BEACON STORY
The Reason For The Season ?
RADICAL GRATITUDE
BY REV . LOH SOON CHOY
T his is the Season to express and reflect on our gratitude and thanksgiving to God as we celebrate Christmas , the end of the old year and the beginning of the new , and soon , the Chinese New Year .
Gratitude has great power , as a dear friend recently experienced after journaling the countless things he could be grateful to God for . His intensive devotional exercise surprised and blessed him much , and I was impacted by his many articles he sent online . His was the deep and radical Gratitude to God for all things at all times , not just as ' a reason for the season ' at Christmas or the New Year .
I used to journal regularly – my prayers , reflections and gratitude to God , ' counting my blessings and naming them one by one ’.
Now at 78 + and with health problems , I still sometimes journal my gratitude to God in my diary , my iPad and note books . But I have found it more natural to spontaneously and continuously say and sing my “ Thank You ” to God from morning to night like a child or a man gone crazy on items from A to Z ( as my wife can testify ). Most of His many blessings could not have been planned as we were just taught to serve and live by faith – not even in matters with regard to our retirement years !
THANKFUL IN ALL CIRCUMSTANCES My health comes into the picture because I ’ ve had two angioplasties , several mild heart attacks that led to an open heart surgery , and an early prostate cancer that ended with two doses of chemotherapy and a surgery . For six years since then , I ’ ve had bone osteoporosis , mild joint osteoarthritis and an uncommon kind of rheumatoid arthritis ( RA ) – an incurable auto-immune , inflammatory disease that attacks the outer layers of the soft
tissues of my nerves , brain , eyes , skin , and the inner linings of my stomach , intestines and colon .
Throw in chronic constipation , mild insomnia , daily RA attacks that set my body on fire , and painful irritable bowel syndrome that demands some dozen over visits to the toilet daily ( a renowned gastrointestinal specialist has been treating this unsuccessfully for several months following an endoscopy and colonoscopy ).
Surprisingly , I feel grateful to God our Great Physician for these ' sicknesses ' because I see them as His love gifts , like the great Apostle Paul ' s " thorn in the flesh , the messenger of Satan to buffet me , lest I should be exalted above measure ". Instead of God ' s healing for which he prayed , God gave him something better : " My grace is sufficient for you ; for my strength is made perfect in weakness !" ( 2 Cor . 12:7-9 ).
My so far incurable " thorn ( s ) in the flesh " also keep me focused on God ' s priorities , including writing a book as
6 ASIAN BEACON 48 # 1 December 2016 - January 2017