And it came, but came too late </3 I have just read a novel, Gone With The Wind,

by Margaret Mitchell. It was recommended by a friend who watched the movie. I have writhed and cringed ever so hard throughout the time when I was reading the book, and the last pages of the book brought out tears from me. Even until now, my heart is still full of aching. So I thought it is better to blog my heart out. If you have not yet read the novel, here is the summary: http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/gonewith/summary.html. But in general, I want to say that Scarlett OHara, the protagonist of the story, was a country girl from Georgia living sometime in the 1800s. She was outwardly beautiful and gorgeous, but she was a whitewashed wall. For she was selfish, conceited, vain, and proud. Very proud. And very selfish. As I have been reading her story, I have writhed in anguish all throughout. I have not yet read a story, a novel that conveyed such a very clear image of the kind of world we live in. There were the everpresent quarrels and wars and fighting. There were the vices, the hardships, the injustice. Life, in the story, has been implied as hard, cruel, and bitter. But I have seen it in a different point of view. The description of how life goes is, in principle, very realistic. And it has only made me realize even more clearly that the world, in spite of its pretense of being a friendly, lovely place, is still sinful, vile, utterly hopeless and under the sway of the Prince of the Power of the air. And men are willful victims of Satans sways. Indeed, they are the Devils slaves, bound to commit sin, to be selfish, to seek happiness in everything, save that which is the real source of it. But they love being prisoners. They kiss and worship the very chains and shackles that bind them. Men may say they have been imprisoned, but they have gone into that cage of their own accord. Scarlett has been driven by the hardships of war to desire nothing else but moneyand the love of wedded man. Throughout the book, her selfishness, her lustful and adulterous desires for a man Ashley Wilkes, her arrogant and stubborn ways of trampling on Gods Word, her hardening of the conscience, were all clearly depicted. So clear indeed that I writhed, cringed, and even shuddered as I read them. At the end of the book, she was left by everyoneeven and especially her husband. Why, she was so busy collecting shiny pebbles. And when she had her hands full, she wanted more of those pebbles and threw away what little amount of precious diamonds she was holding. And then, and then she realized the vanity of it all. The realization andI dare sayremorse came, but it came way too late. Finally she understood the people around her, but by then she has no one left to understand, to make up for her previous mistakes. She lost all the precious stones by collecting pebbles. As I read, there is the great temptation to sit in judgment over her, over the people, who had all done something wrong, something vile and sinful. Oh, they were all so selfish, so proud! If they humbled themselves a little, lessened their selfishness, oh! How differently the story would have ended up! And how happy too. Scarlett has been pursuing the wrong thing all the time. How could she have been a fool? I thought. But as I ponder on these thoughts further, a fearful thought occurred to me. Scarlett was the utter image for selfishness and pride. But how sure I am that I share none of her traits? She was stubborn, and I judge her for that. But am I meek and submissive? She wanted fame; she was so vain, conceited, and too full of herself. I look at her with contempt. But, in my heart, am I sure that I do not have these characteristics, however subtle they may seem to be?

And once again I have been humiliated before God. Through this fictional character, the Lord revealed to me my tendencies, had He not have mercy on me and saved me from such a life. And it provoked me to assess my thoughts, my heart, my actions, my reasons for doing the things that I do and saying the things I say. Why do I study? Why do I go to school? Why do I want to take up the course I intend to take? Why do I plan to do the things I plan to do? Why do I love people? Is it because I am meekly submitting to Gods will? Because I am selflessly loving everyone whom God sends to my life? Why do I say the things I say? Think the thoughts I think of? Why do I even obey God, or the authorities above me? Is it because I am in constant, moment-by-moment struggle to please God? Because I trust Him and do not rely one bit on my own understanding? Indeed, why? Can I face God right now with a clean conscience, saying I have acted, spoken and thought, not according to my will, not in accordance to my understanding, but in obedience to His revealed word? This book did more than simply amuse me and suffice my readers thirst for something to read. It exposed me of my many shortcomings and imperfections. It indirectly revealed, but revealed all the same, my own sinfulness. And at its conclusion, I could almost hear Christs words: Unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. Scarlett has been so wrong in making her decisions because she trusted her own reasons, her own deceitful heart, her own understanding. She lost everything because she acted on her own way, rejecting the teachings of the Law of God taught both by her mother and her conscience. She has been wrong. But let me not be so. How I can cry even more fervently now with Frederick Whitfield when he wrote, I need thee, precious Jesus, for I am full of sin. My heart is dark and guilty, my soul is dead within. I need the cleansing fountain, where I can always flee, The blood of Christ more precious, the sinners perfect plea. May Scarletts selfishness, vanity, and pride never lurk their shadows upon my soul. And may Mrs. Melanie Wilkes gentle and quiet spirit be what I possess! Indeed, that has been my struggle since I confessed Christ to be my Propitiator, and though it takes me whole life time I will not, no I will NOT, stop striving to be what the Lord has desired me to be. Though I crawl in hardship and poverty, may I never desert my duty to be a salt and light in this dark and rotten world. All these from reading a novel. Although the novel did not much give me something I would wish to imitate, it has further hardened my determination to fight against the world and its schemes, and to tread the Narrow Path. Oh! Let me crawl in hardship, let me receive countless wounds and hundred blows, so long as I am assured that I am making my way to Celestial City, guided by the ever gracious and merciful hand of my Father. Dear friend, thank you for telling me about this book. As you may see, it has taught me a lot.