The choice between rebirth and resurrection

These thoughts are from Sunday. One early Sunday morning when I was so inspired with the Sunday’s reading of resurrection, as explained in the Bible and further made easy by our new parish priest, Father Bernard. But I had been so busy I didn’t have time to sit down and penned down those profound thoughts. Maybe, my original words have disappeared.

So, you are warned that this piece could be offensive to those of you who believe in rebirth and ancestors worshiping whereby you are responsible to still continue providing clothes, shoes and other earthly stuffs for your deceased loved ones. That include providing baby bottles and baby clothes for your dead babies.

Again, if you are touchy and sensitive to what I believe in, you can pretty get out of here now.

Something hit me during Deepavali. I confess, I don’t have time for much friends and I am not one of those who socialise and go to Deepavali open houses. But Deepavali hits me because of a few people I knew in Mt. Miriam whom had died. I recalled the things we talked about before they died. So, I was thinking hard, what are they doing now? Where are they now? Do they still remember their families? I know a few had reconciled with their estranged spouse, problematic children and etc before they pass on in peace. Are they in a better world without all that burdens, hurts, pains, agonies of cancer treatment, anger and etc?

And Jesus’s comforting illustration of the other world was so fitting last Sunday morning. I am rather ‘all absorbing’ again with the new priest. I think I must go for confession that I only like my faith when I can connect with what the priest shared in the homily. Sure I kena a long lecture about having the personal relationship with Jesus and not relying on humans. Then, kena punish with long long prayers to ask for God’s guidance.

Anyway, what does our Christian says about resurrection? It is a very easy to understand scene. None of those rebirths that my mom used to scare me with. Like how if I don’t behave I will be reborn as a pig. Or after watching all those Sun-woo-khoong stories, we will be reborn a thousand times if we need to, to become whole.

Or how the funeral parlour undertaker told me they don’t nail little baby’s coffin because they are reborn immediately because they have no sins. But then, the undertaker also become a Catholic like me after two years I converted.

So, yeah, there is no rebirth in my dictionary anymore. I am truly inspired by the Christian faith of resurrection and united with God in Heaven. How the ‘Come to me all ye burden weary and I will give ye rest’ call immediately drawn me to Christianity instead of understanding my previous faith deeper.

Tell you what. Resurrection is an escape. Who needs to die, after struggling in this world for so long to end up in another world, getting punished for our current sins and be born a maid or pig or bitch, the four legs one? That’s why I left my previous faith to turn to Christianity.

After so many years as a Christian, I see resurrection in such a beautiful form. Someday, when I am dead and hopefully earned that ticket to Heaven, I think it doesn’t matter anymore if my son Vincent is there to greet me as mom. Because I believe God probably made Heaven that smashing great, it doesn’t matter anymore. We are all one big, huge, happy family without all the burdens of relationships.

34 Jesus replied, “People in this world get married. And their parents give them to get married. 35 But it will not be like that when the dead rise. Those who are considered worthy to take part in what happens at that time won’t get married. And their parents won’t give them to be married. 36 They can’t die anymore. They are like the angels. They are God’s children. They will be given a new form of life when the dead rise.

(Luke chapter 20)