Random musings

We remember Mummy frequently and fondly. It seems like she passed away too soon at the age of 59. But, we are grateful for the time we had with her. The happy memories. Each and every one of them. We celebrated Daniel's 10th birthday recently. We were also reminded that it's been 10 years since Mummy passed away. Yet, the memories we have of her are vibrant. She was truly an unforgettable person, in every sense of the word.  Sometimes, Naomi and Daniel talk about how they have never seen their grandma, and my heart breaks a little bit. I know that she would have adored them.  I remember her as a grandma when my niece was born. My niece was the only one out of all her grand-kids who could actually spend some time with her. Mummy was never a typical " know-it-all " kind of person. She hardly ever dished out advice, though I'm sure that if she did, her advice would have been good. It wasn't even as if she was holding her tongue, or being disapproving

Every now and then, I hear sermons where there is this great big divide between law and grace. The " grace people " are sometimes viewed as "wishy-washy". As if to say, if you rely too much on grace, you are also saying that you have a license to sin. " Grace people " are also viewed as people who throw the forgiveness card around, because they believe their sins are forgiven, so they think that they can do what they want and get away with it. So, in all such kind of sermons, one is reminded to follow the requirements of the law,  and from  God. You must obey, be moral and be good Christians.  I'm baffled by this kind of thinking. If someone truly has an understanding of grace, they also understand the magnitude of sin, specifically their OWN sin, not someone else's sin. If one does not understand their own sin, one also does not understand grace. They understand some version of God's love and forgiveness but not the extent to why someone

One would only need to spend a few years at any church to see the word " service " being used. Christian service is something that almost every Christian preacher talks about. Not only the preacher, even the people at church remind each other to serve. I must admit that I get annoyed by the " call for service " emails and reminders that we receive from church. Many a times, they are sent with Bible verses as if to remind people, " See. You must serve. God expects you to do it ".  There's nothing wrong with service. In fact, it is one of the most tangible ways to see love, empathy and compassion in action. Without service, our lives tend to become insular. We and our kids grow up with this notion that the world revolves around us. It is equally true that if the church doesn't find enough people to serve, the few people who do serve get worn out or become self-righteous or both. The church then dies this slow death because no one seems to ca