Thursday, December 29, 2011
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
the calling
"Do you want me to help you to cut them? I would be happy to."
"No, it's fine. I can handle it. The worse is over; cutting the onions is not as painful as peeling its skin..."
Have we all been there before? The onion, represents life: you peel off one layer at a time, and sometimes you weep.. sharing the tears, the solemn moments... But most of the time, you silently suffer on your own. It stings, it may stink.. but it gets better. Sometimes we need to remind ourselves of it. That hurting; it's fleeting, a passing dark cloud over what would be a majestic scenery. No, reality never quite match up to dreams. You may plan the "perfect getaway"... but nothing ever goes as planned. They are just two parallel, but contradicting paths of a timeline.
If you think about it, whatever dreams we conjure; it never satisfies. You envision yourself being the object of admiration of someone you fancy. Does it ever materialise? I think it doesn't. But even if it does, is it always enough? If we have everything; glory, power, money, brains... etc.. can our thirst honestly be quenched? Amidst my observation of the Boxing Day Madness, I see on the tele, we, humans, always want so much more. Different classes of people, people with different spending power, will always want something that is out of reach for them... Somehow we still feel empty, regardless of how fortunate we already are. It is a bit rather blase that some people recognise year end sales at the end of December rather than Christmas. I think it's hard to accept that there are certain gaps that cannot be filled... that these aches cannot be mended with anything that can be purchased. Satisfaction cannot be guaranteed, whether it's with an abundance of money, brains, or power.
Only by knowing The Creator, and after finding His favour, that you may escape this void. We are all design this way, to trod through adversaries and crisis, knowing Someone is watching over us, making sure we are alright. The life-giving water that He gives is enough to satisfy us for a lifetime. We would never need to feel parched anymore.
It's difficult to have to accept that there is only a hero for all mankind. After all, what can One Man do? But what if He is no man, but God. Would it make it any easier to believe? Everything you see is not made in China, it's made by God. For through the single random.. or not... act of kindness, the whole world was spared from condemnation but only if we accept and believe in Him. It isn't easy I am sure. We, humans, prefer that fate is in our hands. If something is out of our control, we naturally would be fearful, and that's not acceptable. Everything has to be within reach. "I want to be the want pulling the strings, not someone else to do for me!"
Not even if The Creator of the universe is on the other end of the string? Do we not trust in Him?
People nowadays, make no reference to God... they lead their life as they wish. They sit in the leather reclining "boss" chair, and direct commands. They feel perfected content, without a superior in their life. And most people feel that they are good enough, do charity, volunteer, and that they don't need anyone... even a God to judge them. Do we believe, if there's a heaven, that we would go there one day? Can all the good that we do - charities, lifestyle, volunteering we do in our lifetime earn us enough merit to go to heaven? Is it enough to offset the bad things we have ever done?
Imagine you are at a coffee shop, you notice that the barista accidentally sneezed into your coffee, and present you the cup.
"Excuse me, could you give me a new cup of coffee, that's just gross."
"Sorry about that, I would give you extra cream and sugar to offset the taste of the sneeze."
No matter how much good deeds you think you have done. It still wouldn't make you perfect any more if you have just a tiny bit of misdoing. It's not going to change the fact that you are now "gross".
So imagine if everything was laid out... including all our guilts and embarrassments, would you be ashamed? Can we all say that we have not committed any sins? Have you lied before? Have you steal anything before? Have you used God's name as a cuss before? Have you looked at a man/woman and have any form of lust? If yes to all, you are liar, thief, blasphemous, and a fornicator/adulterer. That's already breaking 4 out of the 10 commandments. If you stand before the judgement of God, do you think you deserve to pass the pearly gates? In any case, Someone has already vouch for you. You have already been saved even before you are born; that when Christ stretched His arms to show you how much He loves you, and died on the cross for your sins, it is like your debts have been cleared; it's like you have been given a "get out of jail free card"... it's like you are assured a place in His Kingdom, and be granted everlasting life.
