Sunday, August 07, 2005

been down in kuala lumpur for the last week or so... then got a call from my mum saying that grandma has been admitted for an op...got back to ipoh this morning, saw her about 2 hours ago...her condition is stable...her heart-rate is still a bit weak... will have to remain in the ICU for at least another day... hopefully she can be transferred to a normal ward in a day or two...

she is very weak, when i saw her...just held her hand, and spoke some words of comfort by her ear...she seemed at peace when i left...

what pisses me off (pardon my language) is what my mum told me of some of my "christian" relatives, who want to capitalise on this poor woman's crisis, make her say the 'sinner's prayer' and so notch up another 'salvation hit'. in my more patient mode, i can understand why we want to do this, this whole crisis evangelism thing... but i just feel it is so wrong...particularly in the case of my grandma...

she has always been a devout believer in Buddhism...prays the mantras...vegetarian...and goes to the temple... i respect her for her devotion and generosity as a human being... she told my mum, when my christian relatives are not around, that she is so afraid that they will forcefully make her a christian, since she is so weak to do anything...

worse thing is one of my relatives, now claims that she has accepted Christ...what bullshit!!! "Nope"...I spoke to her just now... I whispered in her ear, that if any of those relatives pesters her anymore, I'll give them a piece of my mind... I really didn't know what to say to her...I just held her hand, and told her Buddha's example would be her guide in this difficult time... She has heard too much of promises of her being healed, tied with the condition that she believes in Jesus... I couldn't make myself say that cliche christian statement, 'I'll pray for you...'

if only christians, all of us, would just put on Christ, practice kenosis, a self-emptying, to give her space as a Buddhist to face this ordeal...maybe then she can see the solidarity of Jesus in our agenda-less prayers and comforting presences by her bedside...

14 Comments:

At 10:24 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Been there. Agree unreservedly with what you've said.

 
At 2:25 PM, Blogger Ryan Lee Sharp said...

Wow man. So sorry. It grieves me. Glad you were there to be a voice with a different melody to sing.

 
At 9:20 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I'm sorry about your grandma's condition, Kia Meng. I am not surprised how insensitive and overly pushy some Christians are. Take care.

Candy

 
At 8:03 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

...or how "unchristian", which is especially prevalent in our mission to the Third World...

 
At 11:38 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

that was profound... Christians sometimes destroy the complex simplicity of our theology, eh. my prayers for you and your grandma. =]

 
At 12:37 AM, Blogger David Best said...

sorry to hear about your grandma.

Sivin gave me your blog address because we both got hit by the same spammer. I checked out blogger's site to see what could be done about it. I was hoppeing that there was a way to block spam and not comments. dosen't look like that is a possibility, though let me know if you find something different. But you can delete it, or any comment on your blog for that matter, by clicking on the trash can. If you have your account set up to notify you via e-mail when someone leaves a comment, than you can delete the spam fairly quickly.

Good luck

 
At 11:59 PM, Blogger *why, yarn?* said...

hey Kia Meng

i need your insight to schaefferism..haha.. please contact me via sivin or sherman, or just 'bump' into my blog!

 
At 8:13 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

*nod nod* i agree in respecting others...

 
At 11:05 PM, Blogger Leon Jackson said...

Kia Meng, while I completely sympathize with your situation and agree that Christians who are insensitive and out to win points (which is really a mark of modern day pragmatic Arminian American flavoured brain dead Christianity) are really irritating trouble makers. I have heard horror story after horror story of the abuses that have occurred with this kind of folks. Having said that, I also can sympathize with their desire to see your loved one reconciled to God.

Now my question is this, are you a universalist or pluralist? Because from your post, it would seem, that you don’t seem to think that she has to be reconciled to God, through Christ. Forgive me for asking, knowing that this is a sensitive issue for you, but I think there is more involved here then how you feel about it.

Should you be some sort of pluralist – you may be even more dangerous to your grandmother (forgive me for saying it) than those crazy people. But if I have misunderstood you, then forgive me.

 
At 12:12 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

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At 10:36 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hi people
I do not know what to give for Christmas of the to friends, advise something ....

 
At 6:55 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

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At 3:14 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

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At 12:31 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

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