It is going to be a wonderful Wednesday. We will gather for our Wednesday
evening fellowship and study starting at 6.00 PM followed by Choir practice at
7.00 PM. Praise the Lord for every day that the Lord gives us as His gift to
live on earth and to enjoy His beauty and love and to glorify Him. We had a few
days of travels this past few days. Alice and I drove to see Jessica and Tom last
Friday. Alice attended a baby shower for Jessica. Saturday I took the train
from Philadelphia to Washington DC. I had not traveled by train lately. During
my college days and graduate school days in India I traveled all the time by train. All
of my long distance and cross country travels in India took place by train. So
it was a treat to travel by train to Washington. The travel was splendid. I
was asked to preach during the Anglican ordination service of Rob, one of the
sweet servants of Jesus. Laureen played for the service. The Bishop and many
clergy were present. It was a high honor for me to preach for the ordination
service and a great blessing. While in Washington DC we took two trips to the
National Arboretum. It is a spectacular time of the year in Washington DC with
the the world famous cherry blossoms. We got to see all kinds of spring
flowering trees in full bloom. There are so many flowering trees and bushes. It
is breathtaking. Praise the Lord that He allowed us to see Spring one more
time. The spring has already come to places like Pennsylvania, Maryland and
Virginia that the train route goes through. The temperature reached into the
80's while we were there. Sunita , Andy, Gabe and the family came for a week
to New York. We are having a great time.
I would like to share with you a story. It is also a parable. The story is about a six-year old boy by the
name of Saa. He was an Asian boy and he grew up in the land of Laos, where there
was devastating war going on. Saa was separated from his mother and father
during the war, and he had to live with his grandma, grandpa, and cousins. The news finally arrived that his father and
mother had been killed in the war. Saa
was so sad. He was utterly sad. Well, the years passed by, one and two and
three years. Now, Saa was a little
nine-year old boy and he loved his grandma, grandpa and cousins, and he was
getting used to his cousins being his new brothers and sisters. One day, in the mail, came a telegram and it
said: “Your mother and father are alive
and they are living in Seattle, Washington, and they want you to come and live
with them.” “O no, it can’t be
true. It can’t be true. I mean, it’s too unreal. It can’t be true,” Saa thought to himself.
“How do I know that it is not a hoax?
How do I know that it is not a joke?” he wondered to himself. And then Saa looked at his grandma and
grandpa and his cousins now brothers and sisters and said: “I don’t want to leave here. I love you.
I know this place. Do I really
want to go to an unknown world? Do I
want to go?” Saa left and got into an
unknown airplane; he had never been in an airplane before. He listened to unknown languages being spoken
by unknown tall white people. He was
afraid. He came to the Seattle airport
and the doors were opened, and there were his mom and dad, standing there,
beaming, and waiting for him. And Saa
ran up and hugged his parents. He was so
happy. He was so relieved that the
telegram was true. You see, Saa had been
afraid of the future, afraid of the unknown.
The message of Easter is clear. God is gracious and our sins have been
forgiven. Jesus Christ has conquered
death, and when we die, we shall return home to our Heavenly Father. Jesus said, “In my house are many mansions,
and I am going to prepare a place for you.
If this were not so, I would not have told you. I tell you the truth. You are going to come again to my Father’s
house. I am preparing a place for
you. There is no need to be afraid of
the future, for the future is going to be far more glorious than the present we
now see.
In
Christ,
Brown
