love afar

God, WHY do I always like girls who are beyond reach?

Urghh...

Tradition and us

Something I shared with my church today.

One of the concern I had when coming over to Australia to study was whether I would be able to adapt to the huge change of lifestyle from Malaysia. How would the Aussie culture be? Will I be able to adapt and accept it quickly? How will it clash with my Christian background?

My other concerns were, which church should I attend? And if the new church I was going to attend be the right one for me? What if God asked me to attend a traditional church which sings hymns played by an elderly on an pipe organ? How would I from a charismatic church background adapt? No reference to this church or anyone

What is tradition? 

Cambridge Dictionary defines it as a belief, principle or way of acting which people in a particular society or group have continued to follow for a long time. The many traditions make up a culture. People make traditions. Because PEOPLE, affect the way things work in the society. 

And when outsiders come into the group, they are influenced too. They conform to the way people in general behave. We, behave the way, You behave. Like HUGGING, I like the HUGGING culture here. The two girls I hang out with, loves the loving husband culture of the church. Doesn't put much pressure on the guys. Nope.

To elucidate the formation of tradition, here is a monkey illustration. There were four monkeys in a large cage with a pole in the middle. On top of the pole was a bunch of bananas. The 4 monkeys were kept there for some time and soon, they became hungry. They decided to climb the pole to grab some bananas to eat. But when the monkeys climbed to the half way point, freezing water was sprayed at all of them and they quickly hop off and ran for cover. 

Confused, they wondered what just happened. So they waited for a while, then decided that one of them should try climbing again. The volunteer, bravely set off for the pole. AGAIN! The freezing water was sprayed at all monkeys as soon as the monkey climbed halfway. 

After a while. The monkeys no longer dared climb the pole. But as time past, the monkeys became hungrier, one of them decided to have a go. When the brave monkey got near the pole, the other three quickly ran up to beat the monkey, to prevent him from climbing. Out of fear of being sprayed with freezing water. 

Soon, one of the monkeys was taken out and a new one came in. Inexperienced, when the new one decided to climb the pole for food, the other three veteran monkeys, pounced on him, beat him up. That happened each time the new monkey climbed the pole and soon, the new one conformed to the ways of the group. 

A little while later, one of the three veteran monkeys were replaced with another new monkey. The same thing happened, when the newest monkey tried to climb the pole, the two veteran monkeys, joined by the experienced monkey will beat the new one up. 

The same happened with the third replacement. And when the fourth replacement came, all the monkeys knew that they are not to climb the pole where the bananas are for the fear of being beaten up. 

That is tradition.

So what happens when a radical comes along? Lets open up the Book of Mark, Chapter 7: 

1The Pharisees and some of the teachers of the law who had come from Jerusalem gathered around Jesus and 

2saw some of his disciples eating food with hands that were "unclean," that is, unwashed. 

5So the Pharisees and teachers of the law asked Jesus, "Why don't your disciples live according to the tradition of the elders instead of eating their food with 'unclean' hands?"

What is happening? Verses 3 and 4 explains: 

3(The Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they give their hands a ceremonial washing, holding to the tradition of the elders. 4When they come from the marketplace they do not eat unless they wash. And they observe many other traditions, such as the washing of cups, pitchers and kettles.)

How did Jesus reply?

6He replied, "Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written:
   " 'These people honor me with their lips,
      but their hearts are far from me.
 7They worship me in vain;
      their teachings are but rules taught by men.'

HUH? What is Jesus trying to say?

8You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to the traditions of men."

14Again Jesus called the crowd to him and said, "Listen to me, everyone, and understand this. 

15Nothing outside a man can make him 'unclean' by going into him. Rather, it is what comes out of a man that makes him 'unclean.' "

Why?

18nothing that enters a man from the outside can make him 'unclean'? 

19For it doesn't go into his heart but into his stomach, and then out of his body."

20..."What comes out of a man is what makes him 'unclean.' 

21For from within, out of men's hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, 

22greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. 

23All these evils come from inside and make a man 'unclean.' "

That is just one example of tradition which Jesus challenged. Other examples include:

1. Mark 7:10-12 When the Jews used the excuse of giving to God to NOT honour their parents.

2. Matthew 12 Jesus' disciples picked grain and ate during Sabbath. You are not suppose to do that on the day of the lord. 

3. Matthew 12 Jesus healed during Sabbath a man whose hand has shrivelled. 

What does Jesus say about traditions and law?

