I just returned from Bali where Mum and I met our family from Australia there last week. R, who just turned 40, was treated to a surprise birthday celebration in Bali where her family, her father (my maternal uncle), her brother and his family and a couple of good friends had gathered. When I first heard about it, I decided to gate crash the party.
It was good fun. R was completely surprised when we turned up and we really enjoyed hanging with everyone. I even came home with gifts from the girls, I and J. So I couldn't ask for more, although I did.
Being typically Singaporean, I found the service lacked efficiency (the waiter forgot to serve us our coffee and tea once, and he brought an extra coffee another time).
I picked on little things that were not perfect (no towel rails in our otherwise pretty spa villa).
And when I did not get what I expected, I could not enjoy what I did get, even though it was good in its own way (I wanted a Balinese massage and instead got a combination Swedish-Balinese one which I found a complete waste of time and actually made my stiff neck worse).
The cab drivers are dishonest...complain, complain. Just like the older son in today's Gospel story of the prodigal son, what is it about us that we do not appreciate the blessings we receive?
Instead we focus on the things that displease us while completely overlooking the things that are good for we have come to expect and demand those.
We forget that everything is ours by grace, and if we take the trouble to acknowledge our blessings, they are actually there, in abundance.
Like the sweetness and efficiency of our butler who was super duper attentive and arranged free transport to a restaurant one evening, and also arranged for our villa to be decorated as a birthday treat for my mum.
Or the honesty of the housekeeper who did not go through my opened suitcase and take the hundreds of dollars and our passports inside that I had forgotten to put into safekeeping.
What about our driver and the many others we met who were genuinely hospitable and friendly.
My utilitarian bent is hard to break, where I expect value for money and hone in automatically on places where standards are lacking, so much so that I forget to give thanks for all those moments where I received so much more than I paid for.
In my critical moments, I forget the practice of charity and mercy and I lose out on gratitude and its attendant joy. I choose to get grumpy and whiny instead. How foolish is that? For I miss, in those moments, the opportunity to meet Jesus' eyes and smile in delight. To taste and see that the Lord is indeed good.
Perhaps this will be another worthwhile Lenten project for the rest of the season: to focus on the joy of Lent as the readings of this Laetare (Rejoice) Sunday have elucidated, and fast from being critical and complaining.
I thank the Lord for a wonderful time in Bali and I rejoice that Mum and I had a lovely family vacation, together with our rellies from Melb.
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