Grandmother

Words in red will have Biblical basis
Normal fonts are merely my opinion of a matter

My parents have been visiting grandma for the past 2 months every week. Today was my first visit. My aunt arrived slightly earlier than us, and told grandma that we (my parents and I) came too. She cried slightly.

The people were taking care of her well; but I suppose that us visiting her made quite some difference, somehow.

She used to be quite violent and throw her temper a lot earlier during the year. It was difficult for her to accept that her body was becoming weak, and her vision blurring. By the way, she is eighty-plus now.

I suppose she has come into proper terms with the circumstances now. Today she looked so weak, so frail, and slightly smaller since the last time i saw her about 2 months ago. The caretaker said she looked much more cheerly after we arrived.

As I looked at her, I remember some of the things that John Wesley spoke, about death.

One day we will die, and take on a new body. It will be better than this. What will we see with? for the earthly eyes that we have now will fade away. With what will we think?

I also remembered C.S. Lewis

One day (when we die), the circumstances that once bound us - e.g. temperament, physical weakness, etc. will fade. That time, everybody will shine as he/she really is. Many of those who tried hard to do good but have little power to do so ( due to circumstances such as bad upbringing ) will shine much more compared to those who had much, yet little was done.

So even now, though I see not too much signs for her change into Christ likeness, but I suppose I can only see the surface, God knows how hard she tries - and that is good enough, comforting enough to know that my judgment is flawed.

Knowing that I will be going off to study in Australia, my grandma advised me to be careful as she always did. She said,

"You are intelligent, I'm sure you are. Just be careful, don't walk the wrong way. Young people, very playful you know? Study well, and become and outstanding person one day. Then your parents will live at ease"

She repeated herself for a few more times with different words.

" I know that the culture today is very different from my time; I know that young people are very playful, who isn't? However, don't mix with the wrong people and go the wrong way "

Perhaps those were very important words.
Perhaps she just forgot that she said it.
Perhaps thats her heart for my whole life.

It is refreshing to hear the words she speak. What I so often hear today, or at least the motivation behind the words, fade in comparison.

"Make lots of money"
"Life is short, enjoy to the max"
"Earn money so you can live luxuriously"

Well, I didn't exactly hear that. It sometimes makes us blush to say words that sound so materialistic. Words I hear are more subtle. Perhaps like,

"If you find a better offer oversea, better migrate "

While I know that those words might be well intentioned - It is very far from the words that my grandma said.

I like what she says, because to some extent, it reflects the kind of spirit that Jesus encourages. Its about putting others before ourselves.

While self preservation is fair, putting others first is virtue. At least I liked to be treated the latter way.

Grandma probably won't know how significant her words were. Maybe she does. Maybe she cares for me more than "whether the words I spoken sounded significant". Whatever, perhaps those things are what I think about most of the time.

She knows that she is running the last mile in her life, she talked about dying quite calmly. The glitz and glitter has lost its power over her life. Yet, I am still very much influenced by it. Sometimes, I could doubt my sincerity and integrity. Lime light, it is so possessive. I really need to get a grip on the essentials.

I like her affirmation, and I think what she said is significant.