A Letter from Goliath

From                                                                                                       1000 B.C.

Goliath of Gath,
6 feet under the ground,
Gath City,
Country of the Philistines.

To,
Future Goliaths,
Anywhere in the world.

Dear future Goliaths,
This is the story of my short life. One day I was minding my own
business when I got a special invitation from none other than His
Majesty, King of Gath. He invited me to be part of a special
operation. He wanted me to accompany his army to a battle against
the Israelites, our supercilious neighbours. The king probably
thought that with my size there would be no battle at all and that
Israelites would run and hide in their dens. Then all we needed to
do was scoop the spoil.

You should have seen the grandeur of our army. The banners waving,
the trumpets sounding, the thud thud of marching feet…. I too
marched along, the entire village looking at me. You see I just so
happened to dress like a metal ninja. I had these weapons
specially ordered from Ashkelon. The spearhead alone had to be
carried in a wagon because it was too heavy for the people to
carry it. My armour made a clingy clangy sound as I marched. You
should have seen the creatures scurrying here and there.

We got there just in time to face those pesky Israelites. Me and
my lads camped on one hill only to find Saul herding his boys on
the other one. I thought it would be fun to have Saul come down
here for a duel. I could have flattened him like a bread. I made
the announcement loud and clear and I waited and waited and
waited…. Do you know for how long? For 40 solid whole days.

I think they hurriedly scrolled through my facelook. My enormosity
had scared them and they scuttled back like chickens and hid
behind everything and anything they found. I thought they gave up.
Guess what? After 40 days His Majesty King Saul brought a wee boy
and said that he was going to fight me. I heard that the boy was a
shepherd. Can you imagine this undersized boy challenging me?

Do you know what the most absurd part was? The boy had brought some sticks and stones to fend me away. He even mumbled something
about his great God, Jehovah who was going to protect him. I
stood there dazed, I did not want to lose my honour fighting this
minion. I heard that his name was David ben Jesse. I told the
little brat to step aside and let a real man come and fight me.
But he wouldn’t budge.

I told my sidekick carrying my armour to get everything ready.
That was the day for my name to go down in history as ‘Goliath
the Greatest’. I stood there pitying that little kid and
pondering my next move when that little imp sent something
flying. I thought it was His Majesty Saul’s signet ring being
sent as a surrender signal. I wish it really was. Splat! I felt
something enter my brain and come out through my skull. It was a
moss covered, stinky stone. Thus ended my existence…. My
existence as a champion, warrior, giant. Me becoming a
thingamajig. My god Dagon failed me!

That son of Jesse could have left me alone at least after he
ended my existence. He had to carry my head around his town.
Their townswomen were exuberant and started to sing “Saul has
killed his thousands and David his tens of thousands,” mildly
infuriating their master Saul. All the while….my poor head being
paraded. It took quite a number of my comrades to carry my body
back to my village.

I had to find out about this boy who dared to challenge me and
utterly obliterate me. Of course I did not have any other thing
to do to kill my time in the grave. It turns out this shepherd
boy, David ben Jesse worships a very big and mighty God. This God
even cares about little shepherd boys who worship him. He had
given them a special book called a “Law book”. Anyone who reads
it would become fearless and successful. My god Dagon never did
anything like that, even when we bow and cut and cry before him.
My strength and power did not have a chance before this Jehovah
God. I learnt it in a horrible way!

Hence I write this letter to all the future Goliaths not to be
like me and face the same end as me!

P.S.
Of course there are other bravest things you could do like reuniting my body with my head!

Joan Shekina Justin

Piper, the viper…

Hi, my name’s Piper. I am a viper. Before I tell you my story I would like you to guess who I am.. No I am not the snake from the garden of Eden.. No, I am not the bronze serpent from Moses’s time, that was my great-great grandfather.. To be fair he was older than just two greats but for the sake of my reader I will not explain in detail.. Honestly, I do not know what my grandfather did to get a bronze sculpture of him in the middle of the wilderness with the power to heal the Israelites…

Anyway, Let’s get on with my story. I live on a tiny island called Malta with my family.. Everything was going normal until the day of the shipwreck.. It was a cold rainy day.I was in my home minding my own business sipping rainwater (It is a delicacy among vipers). Suddenly I heard a bang.. Well, I actually did not hear it cause vipers do not have ears but I felt a bang..

I slithered outside just to have a peek at what was happening. Turns out, a ship has crashlanded onto my island. A few people came crawling out from the wreckage and the natives that usually live over here being the kind humans they are, welcomed them with open arms.. They gave the foreigners some food and started a fire.