Was Jesus there to break all the traditions and laws? No, he is here to fulfil them! Matthew 5:17 

So what are traditions for? Jesus quoted Hosea 6:6 For I desire mercy, not sacrifice,
        (and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings.), 

It does not matter what we do, how we do it or when; but it is crucial why we do it and who we do it for, who we do it with. Something which I only began to understand better, that when you love and care for somebody, you would want to spend time with that person, no matter what it is you are doing. 

A few months ago, my grandpa passed away after a long struggle with prostate cancer. Our family knew the end was coming, and got ready. When the day came, we were still caught unprepared, and grieved. As the Chinese/Buddhist family background dictates, the tradition for honouring the dead is a lengthy and complicated process. As an ignorant younger generation Chinese Christian, cut off from all family contact other than the handphone and regular but brief e-mail updates, I was utterly lost as to what needs to be done.

Should I wear black? Or should I wear a bright colour? Should I pray? How do I pray? What about my family? What about my grandma? How would she cope? How would they cope? What needs to be done? To fight this grief? So many questions; so little answers. 

A clearer picture of what needs to be done came a few months later when a CD arrived via post. My aunt and uncle has compiled all the photos into CD and sent it over. Showing parts and pieces of the entire funeral and grieving procession. One thing that stood out was, grandma was smiling in many photos. So were my dad, aunt and uncle. Many of my relatives and friends were too. 

I am quite sure the funeral rituals played a big role in why people were smiling. One of the reasons was, it brought people together. Even neighbours and friends whom you have not seen for ages. Apparently many of church friends visited grandma during the two days of funeral. And the togetherness allowed people to catch up and encourage each other. Tradition became a side issue. 

Just a few days ago, my friend's college mate and his family were killed in a traffic accident back in Malaysia. There was nothing much he could do being so far away from home. He was simply devastated. A couple of us, spent some time with him over a couple of days. Neither could we do much for him. But it surprised me pleasantly, that he felt appreciative of the time spent together, for being supportive.

God feels the same way too. God doesn't care what you have done, or NOT done. But when done it in mind of Him, and His Grace and Joy, that would be the greatest thing you can do. Matthew 18

20For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them."

Let us not be dictated by the standards of man and the world but by what pleases God. Paul, who wrote Colossian 2:

8See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ. 

Surely there are times when we are compelled by our colleagues or friends to do things that we are uncomfortable with. "Oh, it is Uni Night, lets head down to the pub for a drink. It is a Uni Tradition." And some of them could be critical of the ways we live as followers of Christ. Nevertheless, we can still engage our friends, classmates or colleagues at a different time or from a different standpoint. 

To sum it up, Peter once shared this quote from Gorge Bernard Shaw "A rational man adapts to the society, an irrational man makes the society adapt to him, thus are we depended on the irrational man for the world to make any progress"

Just like Jesus, He was and is one really influential man. Jesus was irrational and radical to the Jewish society in so many levels. He followed the standards set by the Law (of God), fulfilled it and managed to set a newer and higher standard.

BUT, that is not Jesus' goal. He came to bring the good news of God's love for us and die on the cross for us. A big portion of His ministry was to spend time with people around him.

Let us be a follower of Christ doing things or following a tradition, not because it is there; but because we are compelled by the way Christ has lived. Let us pray: Lord, may the traditions and rituals that we live by be of Your way. Let Your standard of Love, Mercy and Righteousness be our guide. Use us as an instrument for Your Kingdom, that all may know of Your promises. Amen.

Age vs Maturity

Age does not denote maturity level.

My house mate came home last night rather displease with a classmate who took his joke very seriously and made a scene in the middle of class. House mate claims the issue has been settled but noted that although the other guy was slightly older but did not behave like one.

It hit me today that in a different manner that, despite me being a follower of Christ for some 7 odd years now and I still behave like a weed that sways easily. I had a Bible study with a new Christian the other day and we discussed about what it is like to follow God's will: having faith.

Long story short, the past few months I have been struggling in several areas: being obedient and being a God's lover. And I realised that I am still far from being mature in many ways, despite being a 7 year old Christian.

Oh, God. Have mercy on me. Remove all my selfish desires. May my heart follow You forever!

Sigh..

Wooot!! Since 28th Jan. That is bad.

But that is because this dude is saddened by the feeling of being annoyed at the confusion of getting mad from being distressed of not overcoming jealousy of a friend's happiness.

Nah, he is just confused.

