Is it really meaningless?

"Meaningless, Meaningless...everything is meaningless!"  These words, found in the book of Ecclesiastes, are believed to be written by King Solomon, the world's wisest and one of the richest men ever to have lived.  A few verses later (chapter 2) he adds "I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind."  I remember the first time that I really read those words, sitting on my bunk bed amongst all my roommates in Tijuana, Mexico.  They really depressed me, and I didn't understand what was being said, even when I read contextually.

Twenty years later, I'm still learning what those words mean.  As always, whenever I study a topic in my bible devotions, it isn't a coincidence that the same topic is being discussed in other studies I attend and in conversations occurring around me.  Quite often it relates to what is going on in my life and in the lives of those around me.  These last few weeks has been full of the question "why?"  Right now Japan is experiencing horrors that we can only imagine, the likes of which have been written about in futuristic novels based on catastrophic events like floods, quakes, explosions and the loss of thousands of lives. I can't even begin to imagine what they're going through, and to be painfully honest, I pray I don't ever find out.  In our own school community, a kindergarten child has died after going through surgery for a brain tumor, a staff member has lost his child to a convulsive fever, and a colleague of Tris' has passed away from cancer, all within a week's time.  Hearts are stirred and I pray that people are contemplating the meaning of life, the whys of what they're doing and who they're doing it for.  Those of us who are not acquainted with the people who have lost these loved ones still are touched by the deaths, by the loss of life, by the sadness that comes from their stories.

I live on an island, and in an earthquake zone.  I have lived this way most of my life, except some of it on the other side of the world.  People in my family have died from cancer.  Illness has touched my life in various ways throughout the years, whether someone else's or my own.  I can choose to life in fear and turn within myself, to close myself off from pain and challenges, from reality around me, and ultimately, from God, or I can choose to live the life that God has always had for me.  I struggle, I struggle badly sometimes, at following God's leading.  I know I resist, and sometimes I wonder if I am missing out on something else in my life because I didn't obey Him earlier in some areas.  That I will never know on this earth, but I continue on, asking forgiveness and God, always gracious and merciful, is always forgiving and loving me to the next step.

When Solomon was saying life was meaningless, I believe he wasn't referring to living.  He was referring to what we fill our living with.  I am learning--slowly, painfully, joyfully--that it doesn't matter what I do.  It's who I do it for.  If I'm looking for approval, acceptance, wealth, prestige, wanting 'stuff', it's all for naught.  Unless what I'm doing is going to continue on after I die, then it's worthless. I don't mean having a school or a road named after me, or even having a plaque stating all my good deeds at the city gate.  I mean when I die, will I have touched the lives of others? Will they have been drawn closer to Jesus because of my words, my deeds, my actions, and ultimately, because of my relationship with the Lord?  Am I doing 'good stuff' and creating a 'happy' environment for others, but not leaving a legacy that leads people to seek, to know and to believe God, their Creator?  If so, then I believe my life is truly meaningless.  My challenge to me is, how will I make it meaningful?  I know that one, maybe two generations will know of me after I am gone, maybe even three with the way we are able to record history now.  The question is, will anybody in the generations to come know the Lord because of me?  I pray daily that this is so.

Thanks for reading.

Birthdays and Bike Rides

Amanda turns 25

This month of March has been a very busy one, full of good things and good people.  On March 4th our Wednesday bible study celebrated Amanda's 25th birthday with her.  Amanda is one of my most loyal 'local' readers and she keeps me encouraged to continue to always write about my time here in Indonesia, both good and bad. Soon Amanda will be a far-away reader as she and her husband head back to the US, and even the thought brings me to tears.  However, as I have learned, even when we are far from friends, they still remain friends.

The March 4th weekend was a busy one, as we had Stacey 'pop over' for a visit from Thailand.  She and her husband were on a working tour, and so Stacey took the opportunity to come and check out our place for a day.  She arrived the eve of March 5 and returned the afternoon of March 7.  In between, on the Sunday, we celebrated Stacey's birthday of March 6 by packing our day full of exercise, food and shopping, all within the confines of Lippo Village.

