Several days ago, the Swallow had mentioned that the temperature has been rising in Singapore. She was hoping that cooler days were coming. Well, the Swallow's wish has been granted!
These past two days, it has been raining in the afternoons and when she woke up this morning, it was raining. At this point in the Swallow's journal, it is still raining, and it looks like it will rain a while more. Breathe in, breathe out, and in again. Aah! The Swallow can now smell the freshness of the air...not so in the days before the rains came as there was a smell of smoke in the air, most likely caused by bush fires.
After bringing one of her young ones to school, the Swallow was returning home and was grateful to use the shelters which lined part of the way back to her home, when she was almost drenched!
Not from of a gush of water from a passing vehicle...not from a sudden shower of raindrops from the leaves of surrounding trees because she was not using an umbrella...not because she was walking in the drizzle and there was a sudden downpour...but while she was under the shelter! The shelter was leaking, and it must have several holes because the water was not coming down as an occasional drip, but a continuous and steady drip. Makes the Swallow wonder why it is called a shelter...isn't a shelter suppose to shelter you from the elements, discharge from birds, etc, etc?!
It brought to the Swallow's mind that sometimes too, men place their hopes in shelters that does not the work of shelters.
Men place their dreams on their spouses, waiting for them to make their dreams come true and when these loved ones do not do that, they are disillusioned and want to quit the marriage.
Men place their hopes on their children, thinking that the children will take care of them when they are old but when the children forget all that has been done for them in the past, they complain that no one loves them anymore.
Men place their hard-earned cash into stocks and shares, hoping to grow their nest egg but then comes the news of a stock-market crash.
Why do men place their dreams, their hopes or their earthly possessions on 'shelters' that do not work (not on a rest-of-your-life basis anyway)? Why do they not look for a shelter that works, not only when the sun is shining, but also when it rains? Why do they not look for a shelter that can also protect them from the 'discharges' that may come from any direction?
It is a timely reminder to the Swallow -
Psalm 91 : 1 - 2 (NIV)
He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the LORD, "He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust."
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