Not a bad mum after all

The story of Jacob getting the blessing that was rightly for Esau, his older brother, seems to be a story where mothers are put in a bad light.

You see, if it not had been because of Rebekah, Esau could have enjoyed the blessings that have something to do with what God will be able to do for him; with his relationships with other people, political authority; and with his relationships with his own family, his brothers bowing down to him.

But Rebekah told her favorite son, Jacob, of what she overheard about what Isaac, her husband, has instructed Esau as a prelude to blessing the latter. She told her favorite to preempt Esau by getting a couple of kids so that she can prepare a scrumptious meal for Isaac who is almost blind because of old age. She told him to serve it after she has cooked it the way his father likes it so that he can get the blessing before Isaac dies.

As an effect, and to cut the story short, Jacob has deceived his father and got the blessing while Esau was left in a bitter cry after learning of his fate. I felt Esau when he asked if there is anything left for him and begged his father to bless him too. Poor boy.

I can’t help but wonder what could be behind this unfair orchestration by Rebekah? Well, for one, we can easily point to the fact that she does not like Hittite women because according to her she is disgusted living with them. And Esau, his eldest son, not only have one but two of this kind of women that his mother hates as his wives.

But you know, behind this seemingly bad image of a mother in the character of Rebekah who has snooped and devised a scheme to outmaneuver Esau, I saw the hand of God at work.

One, it is inevitable for me not to think of what has become of Esau’s fate as a consequence of selling his birthright to Jacob. By doing so, he has despised the Lord because the birthright is a scared heritage and does not speak of material things only but as well as spiritual position.

Two, and to end, Rebekah was simply used by God so that Isaac will not circumvent from the word of the Lord which she received at the time when she inquired of the Lord about her odd pregnancy. The Lord has destined Esau to serve Jacob. The giving of blessing by Isaac to Jacob was preliminary to the fulfillment of God’s plan.

Rebekah was not a bad mother after all.

Real winner

While waiting for my next game, a bunch of kids, apparently high schoolers, came in and not long after they have stepped in the badminton court, they started to have fun.

They excitedly hit the shuttle cock back and forth over the net while others were on the sidelines shouting and teasing and others just sat on the bench where their bags were placed. It was a group of more than ten young people who was with their kuya who stood out because he was bigger and taller than anyone in the group.

Later on, more youngsters arrived and joined the group. They became more rowdy. There were three girls in the group. Somebody held a DSLR and captured almost every move of his playmates. I heard them ask their kuya whose turn is it to play inside the court and they followed his word. I cannot not-watch them. From where I was sitting, I incessantly heard heaps of boisterous laugh from the group.

On the other side of the badminton dome were a Korean guy, with eye glasses on, and a petite Filipina girl. I noticed that while the girl prepared herself to hit the court, the guy went out and puffed his cigar. He went in after a minute or so, passed by me and I perceived the scent of the cigar which I have always disliked. Soon, they started to play the game.

I was still waiting for my opponent for us to continue the third set of our match but since he has not arrived yet, Kuya Jeff, the COEMA badminton in-charge, asked me to play against him.

After beating me, he told me that we’ll go over to the Korean guy and his mate and play against them. I liked the idea so I followed after him. He introduced himself first then myself and I extended my hand and shook each of theirs. The guy’s name is So and the girl is Kirsten.

We played. Our team has passed through half the match point when So raised his hand, bent over, and gasped for air. We continued the match but later, when it was more than what he can bear already, he stepped out from the court. We were worried and repeatedly asked him if he was ok. He said yes but we doubted.

We chatted with Kirsten for a while. We asked her where they are from. We found out that they are from Immanuel Mission School. Then Kuya Jeff had a conversation with her with regard to the school where she comes from. And then it went on from one point to another. She is nice.

Because we were left hanging, another guy from COEMA filled in for So and partnered with Kirsten. In a blink of an eye, we saw So sitting outside and from where we were standing, it seemed he was vomiting. We stopped hitting the shuttle cock and Kirsten approached him. She tapped him in the shoulder, asking him again if he was ok.

She left So and walked towards us. We asked her if he was vomiting. She said no. We felt that our team has nauseated So after making him run for the shuttle from one side of the court to the other. But it was just a game.

After a while of staying, when their things were packed, Kirsten and So left. But our new-found friends passed by us, thanked us while shaking our hands. They smiled. And I was surprise because So handed over the Gatorade energy drink that he bought from the canteen to Kuya Jeff.

At the end of the day, the muscle pain all over my body was so killing me that without a doubt I headed straight to a Thai Massage parlor. The old lady at the counter greeted me with a smile and upon seeing the Yonnex racket, she said "Aha! Badminton." With what she blurted, she was implying that I have come to the right place for relaxation.

While lying on my belly, enjoying the soothing massage of the masseur and the repertoire of oriental music, I realized that I lost three games today but gained a wonderful insight about relational ministry and a number of friends from COEMA and So and Kirsten.

I won.

Reply

The only beautiful woman in my life at the moment is my mum. :)

Your query with regard to my new love interest whom you have described as beautiful reminds me of my bible reading last week which is about Sara and Abraham and Isaac and Rebekkah. In the story, both guys denied their beautiful wives because otherwise they will be killed on account of the beautiful wives they have. Well, I could just imagine how painful it is for the wives to be denied by the husbands themselves. But you know, they have to go through this feeling lest their husbands will be killed.

If you're wondering if I was hurt, let me tell you that I was not hurt hurt, you know. All is good. All is well, as the famous line from the movie The 3 Idiots goes. Let His plan prevail in our lives. You don't need to apologize, but yeah if you insist, apology accepted.

Thanks for the prayers. I badly need them, especially now that the youth camp is fast approaching. And other than that, I've got uni work and other church work to attend to.

It dawned on me, again, earlier, that I was flitting and was spreading my self thinly all over the place. I really have to learn the art of saying no to things that do not really matter. I read an article in a daily in my cube earlier, it's titled Forgetting. And let me share these lines with you:

...that life is not about remembering or even re-learning what is important, but about forgetting what is not.

I believe that deep in our hearts we already know what is important. We were created with that truth and beauty in us. Yet along the way, distracted by a world that places value on what is seen and measured, we have replaced what is important with what is not.

We need to develop the habit, we need to develop the skill of forgetting. We need to because every waking day is a constant battle between what is valuable and what is not. We already know what matters, but we need to forget what doesn’t.

In the twilight of her life, as the sun set and the end of her journey neared, Lola (grandmother) had already forgotten what was unimportant. After 80 years worth of living and working and smiling and laughing, she knew love is all there is to it. That money lasts weeks, positions last years, careers last decades—but relationships are forever.

Thanks for being a friend. Have a great day J**! :)