Tag: Life

Leave All Carry-On Luggage Behind!

“… is not the life more than meat, and the body more than raiment?” Matthew 6:25

I just landed after two long legs of flights from the US to Asia. Exhausting.

For countless times, I have heard the pre-flight instructions from the cabin deck, but for some reason, on the first leg of the trip, the same trite sentence reverberated in my mind like the after-shocks of a violent bolt of lightning: “In case of an emergency evacuation, leave all carry-on luggage behind.”

Why?  Why shouldn’t I hold on to my handbag with my cell phone, cash, passport,  credit cards, jewelry, make-up, keys to my car and home, and other things I hurriedly stashed for travel emergencies?

Because an emergency landing is a matter of life and death.  Because nothing else matters but the very lives of the passengers.

And what of the luggage left behind?  Critical times require critical thinking.  Triage.  Luggage contents may or may not be replaced, but there is a limit to their value.  Even the world’s greatest treasures have a finite monetary amount.  Numbers go on to infinity. There will always be a calculated amount which puts the worth of these earthly treasures in their proper places.

Not so with human life.  Despite the atrocities of slavery which imputed monetary value on human slaves, the worth of a person cannot be measured.

How succinctly Jesus pointed to the central truths of our existence in this world.  How often He admonished the people not to lay up treasures upon earth, but to lay up treasures upon heaven: to provide for eternity, to ensure one’s place in the Kingdom of God. Centuries ago,  a wise emperor of Germany, once described heavenly treasures in these words: “Such goods are worth getting and knowing, as will not sink nor wash away if a shipwreck happens.”  In today’s jet age parlance, such goods as will not sink nor wash away if an airplane emergency evacuation on the ocean happens.

That was some flight.

* Photograph by Above the Ocean by Colleen Lane

First Stroll

First Stroll

I remember butterflies
and spring grass
and ivy climbing to heights
of ivory towers, testing
perimeters of leaden grilles
against foggy glass.

We sat on the stony steps
of Winants Hall,
lingered for endless moments,
and after a while
walked up a hill where the bell
tower stood
still in time
as the train to Trenton whistled
down the railroad tracks.

by D.G. Vachal © 2012

*** photograph: Ivory Tower by spiritflare@Flickr

Pink Porcelain Cups

Pink Porcelain Cups

I saw your face
devoid of air:
a crumpled raisin,
blue eyes squinting
at the light.

Your first utterance a memory
of joy,
for in the silence of my sorrow,
piercing cries,
abbreviated gasps for air
broke into sobs of song
filling empty cupboards
of my hungry heart.

I see your comely face
after years have formed
from still-life brushstrokes —
you speak,
I understand
as I did then
when you mumbled words
so long ago.

Showers cascade softly
upon delicate petals,
thirsty leaves;
You pour
our favorite tea
into pink porcelain cups.

by  D. G. Vachal © 2012

* photograph : Pink Painting by TC Davis @Flickr Commons

The Precious Possession

7 dimineata

“A lazy man does not roast his prey, but the precious possession of a man is diligence.” Proverbs 12:27,  NASB

There is a certain possession that the Bible esteems as valuable, something to be desired.  It is not a material treasure; it cannot be bought with worldly currency.  That precious possession is diligence.

The best way I can expound upon this scripture is to share how I have witnessed this trait from my parents. To this day, they continue to amaze me beyond words.   I don’t ever remember seeing them idle or wasting time.   When I was growing up, I recall both of them going to work early in the morning each day.   As both of them are lawyers, they had plenty of things to occupy them; however, they somehow managed to come home and eat three meals with their children almost every day.

When my father was home, I remember that he would either be reading or writing.  My mother incessantly tended to projects that she would follow through to completion.  They were compassionate people, reaching out to help the poor and underprivileged.  I remember many times when we children would have to sit squeezed shoulder-to-shoulder at the dinner table because some poor folks were invited to dine with us.

My father is now in his eighties, but he still goes to work every day:  he serves the people as the oldest member of Congress in a Southeast Asian country.  Surrounded with books and so many documents to read and review,  he always carries a pen,  a small pad of paper, or a book to read.  My mother is in her late seventies, and yes, she also goes to work each day.  A long time ago, when I was a little child, she started a cooperative to help and encourage poor people to save their money and to free them from the grasp of greedy usurers.  What she set into motion decades ago has now grown by leaps and bounds — from a membership of less than 20, and at present, to almost a hundred thousand — one of the biggest cooperatives in a Southeast Asian country.

Diligence involves perseverance, persistence, and tenacity.  It is not achieved overnight, but grows through the days and through the years as it is applied.  It is honoring one’s Creator with making the best use of one’s time and talents, and like the cooperative that my mother once started, through daily application, grows exponentially in value.  Diligence eventually becomes a person’s precious possession where moths cannot corrupt, nor can thieves break through and steal.