Choosing gummies

Father's day coming. I wondered what should I get for my dad after taking a career break for quite a while. A belt or a shirt was a norm for the past consecutive years. This year, my budget is a little tight. I was browsing at Marks & Spencer the other day and was lost in the midst of all colourful sweets, eclairs, biscuits and yes, gummies. I recalled that my dad loves gummies. Even though he is in his seventies now, he still loves them to bits. They are kids' universal favorites. And it is how my dad has aged in reverse. So I decided on the spot, to get him a bagful of fruity colorful gummies for a surprise.

It helped me to recall that one day, as I was dropping by a convenience store that opens 24 hours, I spotted a little boy choosing none other than gummies at the corner of the store. The tiny convenience store is usually patroned by regulars for beers, newspaper, cigars or a snack or drink. That night, it was already nine and as I pushed through the glass door, hastily grabbed a copy of the papers from the metal racks at the corner, I was stopped short by a little boy. My whole world came to a halt as I stood for one moment, unconsciously observing him.

He was oblivious of my presence or any one's presence including the cashier and another retail assistant getting himself busy stocking up goods on the shelf. The little boy was squatted in front of two column shelves of pigeon holes filled with gummies. Had I not chance upon him, I will not have noticed that the convenience store sells them. He had one plastic bag in his left hand, the right hand holding a tong, carefully selecting the gummies within the pigeon holes and dropping them in the plastic bag. He was so earnest and careful and intensely focused like a doctor performing his surgeries. Judging by the speed of his movement, I reckoned he was already there since half past eight. He seem to be living unto that moment of choosing the gummies. He picked up one from a box, carefully moved the tongs into the plastic bag, dropped the gummy and went on to fetch another. For one moment, I thought he was holding his breath and I found him pretty amusing. He picked up another long strip of gummy, conscientiously moved his hand up to position the end of the strip to the opening of the bag and in it went. I visually counted the bag and realised he only have five gummies in the bag so far.

How it reminded God chooses us, isn't it. Comparing choosing gummies to god choosing us, I know it is too simple a metaphor to contend with. But there we lie, just like gummies in those pigeon boxes, completely forgotten by the worldly patronage, only one notice them. And that One, is God. He handpicks us up from the diverse world, carefully making us His children and drop us into His bag of bosom. We made up all colors, each having different taste of life, living in different boxes, in a myriad society. What array and assortments of gummies. We hope to get noticed through individuality, we tasted sweetness and sour and flavor, we stretched and got bruised and shrunk back to our normal selves. We got eaten up by standards of other people, we got chewed and mourned in pain by life's adversities. God chooses us and pick us up one by one and drop us into His bag of salvation. Carefully. So intently. Not everyone has the privilege. And yes, we ended up in His stomach of goodness. We ended up through a small and narrow path like the path into the bag. I chuckled at my crazy idea of comparing gummies and God.

And I sure am going to spend some time chewing the gummies with my Dad. Because it'll remind me the presence of my Abba Father. He chooses me from those boxes, and dropped me into His bag of eternity.