Once upon the time, in a land called Media, there were a group of farmers living peacefully and minding their own fields. The angels assisted the farmers by singing praises to and calling upon the name of God. Sunshine and rain would pour from heaven at the right season. The farmers’ harvests were abundant and the farmers prospered.
The king of Media was Alba V. He owned five thousand sheep and has shepherds looking after the flock. One day, the king was taking a stroll on the roof of the palace while his army went off to war. He did not see Bathsheba bathing but he saw his shepherds asleep in the fields neglecting the flock. Enraged, the king summoned the shepherds.
Trembling before the king, the shepherds knew they have to come up with a brilliant excuse to preserve their lives. The smartest one among the shepherds, Cerdik, thought of a brilliant plan. He fell prostrate before the king and said, “Your majesty, please hold your wrath. We are not to be blamed. The angels are calling upon the name of God for the farmers. This has caused confusion to the weather. We failed to follow the time of the day therefore we fell asleep when we should be attending to your majesty’s flock.”
Upon hearing this, the king was furious. He issued a decree to stop the angels from calling upon the name of God from that day onwards. The farmers were devastated, they knew the harvests would never be the same without the angels’ songs.
The angels took pity on the farmers and went to see a wise man, Norman F, for advice. The wise man told the angels this (in the language of the wise):
Kita tidak perlu bersengketa
kamu dan saya
tentang empunya namaNYA.
Biarlah…
bila kamu dan saya
sampai di syurga
kita tanya pada pemilik nama
siapa antara kita
layak menggunakan namaNYA
kerana hanya empunya nama
boleh menjawab
boleh menentukan.
The angels knew that God is slow to anger but abounding in love. The judgment on the king and the shepherds would have to wait.
The angels searched the four corners of the earth for the laws and decrees regarding the king’s decree. They tried to reason with the king but the king would not listen. Out of desperation, Andrew the head of the angels, said, “When all else have failed, we need to do the unthinkable. It’s time for us to humble ourselves and seek the help of those we have in the past kept a distance from.”
The angels journeyed through a jungle lurking with wild beasts, endured the scorching desert and arrived at a formidable fortress. The fortress was surrounded by a moat filled with man-eater sharks that would devour the preys to the bones. Vultures with razor sharp claws were circling the sky above the fortress, preying on the few that managed to escape from the sharks. The angels have reached the fortress of The Lawyers.
Tired and frustrated, the angels exclaimed, “Do we have to stoop so low? Where is justice?” Suddenly the great gates were flung open. Blinding lights appeared. Then the angels saw many knights in white shinning amours riding on white stallions marching out of the gates. The leader among them called the Advocate, rode in the front and said to the angels, “Did you cry out for justice? We vow to fight to our last breath for the cause of justice.” At this, the angels cheered as they have found hope.
To be continued with “The Battle In Truoc”…
15 May 2009
ReplyDeletehttp://www.malaysianbar.org.my/legal/general_news/o_ye_believers.html
Which brings us to Malaysia. Translated version of holy books has always been an issue for us. Especially among Muslims/Malays. And the controversy over the issue of the word “Allah” to describe God in Christian journal and bibles in Bahasa Melayu is still “raging”. There are Muslims /Malays who say they “fear Muslims getting confused” by that. But what they actually fear is Muslims “converting to Christianity after reading bibles in Bahasa Melayu”.
In Indonesia journals, magazines and holy books of all religions in Bahasa Indonesia are sold or distributed freely without anyone raising an eye brow. Christian sermons in Bahasa Indonesia are televised. All that in a country with the largest number of Muslims in the world.
Back to our beloved country. As for the non Muslims in Malaysia, well, we hear of their “concern” when their children are required (or “forced’?) to wear songkok and tudung at events in school. Making it more “fearsome” when there are Quran recital in the event.
The “concern” is in reality “fear’ of what they see as efforts by the authorities to protelyzise. Simply put, effort to make their kids Muslims.
To me, by reading bibles in Bahasa Melayu do not make a Muslim convert into Christianity . Like wise donning songkok and tudung will not make people leave their religion and embrace Islam. If one strongly believe in one’s religion, nothing will make one leave the religion of origin. so to speak. A believer will always be a believer.
We do not hear of Muslims in Indonesia “abandoning” Islam just because of translated bibles and Christian sermon in Bahasa Indonesia on TV. The Muslims in Jordan and the Middle East remain strong Muslims although the Pope paid them a visit recently. It’s all in the heart my friend, it’s all in the heart. (By MOHSIN ABDULLAH/MySinchew)
Putting Faith Online
ReplyDeletehttp://www.themalaysianinsider.com/index.php/malaysia/27520-putting-faith-online
By Debra Chong, Malaysian Insider
PORT KLANG, May 24 — Father Lawrence Andrew looks excited. His warm smile stretches ear to ear, as he gets ready to talk about his pet project.
The editor-priest of Malaysia’s only Catholic newspaper had taken a huge risk and it had paid off.
Four years after putting The Herald on the World Wide Web, he finally decided the time was ripe to actively set up a proper online edition of the weekly.
The brand new website (www.heraldmalaysia.com) is neater to navigate, offers fresh news and views on religions around the world and even has interactive activities from young children (a digital colouring page) and links for youths to talk straight to the pope on Facebook.
Best of all, it is free. In the past, Web readers were charged RM60 a year.
In just a month, he saw the figures jump to almost 16,000 visits from over 100 countries. Of these, half are from the United States. About three out of five people in total are new visitors.