A Tale Untold

"God made people good but they have found all kinds of ways to be bad." [Ecc: 7:29]

This is to the baby who never saw day light, to the child who was found dead in a dustbin, to the young girl who never knew her childhood, to the woman who was battered in her own home . . .

Her little body began to take shape in the womb,
The wonders of the universe wrapped into this one tiny being,
The beat of her heart is proof of a life unborn;
But prejudice breaks through the walls of her precious home,
Tearing her flesh and crushing her newly formed bones,
Deception seeks this form armed to destroy;
This is a life whose tale remains untold.

Her birth was declared softly in hushed tones,
The perfect being crafted from above birthed upon earth,
The sound of her scream calms her mother’s birth pains;
But hatred overpowers the protective arms holding her close,
Snatched from the tender breasts that nurtures her body,
Denial is given the opportunity to devour;
This is a life whose tale remains untold.

Her gaze follows the young lads running to school,
The mysteries of knowledge lay hidden deep within her soul,
The breath in her nostrils brings new hope each day;
But lust snuffs the light within her and kills her spirit,
Bought at a price she’s made to pay a vile cost,
Darkness fights blatantly to bring disgrace;
This is a life whose tale remains untold.

Her tear filled eyes tell of haunting memories,
The heavenly fairy tale was designed to come true for her,
The life she had she willingly gave in love;
But betrayal shred the very home she sought to build,
Hounded and battered by the people she trusted,
Division in slow sedation is causing death;
This is a life whose tale remains untold.

Dear Mister God, this is @ina talking . . . Words are inadequate, tears seem insufficient and emotions just fleeting. Voices that will speak the truth, Hands that will build hope and feet that will stand in the gap, Oh! How they are the need of the hour.

Still Alive

X and me where on the phone after quite some time. 'How are you?' I said. 'Still alive' was the reply. We laughed together.
‘Still alive’ - Long after our conversation came to an end, those words kept ringing in me. It’s an odd choice of words but I knew exactly what X meant. It was one of those Been-there-Done-that kinda moments.

Ever felt that way? I'm not sure how to elaborate on that but I'll give it a shot. It's like you were barely going on with life, not quite sure about anything, and you seem to have to drag yourself to do all the things you have to do. You feel like you are in this tunnel and have no idea what’s on the other side... It's all confusing, all upsetting and all frustrating. Make sense? If not, I understand! ;-)

I'm reminded of the metaphor that talks about a seed. 'Unless a seed should fall to the ground and die (Ouch!), it remains a single seed.' You see a seed needs to be covered in mud and left for awhile. It stays hidden in the ground not known, not seen - still alive. But the story does not end there. '... if it dies it produces many seeds'. [Math 12:24]
Behold! The potential which was in the seed all the time slowly begins to come to life. A shoot, a little leaf, and in time a huge tree stands in that very place. It's a marvel. Who would have thought or expected it?

The 'Still Alive' season, feels like the seed under the sand. (No, it’s not pleasant) But the good news is that the life that comes after that, yielded through this experience makes it all totally worth it. Trust me!
Like someone once said “You can count the number of seeds in the apple but only God can count the number of apples in the seed."

Dear Mister God this is @ina taking . . . No one understands the potential of the seed under the sand more than you. Through my eyes (or the eyes of the world) it looks insignificant, but I know you see something magnificent.

Bubbles

Something totally beyond my control had happened and there was nothing I could do about it. It made me sad and I tried to hide it. But my friend noticed, came over, stood by me and made sure I was fine. In fact she had me laughing in a while by being sensitive to the way I felt.

It reminded me of a concept I learnt explained by the use of bubbles (Yes, bubbles!) in a seminar on inter-personal skills. When you see bubbles in water, it's an indication of life beneath the surface. You can't see it, it's not obvious but it does indicate that something's there. So also in life we come across bubbles of different sorts. Some are verbal and others are non-verbal. A sigh, a slouching shoulder, a downcast face, a distraught mind, a statement like 'whatever!', a tear so on and so forth. They may or may not be obvious, but ultimately they convey that something’s not quite right somewhere inside.

Being alert to listen to bubbles and respond to them can be of good help. One, If I find myself sending out a bubble (a snappy reply for example) I know I gotta take Time-Out and set things right within me. (Must confess, it does come in handy!) Two, I have that unique chance to put a smile on someone's face by responding aptly. Like my friend did! :-)

Dear Mister God, this is @ina talking . . . I guess these are the sounds that attract heavens attention. The soft, subtle sounds that many a time no one knows but you understand.

Being *The One*

Hypothetical Scenario #1: You are in an interview. You have been through umpteen already. You sit up straight and look into the eyes of the people whose hands will decide a lot about what you will be doing next. You mess up. You are not too happy about it. But then you find you are through! All because someone was *the one* who looked beyond your apparent weakness and decided to give you a chance anyway.

