May 2007

For the months of April and May, our project focuses on researching and producing articles regarding superstitious beliefs of different countries. So far I have written about Mexico, South Korea, Laos, Thailand, Lithuania, Romania, Switzerland, Taiwan, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Iceland, Canada... I'm not sure if I left out any... I think that's it so far... and I'm currently working on Burkina Faso and Lesotho.

One interesting thing about this current project is that I get to meet gods of different cultures and beliefs. I have read about those as famous as Gautama Bhudda and Confucius (although not claiming as gods, they are followed nonetheless) to lesser known deities as the gods of the sun and the trees and the rocks and any imaginable thing haha (animism could be very funny, I tell you). I have ventured a bit on Islam, Hunduism, cults and witchcraft and a weird combinations of all the aforementioned beliefs. But no god has ever come close to my Lord Jesus Christ.

I learned that there are gods who sleep or leave for a vacation and during their absence, the people panic in fear (certain gods that "protect" people from evil in oriental countries like China and Korea leave at the end of the year for a year-end meeting to report to a greater god). The people in turn make up ways to scare off the evils by their own might. None was ever like the Lord who watches me when I sleep; like Him who walks with me through the valley of the shadow of death or He who knows the number of the hairs on my head. They were not like my God who is my Sun and My Shield; the Warrior who strengthens my hand for battle or trains my fingers for war.

Some have strict philosophies that promise enlightenment by voiding oneself from all forms of desires. Not one was like my Lord who promises the desires of my heart, only I delight in Him. That's a win-win sitch-- He says DELIGHT in Him, not suffer in Him. It means you have fun delighting in Him PLUS you get the desires of your heart... just like an icing on a cake.

Karma resembles a word of my Lord that says one reaps what one sows. But no Hindu god is able to erase my broken past and make me just like new again. No blood of sacred animals can ever turn what is as red as scarlet to something whiter than snow itself.

Some may impose strict rules of do's and don'ts but no god has given his very spirit inside his people that they may be able to be righteous. No god has given his people hearts of flesh and no spirit has written his law in the hearts of men unlike the precious Holy Spirit.

Some may heal, like the Sufis of Islam or the Shamans of many cultures (as Siberia and Korea), but none was stricken 39 times so that by his wounds I (or we) may be healed. Medical studies show that all forms of illnesses root to 39 origins. That means ALL disease have been accounted for by the stripes on our Christ's back.

Some people may not worship certain beings and objects but surely they have placed their trust, and unfortunately their fear, in these. People have feared vampires and witches; voodoo and evil eyes. Not a single deity have I encountered that promised his perfect love to drive out our fear unlike my God.

There are objects that gained the trust of men. There are totem spirits identified by poles and masks that promise fertility and prosperity. Ironically, every tribe in Burkina Faso has a totem animal and practice mask-dances to ensure fertility in their land yet Burkina Faso is considered as one of the most poverty-stricken countries in the world.

Native Americans put their trust on dreamcatchers to filter their dreams but never have they encountered the Dream Giver Himself.

There is a particular god in the tribes of Africa that is said to have abandoned human kind because he got hurt by a woman who was punding millet with her mortar. My Lord promised that He will never leave me nor forsake me and that nothing could ever separate me from His love.

There are gods who are to be appeased all the time so as to assure their favor; these gods must be pleased continuously else their wrath would come as a curse to the people's lives. Not a single one of these gods has given his only begotten son as a sacrfice so that once and for all, all sins and curses of the past, of the present and even of the future will be ultimately paid for. Not one god was like my Lord who became a man and was led like a sheep to be slaughtered so as I, and any one who puts their trust in Him, will be redeemed. I am yet to see a deity who, instead of remaining unreachable and and unapproachable paid a dear price just to be with me. Just to be with us.

None is like my God. There is no one like Him.