There was a certain man within the group of foreigners named Paul. I have heard many stories about him like he could heal the sick , cure the blind , and was a follower of Jesus. The tales of how God has saved Israelites from the Egyptians and gave them many promises are still being told today within my family..

So naturally when I saw him, I was over the moon. Then Paul came close to me and my heart started beating rapidly,but then I realized he was coming close to my house. I figured that he would like to come in and have a cup of rainwater . Just as I was about to approach him to invite him for rainwater, he bent down and took my roof!! The Nerve!! I was so stunned that I didn’t realize that he was heading towards the fire and threw my roof into it! I headed towards him partly because I was so cold and wanted warmth and partially because my roof was burning.

I settled in his arm but I couldn’t quite remember whether I bit him or not. Before you can say ” oh, that was so mean, you shouldn’t have done that,” blah blah, i’ll remind you that I was just reacting to a potential threat same like how you humans get upset when assigned extra homework on the weekends. Looking back I do regret my decision very much.

But the weird thing was that when I was on Paul’s hand, the natives of the land started murmuring to each other that Paul was a murderer. Just a few minutes ago they were welcoming him as if he was a big Panda and now treating him like they saw an Anaconda.

Paul didn’t take any notice of the situation and just flung me into flames like I was just a piece of rope .. Of course I forgave him considering that he didn’t mean it on purpose but it was just his natural instinct.

I slithered out of the fire sustaining only minor injuries. I watched him from a distance waiting for something bad to happen,perhaps lose conscious or some swelling.. But turns out nothing happened!

He was as good as he was before. Whereas the natives started muttering among themselves like he was a god! The next few days I followed him, marveling whenever he healed the sick and preached about Jesus.

Now you may be wondering “Why are you telling me all this”? Well my dear reader, on that day I realized 2 things..

1st is that God protects his people and always has a plan for them , not a plan to destroy them but a plan to give them peace and hope . God works in mysterious ways that not always will be clear for us.. When Paul was sailing to Rome, God changed his course and brought him to malta to preach to the natives and save them.. Doing so, Paul managed to bring a lot of people into His light.. The least we can do when we go through our own storms of life is to not become despaired and hold on to the faith that God has a plan and will guide you wherever you go….
2nd was that humans are the more advanced version of a chameleon.. Seriously, at first the natives welcomed Paul and his friends as they were a lost family then claimed that Paul was a murderer and then considered him as a god!! I do not think I can or will understand humans…..

Anaways, it is getting late and I have to go back to my home..Good bye for now..
P.S I built a new roof. Turns out the old roof harbored a nest of termites and I am deathly allergic to those.. Like I said, God always has a plan,not just any plan but a good plan….

THE CAR’S DRIVER AND ITS FUEL

A car requires a driver and  fuel for its proper functioning. Without these two main important aspects, the car may not work proper. A driver is required to control the car to go on a straight path and he decides whether to turn right or left without getting hit on obstacles and its fuel to keep it going without getting tired for a long time. Thus, a car needs both of these for reaching its goal/ destination.

Our Christian life is similar like this car. We need a fuel to keep us running daily without stopping. You know what? the fuel for every Christian is the Holy Spirit, meditation of the Word of God and a daily prayer are the right fuel for our spiritual journey on the path of salvation. Our one and only driver is Jesus Christ, who controls our path, and He is the one who decides in what way we should go. That is why we should give our life to the hands of the driver to safely reach our destination, with a rightful mind and soul satisfying the needs of our daily life.

Perseverance & Determination

It is all about Perseverance & Determination – Boy with 5 loaves and 2 fishes was aware of his humble situation, and so he preserved it till the end. He must have thought how small and worthless possession he had in that multitude of many prominent personalities and famous preachers… still he never hesistated to throw his gift or conceal it on call…

He stood up with what he had upon the call of His master and that made the difference… Heaven’s maths worked !! 5 loaves of bread + 2 fishes = 5000+ meals !!


Be ready to stand-up with your gifts upon call of your master!! And the rest will be a marvel miracle!!

Basketball

A Basketball player repeatedly dribbles the ball before he scores… As the ball hits the floor repeatedly, neither does it depress itself nor does it give away…the ball knows for sure that it is well controlled and directed by the player and that it will be used by its master to score !!

In our life we may be hit down or even re-directed from our own plans… But as long as our Master controls us, we need not quit or give up… Our Master is sure to destine us to hit the eternal score…