Hypothetical Scenario #2: You need something desperately and someone who you don't even necessarily know steps in at that perfect time and is *the one* who makes it all okay for you.

Hypothetical Scenario #3: You have been having a hard time at work. When someone stops by and tells you how you have been such a champ and how they have been meaning to tell you that for quite awhile. That someone, was *the one* who just made your day.

Simple hypothetical scenario may be (or may not be). But I know there have been so many people who in so many ways and at so many times have been *the one* in my life. They are *individuals* who have helped shape my life into all that it is today. Many of whom may never even know it.

Oft I feel I'm just one. But you know something, all it takes is *just one* to be *the one*!

Dear Mister God, this is @ina talking . . . This is exciting! You see the potential of just one in the tapestry of life. No wonder you made me.

No Room for Real People

People! They are imperfect and at times unprofessional. They can be unpredictable and undependable. They have a way to complicate things and mess things up. They also come up with weird excuses and irrational reasoning. Added to that they are emotional beings and that always gets in the way of everything. . . Know what I mean?

Computers on the other hand, are a totally different thing. Perfection and professionalism is easy to achieve. Complicated stuff? In a jiffy any pro could get it all sorted out. Messed up? Just press ctrl + z. As for the excuses part, they simply have none except to blame the people who use them. And the same goes for irrational reasoning. Finally they can always be safely declared 'emotionally stable'.

The reason for my elaborate comparison? Living in a computerized world we spend all our time around 'em. We are so used to computers and the way they work. In fact we have been pampered (so to speak) and expect nothing less from life, *real* life. So much so I'm beginning to realize, that both in my own life, and the world in general we may soon (or are we there already?) have no room for *real* people, b'coz real people require much too much effort!
But *Sigh*. I miss real people, real conversation and real relationships. Ever felt that way?

Dear Mister God, this is @ina talking . . . I am so glad you are real and you love everything *real* about me.

Just being there

"Mary had a little lamb... that followed her everywhere...” Remember that rhyme?

People (like me) love animals for many reasons. They don't tell you what you don't want to be told, keep your secrets till death parts us, don't judge, don't criticize, think the world of you and best of all excel at just being there. Simply put they embrace you just the way you are (and in fact for all that you are) and love to just hang out with you, like Mary’s lamb!
Pretty flattering, huh? :-)

I never thought that 'just being there' can make a difference. But it does. Most of the time people don't need our advice, our suggestions, our ideas, our opinions, our intuition into their problem or our experienced guidance. All they really need is for us to convey ‘I’m there for you' with a call, a card, a gift, a visit, a hug or jus hanging around!
To just be there can make a world of difference, if only we are willing.

Dear Mister God, this is @ina talking . . . Ya, I’m still talking. Think I'll stop and just hang-out with you instead.

My Best Friend

In whose eyes
I see myself as beautiful
In whose arms
I find myself at rest
In whose strength
I can run for miles
In whose confidence
I unlock my potential
In whose tenderness
I grasp the best in me
In whose trust
I discover true love
In whose words
I am all that I am meant to be.

Dear Mister God, this is @ina talking . . . Thank You.

S-O-R-R-Y

My friend passed by me pushing the chair I was sitting on carelessly and said 'Sorry'. A fraction of a second later, the same friend did the same thing over again muttering another 'Sorry'. I knew the right thing to do was smile and say 'It's okay'. But this was the nth time this was happening on the same day and I heard my mind scream "I though to say I'm sorry meant ' I'll do my best never to do it again ' ". I let it go.

But the screaming thought in my head began to speak to me. If 'Sorry' actually did mean 'I'll do my best never to do it again', then I must confess I'm guilty of not following my own convictions. There have been n power n times when I've said the word from the top of my mind without meaning it.

However there are exceptions. A friend X was once mad at me and did not want to speak to me. My friend Y was speaking to X over the phone and pushed the receiver into my hands saying 'Say I’m s-o-r-r-y'. I picked it up (a lil reluctantly) and whispered into the phone 'I'm s-o-r-r-y'. I meant it. I could hear a soft smile on the other side. The relationship was healed.

The truth: Sorry is a powerful world. Let's keep it that way.

Dear Mister God, this is @ina talking . . . I just kinda feel like you are smiling at this post. :-)

The Road of Good Intentions

"I thought I should call you", I said to my friend, and suddenly I realized I must have said that so many times and to so many people. “I thought I should…bla...bla...bla…” and yet it was quite a useless statement to make. The thought was not good enough. It had to translate into action to be of any good.

I'm reminded of a story I read. A man is paddling on this boat. The boat is called life and has two oars. One is called faith and the other Works. (Yap, the oars have names too!) If he pulls on any one he ends up going around in circles and heading nowhere. When he pulls on both he begins to glide on the waters.

