my mum has dengue.

sometimes i feel that life is so fragile. this supposed civilisation, the apparent superiority of mankind, the advance of science, can do nothing to guard against the heartbreak, the worry, the anxiety, that stems from a tiny little insect when it decides to answer its instincts.

another thing.

we were coming back from church today. on the way, we stopped at a traffic light. just as the light turned green, a mother and her daughter began rushing across the road.

my dad saw them early and thus waited for them to pass before engaging first gear. just as the car began moving, we heard a loud screech. our heads turned. the driver of a mercedes benz at the far end, not being able to see the pair dash across the road as his view was blocked, had begun moving. he jambraked when they passed his car, just missing them by a few inches.

the driver shook his fists at the mother, who smiled sheepishly back. the daughter looked innocently on.

could the ending have been different? could another two people never see the light of day again? why do people wait to make mistakes before realising that they should have never ventured to cross the perimeter of laid-down boundaries in the first place? why are we so stubborn?

and God, being all-merciful and gracious, has to put up again and again, day after day, month after month, year after year, life after life, of such pure audacity and ill-inspired confidence against His holiness. and yet He had never really shown His full wrath. recently we heard of Hurricane Katrina, of its successor Rita, of famines in countries, and of epidemics like the dengue fever right at our very own doorstep. i say God has finally decided to be more firm with us. the end of the world may be coming, who knows. but what i know is that my family and i will be prepared when Jesus comes again.

will you take up your cross and follow Jesus? the day of the Lord is at hand.