Oh My God

Going to church was a habitual routine, I didn’t like it.

My father nagged non-stop at us to read the Bible, I didn’t like it.

My mother used the Word and pressured me, I didn’t like it.

I was judged by the people in church, I didn’t like it.

I was born a Christian and I guess I had been believing blindly, just because my parents said so.

As a child, I’ve had many near death experiences (drowning thrice and driving an AVT off the cliff) but I didn’t think much about what He was trying to tell me.

Then it became pretty obvious He was speaking to me.

My younger brother used to sleep in the same bedroom as me. We shared a double decker bed and he slept on the upper deck.

As school children, we go to bed at about 1030pm. We had a habit of lying in bed and chatting to sleep. One night, we were tucked in and about to drift off to sleep.  My house phone rang and my dad picked it up. My dad’ll usually grumble and say “who’s this calling so late?”, but because he is a friend from church and my dad is kind of biased, he informed me of the phone call.

I got up to answer the call. The clock read 10.45pm. Just as I stepped out of bed and reached the phone in the kitchen, the upper deck my brother was sleeping in COLLAPSED. The double decker was made of wood and something gave way. My brother woke up abruptly and said it felt like a roller coaster. My mouth hung open as I saw the damage. If I had been sleeping soundly beneath, I would have been flat as a blood pancake.

Immediately I conveyed this miracle to my friend on the phone and asked him why did he call me. He said he couldn’t remember but felt he needed to call me.

Still, after this incident, I didn’t think much about reconciling with my faith (ungrateful human).

My grades had never been good ( I fail Physics, Chemistry, Maths and Geography) and I didn’t do good enough to enter Junior College. I applied for Ngee Ann Polytechnic and there was ONLY ONE course I wanted to be in: Mass Communications. It was THE polytechnic and THE course to get in; they had pretty high entry requirements. If I didn’t get into that, my future looked bleak.

So I prayed.

There were 2 entry tests. One was essay writing, the other was an interview. The essay’s topic was on Cloning. My general knowledge on world affairs was VERY POOR. I did not know what cloning was, but I wrote and I bullshit my way through. I passed.

Not only my general knowledge was bad, I was muddle-headed. I mixed my interview date up and when I turned up for my interview, I was a DAY LATE.

Still, I made it in.

At 19, freshly graduated and fearing like any Singaporean, if I didn’t get employed immediately, my future looked bleak.

So I prayed. This time I cried buckets too, for effect.

Thankfully, my hot tears didn’t crank up the keyboard in front of me. Wiping my tears dry in a split second, I sent in my resume for a fashion retail SME.

Within 60 minutes, I got called for an interview and its office was near my home!

Within 90 minutes, I was in their office for my interview.

Within 180 minutes, I got the job!

After that incident, I stopped fearing because I knew there is Christ, my Provider.

I then went on for further studies overseas and got a job offer from a media firm just before graduation. I was very blessed!

Politics then got a little too much there and I left, but it was a blessing in disguise! I got to do something meaningful, got a pay increment, had flexible working hours AND got to achieve on this blog.

My childhood made me tough, I did not believe in showing my vulnerability. I do not cry in public, I don’t shed a tear. However, when I first heard this song in church, my tears flowed and flowed. 

I never could understand why Christians can shout, jump and laugh in church. Frankly, that was all abit too much for me, it made my hair stand.

I didn’t like the Christains who praise God non-stop and linked everything to God. They make my hair stand.

Now, I understood.

I like that He is my Healer (the more I pray, the less painful my heart felt during heartbreak)

I like that He is my Strength (going to church is like singing some Karaoke and listening to a motivational speech)

I like that He is my Provider (money and opportunities just land in my lap)

Here’s a practical and rational thought: If Christ is not real and it had all been a lie, what is there to lose when the world ends?

But IF Christ is real and everything you believed about this faith is true, haven't you hit jackpot?

Faces of orgasm are never a pretty sight (they all look like in pain), but the faces of orgasm (ecstasy) in church look so serene. For a different kind of coming.

There’s only so much a man can plan, we all need a leap of faith.