长期被法规约束的我们， 相信这个社会已经建立了一个坚实的制度，潜意识中认定法律之严明到了没有人敢挑战的地步， 于是我们很方便地接受一切， 对所看到的东西不再抱有怀疑。这样的日子当然不坏， 但是“例外”出现的时候， 我们的反应是那么的迟缓， 甚至迟钝。
除了当局外， 我们难道都没有责任？
韩咏梅“一堂不贵的课”
Saturday, October 2, 2010
Useless Things I said At Furneral
"God speaks in silence, how do I translate that?"
Many times, I caught myself saying useless things at funeral.
"How old is she?"
"What did she die of?"
"What stage was she suffering from?
"How....What.... When...."
Interviewing questions that the family members have to answer again and again.
Why do I keep saying them?
Many times, I caught myself saying useless things at funeral.
"How old is she?"
"What did she die of?"
"What stage was she suffering from?
"How....What.... When...."
Interviewing questions that the family members have to answer again and again.
Why do I keep saying them?
I was sick and you visited me
Jesus' approach to illness was the right one. He did not refuse anyone who needed help. His motive was compassion, not publicity. In fact, he often instructed the people he healed not to tell anyone. He did not scold those who came to him for their lifestyle that might have contributed to their disorder. He did not charge anything.
Apparently he realized that social isolation is one of the worst things about being sick, so part of his healing technique was to reintegrate the person back into society. He recognized that disease was not a legitimate part of the natural order, but a larger disorder that affected the individual.
Still he did not speculate about it. He just went ahead and healed. But he did not speculate his healing as isolated "miracles" He saw them rather as preliminary hints of a whole new order of things, one that lies beyond human grasping but can be discerned by those with eyes to see and ears to hear.
Chapter "Why the Crowds Came", in When Jesus Came to Harvard, Making Moral Choices Today by Harvey Cox
Apparently he realized that social isolation is one of the worst things about being sick, so part of his healing technique was to reintegrate the person back into society. He recognized that disease was not a legitimate part of the natural order, but a larger disorder that affected the individual.
Still he did not speculate about it. He just went ahead and healed. But he did not speculate his healing as isolated "miracles" He saw them rather as preliminary hints of a whole new order of things, one that lies beyond human grasping but can be discerned by those with eyes to see and ears to hear.
Chapter "Why the Crowds Came", in When Jesus Came to Harvard, Making Moral Choices Today by Harvey Cox
Friday, December 25, 2009
Unnoticed
It was very busy 2000 years ago in the little town of Bethlehem, lots of human traffic to meet the censure call of Caesar Augustus. So full of people till the inn was without room.
So crowded and busy that the arrival of the Saviour was unnoticed.
It is just as crowded and busy today.
So crowded and busy that the arrival of the Saviour was unnoticed.
It is just as crowded and busy today.
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Silent Night, Holy Night...Why is the night so silent?
Silent Night, Holy Night...
Why was the night silent? At the birth of a Saviour, of God.
The only announcement was that of the angels to the shepherds.
The only clue was that of the leading of the star to the wisemen.
And Joseph and Mary.
Some spreading of word by the shepherds.
Jerusalem was disturbed but not too stirred (except sometime later with the death warrant).
And then another 30 years of almost non-existence.
Silent Night, Holy Night...
Can I be silent?
Nowadays we celebrate the day with much more sound and sight.
Should we one day observe a silent night and cause the world to wonder.
Because He will come again like a thief in the silence of the night but that night will not be as silent as the first.
Why was the night silent? At the birth of a Saviour, of God.
The only announcement was that of the angels to the shepherds.
The only clue was that of the leading of the star to the wisemen.
And Joseph and Mary.
Some spreading of word by the shepherds.
Jerusalem was disturbed but not too stirred (except sometime later with the death warrant).
And then another 30 years of almost non-existence.
Silent Night, Holy Night...
Can I be silent?
Nowadays we celebrate the day with much more sound and sight.
Should we one day observe a silent night and cause the world to wonder.
Because He will come again like a thief in the silence of the night but that night will not be as silent as the first.
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
What is TIME anyway?
Exdous 12: 1 The LORD said to Moses and Aaron in Egypt, 2 "This month is to be for you the first month, the first month of your year.
Ecclesiastes 3:11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end.
Time is the medium in which we live. It is the psychological, mental and emotional air we breathe; and, like air, it is transmuted within us and becomes us. There is inner time -- our personal sense of the rhythms of time, experienced differently by each of us; and there is imposed time - the regimented time by which society organizes itself, the time of schedules and deadlines, time structured largely by work and commerce. These two times, inner and imposed, rarely jibe anymore, and the painful tension between them is one of the core psychological realities of our era.
In the beginning was the railroad -- the beginning, that is, of today’s experience of time. In the 1880s, railroad interests (in that era, America’s most potent business power) pressured the federal government to divide the country into time zones. Before this, 3:00 p.m. in San Francisco did not correspond to any particular time in New York, much less England and China. In fact, 3:00 p.m. in any city was only roughly coordinated even within the city limits. There was no place to call for a central reference point -- there weren’t any telephones to call with.