You only need to trust in Him, and repent and turn away from your wrongdoings. And that if you keep your eyes focus on Him, everything will fall right into place...
And just to share something I have found over the internet :)
The Queen's Christmas Speech:
"No, it's fine. I can handle it. The worse is over; cutting the onions is not as painful as peeling its skin..."
Have we all been there before? The onion, represents life: you peel off one layer at a time, and sometimes you weep.. sharing the tears, the solemn moments... But most of the time, you silently suffer on your own. It stings, it may stink.. but it gets better. Sometimes we need to remind ourselves of it. That hurting; it's fleeting, a passing dark cloud over what would be a majestic scenery. No, reality never quite match up to dreams. You may plan the "perfect getaway"... but nothing ever goes as planned. They are just two parallel, but contradicting paths of a timeline.
If you think about it, whatever dreams we conjure; it never satisfies. You envision yourself being the object of admiration of someone you fancy. Does it ever materialise? I think it doesn't. But even if it does, is it always enough? If we have everything; glory, power, money, brains... etc.. can our thirst honestly be quenched? Amidst my observation of the Boxing Day Madness, I see on the tele, we, humans, always want so much more. Different classes of people, people with different spending power, will always want something that is out of reach for them... Somehow we still feel empty, regardless of how fortunate we already are. It is a bit rather blase that some people recognise year end sales at the end of December rather than Christmas. I think it's hard to accept that there are certain gaps that cannot be filled... that these aches cannot be mended with anything that can be purchased. Satisfaction cannot be guaranteed, whether it's with an abundance of money, brains, or power.
Only by knowing The Creator, and after finding His favour, that you may escape this void. We are all design this way, to trod through adversaries and crisis, knowing Someone is watching over us, making sure we are alright. The life-giving water that He gives is enough to satisfy us for a lifetime. We would never need to feel parched anymore.
It's difficult to have to accept that there is only a hero for all mankind. After all, what can One Man do? But what if He is no man, but God. Would it make it any easier to believe? Everything you see is not made in China, it's made by God. For through the single random.. or not... act of kindness, the whole world was spared from condemnation but only if we accept and believe in Him. It isn't easy I am sure. We, humans, prefer that fate is in our hands. If something is out of our control, we naturally would be fearful, and that's not acceptable. Everything has to be within reach. "I want to be the want pulling the strings, not someone else to do for me!"
Not even if The Creator of the universe is on the other end of the string? Do we not trust in Him?
People nowadays, make no reference to God... they lead their life as they wish. They sit in the leather reclining "boss" chair, and direct commands. They feel perfected content, without a superior in their life. And most people feel that they are good enough, do charity, volunteer, and that they don't need anyone... even a God to judge them. Do we believe, if there's a heaven, that we would go there one day? Can all the good that we do - charities, lifestyle, volunteering we do in our lifetime earn us enough merit to go to heaven? Is it enough to offset the bad things we have ever done?
Imagine you are at a coffee shop, you notice that the barista accidentally sneezed into your coffee, and present you the cup.
"Excuse me, could you give me a new cup of coffee, that's just gross."
"Sorry about that, I would give you extra cream and sugar to offset the taste of the sneeze."
No matter how much good deeds you think you have done. It still wouldn't make you perfect any more if you have just a tiny bit of misdoing. It's not going to change the fact that you are now "gross".
So imagine if everything was laid out... including all our guilts and embarrassments, would you be ashamed? Can we all say that we have not committed any sins? Have you lied before? Have you steal anything before? Have you used God's name as a cuss before? Have you looked at a man/woman and have any form of lust? If yes to all, you are liar, thief, blasphemous, and a fornicator/adulterer. That's already breaking 4 out of the 10 commandments. If you stand before the judgement of God, do you think you deserve to pass the pearly gates? In any case, Someone has already vouch for you. You have already been saved even before you are born; that when Christ stretched His arms to show you how much He loves you, and died on the cross for your sins, it is like your debts have been cleared; it's like you have been given a "get out of jail free card"... it's like you are assured a place in His Kingdom, and be granted everlasting life.
