"An Apple Parable"

I got this email from a friend, and I thought it was a really good read. So I decided to keep it....

"I bought an Apple iBook last year.I really enjoyed using it and became a Mac convert.For awhile.

After about four and a half months, horrors. The LCD screen cracked. I was opening the note book to use one evening and the screen cracked. A diagonal crack from the top right hand corner to the bottom left hand corner. No problem. It was still within the warranty period.

So I brought it back to the shop.To be told that the one year warranty did not cover screen cracks. (This was never told to me.)I was told that the screen cannot crack. If it cracked I must have dropped it. Or dropped something heavy on it. But screens do not crack. And therefore the warranty does not cover cracked screens. It would cost me about 1/3 the purchase price to replace the screen. I said, "hello, I have been using notebooks since you were a gleam in your father's eye. I have used a Fujitsu, a Gateway, and an IBM before and I have never had a screen crack on me . And I know for a fact that the notebook was sitting on my desk and the screen cracked when I opened the cover."The reply came: "sorry, rules are rules."

I tried begging. I told them I was a poor church worker. Please take pity on me. That didn't work. (I guess poor church workers wouldn't be using Apples to begin with.)Then the famous Soo Inn temper began to flare. I threatened to besmirch the name of Apple through my mailing list. I threatened to call my lawyers. I threatened to bring my case to the consumers tribunal.I huffed and I puffed.To no avail. I can't remember if I prayed.

But soon it was the Christmas period and all those in church related vocations had their hands full telling people about God's grace. So I didn't have the time or the energy to carry through any of my threats.In the meantime I went back to the dark side. I went back to my trusty ThinkPad.Winter turned into Spring and No. 1 son started university. He needed a notebook. I passed him the ThinkPad. I went back to my desktop.

One day I was rummaging through my cupboard when a familiar white notebook caught my eye. Yup, it was the damaged iBook.It was past the warranty period. I didn't have a legal leg to stand on. But perhaps changing a screen would still cost less than getting another notebook.I decided to go all the way to the top. I decided to see the head honcho of the Apple people in Malaysia. Oh yes, I decided to pray as well.

Mr. Head Honcho was very helpful. He said the first thing I needed to do was to call the Apple call centre and report what had happened. They would give me a case number. I was to bring the number to him and he would see what he could do. He would try to get me a discount on a new screen. I thought this was ok since it was past the one year warranty period.(The guys from the shop where I bought the iBook didn't tell me anything about calling the Apple centre and gave me no encouragement to see the head honcho of Apple Malaysia.)

I did as I was told. The chaps from the official Apple workshop were friendly as well. They picked up my iBook and saved me a trip to Kuala Lumpur.Two weeks later I received word. The head honcho had managed to get me a one time free replacement deal. I would get my new screen for free.

Many lessons here.The primary one is the need to trust God. And to pray as a first option. As our primary option.

No wonder Jesus said blessed are the poor (Luke 6:20).The poor do not know how to work the system. The poor do not have many lawyer friends. The poor cannot afford lawyers.Therefore they can only trust God.They get a lot of practice trusting God.

If you are middle class and more, if you have some of the world's goods, if you have some degree of formal education --- you know your rights. You know how the system works. You have a number of lawyer friends you can count on.And so when confronted with a crisis, you turn to your worldly resources. You try to work the system. You huff and you puff.And often you forget to pray.

The meta sin underneath all sin is the sin of an independent spirit, the fatal illusion that we do not really need God.We can work out our lives on our own.Which is not to say that we are to be passive and do nothing.

When the Israelites reached the promised land, they had to work the land for their food. But they knew that all good things ultimately come from God. They had learnt it during the long years in the desert (Exodus 16: 34-35). Often God will call us to colabour with Him. No, we are not called to passivity as such. It is more a stance of the heart.We are called to trust Him at all times for all things.And a key way this trust is expressed is through prayer (Philippians 4:6).