Coordination was largely a matter of bells and whistles. The factory whistle would blow, the town-hall clock would chime, and, if they felt like it, people would set their house clocks and pocket watches accordingly. Absolute precision wasn’t expected, nor, for most endeavors, was it needed; 20 minutes either way was, in most instances, no big deal.
Hours are artificial constructs; moments are not. The measurement of what we can an “hour” has taken on enormous importance since we began to measure our work, and our value, by the hour -- a practice barely a century old. People who are paid $4 an hour are not valued, and do not value themselves, as highly as people who are paid $20 an hour; people paid $20 an hour are treated differently, and often treat themselves
differently, than people paid $100 an hour. Today, our moments are lost in hours. And, since our moments are everything, unless they can be retrieved, all is lost.
Feeling that time is a force imposed from without to which they must conform, people use much of their energy to avoid that force, usually passively, and without interacting with one another, populating their inner lives with images again imposed, or at least supplied, from without. The soul or self or whatever you choose to call it – that intrinsic quality that makes each person unique and that is what (under whatever label) a
healer must connect with and appeal to – is confined in a time-cage and obscured by a cloud of habitual, if not outright addictive, fantasy figures.
In spite of (or because of) our advances, we have been stripped down to first causes: what marks our time. And we have to remind ourselves that time isn’t money. Time is life itself.
Full article can be found at THE AGE OF INTERRUPTION by Michael Ventura, Psychotherapy Networker January/February 1995
Ecclesiastes 3:11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end.
Time is the medium in which we live. It is the psychological, mental and emotional air we breathe; and, like air, it is transmuted within us and becomes us. There is inner time -- our personal sense of the rhythms of time, experienced differently by each of us; and there is imposed time - the regimented time by which society organizes itself, the time of schedules and deadlines, time structured largely by work and commerce. These two times, inner and imposed, rarely jibe anymore, and the painful tension between them is one of the core psychological realities of our era.
In the beginning was the railroad -- the beginning, that is, of today’s experience of time. In the 1880s, railroad interests (in that era, America’s most potent business power) pressured the federal government to divide the country into time zones. Before this, 3:00 p.m. in San Francisco did not correspond to any particular time in New York, much less England and China. In fact, 3:00 p.m. in any city was only roughly coordinated even within the city limits. There was no place to call for a central reference point -- there weren’t any telephones to call with.
Coordination was largely a matter of bells and whistles. The factory whistle would blow, the town-hall clock would chime, and, if they felt like it, people would set their house clocks and pocket watches accordingly. Absolute precision wasn’t expected, nor, for most endeavors, was it needed; 20 minutes either way was, in most instances, no big deal.
Hours are artificial constructs; moments are not. The measurement of what we can an “hour” has taken on enormous importance since we began to measure our work, and our value, by the hour -- a practice barely a century old. People who are paid $4 an hour are not valued, and do not value themselves, as highly as people who are paid $20 an hour; people paid $20 an hour are treated differently, and often treat themselves
differently, than people paid $100 an hour. Today, our moments are lost in hours. And, since our moments are everything, unless they can be retrieved, all is lost.
Feeling that time is a force imposed from without to which they must conform, people use much of their energy to avoid that force, usually passively, and without interacting with one another, populating their inner lives with images again imposed, or at least supplied, from without. The soul or self or whatever you choose to call it – that intrinsic quality that makes each person unique and that is what (under whatever label) a
healer must connect with and appeal to – is confined in a time-cage and obscured by a cloud of habitual, if not outright addictive, fantasy figures.
In spite of (or because of) our advances, we have been stripped down to first causes: what marks our time. And we have to remind ourselves that time isn’t money. Time is life itself.
Full article can be found at THE AGE OF INTERRUPTION by Michael Ventura, Psychotherapy Networker January/February 1995
Friday, November 27, 2009
Twilight - New Moon: 一群要生要死的狼跟鬼不知道在干什么！！
I watched the Twilight – New Moon with my god-daughter and daughter of a good friend. It is school holiday and it is bonding time.
5 sucks – Slow but superficial, Deliberate but pretentious. 一群要生要死的狼狗和鬼不知道在干什么！！And Edward looks in great need of some blood transfusion.
1st Suck – 2 hours long. For what? Time is money. But I guess in the world of vampires and werewolves, where they don’t die, time is not an issue with them. But I am a time-bound and I got my grocery shopping waiting. Watching the movie is indeed liken to entering into a twilight zone and one wonders “What’s happening?”
2nd Suck – When I saw the trailer on TV of Wolves and Vampires fighting, I was imagining seeing more blood, with the cold blooded vampires and hot blooded wolves fighting in the cinema. But what you see on TV trailer is ALL you get in the movie. When I got from the cinema is reciting of “Romeo and Juliet” – “I love you but I cannot love you.” “You want to die, but you should not die.” “I must live, it is for the good of both of us.” “It is not your fault, but mine. Please live well.” “It is my destiny (to be a wolf).” “Please don’t kill each other over me, that will hurt me the most.” “Marry me and death will not do us apart.” ”Marry me so that I can suck your blood.”