Err...My point? Often times I stroll on (truthfully - live on) the road of good intentions. And the problem with that is it feels good but is heading nowhere, just like the boat! On the contrary is the road of good works, now that's the real thing! You see its one thing *to think*, * to want to*, and another *to do*.

I can probable sit and pen down hundreds of good intentions I've had that never translated into any action and you know what the really sad thing is: I'm adding to that list each day.

Dear Mister God, this is @ina talking . . . Guess you understand exactly what I mean, You know me inside out. I reeeeeeeealy need to live my inside out!

Live Life

A friend of mine X, was telling me how X took this walk on a really wild, windy and rainy day simply 'coz it was something X never attempted before! Made me think when was the last time I did something for the first time? Hmmm . . .

This morning I woke up before dawn (purely accidentally**) hearing the pitter-patter of the rain drizzling. Putting on my rain coat I took my dog and slipped out. We had hardly walked five minutes when the sun rose in all its beauty, breaking apart the grey clouds in gentle warmth and leaving me with a song in my heart. Seemed like we (God, my dog and me) where the only ones in the world witnessing this wonder.

Dear Mister God, this is @ina talking . . . A sense of adventure, an open mind, a willingness to experiment and a BIG heart is all it takes to live life. May I never run short of these.

** Human accidents I've found are heavenly co-incidents.

IF

* If * is a word that can spark a revolution. I came to that conclusion after reading my favorite poem IF** by Rudyard Kipling about a few million times [Ya, I'm a lil (?) slow]. I must admit I dislike tearing words apart but I can't help thinking that if . . .

If = I + F = I + Faith

Then I + Faith is all it takes to spark a revolution in me (as the poet suggests), in my family, in my city, in my nation, in my world!

Dear Mister God, this is @ina talking . . . History has been made by people who dared to dream ~ to be different, to make a difference. * If * they could do it so I could I, I hear you whisper. :-)

** The Poem:

IF. . .

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you
But make allowance for their doubting too,
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:
If you can dream--and not make dreams your master,
If you can think--and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools:
If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it all on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on!"
If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings--nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much,
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And--which is more--you'll be a Man, my son!

- Rudyard Kipling

An ode to silence

It's said that a picture speaks a thousand words... so I’m just gonna let *it* speak . . .


Dear Mister God this is @ina talking . . . sometimes words just clutter me up, in silence I hear you loudest.

24 * 7 on Planet Earth

One of the papers I read had a caricature that was a pun of a local news channel calling it a 24*7 'National Disaster TV'. Pun though it might have been they had a point! We seem to be living on a planet earth that is prone to disaster 24*7 .

A couple of weeks ago I watched a documentary on the Russian hostage situation in a school that lasted for three days. Tears ran down my cheeks as I heard one little boy, a survivor who saw his dad killed and his friends die before him say with a glimmer of hope in his eyes "I wished Harry Potter would come and save us all... "

When I was a little child Batman was the craze. I watched the masked hero, in a long cape save Gotham city from its many villains and their wicked schemes. Batman is portrayed as the Mr. Average Guy who fights for the oppressed, speaks for the unheard and stands for the truth. At the end of the show I almost always caught myself wishing I was in his shoes.

I realize I could not be there for that little boy who lost his loved ones and a part of his childhood in the process, or there for that family of 12 huddled in the dark with nothing to eat for days on end, or there when the hurricane struck and whisked away an entire community.
But I am here, 24*7 on planet earth, given the opportunity to be a hero in my own sphere of life.

Dear Mister God, this is @ina talking . . . 24*7 is a lot of time to spend it all on myself like I most often do. I may be an ordinary person but I sure want to live an extraordinary life. I must go the extra mile.

I wonder

I wonder what it is that makes blogs so interesting... Perhaps it's because you feel like you have been given an extra pair of eyes to see life through another’s viewpoint, or perhaps it’s the chance it gives you to tread upon the footsteps left by a stranger reaching for an unknown goal, perhaps it’s the enigma involved or perhaps it's just ‘coz we like to take a sneak peak into another’s life . . . ;-)

Whatever be the reason, the truth is our life is made up of a house of thoughts, feelings, beliefs, goals, dreams, hopes and a whole lot more… all of which comes out of *interaction*! And if *interaction* be it with God, people, animals or things plays such a BIG role in our lives we ought to make wise choices when it comes to what, when, why, how we *interact*. Like the WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) Editor I’m using . . . Perhaps, just perhaps our action can be a product of our inter-action, the *only* difference being we get to choose!

Dear Mister God, this is @ina talking . . . I wonder what life, my life would be like if I made better choices in the way I interact with You and those around me.