I have disabled the comments. But CuriousGal, feel free to write to me anytime, if you have any further question.
Question on religion ‘transition’ from one of the reader
(errmm…readers who don’t fancy religious talks may want to jump to the next post? but trust me, it is not heavy stuffs)
CuriousGal commented on March 10th, 2006: ^
5xmom ah…I’m just curious hoh…After reading your blog for so long ah, I still don’t understand why you converted lo. You have mentioned countless times that you are a buddhist converted to catholic after the death of Vincent….
But my question is…Why? what happened at that period of the transition? Do you not like buddha’s teachings anymore? Have you stopped beliving in him because he took away a person dearest to you?
Just a curious young girl in search of answers about “religionsâ€
I lurve these kind of questions. Cos it also makes me think hard.
So, here’s my answer to you Curiousgal. 🙂
My birth cert said I am a Buddhist but I was brought up as a Taoist of sort. When I was older, I did read up some Buddhist books and found it to be severely strict like not eating meat 🙂 , not placing money and outer beauty as priority 🙂 , and not doing all those things like drinking, lying, etc etc. I was about like, 20 years old then and therefore, know that I cannot live up to that kind of lifestyles. 🙁
So, all my life, i.e. 39 years of them, I live with the believe of Guan Yin, Guan Koong, Thai Pak Koong and any koong you can think of, including datuk koong, hungry ghosts etc etc.
When my son was very, very sick, I get comments like ‘Your son has to suffer because :
hear this…..this comes from my relatives and even the nurses
1) it is his karma
2) it is his previous life sins
3) it his probably his ancestors karma
the only thing no one dares to say direct to me is ‘It is probably your karma’ cos I will fark them upside down.
Oh yeah, got people tell me it is fengshui and also because we must have renovated the house (which we did not).
So, as a mother, do you think you can accept this sort of explanation? One of my relative even went to check the book of life (dunno wtf is that la) and told me how his life is mapped out and he will live to 70 years old. KNN, he died at 7 months old.
During his sickness, to me 7 months is like 70 years of sufferings, I went to all sort of mediums. You know those conmen who pretended to be NaCha, Monkey God yadda yadda yadda? I was so desperate and believe everything anyone tells me.
However, I never turn to God or Jesus Christ because all my life, I hate the idea of being a Christian.
Somehow, during those crucial moments, when each night I had to leave him at the ICU and not knowing if I am ever going to see him alive in the morning, I started to plead to Mother Mary to watch over him. It so happens, there was this beautiful, sweet, kind nurse from Mumbai, India who always sat by his bedside and sing to him. She is an Orthodox (the branch of Christianity found in India region) and attend the Catholic church here.
And Vincent doctor, at one point, told me he had done all he can and the only thing he can do is to pray. He told me he prayed for Vincent every day. Whenever, he left for overseas for medical conference, I would tell him ‘Keep him in your prayers’.
Therefore, somehow or other, I notice that these two Christians have been so kind and so dedicated. They never tell me anything about Christianity. So, I sort of got attracted to know more about Christianity. I bought myself a bible and started reading. And that’s how I turn to Christianity.
I want to share with you these, CuriousGal :
16You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will last.
John 15:16
1) God is not for us to choose. He will choose us. So, when your heart is open to know God, people will come into your life to show you the way. By asking me this question, I know that you have come to a stage where you know there is some mighty power out there.
2) Christianity is the most beautiful thing that happens to me. Because no matter how bad my life was, I was never told that ‘you deserve it, it is your karma’. Instead, I learnt that each of us are made by God and is actually part of Him. In fact, we Christians say ‘we are the temple of God’, which means God lives within us. Our life is charted and whatever that happens, have to happen. We just surrender ourselves to God and when things are too hard to deal with, we ask for His help. In Christianity, we accept that we have to shoulder many difficulties in our lifes because we are built tougher.
3) My transition was faster than others because my obstacle is probably the hardest any human has to shoulder. Losing a child is the most painful thing. Having to care for a very sick on is hard. I would rather lost my limbs, eyesights or just anything if I can trade for his life. So, if you are young and live a carefree life, don’t force yourself to try to be into anything. Things will come naturally to you. Because when someone pushed themselves into a faith, they may turn around and hate it.
For Jesus had known from the beginning which of them did not believe and who would betray him. 65He went on to say, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled him.”