3rd Suck – I agree. This is definitely a cult movie Like the vampy and wofy in the show, where membership is by destiny and invitation only. Yes, keep it that way, don’t let the dogs out nor let us in.
4th Suck – I wonder when the production team saw their final piece before the release, what crossed their mind? “Oops… … sucks… …!”
5th Suck – The movie is rated - PG, indeed for under 16 only. The 2 young girls said they held hands throughout and exclaimed the movie was exciting and good. “Oh… … sucks… …”
Well, did I bond with the 2 girls? Well yeah. I was busy smsing during the movie to update my friends of it, the girls have to tell me to stop smsing and pay attention.
• Verdict: Disastrous sequel squanders good will created by first movie.
This is a mere six minutes longer than the first Twilight movie, but it feels like six hours. I gave the original four stars, but the sequel is tedious, long-winded and not so much undead as almost entirely devoid of life. Chris Tookey, Daily Mail UK
• http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/twilight_saga_new_moon/
• “Yes, I know, “New Moon’s” emotional energy is supposed to come through Bella’s putative attachment to newly buff best friend Jacob Black (Taylor Lautner). But though audiences gasp when Jacob uses his shirt to staunch Bella’s blood (don’t ask) and reveals a torso that would make Charles Atlas swoon, the connection between these two is so self-evidently non-romantic that it turns out not to be much of a diversion.” [Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times]
• “The characters in this movie should be arrested for loitering with intent to moan. Never have teenagers been in greater need of a jump-start. Granted some of them are more than 100 years old, but still: their charisma is by Madame Tussaud. ”The Twilight Saga: New Moon” takes the tepid achievement of “Twilight” (1988), guts it, and leaves it for undead. You know you’re in trouble with a sequel when the word of mouth advises you to see the first movie twice instead. Obviously the characters all have. Long opening stretches of this film make utterly no sense unless you walk in knowing the first film, and hopefully both Stephanie Meyer novels, by heart. Edward and Bella spend murky moments glowering at each other and thinking, So, here we are again. [Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times]
• “It feels like missing the point to talk about “The Twilight Saga: New Moon” as a movie. This is a pop culture phenomenon, some weird early 21st century aberration, our equivalent of the hula hoop or dancing the Charleston on a bi-plane’s wing. In the future, people will watch this second installment of “The Twilight Saga” and think, “What was that?” without realizing that this movie is not really a movie. It’s an excuse for a lot of people to dream.” [Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle]
• “With more bark than bite, “The Twilight Saga: New Moon” finds its brooding heroine torn from her depressive, bloodsucking boyfriend and thrust into the claws of a hunky werewolf. That’s sort of like being caught between a rock and a hard place (or, in high school terms, between a Goth and a jock), and this second screen installment of Stephenie Meyer’s bestselling series focuses, somewhat convincingly, on the emotions of an 18-year-old coping with her undying love of the undead.” [Jordan Mintzer, Variety]
• “With Chris Weitz (”American Pie,” “About a Boy,” “The Golden Compass”) taking over as director, the second movie has exactly what those fans want: Big, bouncy boy hair. Sculpted torsos everywhere. Teasing caresses of fingers on fingers, lips on lips. Love so deep and frenzied the smitten would prefer to die than go on without the other. Torsos, did we mention torsos? Most important, not just one, but two supernatural hunks snarling over the quivering carcass of a breathless, doe-eyed young woman. Swoon factor times two. [David Germain, AP]
5 sucks – Slow but superficial, Deliberate but pretentious. 一群要生要死的狼狗和鬼不知道在干什么！！And Edward looks in great need of some blood transfusion.
1st Suck – 2 hours long. For what? Time is money. But I guess in the world of vampires and werewolves, where they don’t die, time is not an issue with them. But I am a time-bound and I got my grocery shopping waiting. Watching the movie is indeed liken to entering into a twilight zone and one wonders “What’s happening?”
2nd Suck – When I saw the trailer on TV of Wolves and Vampires fighting, I was imagining seeing more blood, with the cold blooded vampires and hot blooded wolves fighting in the cinema. But what you see on TV trailer is ALL you get in the movie. When I got from the cinema is reciting of “Romeo and Juliet” – “I love you but I cannot love you.” “You want to die, but you should not die.” “I must live, it is for the good of both of us.” “It is not your fault, but mine. Please live well.” “It is my destiny (to be a wolf).” “Please don’t kill each other over me, that will hurt me the most.” “Marry me and death will not do us apart.” ”Marry me so that I can suck your blood.”
3rd Suck – I agree. This is definitely a cult movie Like the vampy and wofy in the show, where membership is by destiny and invitation only. Yes, keep it that way, don’t let the dogs out nor let us in.
4th Suck – I wonder when the production team saw their final piece before the release, what crossed their mind? “Oops… … sucks… …!”
5th Suck – The movie is rated - PG, indeed for under 16 only. The 2 young girls said they held hands throughout and exclaimed the movie was exciting and good. “Oh… … sucks… …”
Well, did I bond with the 2 girls? Well yeah. I was busy smsing during the movie to update my friends of it, the girls have to tell me to stop smsing and pay attention.