There was also another lesson here. I learnt that the Apple head honcho was a brother in Christ. He only revealed this in his last email to me.I had sent him an email to thank him for his help. He replied that he was glad to be able to help a brother in Christ.Talk about showing your faith through your works (James 2:18).He had been Christian in how he had handled my case. I had not been Christian in how I had initially tried to solve my problem.I need to say that my romantic enthusiasm for Apple has been tempered somewhat. I am grateful that I can use my iBook again. But the whole incident was a God given modern parable.I needed to learn, yet again, that I needed to trust and obey.I should have gone all the way to the top from day one.And I mean all the way.

Your brother,
Soo-Inn Tan
Write me at:sooinn@graceatwork.org"

Thanks Soo Inn for a great lesson!

What do you wanna be?

I've been asked many times if I'm doing what I intended to do. Do I intend to be in legal practice for years? Do I intend to have my own firm? Do I intend to be an expert in my field? What drives me at work? And again recently, I was asked the same question.

The answer to that, to the disappointment of my enquirers, is I don't know. However, certainly, I do not intend to practice forever. Perhaps, to join the United Nations. Even so, I don't know how. Certainly not to have my own firm. If I wasn't interested in practice, why would I want my own firm? That would be like paying to torture myself.

Someone else once told me that the problem with our profession is that too many people know how to do our job. Toss a coin somewhere in the middle of town and there is a 99% chance that it will hit someone in my profession. That, I'll have to agree with.

Usually, I'll say that I'm still learning and trying to gain experience. The day I do not have to consult someone before making a decision on a file is the day I know I've got enough 'experience' in my field. My field. I don't even know what field that is yet. But I was just thinking, how would I be sure that by a certain time, I would have gained the experience I need? How would I know if it's going to be one year, two years or seven years? What drives me to improve my working skills?

A friend shared this passage with me in 2 Peter 1:3-11 :

2 Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, 3as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, 4by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. 5But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, 6to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, 7to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. 8For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

9For he who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins. 10Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble; 11for so an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

I thought about this passage the whole week last week. It really inspired me. God has already given us all things that pertain to life and godliness. All things. Not some things, but all things.

Wow....

So, it's not work that I should be focused on, but the knowledge of and relationship with God. When I have this relationship, all things will fall in the right place. I already know this in my head. Now it's just trying to get my flesh and heart to conform.

All things.......

"Decent"

I met up with a friend yesterday night; an old friend. He's one of those friends whom I hardly talk to (probably like once or twice a year), but we could always pick up where we left off. Everytime we meet up, he would say one thing about me; that I'm 'decent'. That I'm one of his most decent friends. That I am good for him, coz I keep him sane (or so he says). I gather that he probably said that coz he sees that I'm a practicing Christian and I hold on to my values and principles.

I really really do treasure this friendship. Years ago, I tried real hard to share the gospel with him. He, of course (being the kind of melancholic choleric person he is) was skeptical. But yesterday, he brought it up. He wasn't really seeking; perhaps he was curious. But we had yet another discussion. He was looking for evidences. I was talking about faith. We ended up agreeing to disagree, and I was ok with that.

If there was one glaring thing I learnt in this friendship, is that God does work in His own time. We always want things done NOW, but God knows that maybe now's really not a good time. He's got His way of making things happen when it's the perfect time for it to happen.

My friend may not have accepted Christ yesterday (although I've told him I'm a Christian since forever, and we've had discussions on and off for at least 7 years) but I had a good feeling that the seed that was planted grew a little, with no help from me at all. I was just there to have that discussion again. He says I'm the only person he knows who is so convicted about what I believe in and about God. Maybe he'll one day see what I see, understand what faith is, but it's not up to me to make him.

If he was reading this, and if he knew I am talking about him, I'd like to tell him that whatever becomes of him, I'll always be his friend (I know this sounds corny, but it's from the bottom of my heart). And no doubt, I'll always be here for those discussions about life, faith, God and other things we laugh about. Besides, I'm still on standby when he needs a lawyer (or so he tells me).

And of course, I'm standing by to see what God will do in his life...... in His perfect time.