Dear frineds, i'm sorry for the previous mail. it was an absolute goof up. i wrote to one of my aunts and instead of putting her address i typed joynet addy. Wah bhai Josun! kamal karthe ho! Please do accept my apologies ok.
here's the experience nevertheless ok. Dearly Beloved in Jesus, Yesterday was Valentines Day. Infatuation (proxy love) is in the air everywhere here in Delhi, at its zenith. The papers have dedicated numerous pages of ads about valentines. The the fly by night florists in the city are making big buck. Archies and other gift and card galleries are Jam packed with with teenagers and youth, eager to get that prized card, mascot or memento for their valentine. The cashier behind the counter has the last laugh, supplying illusive fodder to their already obese sentiments, he drains their pockets with a 100 watts smile on his face. Well, I too had a valentines experience, something very nonfigurative though. Read on if you feel like. It was about 3:30 in the morning. Rajeev, Jimmy and JJ were fast asleep at the jy house. The continuous ring of the telephone awakened all three of us. Each one was awake, but comfortably cuddled up in our blankets hoping that someone among us would get up and answer the phone. I purposely didnt get up due to the cold, but I was peeping from inside the blanket to see if Rajeev or Jimmy would get up. While peeping I made an amazing discovery, both Rajeev and Jimmy were also affected by the same phenomena. They too were wide awake, but peeping from within their blankets. (they didnt realize that I noticed that). To make my pretense all the more natural I put in a few snores and turned from side to side as one in deep sleep. Unable to bear the nuisance any longer, and gnashing his teeth that ultimately he had to pick the phone, Rajeev got up and went to pick the phone, muttering things to himself in Malayalam about whoever that was who had gall enough to call at such an unearthly hour!. Poor fellow. I really felt his agony from within the warmth of my blanket. The phone was from Kerala, His response to the call made both of us throw our jokes and pretenses and blankets aside and dart to the front room. One of our Jesus Youths, Jaquilin Emmanuels dad expired about an hour before. After Rajeev put down the phone, he told us that her aunty would call again after 10 minutes. We had to go and call Jaqulin from the girls house to attend the phone. We were in a fix as to how well break the news to her. Finally Rajeev and Jimmy decided to just inform her to come and attend a phone call from her aunt. No further details. Jaqulin came and a few minutes later she answered the ringing phone. The news was broken to her. Ive never seen such a calm person amidst storm as yesterday. After putting the phone down, she just turned to us and said. pappa expired and they told me to reach home by flight today. She still remained calm and composed. No emotional tantrums, no grumbling at God, no whining, no cursing. Just accepting the inevitable as coming from the hand of God for His greater purpose. Jaquie chechi is a person I have a lot of respect and high regard for. Just being in her company makes you feel great. Jaquie is a person of integrity. The thing that strikes me most is that she is a woman of prayer. A fervent intercessor, she spends hours praying for others. All this tells on her person. You can feel a sense of Godliness when ure with her. God taught me a tremendous lesson yesterday. People who have a deep relationship with the REAL VALENTINE (pronounced as R-E-A-L V-I-N-E) of their life, (not just limited to feb14) surely are able to face even tough times with that Shalom experience that Jesus only can give. Gini chechi and I, accompanied Jaquie to the airport where she was to board the 8 am flight to Kochi. In the auto, we kept praying the rosary. I was truly touched by the prayers of thankfulness and gratitude that Jaquie was raising up to the Lord. We reached the airport at about 6am. With two hours at hand, we sat at the lounge, prayed for sometime and then were silent. To get something started, I said chechi, your dad used to speak wonderful English. I had spoken to him sometime over the phone 2 years back and she said, ha he always used to ask about Betty and Josun. It seems he remembered both of us distinctly because once when we spoke over the phone, he was speaking to us in shudh Malayalam, we could understand most of it but responding back was a glitch, we were grappling with tidbits of manglish. He made out our struggle and switched over to real good English, much to our relief. That way he remembered me and my sister Bets a lot. Chechi was saying about all the ways her dad had been a great influence in her faith life. How he used to spend hours in prayer. I was truly touched. And finally she said something that really struck me to the core, I kept repeating it to myself, papa came from God, now he has returned to God so we must be happy and she said this with a smile. The pain of loss was apparent, but for me this is something remarkable. Ive been truly humbled yet again. Being able to embrace death like a friend. I honestly need to let God have his way in my life, I still crinch at giving my ALL to the Lord. Shame on me! Its worthwhile noting, Jaquie lost her mother some years ago and then also she told us, the lord gave her the same Shalom experience that she had yesterday. A Godly person, a person of integrity, a person who is earnestly seeks the will of God is like a person who has an incredible sail set for their ship of life that will take advantage of even the most turbulent storms and reach them on to yonder shore. Lord I hope you write this lesson deep in my heart. We came from God, to him we must return. Happy belated Valentines day to all my dear ones on Joynet, Josun Jose/New Delhi/India ----------------------------------------- This email was sent using FREE Catholic Online Webmail. Please tell your family, friends and children about COL Webmail! http://webmail.catholic.org/ During the Lenten Season, please help support the mission of Catholic Online by purchasing goods and services from our sponsors at http://www.catholic.org/clife/lent =============================================================================== This mail is generated from JOYnet, a Jesus Youth mailing list. For more info on the list visit http://www.jesusyouth.org/joynet To unsubscribe from the list send a mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] To subscribe to the list visit http://www.jesusyouth.org/joynet/join In case of any issue related to the mailing list contact [EMAIL PROTECTED] ===============================================================================