• Verdict: Disastrous sequel squanders good will created by first movie.
This is a mere six minutes longer than the first Twilight movie, but it feels like six hours. I gave the original four stars, but the sequel is tedious, long-winded and not so much undead as almost entirely devoid of life. Chris Tookey, Daily Mail UK
• http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/twilight_saga_new_moon/
• “Yes, I know, “New Moon’s” emotional energy is supposed to come through Bella’s putative attachment to newly buff best friend Jacob Black (Taylor Lautner). But though audiences gasp when Jacob uses his shirt to staunch Bella’s blood (don’t ask) and reveals a torso that would make Charles Atlas swoon, the connection between these two is so self-evidently non-romantic that it turns out not to be much of a diversion.” [Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times]
• “The characters in this movie should be arrested for loitering with intent to moan. Never have teenagers been in greater need of a jump-start. Granted some of them are more than 100 years old, but still: their charisma is by Madame Tussaud. ”The Twilight Saga: New Moon” takes the tepid achievement of “Twilight” (1988), guts it, and leaves it for undead. You know you’re in trouble with a sequel when the word of mouth advises you to see the first movie twice instead. Obviously the characters all have. Long opening stretches of this film make utterly no sense unless you walk in knowing the first film, and hopefully both Stephanie Meyer novels, by heart. Edward and Bella spend murky moments glowering at each other and thinking, So, here we are again. [Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times]
• “It feels like missing the point to talk about “The Twilight Saga: New Moon” as a movie. This is a pop culture phenomenon, some weird early 21st century aberration, our equivalent of the hula hoop or dancing the Charleston on a bi-plane’s wing. In the future, people will watch this second installment of “The Twilight Saga” and think, “What was that?” without realizing that this movie is not really a movie. It’s an excuse for a lot of people to dream.” [Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle]
• “With more bark than bite, “The Twilight Saga: New Moon” finds its brooding heroine torn from her depressive, bloodsucking boyfriend and thrust into the claws of a hunky werewolf. That’s sort of like being caught between a rock and a hard place (or, in high school terms, between a Goth and a jock), and this second screen installment of Stephenie Meyer’s bestselling series focuses, somewhat convincingly, on the emotions of an 18-year-old coping with her undying love of the undead.” [Jordan Mintzer, Variety]
• “With Chris Weitz (”American Pie,” “About a Boy,” “The Golden Compass”) taking over as director, the second movie has exactly what those fans want: Big, bouncy boy hair. Sculpted torsos everywhere. Teasing caresses of fingers on fingers, lips on lips. Love so deep and frenzied the smitten would prefer to die than go on without the other. Torsos, did we mention torsos? Most important, not just one, but two supernatural hunks snarling over the quivering carcass of a breathless, doe-eyed young woman. Swoon factor times two. [David Germain, AP]
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
龙应台：不相信 <目送>
曾经相信过正义，后来知道，原来同时完全可以存在两种正义，而且彼此抵触，冰火不容。选择其中之一，正义同时就意味着不正义。而且，你绝对看不出，某些人在某一个特定的时机热烈主张某一个特定的正义，其中隐藏着深不可测的不正义。
曾经相信过理想主义者，后来知道，理想主义者往往经不起权力的测试：一掌有权力，他或者变成当初自己誓死反对的“邪恶”，或者，他在现实的场域里不堪一击，一下就被弄权者拉下马来，完全没有机会去实现他的理想。理想主义者要有品格，才能不被权力腐化；理想主义者要有能力，才能将理想转化为实践。可是理想主义者兼具品格及能力者，几希。
龙应台：不相信 <目送>
曾经相信过理想主义者，后来知道，理想主义者往往经不起权力的测试：一掌有权力，他或者变成当初自己誓死反对的“邪恶”，或者，他在现实的场域里不堪一击，一下就被弄权者拉下马来，完全没有机会去实现他的理想。理想主义者要有品格，才能不被权力腐化；理想主义者要有能力，才能将理想转化为实践。可是理想主义者兼具品格及能力者，几希。
龙应台：不相信 <目送>
Thursday, November 19, 2009
In the midst of God, yet unmoved
I had a vacation in Taipei and visited some rather scenic places. While I was trying to absord and enjoy all of it, I notice the locals seem just moving around in their business as if the beauty does not exist.
Well, I am such as time, in the midst of (things of) God, yet unmoved.
Familiarity breeds contempt?
I do not know.
Is it really familiarity? Am I really familiar? How familiar am I?
Can I be so familiar and remain unmoved?
Well, I am such as time, in the midst of (things of) God, yet unmoved.
Familiarity breeds contempt?
I do not know.
Is it really familiarity? Am I really familiar? How familiar am I?
Can I be so familiar and remain unmoved?
Serious and Trivial
There are serious things in life being trivialised.
There are trivial things in life being emphasized.
When the serious things are triviailised, it means we spare too little thoughts and efforts than we ought to.
When the trivial things are emphasized, it means we spare too much thoughts and efforts than we ought to.
The big question is WHY?
When we cannot and don't know how to handle the serious things.
And to compensate what we cannot, we shift our lack to the emphasizing of the trivial.
