Texts In The City

                                      

Since the advent of the texting era, we usually receive some forwarded messages about life and faith. I admit that making those messages takes some time and ingenuity not to mention its costs. The senders might have different purposes which they hope would be achieved. How do you receive those forwarded messages? Do you forward them too?

Ever since I use the cell phone, I rarely forward forwarded messages. By rarely here means as rare as it can be. Just so that I can not say that I did not. The reason is I find it too impersonal. I prefer originally composed messages. As long as it comes from the heart, even if it is just the simple "Good morning!" or "Hello!", it means a lot to me more than any forwarded message. 

                     

There are actually many kinds of forwarded messages. The common ones are "sayings" that deal and reveal life deeper. There are many of these. Many are worth saving for further reflection. I have saved some of them in my phone. There are jokes which are either dirty or corny but can still make you laugh or force you to emit a wry smile. There are "chain letters" which are really worth to break because they threaten people. Sad part is they make use of difficult situations in people, whether real or fiction, in order to make or should I say force people through the fear factor, to forward the text and keep the chain. Picture messages and canned greetings for every occasion will flood the text world time and again during birthdays, feasts, anniversaries, big events, etc. It is normal that in a big gathering, texting will even be impossible. Too much traffic! Etc., etc., etc.

Let me share to you some of these forwarded messages that I received. I think they are worth sharing;

These are titled, "Cool Church Signs"

(My comments are in parenthesis)

1. "How will you spend eternity? Smoking or non-smoking?" 

    (How about, "air-conditioned" or "hell-conditioned")

2. "Dusty bibles lead to dirty lives"

    (How about, "Opening the bible is opening to God.")

3. "If you do not like the way you were born, try being born-again!"

    (I really liked this one, but I like this one by St. Augustine better, "God created us without our consent. But God will not save us without our consent!")

4. "In the dark? Follow the sun".

    (Seems like a Beatles fan? How about, "Confused? LET IT BE, God")

5. "If you can't sleep, don't count the sheep. Talk to the Shepherd."

    (I say, "Do not count your blessings, count on God!")

6. "If you are headed on the wrong direction, God allows u-turns."

    (I understand this as referring to someone who had already lived a life unguided anymore by God. Making a u-turn is always a good option, but it may just bring you back to where you were or still head to another wrong direction. How about, "Change driver! God knows the direction best and He has a license to drive life.")

As a bonus, let me add this "What's in a word?" item. This is cute but effective and very relevant! What do you think?

                                                                                 

  Ever look at "HEALTHY HEART"?

Dividing it can give us, "HEAL-THY-HEART"

Therefore, having a healthy heart means healing our heart from pains, resentments, grudges, revenge and other heart debilitating feelings and attitudes, we will have a healthy heart!

In the end, cell phones are God's gift to us. It is a product of our God-given gifts. It must be used to promote life and help us in our daily lives. But ultimately it is to advance our relationship with God.