On other note: by God's grace and mercy, June has recovered from dengue. And thanks to insurance, her medical bill is on RM 65 *ching ching* after 6 days in the hospital. This is a warning to all. Stay away from mosquitoes. They are bad stuff which makes you like flies more.

Cheers!

What's New?

I guess not blogging for a long while has its perks. More work can be done, trying to finish my finals, more time spent looking at other things, time to spend with friends, getting involve in new relationships etc.

It is 2008. 2007 ended with a fizz. Like a firework presentation where so much preparation put into it, and when launched, speed into the sky and "ding". Voilà! Many things did not end the way I hope it to be. I am not married, I have not graduated, and I have not landed in a big job which would quickly make me a millionaire.

The past few weeks taught me how to be reliant on God's strength and His standards. Very easy to say it now, I still have no idea how it really feels like now when I looked back at it. But I can appreciate it base on the things that has happened and recall how on planet earth I managed such impossibility. And the people who helped me along, God bless their souls!

The thing I appreciate most when looking back would be all the relationships I built the past year. It is good to know many more people on deeper level. It is also good to rebuild old connections, getting to know and or bumping into old friends.

So for this new year, things are developing rather quickly. I will try to update more often. Maybe with the possibility of a rare chance somewhere some time in the near distant future that I might not deny beyond reasonable doubt that I will update before CNY.

Cheers =)

Sunday Free

Bizarre news: Having Sunday free from anything.

Yeah, that means no Church, no rushing to somewhere for some event or dinner.

Not entirely true either. I had agreed to a morning breakfast which I suggested the evening before to a group of church people after service. It was rather random on my side because:

1. I would not have agreed to joining anyone for anything expensive at any given time unless it is paid for or I am going to meet someone special.
2. I suggested dim sum.
3. I hardly join their company of hangouts 98% of the time.
   

So, today at 0830hours, I drove down to Klang to meet them for dim sum breakfast buffet. It turned out to be the place where "un-know" was gathering too. This would provide an opportunity for us to see a fiery youth of un-know taking. Fortunately he and his went to a conference hall while we had our halal dim sum.

I tried to play it cool in front of my church friends but within I felt rather excited and jackoon at the same time. How rare is it that I could take anything I want without fearing the consequences of adding the numbers on the bill. The dish above is made personally just for me right in front of my eyes using my own hands.

The next picture shows how the table looked like after the dim sum has been cleaned by some male members of church for the 70th time. And the waiters, God bless them, came to the our tables like flies to, er... waste, after each round to make way for vicious cycle of gluttony.



The whole session ended after what seemed like an eternity later (1100hours). We rolled ourselves out with our bulging slightly belly. We went on our ways after a brief typical post-CBC-event/gathering-culture.

The drive home seemed to be the highlight of today's outing. It somehow did not matter that I took the wrong turning or longer route, nor was it how the warmth of the late morning sun was beating onto my skin. Neither was it how quiet the car felt when driving alone, along the empty highway.

It was about being able to drive in the day time to a destination without needing to worry what is going to happen next. It was about being able to sing a tune of a song which keeps playing over and over in my mind with the help of the broken car radio. It was about singing about how great God on a Sunday morning without anyone prompting. It was about keeping cool with help of the breeze coming in through the car through the open window.

It felt great. Yes, currently my life's greatest irony: The idea of being able to be enjoy and be free.

Cheers!

Laptop and Long Day

I drove to my usual spot and parked it there so I could hop onto the bus to work. Knowing that my carry on (which incidentally look like a laptop bag) would be very heavy, I decided to remove my laptop from my bag and place it under the car seat.

Quickly, I locked the car door and ran towards the bus stop, not wanting to miss the bus. Of course, being me, I would do a quick check list to see if I have left out anything crucial like turning off the car light, etc. Yes, I did left the car lights on the whole day once and that was also a very, very long day, and night.

The bus came and I got on. Just as I was about to settle down for the journey, I remembered that the central locking my old junk (car) no longer exist. And before that I made a mistake of not locking the car door at the passenger side.

That, was not my first time that I left my car unlocked. It was perfectly safe because nothing really important was left inside. This time, it wasn't the same.

Thus, the beginning of a long day of worries and more worries. I did ask God to look after my car. And imagine all possible scenarios as to what are the probabilities of someone passing by might open the car door, or look in, or break in, or search through a old junk, etc. And at the end, all is not well, base on assumed probabilities of bad events.

Somehow I managed to got past worrying and managed to get to work the rest of the day. Long story short, my laptop was safe when I got back to my car.

