I felt good and relaxed to do some work in a neat and clean place, and at the same time, I found some place where I could give away, so that somebody else can use it.

I keep clearing it every now and then so that clutter does not get accumulated, and ensured that the place is always neat and tidy. While I was thinking about this, I felt, a similar thing can be done with our minds too.

Our minds too are filled with so many thoughts, some of which are disempowering us, something that happened years ago, we remember that so vividly, and its there for a long time, because of which our relationships are hampered, we find it difficult to forget, and we do not want to let go and move on, for it’s a painful experience, and it does not help us.

Our minds too keeps accumulating everything, from our daily experiences, and some times we forget to clear it up, and it becomes a problem for us, we find difficult to relax, and we feel bound from within, holding on so many negative thoughts.

Life becomes difficult as we move along, because we are carrying unnecessary load in our minds, the best way to free ourselves is to declutter the mind, remove all that is not worth to be stored in the mind, empty our minds, and replace it with new empowering thoughts, let go off of all those things that is becoming a burden, and the moment we do, we feel much better, and travel light.

I have learnt that the best way to keep our minds free is to practice meditation, every day, and train our minds to think only empowering thoughts which are positive, motivating and energizing.

 “Positive thinking will let you do everything better than negative thinking will.”- Zig Ziglar

Be Happy !

Happiness, a journey

I found this article by an unknown author very interesting and also true – it is a reminder that we are here for a purpose, and while we are busy accomplishing life’s purpose, we keep postponing happiness, waiting for some day for happiness to visit us.  Happiness is a choice that I choose for myself, I am happy to share this inspiration with everyone in my life, read on:

We convince ourselves that life 
will be better after we get married, 
have a baby, then another. Then we are frustrated that the kids aren't old enough 
and we'll be more content when they are.

After that we're frustrated that we 
have teenagers to deal with, 
we will certainly be happy when they are out of that stage.

We tell ourselves that our life will be complete 
when our spouse gets his or her act together, when we get a nicer car, 
are able to go on a nice vacation, 
when we retire. The truth is there's no better time 
to be happy than right now. 
If not now, when?

Your life will always be filled with challenges. 
It's best to admit this to yourself 
and decide to be happy anyway. 
One of my favorite quotes comes 
from Alfred D Souza. He said, "For a long time it had seemed 
to me that life was about to begin -real life. 
But there was always some obstacle in the way, 
something to be gotten through first, 
some unfinished business, 
time still to be served, 
a debt to be paid. Then life would begin. 
At last it dawned on me that these 
obstacles were my life."

This perspective has helped me to see 
that there is no way to happiness. 
Happiness is the way, so, treasure every moment that you have. 
And treasure it more because you shared it 
with someone special, 
special enough to spend your time... 
and remember that time waits for no one.

So stop waiting until you finish school, 
until you go back to school, 
until you lose ten pounds, until you gain ten pounds, 
until you have kids, 
until your kids leave the house, 
until you start work, 
until you retire, 
until you get married, 
until you get divorced, 
until Friday night, until Sunday morning, 
until you get a new car or home, 
until your car or home is paid off, 
until spring, until summer, 
until fall, until winter, 
until you are off welfare, 
until the first or fifteenth, 
until your song comes on, 
until you've had a drink, 
until you've sobered up, 
until you die, until you are born again 
to decide that there is no better time 
than right now to be happy... 
Happiness is a journey, not a destination.

So, work like you don't need money. 
Love like you've never been hurt and 
dance like no one's watching.

Be Blessed & Be  Happy!