This is a post that ought to have been written on August 25th, 2009, when these thoughts first came to me, but I didn’t quite get the chance to. The exact same thing happened to me again last Friday, so I figured it was something I simply had to post before I forgot about it or the thoughts became too stale in my mind.
I was riding down from Ooty to the Coimbatore Airport in order to fly to Delhi on work. My regular driver, Wilson, was away on another trip so he sent me another driver with whom I had had a bad experience earlier because of his rash driving. Wilson reassured me that he had cautioned this driver to drive properly, and if that was not enough, my Mom told him to drive “slow” around the curves. He drove “slow” alright – so slow that a few minutes later, and I might have missed my flight! But part of that wasn’t his fault. All the way from hairpin bend #1 to the foothills of Mettupalayam, he had no option but to drive slow. Just ahead of us we had a VIP entourage of 6 vehicles – 5 SUVs and 1 sedan – that apparently belonged to some big-shot MLA (Member of Legislative Assembly) of Tamil Nadu. The DMK flags flew atop the hoods of every one of the cars except the police patrol vehicle, and we were forced to follow with absolutely no option of overtaking them. My driver might have been frustrated, but was at least smart enough to take advantage of our white car and his white uniform. We tailed them as if we were part of the convoy, allowing for us to overtake other vehicles that had slowed down or pulled over to allow the entourage to pass. The other vehicles, of course, assumed that we were part of the convoy (I wish I had dressed more formally to add to the effect :p) and allowed us to pass without so much as a raised eyebrow. I did, at times, even draw the curious looks of those that might have assumed I was the MLA’s daughter or something. 🙂
Somehow, riding at the tail of that convoy made me feel very privileged and important, as if it demanded that I hold my head a little higher than usual and carry myself in a more dignified manner. I do not mean to sound arrogant or proud here, but with the look of awe that some people gave me, and the realization that they assumed I was a VIP, I couldn’t help but smile inwardly. Then, as has often been the case lately, I felt that check post drop in front of me yet again.
“I am a VIP!”
“Yeah, right! Posing as one, you mean.”
“Oh, come on… let me enjoy the thrill of it while it lasts!”
“Silly girl! Don’t you realize that you are more of a VIP than you think you are?”
“Huh??? Really?”
“Janie, have you forgotten that you are a daughter of the King of Kings, a Princess?”
So true and yet easily forgotten.
I recollected the first time that realization had dawned on me. I must have been about 15, at my rebellious worst and forced to attend a teens camp held by the church I grew up in but had long since stopped attending, simply because my Dad was one of the speakers and my Mom had volunteered to be one of the leaders for the girls. I was put in a group with girls much younger than me because the older group was full of college girls, and I was the only girl that was in between. As the oldest in my group, I had to take charge and be more responsible, setting a good example.
I remember I overcame my fear of large spiders that year. Yes, I had to work up the courage to kill not one, but two huge spiders (and chase out the third) that were contentedly boarding and lodging in our bathroom. And when I say large, I mean large – they were some 3-4 inches in diameter, no kidding. That’s beside the point though…
Back to the point – I don’t quite remember which of the speakers dealt with the topic of our Identity in Christ. I don’t even remember the rest of the sessions. I only remember the sessions my Dad taught, the topics he taught, his “gospel magic” performances that always awed the audience and got them arguing over dinner as to how the tricks were done, even begging him to teach them his tricks. I have always remembered most of my Dad’s sermons because I idolized him for one, and also because he always taught profound truths so simply and in ways one could easily remember, often using acronyms or words that began with the same letter. I ought not to digress yet again. :p
So… basically what one of the speakers taught us was about how important we are to God, how much He cares for us as individuals, and how unique he has made each one of us. I think that must have been the first time I heard about each of us having thumbprints that are so unique, and that there is not a single person in the world who has the exact same thumbprint as me. I thought that was pretty cool, and it sure did make me feel very special. Although I don’t remember much else, I do remember that on the last day when we were asked to share about anything that had impacted us deeply during the camp, I stood up and shared about how this one topic had touched me and ended my speech in tears! Lol! Ok, but seriously, it did mean a lot to me at the time because I had been going through issues of low self-esteem – something every teen encounters at some point, I suppose.
I suppose? No, I know for sure, thanks to the piles of research done by Metadigm for OneHope. Having sat through several “Strategic Planning” sessions to plan on new products for India based on Metadigm’s research, I know for a fact that the value of an individual is probably the #1 issue that comes up over and over in India. It’s so sad that most of us grow up here in India with little sense of value, more so for a girl child. Interestingly, I even found that there is no accurate way to tell someone, “You are valuable/valued.” in Tamil. (If someone well versed in Tamil knows a way to say that, do kindly let me know.) The common words for “value” in the language usually refer to value more in terms of price (vilai, madhipu). Any wonder why children don’t feel valued at all? Or why a child is more likely to feel like an “object” rather than a “person” who is loved and valued?
The topic is quite deep, and one that I could go on about endlessly, having been there-felt that myself many a time. Not that once we cross our teens such tendencies magically disappear either… certain situations and phases all our lives can get us to the point of feeling worthless. Although I wasn’t going through one of those phases, it was a good reminder to me twice in the last two weeks that I am a VIP in Christ… that as a child of God and His very own creation, I am accepted, loved and valued… that He loved me enough to go to the extent of sacrificing His own son’s life so that I could live my life abundantly and to the fullest… “Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain.” I can’t help but break out into David’s beautiful Psalm at this point.
Psalm 139:1-16
O LORD, you have searched me and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O LORD. You hem me in—behind and before; you have laid your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain. Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me, “even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you. For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.
These words never fail to assure me of my importance to God; these and His sweet words whispered to me in the stillness, “I have loved you with an everlasting love. (Jer.31:3) I have betrothed you to myself…
“I have redeemed you, I have summoned you by name. You are mine. (Isaiah 43:1)
“You are precious and honoured in my sight… I love you…” (Isaiah 43:4)
More importantly, John 1:12 says, “To all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God – children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.” That assurance alone is more than enough for me to know no matter how I feel, where I’ve been or what I’ve done, I can hold my head up high and carry myself like a Princess, a child of the Most High God – and I don’t refer to pride, but the confidence that comes from knowing that I am loved and valued – and that I am indeed a VIP!
The Well Watered Tree 