An ordinary employee starts the day at 6:00 am. He gets to work at 8:00 am, takes a break at 10, then eats lunch at 12:00 nn. If he eats fast enough, he gets to nap from 12:30 to 1:00 pm. It’s work time again from 1-3 pm, then break, then work until 5:00. Our employee either meets up with some friends for dinner and the occasional movie, heads off to a Bible study group, or goes straight home for dinner and laundry. Chances are, he’ll be sleeping by 10 or 11:00 pm. Then at 6:00 am, he gets up...and goes through the routine again, provided it’s a weekday. He gets to wake up late on Saturdays, but on Sundays goes to church.
Okay, life may not seem that boring. Of course a lot of things happen between 6:00 am and 11:00 pm. Meetings, situations in the office, situations at home, problems with people, problems with the traffic. There are joyful happenings as well. Birthdays in the office, ice cream with friends, pancit with friends (everything fun seems to center around food).
And in the midst of all these happenings, we sometimes forget God. Or put Him aside.
Philip Yancey, in his book Rumors of Another World, encourages us to listen to rumors and whispers, to what is happening around us, and see them all point back to God. This takes considerable awareness, awareness to what is going on in the surface and under the surface of things. And I believe it requires discipline to simply stop and be aware and think through it all.
It also requires discipline to finish the book. But Rumors is a great encouragement and challenge for me to see God actively present in my life. Not that I have mastered this fine art of listening to rumors; some say when I’ve finished the book 5 times, while others would argue for 10. Rumor has it, someone mastered it after 3.
7 comments:
yikee...book review. hahaha. korek ka dyan. Or sometimes an employee who works at the bookstore needs to be reminded ALWAYS (as in every second) that she serves God. esp. pag whinner ang mga kaharap mo. bwhahaha.
haha, korek ka din!
it's a pleasant thing to know that God is teaching His children the same lesson in so many different ways. Perhaps it's because we learn things in different capacities too.:) I said that because God is teaching me about silence and listening this past couple of months too! galeng di ba, kuya? And I pray we learn the lesson well :)
God in the small and big things of life; in the highs and lows; in the songs and moans; and, yes, in between shuffling paper and sitting through meetings...
This is a nice piece, Ruben :) And who is that jedi who mastered the art after merely three rounds with Yancey?! Haha!
Hehe, if I find out I'll tell you!
Dear Ruben,
Yancey never fails to challenge in all his books. But "Rumors" holds a special place in my heart. Not only is it a good read (and read and read), my copy also has Yancey's signature! BTW, rumor has it that you are next after Nixon and Joan (?) God's blessings be yours . . .
Ate grace
Happy birthday, Kuya Ruben! *big smile*
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