Emphasizing of the trivial is good distraction for self and also help us in the traction/ deception to others
Though we cannot handle the serious, but we can still look like we are dabbling in the "serious".
+++
Screwtape Letter #17
The woman is in what may be called the "All-I-want" state. All she wants is a cup of tea properly made, or an egg properly boiled, or a slice of bread properly toasted.
But she never finds any servant or any friends who can do these simple things "properly" because her "properly" conceals an insatiable demand for the exact, and almost impossible, palatable pleasures which she imagines she remembers from the past; a past described by her as "the days when you could get a good servant" but known to us as the days wen her sense were more easily pleased and she has pleasures of other kinds which made her less dependent on those on the table.
There are trivial things in life being emphasized.
When the serious things are triviailised, it means we spare too little thoughts and efforts than we ought to.
When the trivial things are emphasized, it means we spare too much thoughts and efforts than we ought to.
The big question is WHY?
When we cannot and don't know how to handle the serious things.
And to compensate what we cannot, we shift our lack to the emphasizing of the trivial.
Emphasizing of the trivial is good distraction for self and also help us in the traction/ deception to others
Though we cannot handle the serious, but we can still look like we are dabbling in the "serious".
+++
Screwtape Letter #17
The woman is in what may be called the "All-I-want" state. All she wants is a cup of tea properly made, or an egg properly boiled, or a slice of bread properly toasted.
But she never finds any servant or any friends who can do these simple things "properly" because her "properly" conceals an insatiable demand for the exact, and almost impossible, palatable pleasures which she imagines she remembers from the past; a past described by her as "the days when you could get a good servant" but known to us as the days wen her sense were more easily pleased and she has pleasures of other kinds which made her less dependent on those on the table.
Order Order!
1. Order : Hierarchy, Sequence, Priority
2. Order : Command, Instruct
The word Order, despite its various defintions speaks of clarity, giving things unity and harmony.
We have an order - hierarchy, organization structure) so that we know who do what, with view how all contribute towards the matter concerned.
This order also proivdes the sequence and priorty of things, though not necessary importance.
The 2nd 'order', to command, to instruct, is like oil to the machine (1st order)
But many a times when we fail to understand the first 'order' fails, we fail to appreciate the 2nd 'order'.
Then we become disorder, we order people around.
The order is still there but people do not come together, and things don't come together.
2. Order : Command, Instruct
The word Order, despite its various defintions speaks of clarity, giving things unity and harmony.
We have an order - hierarchy, organization structure) so that we know who do what, with view how all contribute towards the matter concerned.
This order also proivdes the sequence and priorty of things, though not necessary importance.
The 2nd 'order', to command, to instruct, is like oil to the machine (1st order)
But many a times when we fail to understand the first 'order' fails, we fail to appreciate the 2nd 'order'.
Then we become disorder, we order people around.
The order is still there but people do not come together, and things don't come together.
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Cross of Wonder
I know Christ die on the Cross
I know He die for us all.
If a wicked person is crucified, I understand why.
If an average person is cruicified, I may ask why.
If a good person is crucified, I ask why.
If a loved one is crucified, I demand why.
If a good person I love is crucified, I refused any why.
So when I say Christ crucified, what have I understood, accepted and refused?
I know He die for us all.
If a wicked person is crucified, I understand why.
If an average person is cruicified, I may ask why.
If a good person is crucified, I ask why.
If a loved one is crucified, I demand why.
If a good person I love is crucified, I refused any why.
So when I say Christ crucified, what have I understood, accepted and refused?
Thursday, October 15, 2009
"Is there something I am born to do?"
"Is there something I am born to do?"
This is a million dollar question, well at least for a Career Consultant.
This is the million dollar question I am trying to 'solve' for myself, but I discover it has become an blinded, egoist trip. It is at the end a pursue of self-identity, and it has become a pursue ahead of God. It has become a pursue of its own, or maybe it was the intention of the pursue from the start.
We all have very grand idea about ourselves. Something we are born to do, and it is ususally something great and when the 'job' does not show up, we feel demotivated, short-changed, missing out on our 'destiny'.
Mahud was a simple man who lived in a small village and made his living by selling vegetables at a busy market. He was comfortable enough and liked his work. But one day the angel Khabir appeared to him and told him to jump in the river. Without thinking, Mahud leaped into the flowing water.
He was carried downstream until a man on shore threw him a rope and pulled him out. The man offered Mahud a job in his fishing business and a small room where he could live. Mahud appreciated the man's kindness and took the job and worked at it, rather happily, for three years. Then Khabir appeared to him once more and told him to move on.
Mahub obeyed immediately and walked from village to village until in one place a man offered him a jonb in his fabric shop. This was new to Mahib, but he took the job and learned the trade and worked there relatively happy until the angel appeared again and sent him on. Mahud worked at odd jobd for years in this manner, alwys moving along when the angel instructed.
When Mahud was an old man, he had gained the reputation of a holy man. Peiple begain cxoming to him with their illnesses and worries begging him for cure and counsel. One day a visitor to his village asked him, "Mahud, how did you get to where you are now?"
Mahud thought for a moment and said, "it is difficult to say."