Stacey comes for a 41 hour visit

Stacey and my Sunday started early, when we strapped on our backpacks and water bottles and rode out into the rice fields behind our home.  Earlier in the week the rains had refused to leave and so I had been praying that my ONE day with Stacey would be pleasant.  Sure enough, the skies were brilliant blue and the clouds puffy white. 

blue skies, white clouds, rice fields to the left  

a farmer's transport

rice ready to be planted

banana tree

papaya tree

Stacey in the 'jungle'

These are photos of a few of the things we saw, mostly fruit, grasses and rice.  The variations of green along the path are incredible and I don't think the camera even did them justice.

 After our bike ride, Stacey and I headed to Royal Beauty for a cream bath and foot massage.  We returned home, at dinner, sang Happy Birthday (of course!) and then headed to the mall for some souvenir shopping.  Later we realized that probably we should have done the shopping and then the massages, because going to the mall on Sunday evening is something I would do to my children as a form of punishment.

Even though Stacey was here for a short time, we had an excellent visit and we were able to catch up on a lot of the 'local'  news from our home town.  I know that there is skype, facebook, email and snail mail, but there's just something wonderful about sitting face to face with a good friend and having a really good chat.

As for my trip to Singapore this month, please click on the "Simply Celiac" link at the right, or click here.

Thanks for reading!

Singapore

I'm standing at a computer in the Singapore airport, with 6:36 minutes remaining until I time out.  This is one of the few times I've traveled completely alone and it's a bit of an adventure, but mostly it's just a lot of waiting.  I look around and really appreciate the people around me.  If I ever thought Vancouver was a melting pot, Singapore is a huge stew.  There are more nations represented here than I've ever seen elsewhere, except maybe Expo '86, but back then I wasn't really as aware of the people around me as I was of the people I was with (boys).  I'm standing here and the languages I recognize are (very general) Indian, Chinese, English, Singaporean (it's a wonderful sing-song English that deserves a classification of it's own-lah).  Throughout the day I've heard some European languages and some Asian ones I haven't been able to identify.
Three minutes left and so it's time to close.  I have reports on my 5 day excursion to Singapore, not terribly exciting because it was medically-based, but I did meet some wonderful people along the way.
Thanks for reading.

Earthquake and Tsunami nearby

At 4 pm this afternoon I got an sms from a friend telling me she was glued to the tv.  I checked out BBC and watched in horror as a tsunami ripped through the northeast and eastern coast of Japan.  The announcers were saying that the entire Pacific coastline needed to be on watch, as well as Indonesia (especially Sulawesi and Papua) and the Philippines.  What is really sad is that although I can sit in the comfort of my home, on my couch in the middle of the island of Java (south of Sulawesi), and watch water destroy parts of a nation north of us, I know that there are areas within Indonesia that may not even be aware of the dangers ahead.  Many of the isolated village communities within Indonesia have warning systems, but as shown when the last tsunami hit Indonesia, sometimes those systems are in disrepair.  It's my prayer that all parts of our nation and those Islands to the east of Japan will become aware of the potential tsunami.  Right now they say that Australia is also to be on the alert as its waters may rise and swell within the next 7 hours.

What is really ironic is that I am in Indonesia and my parents are 1/2 way across the world, yet the movement of water between us is a potential danger to both of the islands we live on (Vancouver Island and Indonesian islands).  I phoned my mom at 4-something p.m. our time, and although it was 1-something a.m. her time, she didn't mind.  It's amazing how good it is to hear a loved-ones voice even though you know that the chance of them being harmed is slim (Canada hasn't been put on the alert so far, according to our news here).  I love skype.

Our prayers tonight are for those still waiting to hear news about their nation and the tsunami possibly coming their way, as well as for those in Japan who have been hit already.  Lord, have mercy.

Stacey's on her way!

Two more sleeps and Stacey will be here!  Stacey is a friend from Canada, and we met through our husbands jobs...they both taught at the same school.  Her and her husband are doing a working tour through Southeast Asia and wonderfully, she has decided to pop over our way for 2 nights.  They'll be quick but loaded.  Not only that, it's her birthday on the one full day that she's here, so we'll have to find something fun and memorable to do.  I'm thinking bike ride through the rice fields, cream bath & pedicure afterwards, lunch and then...we'll see what comes  up.

I am sure that there will be photos to follow.  Pray for sunshine!!

Thanks for reading.