Interests:Love words and am extremely wordy.
Afterall the universe was created when WORDS were spoken; life becomes meaningful when we fall in love with the Word; we have power to overcome evil when we know and use His words.... Expertise:What else...but words.
It's only words, and words that all I have...
to take your heart away. Occupation:Operations Industry:Hospitality
Three people happened to die on the same day. They arrived at the pearly gate and there he was, St. Peter who came to greet them. He told them that before they could enter they must be questioned by the Lord Jesus himself about their doctrinal stance.
The first to be summoned into the room was the mystic. He went in for several hours and finally came out of the room saying smilingly to himself, “Gosh, I thought I had it all wrong.”
Then the Evangelical pastor was the next. He went in and didn’t emerge until the next day. As he came out from the room, he had a frown on his face and also said to himself, “How could I have got it wrong all these years?”.
The last was the fundamentalist. With his worn-out Bible in his hand and head up high, he went in. Days passed still no sign of the man. Finally the door swung open and Jesus himself came out of the room shaking his head said with a deep puzzle on his face, “How could I have got it all wrong all these years?”
(paraphrased from Peter Rollin's HOW (NOT) TO SPEAK OF GOD)
I was supposed to talk to her over iChat at around 2:30 in the afternoon. I saw on my screen that she was online. I tried to prompt her to start chatting but there was no response. I persisted for over 20 minutes but she turned from “available” to “idle”, and finally to “away”. I messaged her on her facebook. I called IDD. I even SMS-ed her. But all I got was silence.
No choice but to go to the meeting. I was there but my heart wasn’t. I wriggled and squirmed in my seat. I repeatedly looked at my phone, turning to facebook page to see if she’d got my message. Eventually I walked out of the meeting to make another desperate attempt to call her. “Yo, what’s up?” came from the other end and then dead silence for 2-3 seconds before the voice said again, “Actually I’m busy right now. Please leave a message and I’ll call you back.” It was a recorded message.
The meeting finished at around 4:30. I rushed back to my desk to see if she had any reply or message for me. Nope. I read a few emails randomly, felt tired, and closed my eyes to take a power nap.
Vaguely and dreamingly I heard someone calling me, “Hey George, Jen’s looking for you!” I literally sprang from my seat thinking that I must be dreaming but yes, she was online. Immediately Winnie and I went to a room to iChat with her.
Coming out of the room after the chat, I was dancing like a butterfly. I know it’s a poor metaphor to describe a 6-footer as a butterfly but that’s exactly how I felt. [1]
During our prayer meeting in the evening I was to share about the things that might stop or at least hinder us from getting close to Him. Apart from the worldly things and sins (hidden or deliberate) I also wanted to stress on the importance of “delighting in the Lord”. I was in my seat rehearsing what I had to share and praying at the same time for His guidance and an impression came:
“Do you delight in Me?”
“Well, I suppose so… at least I would like to think that I do.”
“Do you delight in Me as much as you delight in hearing from her this afternoon?”
[1] For those who might think that I’m biased I want to say that after some serious reflection, without a trace of doubt, I know my feelings toward Jon would have been exactly the same had the incident happen to him instead of Jen.
In a vision I saw a drop quite out of proportion to the size of a grapefruit. A teardrop crystal clear and yet shining like a pearl. It was framed in a seamless transparent cube. As it appeared on the scene it rotated slowly and radiated majestically and gloriously and yet without a sense of imposing or overpowering. It invoked awe; it also instilled peace.
It is the teardrop of God.
And when it drew near there was a foul-looking and repulsive object inside. Upon closer look, it’s a seriously rusted fat nail slightly bent as a result of bounding at it too hard and probably at a wrong angle. The rust around the nail was a mix of dried blood, iron, and other elements only a forensic expert is able to identify. Curiously only the head and a section of the nail could be seen though the teardrop was perfectly transparent. Causing multiple tiny cracks, the pointed end of nail pierced through the inner wall of the teardrop and somehow vanished into thin air.
It was so beautiful that I was completely captivated and was tempted to draw it down on paper but then there seemed to be a gentle nudge: It’s meant to be gazed at and contemplated upon with imagination and in faith.
I saw beauty tonight.
But I also saw beauty in another expression tonight. I saw beauty in all of you at our table tonight. Many people may have classified our conversation at the dinning table tonight as trivia but content isn’t everything. It’s the attitude and the passion that counts. We took genuine interest in what others shared. We engaged passionately though at times light-heartedly in almost every single detail in our shared conversations. We laughed our hearts out as we joked without any demeaning intentions. We enjoyed each other’s company thoroughly without having to say so explicitly. In short we are present to the other and this is what incarnation means—to be fully present to the people through thick and thin. This is also a very integral part of participating at the Lord's table (holy communion as it's known today) which unfortunately many contemporary churches have missed. This is also where the beauty lays.