You only need to trust in Him, and repent and turn away from your wrongdoings. And that if you keep your eyes focus on Him, everything will fall right into place...
And just to share something I have found over the internet :)
A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in front of him. When the class began, wordlessly, he picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls. He then asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was.
The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls. He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed it was.
The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else. He asked once more if the jar was full. The students responded with a unanimous "yes." The professor then produced two cups of coffee from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar, effectively filling the empty space between the sand. The students laughed.
"Now," said the professor, as the laughter subsided, " I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life. The golf balls are the important things-your God, family, your children, your health, your friends, and your favorite passions-things that if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full. The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, your house, and your car. The sand is everything else-the small stuff. If you put the sand into the jar first," he continued, "there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls. The same goes for life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff, you will never have room for the things that are important to you. Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness. Play with your children. Take time to get medical checkups. Take your partner out to dinner. Play another 18. There will always be time to clean the house and fix the disposal." Take care of the golf balls first, the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand."
One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the coffee represented.
The professor smiled. "I'm glad you asked. It just goes to show you that no matter how full your life may seem, there's always room for a couple of cups of coffee with a friend."
The Queen's Christmas Speech:
So, I hope you vacate that leather chair you may be sitting on, and let the Boss, our Boss perch on it instead. May you all have a blessed Christmas.. tis the day to remember the birth of our Saviour so that no more may die :)
Thursday, December 22, 2011
the call of the bells
So Christmas is cominggg! My playlist is now looping on Christmas songs by default.. it reminds me of the caroling I went a few weeks back.. :)
But I was recently troubled. As I lie defeated from the possibilities of what life has handed me, I listen to the gentle hum of the wind. Somewhere out there, is my purpose, something that would make sense of everything. I wonder how many more anecdotes my life would accumulate. I wonder if I could ever recount them all.
If nothing should go as planned, would you be concerned? Sometimes I think I may have expected things to go as I wish a little bit too much. But I guess it's part and parcel of life, the excitement, the UNexpectedness. Perhaps we could dodge the lemons thrown at us, by just being random, take the route we decided only moments ago, avoid the adjustment bureau.
I think we are all born with desires that we seek to fulfill. When we are hungry, we buy/cook some food. When we want to relax, we seek the comfort of doing absolutely nothing with no regrets. When we want to do succeed, we work hard for it. When we want to be happy, we seek for what will, and we pursue it...
We are not BORN with desires, unless those desires exist. But what happens when we are UNBORN? What happen when we are no longer around? We desire to always be loved, have comfort, and security. Would it not satisfy our desire to know that there is life after life, and that we are meant for somewhere better? I hope when His Kingdom calls for you, your innate desire alarm bells will ring for Him..
Because we are all Children of God by default.
But I was recently troubled. As I lie defeated from the possibilities of what life has handed me, I listen to the gentle hum of the wind. Somewhere out there, is my purpose, something that would make sense of everything. I wonder how many more anecdotes my life would accumulate. I wonder if I could ever recount them all.
If nothing should go as planned, would you be concerned? Sometimes I think I may have expected things to go as I wish a little bit too much. But I guess it's part and parcel of life, the excitement, the UNexpectedness. Perhaps we could dodge the lemons thrown at us, by just being random, take the route we decided only moments ago, avoid the adjustment bureau.
I think we are all born with desires that we seek to fulfill. When we are hungry, we buy/cook some food. When we want to relax, we seek the comfort of doing absolutely nothing with no regrets. When we want to do succeed, we work hard for it. When we want to be happy, we seek for what will, and we pursue it...
We are not BORN with desires, unless those desires exist. But what happens when we are UNBORN? What happen when we are no longer around? We desire to always be loved, have comfort, and security. Would it not satisfy our desire to know that there is life after life, and that we are meant for somewhere better? I hope when His Kingdom calls for you, your innate desire alarm bells will ring for Him..
Because we are all Children of God by default.
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