It is difficult to say because Mahud's only talent was his openness to the directives coming from the angel whose name means "The All Aware." Mahud had the precious ability to recognize the call to move on and the openness of the heart to follow it.
This is a story about calling and obedience to the call. But let's remember that at root obedience means "listening". To find your way you have to pay close attention to the signs about when to change your job, when to get unstuck and reenter the flow of life, and when to retire to a life of healing and teaching.
Unfortunately for us, an angel isn't going to physically appear and tell us what to do next. But the angel of the story does represent something that is real for all of us: a sense of destiny, vocation and direction. The word vocation comes from the Latin word vox, voice. A vocation is a call.
Why would a sense of direction in life be called a "vocation"? Is the voice of the angel only supernatural or mystical? Or is there something natural about the capacity of life to "speak" to us and gives us hint where to go?
The question is not so much does the world give us a direction, but are we able to read the world for its information? Are we able to also sense our calling from our internal inclination.
Well, if we are so full of ourselves, can we hear?
This is a million dollar question, well at least for a Career Consultant.
This is the million dollar question I am trying to 'solve' for myself, but I discover it has become an blinded, egoist trip. It is at the end a pursue of self-identity, and it has become a pursue ahead of God. It has become a pursue of its own, or maybe it was the intention of the pursue from the start.
We all have very grand idea about ourselves. Something we are born to do, and it is ususally something great and when the 'job' does not show up, we feel demotivated, short-changed, missing out on our 'destiny'.
Mahud was a simple man who lived in a small village and made his living by selling vegetables at a busy market. He was comfortable enough and liked his work. But one day the angel Khabir appeared to him and told him to jump in the river. Without thinking, Mahud leaped into the flowing water.
He was carried downstream until a man on shore threw him a rope and pulled him out. The man offered Mahud a job in his fishing business and a small room where he could live. Mahud appreciated the man's kindness and took the job and worked at it, rather happily, for three years. Then Khabir appeared to him once more and told him to move on.
Mahub obeyed immediately and walked from village to village until in one place a man offered him a jonb in his fabric shop. This was new to Mahib, but he took the job and learned the trade and worked there relatively happy until the angel appeared again and sent him on. Mahud worked at odd jobd for years in this manner, alwys moving along when the angel instructed.
When Mahud was an old man, he had gained the reputation of a holy man. Peiple begain cxoming to him with their illnesses and worries begging him for cure and counsel. One day a visitor to his village asked him, "Mahud, how did you get to where you are now?"
Mahud thought for a moment and said, "it is difficult to say."
It is difficult to say because Mahud's only talent was his openness to the directives coming from the angel whose name means "The All Aware." Mahud had the precious ability to recognize the call to move on and the openness of the heart to follow it.
This is a story about calling and obedience to the call. But let's remember that at root obedience means "listening". To find your way you have to pay close attention to the signs about when to change your job, when to get unstuck and reenter the flow of life, and when to retire to a life of healing and teaching.
Unfortunately for us, an angel isn't going to physically appear and tell us what to do next. But the angel of the story does represent something that is real for all of us: a sense of destiny, vocation and direction. The word vocation comes from the Latin word vox, voice. A vocation is a call.
Why would a sense of direction in life be called a "vocation"? Is the voice of the angel only supernatural or mystical? Or is there something natural about the capacity of life to "speak" to us and gives us hint where to go?
The question is not so much does the world give us a direction, but are we able to read the world for its information? Are we able to also sense our calling from our internal inclination.
Well, if we are so full of ourselves, can we hear?
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
UNable but ENabled
In recent I have come to some realization of the word “ENABLED”
Prior to this, in all honesty, as much as I acknowledge God but I know things I can still get done somewhat. God is just a nice icing on top on the cake. Many a times, I was working from a position of “I KNOW and I am ABLE”.
But for the last one years and more, I landed in a fallow period. I have stepped into a place of “I do Not KNOW and I am UNable”. But it was a needful fallow.
In this position and reading the Bible, I realise living out the Word of the Lord is not only difficult, but also humanly impossible,
When that was revealed, I was invited into another understanding of the Lord - learning the way and the work of the Spirit. It is a calling to have a real experience of the way of the Lord, the enabling of the Spirit. "I still do not know, and I am still Unable but I am ENabled”.
All throughout the Lord is guiding. But it is only in hindsight that I am able to understand and appreciate what I have been through, where I am now and shall be going next.
If I can try to quote the words from the testimony of a pastor: “I began to feel what I call now the tangible anointing that I never felt before. I began to understand that was the gift of the Spirit working.”
Prior to this, in all honesty, as much as I acknowledge God but I know things I can still get done somewhat. God is just a nice icing on top on the cake. Many a times, I was working from a position of “I KNOW and I am ABLE”.
But for the last one years and more, I landed in a fallow period. I have stepped into a place of “I do Not KNOW and I am UNable”. But it was a needful fallow.
In this position and reading the Bible, I realise living out the Word of the Lord is not only difficult, but also humanly impossible,
When that was revealed, I was invited into another understanding of the Lord - learning the way and the work of the Spirit. It is a calling to have a real experience of the way of the Lord, the enabling of the Spirit. "I still do not know, and I am still Unable but I am ENabled”.
