So... Project Sparkle is a community project by Hope Community Services to help clean up the Kampong Glam Area where a large number of less fortunate people stay. The area consists mostly of one room flats and most probably housed a low income family that stays there. My lifegroup was tasked to clean out Blk 8 of North Bridge road and I knew it was going to be a tough hill to climb for those people that are not accustomed to stepping into the mud but as we started to clean i realised that once they started, their heart overcame the fears of whatever uncleanliness they had to contend with, which was to me a very commendable effort and in 2 short hrs we cleaned up the 2 floors that we were tasked! WELL DONE J1!
The thing about project sparkle was a chance for us to go out there and be filled with compassion just like Jesus when he saw the multitudes of people. And as usual, church service and everyone else amped it up to be that once you see their squalid conditions that your heart will be filled with compassion to want to help them.
This unfortunately didnt happen to me.... In fact what I saw was another side of life. I saw a family playing with each other, another family playing mahjong and having fun, a man walking over to a neighbours place to chat and a few kids from different racial families playing with each other. Was this a sight that broke my heart? nope. In fact, it opened my eyes to know that
Even without the luxury of money. You can still be contented.
Yes money might help them in alot of situations in life, but as i see it, being poor doesnt mean life sucks and that life is like walking the plank to an endless eternity of unhappiness but that even in the most trying of times, that money isnt everything. I didn't feel compassion when i cleaned out their corridors, instead my heart was filled with joy to see the human spirit knitting a tapestry of relations together even without the abundance and security of finance. And if the human spirit was that strong in adversity, how much stronger when we have the HOLY SPIRIT in us!
We think that they need our help just because they are less fortunate than us. I think in retrospect, people that have everything but are spiritually bankrupt are the ones that need help more. To end off.. i'll quote a pastor from Cuba telling another American pastor who was on a mission trip about what he thought about money.
In America you have stuff and trust in your money. We trust in God.
You think that a man can be elected and save the world. We know better.
So do not feel sorry for us. We feel sorry for you.
I used to dread singing praise and worship and couldnt understand for the life of me why people in Church kept on repeating chorus after chorus after chorus in a seemingly infinite loop, as i Catholic at that time, all i wanted to do was sing the song, move on to the next segment so i could get out as fast as i possibly could and then get on with my life (You could say i was a Sunday Christian)
But as i slowly matured in Christ, i actually found out why Christians love singing their songs endlessly.And the answer lies in The Presence of God
Anticlimactic? For some reason it was so simple, so plain yet I of all people had my spiritual eyes blinded.
King David loved to worship and did it in a very foolish yet child like way. He once wrote 'Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere; I would
rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of
the wicked."
I found out that when we sing, its not so much of singing the songs for the sake of singing the songs but to enjoy BEING IN HIS PRESENCE. Im not saying that worship = singing songs but rather when we intentionally set aside time to be in his presence, we arrive at the answer. That all you wanna do is be in his presence... A place where peace comes upon you like you have never known and for just that point in time, no worries and cares in the world can overcome you, a place where we connect with God and he to us.
If you have never enjoyed praise and worship, it could very well be a sign that we probably do not enjoy being in his presence at all... maybe we just think its just a farce and that its silly to do all the things mainstream christians do, but as i see it, its just between you and God, no one else.. Im not impressing the person next to me with how well I sing cos God knows he gave me an average voice that doesnt stand out, I sing cos he deserves it and that there is no other place i'd rather be than in his presence.
I came along a song lately, super short song, yet in that it perfectly described my feelings toward worship.
Hope you enjoy it and if you have never liked to worship like i did last time. I challenge you to delve so much deeper to find this joy when you sing to the Lord of Lords =)
