Thursday, October 19, 2006

Hey CG people,

In light of the current 'atrocities' commited during Pink & Blue, I've got this suggestion for a game that we should play in the aftermath of Pink & Blue, which is basically the antithesis of what Pink & Blue stands for. It's also a good chance for those of us who sabotaged other people (especially CG mates!) to kiss and make up (not to be taken literally), and do good turns instead.

However, I didn't come up with this game all on my own. Rather, I remembered reading this story from the book "Chicken Soup for the Christian Soul" during the term break, and this particular story stood out in my mind because of how touching it was. I'll try to rewrite the story in my own words, which is probably not as moving as reading it directly from the book, but after reading it you all should be able to understand how the game works (hopefully!).

There was once this family, which consisted of four members. A dad, a mum, and a set of boy-girl twins around 8 years old. Sadly, the two twins in the family were always squabbling with each other, calling each other nasty names, and doing bad things such as stealing and destroying stuff belonging to the other. At times, the quarrels and fights would tend to go overboard and the twins would say nasty things to each other that they would tend to regret later. However, this habit of quarreling never stopped, even though their parents attempted many methods to reconcile them. Yet, mother always believed that deep down inside, both of them actually loved each other.

As it was nearing Christmas, the quarrels tended to escalate, as each was arguing over who was better and deserved better presents. Mum was at a loss, because she wanted a harmonious atmosphere in order to celebrate Christmas, instead of the constant sounds of shouting and screaming which she heard everyday. At her wits end, she finally remembered this game which her grandmother used to play when she was young. It was called "Fill the crib of baby Jesus". The aim of the game was to fill this crib by Christmas night so that baby Jesus would have a place to sleep when he was born. However, in order to fill the crib, the participants would have to use straws to make the bed for baby Jesus. Yet, in order to place straws in the crib, each person would have to unconspiciously do a good deed for another family member.

So, one night, around a month before Christmas, mum gathered the entire family together and explained the rules of the game to them. She then wrote the names of each family member on separate pieces of paper and placed them into a pot, and each family member then drew the name of a person which they would do good deeds to, for the entire week.

There was soon a very noticeable change in the condition of the household. Toys that were usually left scattered on the floor were soon cleared immediately, mum's dishes would be washed when she took her after-dinner nap, dad's gardening duties would also be completed before he came back from work. The mood in the household went from quarrelsome and noisy to peaceful and joyous. This situation went on for three weeks. However, mum noticed something which disturbed her. She observed that her son always had this disgruntled look after the drawing of the names, but she never mentioned it to anyone else but dad. She deferred asking her son the reason as well, preferring to let him deal with his problems by himself.

Yet, something unexpected happened on the final week before Christmas. During the drawing of names for that final week, her son broke down uncontrollably after drawing his designated name from the pot. He was sobbing and eventually ran out of the house, and ended up sitting on the doorstep of the house opposite, leaving the rest of his family in shock. Mum immediately restrained dad from running out after him, and went herself to speak to her son.

When she got to him, he was shivering from the cold outside. However, even though mum tried persuading him to go back inside where it was warmer, he refused to budge. When asked why he refused to go back, her son simply answered,

"Mum, I'm going to be the cause of our family not being able to complete the crib, and baby Jesus won't be able to get a place to sleep when He comes."

"Why is that so?" mum asked.

Still sobbing, he told her that he had, for the past three weeks, drawn his twin sister's name each and every time. This week, he was hoping to get another name other than hers, but he drew her name again for the fourth week. He said,

"Mum, I'm finding it hard to do things for her, because I hate her so much! The other day, she wrecked by toy train set, but I just forced a smile and told her to forget about it. Yet inside I was seething and wanted to just smack her. I don't think I can take it anymore, doing nice things for her when she doesn't even treat me well! I hate her from the bottom of my heart!"

"Then why did you do those nice things for her during the past period of three weeks?" mum queried.

"I did them for baby Jesus, because I love Him! Not for my sister! I hate her, I hate her, I hate her! But now, because I'm unable to do anymore good things for her, we won't be able to complete baby Jesus' crib before Christmas, so I'd rather sit out here and freeze."

Yet, instead of recoiling at that statement by her son and reprimanding him, mum just offered to exchange her name with his so that he could do good deeds for dad instead. Smiling, she led him back home.

In that week, the good deeds continued, and soon the house was prepped and ready to celebrate the birth of Christ. The crib was filling up faster than the past three weeks as tasks around the house seemed to be completed without any procrastination. Mum and dad were sure that they would all be able to full the crib by Christmas eve.

On the night of Christmas eve itself, after the children went to bed, mum went to check on the crib. She realised that there was only one more straw left which would fill the crib. Mum then went to tuck in her daughter, which would be the good deed that allowed her to place the final straw in the crib. However, when she went into her daughter's room, she saw, to her utter amazement, that her child had already been tucked into bed and a glass of milk and cookies were set by her bedside. Even more surprising, she recognised that the cup which contained the milk belonged to her son. She immediately realised that it was her son whom had tucked his sister into bed that night. After all that he had said to her on that day when he ran out of the house, she was glad that he did not really mean it after all, and that deep down from the bottom of his heart, he really did love his sister. It was the best Christmas gift that mum had ever received, and silently she thanked God.

So guys, did you like the story? I know that rephrasing the story and taking out the names makes it sound a bit impersonal (like telling from a third person perspective), but I wanted to convey the meaning of this game to you all. Anyway, I'd like to hear responses from the rest of the CG on whether we are willing to play this game, starting from the end of Pink & Blue right up until the end of the semester. If possible, we could play it up until Christmas, if many of you all are still around in hall during the December period.

With regards to the game, I'm suggesting the following rule changes from those in the story:
1. We can do good deeds for ANYONE at all, instead of drawing names every week. However try to do a good deed for everyone, instead of just focusing on a particular person(s).
2. In the story, after doing a good deed, the person who did the deed could place a straw in the crib. I'm suggesting that the person who was on the receiving end place the straw instead. This is because what we might constitute as a good deed might not be perceived in the same way by the person whom we did the deed to.
3. Instead of using straw (in the story they used real straw, e.g. hay), we can use drinking straws.

Feel free to suggest anymore rules if you all feel like it!

I'll also be willing to find a box that can act as the crib, or if anyone has anything suitable which can be a crib for baby Jesus, perhaps can share it? Haha.

Yups, that all folks! Please reply on whether you all wanna play this game for the rest of the semester. If there's a favourable response, we'll try to start it right away. Since Christmas is approaching, it's time to get into the spirit, and I think there's no better way than doing good deed for others. Lets all hope that we can make a bed for baby Jesus!

Regards,

Julian



2:09 AM
C-ing Christ

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home