Tuesday, January 11, 2005

Amazing love

Once again, it is another day of reflection after watching a "Fantabulous" movie! I watched this movie EARLIER this morning. I reached home at 3:30am this morning after meeting up with my drama members. We met up for a buffet dinner at Marina South. After which, a few of us, 7 to be exact went to Mr Bean to have a drink (not alcoholic drink but coffees and smoothies). We stayed there until 3am before deciding that it was too late as some of them have to work the next morning. We had a wonderful time especially towards the end of the whole session as we began to talk about our encounters with God. It was so interesting to learn about other people's experience... to see how God actually spoke to them and how He sent His angels to minister to them. Wow... it was just awesome! I felt so ministered because I too had a very real encounter with JESUS last year. :)

Okay, let me go back to the great movie. The movie is called "A Walk to Remember." The two leads are Shane West and Mandy. It was early in the morning and I thought I was watching the movie because I was too tired to get the sleep. Little did I know that I was in for a great treat! This was the second show that REALLY, REALLY touched and impacted me. The first one, if you have read my earlier post, was Spiderman 2.

I have always loved to watch romantic love stories, to see how the couple fall in love and live happily ever after. But “A Walk to Remember” is different from the rest. Let me give you a brief synopsis…

Jamie Sullivan (Mandy Moore) was studying in this high school where she met this egoistic, popular guy in school, Landon Carter (Shane West). Just to give you a brief background of the two characters. Jamie is a girl who came from a Christian family where her dad was a reverend in a local church in the town. Shane is a guy who thinks that he is the greatest because he is so popular in school. He is one who is really in a BAD company, people who make fun of others just to entertain themselves.

One fine day, Landon was punished for committing an offence and for hurting someone indirectly. He was told by the principle/discipline master that he has to carry out a few tasks, namely to help clean the school, tuition other kids and to act in the play. The first two were just normal chores until he found out that he had to be the male lead in the play. Incidentally, Jamie was also in the drama team and her role was to be a mysterious woman (I think that she was someone who practices witchcraft). As Landon was doing his first play, he asked Jamie for help, to help him run his lines as his friends from the BAD company were simply inadequate. Before Jamie actually promised to help Landon, she told him that he cannot fall in love with her. Jamie was a girl who did not dress very well in school, not because she did not know how to but she just do not want to pull all the attentions to her. Having said so, Landon obviously did not think that she was an attractive girl, so he immediately promised that he will not fall in love with her.

Days passed and slowly, as Landon interacted more with Jamie, he found out that she was just different from the rest of the other girls he knew before. On that day of the play, when everyone was in their full costumes, Landon saw the REAL Jamie, a beautiful and elegant lady who could sing so well. It was there and then that Landon really fell in love with her. Okay… Love blossoms… until one day, Jamie met with Landon and she looked really troubled. Landon began to ask her what was wrong. BAM… She told him that she has CANCER! Then to cut the long story short, Landon chose to love her until she dies and he even married the sick girl. Oh… and because Jamie had faith that Landon would make it to medical school, he finally went into one. Obviously, when he was with his BAD company, he was totally not interested with school and stuff.

I may not be very good at my synopsis but whatever it is, you have to watch the show yourself! It is one show that romantic love stories lovers cannot miss. I really CRIED when she announced that she was sick… It was so touching to learn that you have to be prepared to give up your love just so that he/she will not suffer with you. The both of them looked so right and there were like match made in heaven. I was so sad to know that this story will not really end in a way most love stories do. It will not be a happy ending with two people inside. However, when she said she was sick, I CRIED because no love in the world can be so CERTAIN, UNCHANGING and CONSTANT as God’s love for us. We can lose our loved ones or they can just leave us but God’s love is always there… rain or shine, when you are up or down…

"Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away. "
1 Cor 13:4-7

I tried putting myself in Landon’s shoes and I am not sure if I will be so selfless. I tried putting myself in Jamie’s shoes and I am not sure if I will be so strong to accept whatever life has to offer. Life is just so fragile and lives are so unpredictable. Lives can be created by a mistake or in a moment of folly and similarly, lives can be lost just as easily. I am beginning to learn more and more about God’s grace and love these past two weeks. I really thank God for opening up my eyes… to burst the bubble that I have always been living in… thinking that everything is just so beautiful… nothing will happen to me, to Singapore as we are so sheltered!

Sometimes, God allows us to feel the frailty of men so we’ll appreciate the STRENGTH of His LOVE.” Anonymous

Nonetheless, after knowing that things are so UNPREDICTABLE, I began to thank God more and praise Him more… to even want to have a closer walk with Him. I know that even as everything else fails, His love for me will never fail! Oh and one more thing which I learnt from the movie is that LOVE is a COMMITMENT. You love this person to the extent that you are willing to accept him/her for who she is. It is not based purely on emotions but it is really a conscious effort of choice. God chooses to love us no matter what we do and how much we do not want to love Him… UNCONDITIONAL LOVE! He is indeed AWESOME!

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