Besides, we had a great time and we’ve definitely known each other better. The next time when we see a single handsome Korean guy we know what we should do as well as pray for. We know who loves to feel the caress of the breeze while who loves to ‘blow water’. And we will certainly try to get rid of all the spiders, roaches, and rats unless we’re on a particularly mischievous mood. That’s how relationships grow.
You are beautiful, guys (applies to both female and male).
This morning while walking down the steps near my apartment, perhaps induced by the chilly dismal sky, the lyrics of Streets of London rang continuously in my head while another thought managed to crowd into my tiny thought world. It’s a verse from a Chinese poem which says “during festivals thoughts of your love ones increase drastically” or “每逢佳節倍思親”.
At first I thought it must be that I have missed both Jennifer and Jonathan a lot. I dare not deny that I do miss them but I knew there was something more. I missed my (5th elder) brother who died in 1977; I missed my father who died in 1987; I missed my mother who died a few years ago; but most of all I missed my (3rd elder) brother who died suddenly in August. The way he clenched his fist and the painful expression on his face with his mouth open, he must have died in excruciating pains. He must have cried out feebly for help and yet no one was there. He died almost penniless. I have missed him terribly. Terribly.
Am I serious about serving the poor and the needy or is it some slogan that sounded sweet to have around? On the last day of 2008 I’m dedicating this song Streets of London (which I’ve taken the liberty to change its lyrics) as a prayer to all the lonely people that need care in Hong Kong.
Have you seen the old man Loitering 'round Terminal 2 Pacing his footsteps, in his worn out shoes? In his eyes you see no pride And held loosely at his side Yesterday's paper telling yesterday's news
Chorus: So how can you tell me you're lonely, And say for you that the sun don't shine? Let me take you by the hand and lead you through the streets of Hong Kong I'll show you something to make you change your mind
Have you seen the old girl Who walks the streets of Monkok Dirt in her hair and her clothes in rags? There’s no one to talk to, Beside her lonely shadow Carrying her home in blue-red-white bags.
In the all night cafe At two o’clock in the morning Same old man is sitting there on his own Looking at the world Over his cup of milk-tea, Each cup lasts an hour Then he wanders home alone
And have you seen the old man In the long bench of V-Park Memory fading with The empty look that he wears. In our winter city, The rain cries a little pity For one more forgotten person And a world that doesn't care
Amazing grace How sweet the sound That saved a wretch like me I once was lost, but now I'm found Was blind, but now I see 'Twas grace that taught my heart to fear And grace my fears relieved How precious did that grace appear The hour I first believed
(Chorus added by Chris Tomlin) My chains are gone I've been set free My God, my Saviour has ransomed me And like a flood His mercy reigns Unending love, Amazing grace
For the past week or so this new version of Amazing Grace with a chorus added by Chris Tomlin somehow continuously ran into my life. Every time it did every time my heart was stirred and it continued to touch me in the way the original hymn touched me some thirty five years ago in a gospel café in downtown Toronto when I sang the lyrics (for the first time) to the tune of “House of the Rising Sun”. It was that evening in Oct 1974 that I came to experience his amazing grace.
Tomlin’s chorus (both the melody and the lyrics) blends with the original seamlessly. It reminds me of the truth that I’ve been indeed set free and opens my heart to his touch deepening my experience in him. Now after 35 years I know not only it’s amazing grace but it’s also unending love.
One biblical scholar-theologian once said about Amazing Grace. He said the hymn might not be all that correct biblically and theologically but all through the years it has somehow managed to touch so many people’s lives in different generations, from different backgrounds, and under different circumstances.[1] And this is exactly what I’ve been feeling recently when I read on materials relating to theology and hermeneutics.
In the past in reaction to the Enlightenment project, various versions of historical criticism have been developed to make sure that we have “the correct interpretation”. These insisted that we must first find out “what it meant (by the original author to the intended original reader)” before we can get to “what it means (to me)”. However after years of debate and research, most scholars agree that it’s basically a futile business to try to know what the original author intended to say to his originally intended readers of his time. I’m not here to talk about theology or hermeneutics but I do want to ask: When are we willing to let God do the “amazing grace” thing with his word through the bible? We may not read and understand his word with perfect theological and hermeneutical accuracy; we may even screw up sometimes but we can certainly let him touch us like Amazing Grace has done. If he can do this much with a hymn, how much more can he do with his word?
As Christmas draws near and the year approaches its end it’s my hope and prayer that we’ll all experience his unending love, amazing grace abundantly in the coming year.
Merry Christmas and a meaningful new year.
(Tagging: when I reached the letter "L" I've reached my tag limit. That's why those after it have not been tagged.)
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------------------------ [1] I learnt this from Jennifer when I shared with her tonight after three of us sang the hymn together at home. The scholar mentioned happens to be Dr. Peter Davids and what’s said here is basically my rendering of Jennifer’s paraphrasing of Dr. Davids. Any inaccuracies are solely mine.
