Monday, January 29, 2007 . 5:40 AM

just another day - it doesn't matter

Hello peeps, thanks for all your birthday wishes. Blog, tag, sms, card, whatever it may be, thank you from the bottom of my heart. Granted, blogs may seem impersonal but it has become important to me ever since I came over to the States. It's my most direct line to you all.... the very "lifeblood" that connects me to you guys. At least that's how I feel. Some are not inclined to write or email, some don't like MSN, some thinks phone calls are too expensive, or some are just busy running their list of "to dos".... Does it really matter?

Of course it's nice to have someone to call you up to wish you a Happy Birthday.... Of course it's wonderful to receive a birthday card from a good friend who remembers your birthday. Of course it's great to get an SMS birthday greeting from a friend who didn't forget your birthday. It's good even to get an email from someone who remembers your birthday... but does it really matter?

Today's sermon really resounded in me. Yes, it's about LOVE. Has hackneyed as it may sound, "Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs." - 1 Cor 13:4-5. Many couples use this verse for their weddings, but sadly, it is often taken out of context. The love here, isn't the passionate love, eros, but the agape love that Christ has shown us. It is based on a decision to love, even the most unlovable people in our lives.

What good am I if I have all the spiritual gifts but have not love? I'll be nothing. I'll only be like a "resounding gong or a clanging cymbal". I realise my fragility... that we may be likened to nice looking ipods (nano, video, mini, shuffle, whatever, people come in different shapes, sizes, types....) with tonnes of songs inside (knowledge)and without love, we are like uncharged ipods. Useless. And we do need the charger which connects us (the ipods) to the source (the Provider of life) so that we can have the energy and the ability to love. And it is this love, that sustains us.

"And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love" - 1 Cor 13:13. When Christ comes again, our faith will be perfected and our hopes will be realised. But our love, the greatest of them all, endures forever.... even after Christ has come.

Just like faith and hope, the calls, the emails, the smses will all fade away.... and the only thing that binds us all is the love we have for one another. I pray that this love will only grow throughout the years and I lift our friendships to the hands of God. That said, surely a call or an sms wouldn't hurt, but just know that, with or without sms/email/call you are loved, by God and by me. There's just so much I wanna tell you guys...

Last friday, the UW guys celebrated my birthday, together with Songyu's.... had the legendary Coldstone's icecream cake (yes, even though it's freezing outside). Birthday's will never be the same again. It'll just be another day.


and my birthday wish this year is for you to get well! I know you will! *winks*

d sh