Beautiful Fabrics….made by God

There were 97 souls in the room this morning.. quite an achievement for this old-previously cantenkerous man… now a Reverend…. who decided to create a whole new generation… by changing his name… Fleming-El Paso was the new surname and he insisted all his 6 daughters keep their maiden names. He cared less if it would fit in any spreadsheet column or passport. He was stationed in El Paso and claims to have met a certain Fleming he was passionately certain discovered penicillin. He also claimed this guy’s grandson was the author of James Bond. The room fell into a great hush when he waved his hands. The little fingers of both hands had nails long enough to cause his twin 6 year old great grandsons to roll their eyes and stare. He stretched his arms and received a crying baby from his 23 year old granddaughter. The baby looked at his face.. wrinkled.. scrawny… with sharp eyes and a pathological sneering look.. and fell silent. He smiled. He loved the fact that he still had a hold on even the least of his seed.. He proceeded to play on his mouth organ…
‘Father I know that all my life is portioned out for me. And the changes that are sure to come, I do not fear to see… Most hummed the tune… some sang along… when he was done, he begun…

‘I have no regrets in this life… no… I have one… for having nine children instead of ten… who likes odd numbers anyway..? I have been soo blessed to have you all… some whom I haven’t seen in years… such a shame.. but you’re all here and that for me is good enough. Stop looking at your watch and listen… you know yourself… I won’t be here with you in the next hour or two…. and sure never again.. I have lived a full life and I’m pretty sure I am going home today. So I checked into this hospital to save you from all the hustle of police… what do they even call it..? Coroner’s ‘biribi’ like that.. Let me share a story by one fine man the Lord used to clear my doubts…

“When I was a teenager growing up in Delhi I was really not doing very well. I was failing at everything…… My dad basically looked at me and said, “You know, you’re going to be a huge embarrassment to the family—one failure after another.” And he was right given the way I was headed. I just was looking for an escape. I wanted to get out of everything I was setting my hand to, and I lacked discipline.

During this time, India was at war with a neighboring country and the defense academy was looking for pilots to be trained. They were calling them general duties pilots—G.D. pilots. So I applied and I went to be interviewed for this. It was an overnight train journey from the city of Delhi. It was wintertime and it gets quite cold then in the northern part of the country. We were outside freezing in the cold air for about five days as we went through physical endurance tests and all kinds of other tests. There were three hundred applicants; they were going to select ten. On the last day they put their selection of names out on the board, and I was positioned number three.

I phoned my family and said, “You aren’t going to believe this. I’m going to make it. I’m number three. The only thing that’s left is the interview. The psychological testing is tomorrow, and I’ll be home.”

The next morning I began my interview with the chief commanding officer, who looked to me like Churchill sitting across the table. He asked me question after question. Then he leaned forward and said, “Son, I’m going to break your heart today.” I wondered what he was going to say. He continued, “I’m going to reject you. I’m not going to pass you in this test.” “May I ask you why, sir?” I replied. “Yes. Psychologically, you’re not wired to kill. And this job is about killing.”

You know, inside of me I felt that I was on the verge of wanting to prove him wrong right then and there. But I knew better, both for moral reasons and for his size! So I went back to my room and didn’t talk to anybody, packed my bags, got into the train, and arrived in Delhi. My parents and friends were waiting at the platform with garlands and sweets in their hands to congratulate me. No one knew. I thought to myself, “How do I even handle this? Where do I even begin?” They were celebrating, and yet for me, it was all over.

Or so I thought.

Had I been selected, I would have had to commit twenty years to the Indian armed forces. It was the very next year that my father had the opportunity to move to Canada. My brother and I moved there as the first installment, and the rest of them followed. It was there I was in business school and God redirected my paths to theological training. It was there that I met Margie; there my whole life changed. The rest is history. Had I been in the Indian Air Force, who knows what thread I’d have pulled to wreck the fabric… This man is Ravi Zacharias….
Listen… See your life as a great design… God has the blueprint. How can one even meaningfully say that life is meaningless? And to those who love the Lord and are the called according to His purpose, everything is working for their good. You’re a beautiful fabric being woven by God to fit his eternal purpose.
-Brandon… I learnt you have to write your papers again. Don’t worry it is working for your good.
-Omari… your long awaited child is on the way. Keep hope alive.
-Kobby.. I know you’re frustrated… 5 years post university education… and it looks like you have hit a snag… I have good news for you… Here’s your appointment letter… I spoke to a few people.. make the best out of this..
-Gyimah and Frema… love never fails always remember that…
-Saddique.. What you were saved for is greater than what you were saved from. Glad you’re part of us.
Let me end with this insightful piece from Ravi..”We often hear the phrase, “the crux of the matter” or “the crux of a situation.” The word “crux” comes from Medieval Latin, and simply means cross. Why has the word “crux” come to be associated with a critical juncture or point in time? Because the Cross of Christ is truly the crux of history. Without the Cross, history itself cannot be defined or corrected.

There is another word we often hear when we are in the throes of indescribable pain, the word, “excruciating.” That, too, derives from the Latin and means “out of the cross.” Across time and human experience, the historical event of the Cross intersects time and space and speaks to the deepest hurts of the human heart.

But we live with more than pain and suffering. We also live with deep hungers within the human heart, such as the hunger for truth, for justice, forgiveness, and peace. As I see it, there is only one place in the world where these hungers converge: it is in the Cross of Christ, where perfect peace and perfect justice became united in one death on a Friday afternoon.

The Cross defines what love’s entailments are. You see, in Christian terms, love does not stand merely as an emotion or even as an expression to just be reconciled to God. In a relationship with God, love ultimately flowers into worship. All earthly relationships as we know them will someday end. It is in worship alone that wonder and truth coalesce, prefiguring the consummation of eternal communion. That enrichment from worship feeds all other relationships and helps us to hold sacred all of life’s needed commitments.

Never has it been more obvious that this world needs redemption—and that redemption is costly. The Cross more than ever, in our language and in our longings, is necessary to bridge the divide between God and us and between ourselves. Without the Cross, the chasm that separates us all from truth, love, justice, and forgiveness can never be crossed. The depths of mystery and love found in the Cross can never be fully plumbed, but it must be the lifelong pursuit of the Christian to marvel at its costliness and to celebrate its meaning.”
Let’s keep the Fleming El Paso tradition alive.’
He handed the baby who was now sleeping to his granddaughter and asked them to sing the last stanza of one of his favourite hymns;
Finish, then, thy new creation;
pure and spotless let us be;
let us see thy great salvation
perfectly restored in thee:
changed from glory into glory,
till in heaven we take our place,
till we cast our crowns before thee,
lost in wonder, love and praise.

He closed his eyes… leaned in his bed as his 90 plus strong choir sang… a smile on his face… as he interjected with the statement..’Glory!! It’s beautiful!’…. He took in a deep breathe and managed to say ‘I love you..’
#dropspen!