When you’re placed where you’re meant to be, HOSTILITY can be a real thing.
Some people find this a bit hokey, but I do think spiritual and physical forces are constantly at work to throw us off course. Whether you’re at work or serving someone, doing good means actively pushing back the forces of darkness. There’s just no other way.
Earlier this week, another slashing of a foreigner nearish where we stay happened. Last week, bottles were intentionally smashed at our front door. Yesterday, young men riding on a piki (motorbike) hooted and screamed “F*CK YOU!” at us.
So what do you do?
I love what our dog, Courage, did.
As the young men riding off in the piki continued to leer and jeer at us, whistling and hooting to try and trigger him to chase or bark, Courage’s response surprised me.
I thought he might growl, bark or chase. But no— all he did was stand tall, neck high, watching them intently as they drove off.
Perhaps, when faced with hostility, that’s what we need to do too— stand our ground, stand tall, being vigilant and alert to danger, yet absolutely untriggered.
But the final straw was going to visit our neighbors with fruits, only to find that minutes ago, R from the Animal rescue had returned not one, but both dogs to them, suddenly. 😭😭
We learnt later that the neighbors had not fixed their gate from stone-throwing kids at their dogs, nor provided better living conditions for their animals before receiving them back as agreed on. (Here, many locals keep dogs for security but do not care for them, leaving them stressed, malnourished and barking incessantly.)
Instead, they sent R from the Animal Rescue threats and demands daily until it wore him down.
Days like that I feel utterly defeated against and betrayed by a larger cultural system. I feel like going “home,” except that home is now where we are. I feel too far from Singapore to head back, yet too different from the local culture here to truly fit in. Perhaps this is what it means to be “in yet not of this world,” to constantly feel like a pilgrim, the way Jesus was on earth.
My 7 year old asked me this morning, “Mama, I saw you crying yesterday. Were you sad the dogs next door returned?”
“Yes,” I said. “I feel betrayed, and disappointed with the neighbors and with God. Do you know it’s OK to be disappointed with God as long as you tell Him so?”
“Yes, Mama. I know. And also, remember to thank Him for ALL the blessings He’s given to you, okay?”
😭😭😭
