FOOD
FOR THOUGHT
(01/18/2009)
CAMPING
IN COLOSSE
Cindy
Hong
This
week I imagined myself camping with Paul at Colosse State Park . We're
hanging out eating kosherized s'mores over a campfire. Being Chinese,
the first question that popped out of my mouth was, "Do you have
enough s'mores to eat?" Once courtesy was satisfied, out came the
burning question, "Paul, what made you do all this? How were you
able to give up the Disney family name and fortune that you were born
into, the fame of having your face on a postage stamp, the Harvard diplomas,
having the latest supercarrier named USS Paul, giving up all the royalties
of your bestseller, as if all this didn't matter one iota to you?"
Because the question was so long, Paul had fallen into a s'mores-induced
coma and I was left staring into the fire. So as he snored, I mulled.
What is the one thing that made Paul turn around and align his whole life
with God? What is the one God-thing in my life? Our lives? The thing that
we can say, without a doubt, it's all by grace. What is it that keeps
us dependent and on our knees? What is it that prevents us from saying,
"I'm the captain of my ship," and singing with Frank Sinatra,
"I did it my way?" If Paul wasn't sleeping, I imagined him answering
that God got such a grip on his life that nothing else mattered anymore.
God's dramatic intersection into his life left him transformed. Speechless.
Amazed. Flabbergasted. With all the heartaches and uncertainties in life,
how can we choose joy anyway? With all the ups and downs of life, how
can we choose gratitude just because? Could it be that the same grace
that transformed Paul's life from a murderer to a missionary is the same
grace that turned John Newton's life around from a slave trader to writing
about amazing grace and is also the same grace that touches our lives
today? Could it just be?
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