All throughout the Lord is guiding. But it is only in hindsight that I am able to understand and appreciate what I have been through, where I am now and shall be going next.
If I can try to quote the words from the testimony of a pastor: “I began to feel what I call now the tangible anointing that I never felt before. I began to understand that was the gift of the Spirit working.”
My Lord is so sure and assured
My Lord is so sure and assured. But I am not.
1. "Why were you searching for me?" he asked. "Didn't you know I had to be in my Father's house?" (Luke 2:49)
My Lord is so sure and assured. My Lord is not lost. He knows where He is to be because He knows who He is. He is His Father's son and He is to be at His Father's house.
But they did not understand what he was saying to them. Then he went down to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them. (Luke 2:50-51)
Though those around did not what he meant, it did not bother him. Instead he chose to be obedient and patient.
But me. I am always confused and lost. Trying to be at all places.
When I could not understand or others could not understand, I move.
I am all over the place - trying to understand and be understood.
2. Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, ... (Philippians 2:6-7)
My Lord is so sure and assured. He is so sure of who He is in God, not men, that He is able to stoop low for God's sake and men's sake.
Born to the house of Joseph and Mary.
Working as a carpenter.
Washing our feet.
And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient ...(Philippians 2:8)
He never deemed it humiliation because of who He is. For he understands who He is, He is able to obey with humility.
One identity lives all manners of life.
But me. I let my identity dictates my manners of life.
My hands give not but grasp more.
I stoop low with God in order to stand tall with men. I feel humiliation but pretend humility.
3. The hour has come. Rise! Let us go! (Mark 14:41-42)
My Lord is so sure and assured. He is not afraid. Though He knows what is before him, He is not afraid, because He knows what goes before him.
"Abba, Father," he said, "everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will." (Mark 14:36)
But me. I am always afraid and timid, everything is not possible for me.
Indeed not what I can but what will me.
Indeed not what God can but what will me.
My Lord is so sure and assured. And I know everything is possible for Him and me.
1. "Why were you searching for me?" he asked. "Didn't you know I had to be in my Father's house?" (Luke 2:49)
My Lord is so sure and assured. My Lord is not lost. He knows where He is to be because He knows who He is. He is His Father's son and He is to be at His Father's house.
But they did not understand what he was saying to them. Then he went down to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them. (Luke 2:50-51)
Though those around did not what he meant, it did not bother him. Instead he chose to be obedient and patient.
But me. I am always confused and lost. Trying to be at all places.
When I could not understand or others could not understand, I move.
I am all over the place - trying to understand and be understood.
2. Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, ... (Philippians 2:6-7)
My Lord is so sure and assured. He is so sure of who He is in God, not men, that He is able to stoop low for God's sake and men's sake.
Born to the house of Joseph and Mary.
Working as a carpenter.
Washing our feet.
And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient ...(Philippians 2:8)
He never deemed it humiliation because of who He is. For he understands who He is, He is able to obey with humility.
One identity lives all manners of life.
But me. I let my identity dictates my manners of life.
My hands give not but grasp more.
I stoop low with God in order to stand tall with men. I feel humiliation but pretend humility.
3. The hour has come. Rise! Let us go! (Mark 14:41-42)
My Lord is so sure and assured. He is not afraid. Though He knows what is before him, He is not afraid, because He knows what goes before him.
"Abba, Father," he said, "everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will." (Mark 14:36)
But me. I am always afraid and timid, everything is not possible for me.
Indeed not what I can but what will me.
Indeed not what God can but what will me.
My Lord is so sure and assured. And I know everything is possible for Him and me.
Monday, September 28, 2009
And we go sailing home
I had no idea where I was heading, but in that dim, bewildering world I believed my only salvation was to keep moving somewhere, moving anywhere, even though my sense of direction had deserted me. And then from the impenetrable core of the mist I heard the captain's voice coming at me clear as a warning horn, repeating something he had told me during one of my early sailing lessons when I pushed the tiller the wrong way and almost threw the boat into a dangerous jibe.
"Let go of the tiller!" he was saying. "Just let go of the tiller! Don't try to steer when you're confused!"
I followed his advice and the blue sloop did exactly what she was supposed to do. She nudged up gently into the breeze into the breeze and came to a standstill. I went up on the bow and tossed the anchor overboard and sat on the foredeck, waiting for a revelation, a glimmer of light, to tell me where I was and which way I had to go.
Deep in the centre of that fog there was no shoreline, no guiding star, no rising sun, no setting moon. But I had enough sailing experience by then to know that if I studied the elements carefully I would discover a clue that would put the muddled compass of my mind back in working order. What I had to do was sit calmly on the deck and empty my mind of all its preconceived notions and prejudices about the nature of fog, and then I would be able to detect the one constant in the swirling mist that would set me on my rightful course.
It was out there, I was sure it was, but for all my concentration it refused to appear. And then all at once I remembered that a boat at anchor, like a gull on a post, is a weather vane; it points ino the wind, and when I knew that I also knew what I was looking for and why it had eluded me. I had been peering into the fog, searching the most obscure place, as if the solution was hidden from view, when in fact it was self-evident, and that was exactly the attribute that made it so hard to find.