John 6:65
4) If you are really interested to know God, you just have to know Jesus. Treat Him like you would treat a good friend. Because when you think of the God, it seems too big, too high for you. That’s why God made Himself Man (by being born to Mother Mary), to suffer the same way we humans do and then, died like us. When Jesus died, He turned into the Holy Spirit, or Holy Ghost. That is the Spirit we Christians received when we are baptised. Each of us Christians has the Holy Spirit in us. Sometimes, we are just being careless and forget to let the Holy Spirit leads our lives and instead try to be our own human side.
12When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
John 8:12
5) Another thing – have you ever wonder what we are talking about when we say ‘Jesus came to wash away our sins with His blood’. Does this every make you very weird? I do. This is one reason why I hate Christianity previously. Cos it is damn confusing, man. I mean, what sins wor? So, let me tell you, Curiousgal. Long ago, when God created Adam and Eve, they were supposed to live in a heavenly place where there is no sufferings and pains. But God created Adam and Eve with their own free will. This woman, Eve opened up the hellish world when she took that bite of apple offered by the devil (the snake?). So, that’s why our world now is full of bad things. Now, Jesus come to make amends and give us a second chance to go back to that Heaven which God created in the first place. All of us, regardless whether we are Christians or not want to go back to that place one day.
6) Which leads me to another reason why I chosed Christianity. You see, in Buddhism, i.e if I still believe it, when a person died, that person will be reborn. Which means the son whom I had once, will no longer be my son anymore but born of a dog, pig or maybe a nice human in another cycle. Another thing is the bereaved parties have to do a lot of merits in order to let the person whom had died to have an easier path. That is a lot of responsibilities to me because I can never do enough! In Christianity, I know my son has earn a place in Heaven. All children died and go to Heaven because they are so pure. Whether I can see my son again, it depends on my own merit. Therefore, you get the picture? I am responsible for my own life. My child is independent of me.
I have the Bible to guide me. The Bible is not mere story books written by men. (someone left a comment in the previous post regarding gay issues). We Christians believe they are the Word of God. Inspired by God, written through the wisdoms of the prophets and we have strict warning in the Bible that no one is to change anything in there. No doubt they have been translated into many languages, the gist is the same. When your heart is open to receive God in your life, you will see the Bible as a personal guide for you. Read Matthew, John, Luke or Mark (the easiest to understand). What Mark has written are the life of Jesus and His Words, errmmm like a blog/diary 🙂 . You will feel like it is Jesus guiding you, whether it is to make a decision, to deal with something troubling you or just to merely calm you down.
These four persons are people who lived with Jesus once, 2,000 years ago. In the Bible, there is the Old Testament and the New Testament. The Old Testament is interconnected to the New Testament. Muslims and Jews believe in part of the same Old Testament as Christians. If you are a beginner, reading the Old Testament may seems like reading fairy tales with Noah’s Ark and Adam and Eve. Therefore, my advice to anyone who wants to start to know Christianity is to read the New Testament, understands it, and then, backtrack to the Old Testament.
I can go on and on and on because I love to share about my God, the Lord. The ever forgiving and loving God.
Incidentally, this is the Word d that I found which is so appropriate to what I had written so far :
“ But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, â€- 1 Peter 3:15
May you find your peace in Him too.
Amen.
You can read the Bible from here.
And to my bros and siss in Christ, in case you think I have babbled too much and out of tune , please recall the part of the Samaritan woman at the well 😉 ?
Added : I missed out another question:
Do you not like buddha’s teachings anymore? Have you stopped beliving in him because he took away a person dearest to you?
Curiousgal – I never know Buddhist teachings so I can’t say if I like it or not. And I don’t blame any gods for taking away my son. Instead, as a Christian, I see that I was privilege that God chose me to mother that child. You see, I believe that everyone has to be born and die eventually. Some die younger and some older. So, God must have know that by giving me this child, I would make good use of my experiences. Which currently, I had spearheaded a grief support and also parents with critically ill children.
🙂 – I have an email from someone more knowledgeable than me in Catholicsm and he said pointed out this. Thanks Celestine! I am learning each day.
By the way, you mentioned: “When Jesus died, He turned into the Holy Spirit, or Holy Ghost.”, this is not true because the Father, the Son [Jesus] and the Holy Ghost/Spirit is 3 distinct persons in one God. So therefore Jesus and the Holy Spirit are different.
You also mentioned that: “Our life is charted and whatever that happens, have to happen .”, this is true to a certain extent. It’s true that God has a special plan for each and everyone of us but if we choose not to follow His plan He can’t help but respect our decision. God makes ONLY good things happen, however He does allow bad things (which is inevitable since we live in a fallen world) to happen; and the beautiful part is: He makes good come of out it. 😀