"I'm sure you know what to do at 3.30."
At that moment, actually I myself had no idea what to do during the two hours before I went to CCH. But when I came out from Albert's house later at 3.30pm, I had three options in my mind: 1. Hanging around at a supermarket to buy food to cook for dinner. 2. Visiting Shiv and 3. Visiting Kit.
God spoke to my heart to head for Baha'i Centre where Kit often spent his weekends alone if he had no visitors and if nobody brought him out to attend any functions. I had never been to his place at that hour, so he was surprised to see me there.
"Come, let's have tea!" He was all smiles.
"Wait a moment! I'm not going to accept any reward before I've worked."
He usually offered me a drink and snacks after I had laboured in his garden in the early evening. That afternoon, I was not keen to weed under the hot sun.
"Today, let me clean your room as I promised to you last year."
I asked for a rag from Kit, wetted it and began to rub it against the dusty and dirty surface of a cabinet, while rearranging bottles which contained tea leaves, nuts and other dried food. I was suddenly reminded by God's words:
“Take heed that you do not do your charitable deeds before men, to be seen by them. Otherwise you have no reward from your Father in heaven. Therefore, when you do a charitable deed, do not sound a trumpet before you as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory from men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. But when you do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, that your charitable deed may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will Himself reward you openly. (Matthew 6:1-4, NKJV)
I was feeling the real joy of helping someone without the intention of being seen by other people. About ten minutes later, a car drove into the centre. It was Mr Siew, an old friend of Kit's, who was back to Melaka and who came to pay Kit a visit. I greeted him and continued my work.
"Are you a Baha'i?"
I smilingly shook my head. "I'm a Christian." Kit added, "She's a staunch Christian!"
"You're doing a good deed."
"I just imitate what Jesus did."
"I can see that Jesus' teaching has done something great in your life." In my heart I replied, "Not only Jesus' teaching, but His acts to die on the cross, to wash His disciples' feet..."
I cleared a chair seat which was covered by newspapers. Then on behalf of Kit, I invited Mr Seow to sit down and have a drink. At first he kindly turned down my offer. I thought he was going to leave soon. After some time, he finally took the seat and carried on his conversation with Kit.
I moved from one cabinet to another. With Kit's permission, I opened all the doors and drawers of the three pieces of furniture. Several unsealed packets of biscuits, tea bags, two cartons of canned drink, empty bottles, containers, etc, had been left inside. The edible items either had expired or were going to expire. So I took them out and laid on the first cabinet to let Kit decide on his own what to do with them later. And I threw all the useless bottles into the dustbin. Next, I mopped Kit's dining table and removed the old newspapers on which he practised calligraphy.
While I was spring-cleaning that corner of the room, I sometimes talked to both elderly men. I learned that Mr Seow, 69, had been knowing my former colleague Saratha, now in her fourth year of retirement, since she was a little girl.
"Have you known one another because of the Baha'i faith?"
My question launched Mr Seow's interest to give a brief testimony of how he had almost become a Christian but finally embraced the Baha'i faith. He even cited verses from the Bible and interpreted them from the Baha'i point of view and shared with me some of their prophet's teaching. Apart from expressing my opinion to disagree with the statement that "All the religions are the same, only the interpretations are different" and standing on my belief that "Jesus is the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Him" (John 14:6), I did not attempt to debate with him further over the issue. Recalling the Message version of Matthew 10:14 which I had studied in the previous MLM class, I chose to focus on my chore.
When it was almost 5.30pm, I stopped my work in the room, took a drink and munched a few cookies. Then I began to wash a dozen of empty containers in a sink outside. Saratha who lived nearby arrived with her nephew. Mr Seow had telephoned her to inform her of his visit at Kit's place. He also highly publicised my service as a house-keeper there.
When he saw Saratha, he said to her, "What happens to our Baha'is? We have a lot of teaching. But where are the good deeds?"
I would have loved to spend more time chatting with my kind former colleague. But thinking of my CCH children who had no food on their dining table, I had to make a move.
I told Kit that it was only my first round of cleaning and that I would tackle other messy corners during my future visits. When I shook Mr Seow's hand and said goodbye,
he said, "I thank you on behalf of the Baha'is and the whole world for your good deeds."
When I heard that, I felt a crown was being placed on my head instantly. That was how my Father God who had seen in secret rewarded me openly through this man's mouth.
I was not overwhelmed by the compliment. My deed was just the manifestation of my faith (James 2:14) so that men would glorify my Father God (Matthew 5:16). However, as I was reversing my car in a rush, I slightly knocked on Saratha's car which was being parked behind. Thank God both vehicles were intact. But I immediately thought of Albert's comment after my previous accident that I needed deliverance!
I apologized to Saratha who simply smiled. Then I waved my hand again from my car. Mr Seow raised his voice, "Please take care of yourself. Our world still needs you to continue to do good deeds!"
Oh! A second crown.
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