It was the wind, and I knew it by its moist touch, by its scent, by its speed that it was still blowing as it had been blowing all morning - from the east. I hauled the anchor and caught a puff in my jib; I steered sideways to the breeze and, sailing a broad reach, headed north toward home.
~ First You Have To Row a Little Boat, Richard Bode.
"Let go of the tiller!" he was saying. "Just let go of the tiller! Don't try to steer when you're confused!"
I followed his advice and the blue sloop did exactly what she was supposed to do. She nudged up gently into the breeze into the breeze and came to a standstill. I went up on the bow and tossed the anchor overboard and sat on the foredeck, waiting for a revelation, a glimmer of light, to tell me where I was and which way I had to go.
Deep in the centre of that fog there was no shoreline, no guiding star, no rising sun, no setting moon. But I had enough sailing experience by then to know that if I studied the elements carefully I would discover a clue that would put the muddled compass of my mind back in working order. What I had to do was sit calmly on the deck and empty my mind of all its preconceived notions and prejudices about the nature of fog, and then I would be able to detect the one constant in the swirling mist that would set me on my rightful course.
It was out there, I was sure it was, but for all my concentration it refused to appear. And then all at once I remembered that a boat at anchor, like a gull on a post, is a weather vane; it points ino the wind, and when I knew that I also knew what I was looking for and why it had eluded me. I had been peering into the fog, searching the most obscure place, as if the solution was hidden from view, when in fact it was self-evident, and that was exactly the attribute that made it so hard to find.
It was the wind, and I knew it by its moist touch, by its scent, by its speed that it was still blowing as it had been blowing all morning - from the east. I hauled the anchor and caught a puff in my jib; I steered sideways to the breeze and, sailing a broad reach, headed north toward home.
~ First You Have To Row a Little Boat, Richard Bode.
Friday, September 25, 2009
Homeward bound, Jacob became Israel.
Homeward bound, God wrestled with Jacob.
At PENIEL,Jacob became Israel.
Jacob wrestling with God by Eugene Delacroix
At PENIEL,Jacob became Israel.
Jacob wrestling with God by Eugene Delacroix
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
生活就是艺术
生活就是艺术。
艺术不是一件挂在墙上的画，不是一件摆在橱上的雕塑，不是一支完美的舞曲，不是一个昂贵的价位，不是一个专属的社群， 不只限一种的翻译。
生活就是艺术 - 艺术就在生活里。
懂得生活就懂得艺术。
活的好就是一门艺术。
我的生活就是我的艺术，而我就是那艺术家。
完完全全的生活。
艺术不是一件挂在墙上的画，不是一件摆在橱上的雕塑，不是一支完美的舞曲，不是一个昂贵的价位，不是一个专属的社群， 不只限一种的翻译。
生活就是艺术 - 艺术就在生活里。
懂得生活就懂得艺术。
活的好就是一门艺术。
我的生活就是我的艺术，而我就是那艺术家。
完完全全的生活。
Eat Right! Nehemiah said "Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks..."
Neh 8: 10
Nehemiah said, "Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared. This day is sacred to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the LORD is your strength."
12 Then all the people went away to eat and drink, to send portions of food and to celebrate with great joy, because they now understood the words that had been made known to them.
It must have been real great enjoyment. A feast of the body, mind and soul.
I wonder how many times has one eaten in such a manner? True satisfaction to the core!
I can't distinctively remembering eating this way. Something is always missing.
Spiritual Food, Comfort Food, Physical Food - all in one, all the same, when eaten with understanding.
Nehemiah said, "Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared. This day is sacred to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the LORD is your strength."
12 Then all the people went away to eat and drink, to send portions of food and to celebrate with great joy, because they now understood the words that had been made known to them.
It must have been real great enjoyment. A feast of the body, mind and soul.
I wonder how many times has one eaten in such a manner? True satisfaction to the core!
I can't distinctively remembering eating this way. Something is always missing.
Spiritual Food, Comfort Food, Physical Food - all in one, all the same, when eaten with understanding.
Monday, September 14, 2009
That's not my name
They call me 'mum'
They call me 'daughter'
They call me 'wife'
They call me 'sister'
That's not my name
That's not my name
That's not my name
That's not my name
They call me 'girl’
They call me 'pretty'
They call me 'gentle'
They call me 'sweet'
That's not my name
That's not my name
That's not my name
That's not my name
Are you calling me mummy?
Are you calling me wife?
Are you calling me sister?
Are you calling me girl?
(Adpated from the Ting Tings, That's not my name)
They call me 'daughter'
They call me 'wife'
They call me 'sister'
That's not my name
That's not my name
That's not my name
That's not my name
They call me 'girl’
They call me 'pretty'
They call me 'gentle'
They call me 'sweet'
That's not my name
That's not my name
That's not my name
That's not my name
Are you calling me mummy?
Are you calling me wife?
Are you calling me sister?
Are you calling me girl?
(Adpated from the Ting Tings, That's not my name)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