I suppose trusting someone invisible or you have never seen is really hard. Hah.. even Jesus said so to Thomas. I believe my God is kind and merciful and He would let His Son call upon 12 legions of angels at His disposal. Even to save my laptop?

I am still learning. Slowly and gradually as I learn more to trust God more and more...

Yup.

Cheers!

p.s. I am not desperate, I am just making fun of my availability. And no lah, this is not a HINT...

Time

Lots, I have. But my brain can't function after lunch. I am slowly regaining the use of my brain. Disjointed eh?

I have been visiting this blog on and off since last year. And every time I went back there she writes something which I would go "wow, my brain never thought of it that way before." I am always tempted to leave a comment but somehow I could never think of anything intelligent. Sad huh?

This blog entry of hers just really set it off. It was about how she became a Christian. And somehow that warrant a respond from a Catholic.

I do not know man, I thought being a Christian is all about knowing the true Loving God and how Christ redeemed us by His blood. And all we have to do is live a life of blessing and being an ambassador to Christ's kingdom.

If going to heaven to be with God needs one to sit an entrance exam of theology and Sainthood, I would be packing my bag for hell already.

Of course, Jesus would have helped me through the test, that hell thing won't happen and we will live happily ever after. Correct me if I am wrong. I need to know God first and foremost. Theology can come later to explain God's reasoning.

Now, my brain has functioned beyond capacity. Time to shut down and read more things. Cheers!

Interesting sight of the day: Man adds tau youw / pak yauw / light sauce, lots and lots, into maggie mee soup.

Hot!

Woo... burn babe, burn! I am a lot stronger than 98˚! I am running a little hotter than that. Yup, so much for wanting to be normal.

I am hoping and praying it not dengue. You can't get it twice right? But, I think there are four types of viruses which causes dengue...

So here goes: Oh, MIGHTY GOD! Praise your holy name. The one who forgives all sins, the one who heals all sickness! (Psalms 103:1-3, edited unshamefully by me)

Woohoo!! Prepare the way for great testimony!

Author is insane due to high fever. Please, bear with him when he recovers.

Woahh.. it flies!

Not superman, I have not watched it yet. But I tell you what does.

• Time and season, as Blue Bear said.
• I found it interesting after Jie said it.
• My cousin getting married.
• Almost everyone plus bro is on the hill.
• Parents in Beijing
• Phuas in Shanghai
• Deadline is on the 20th of Dec
• Some lucky families heading up north to Laos on 19 days drive.
• Musical is on the 15th and 16th Dec.

Yeah.. I just read about jie's blog for her 23rd year on Earth. It did not strike me until one portion within which reminds me how much older we have all become; one day we will not be able to react to the situation as well as we once had.

I feel a little depressed once in a while. And the worries keep on coming even as I cast my cares onto the Lord. I wonder what I missed out that I do not seem to understand His promises? I am guessing that it could be something along the line of not being patients enough or not being able to do anything worthy.

Hah... sounds like I am quite results driven. I guess I will have to meditate on 1Peter 5:6-7 and Mat 11:28-30. Or some could come give me a smack on my head.

OK, OK!! I am going back to work. If only I have half of superman's speed...

p.s. Free tickets available for people interested in the musical. Good stuff guaranteed =)

Four girls and one Guy

Girl 1: We were standing at the door late at night. We just reached her house after dinner and she was about to enter. We looked at each other and said good bye. Deep within, I had so much to say but it would not come out. All I wanted was to give her a hug and hope that things would turn out fine no matter what. And sillily, we said good bye again, and ackwardly I left through the gate, leaving a good friend once again as she enters her house..

Girl 2: I quickly drove to the front of the gate only to realise that she was leaving the house with her luggage. I thought I was just in time. I quickly parked and ran towards the car she was getting onto. As I was running, I was said, God give me the chance to pray for her. But when I reached, I only managed to give her a hug, and then she had to go. The driver drove down the road with her inside, turned at the junction and out of sight..

Girl 3: She was waiting at the door as her parents continued talking. I spent the next 20 minutes trying to muster some courage to walk up to her to say hello. I walked towards her with all my boldness only to chicken out by talking to her dad. Seeing that I still have a chance to talk to her, I turned away the opposite direction. And from afar, she stood on for a few more minutes before leaving walking through the door with her parents..

Girl 4: It was nearing the end and she was talking to her friend. I went up next to her and gave her a side hug like what her friend was doing to her and joined on to their conversation, hoping that I would be able to hug her and thank her for being there for us all the time when we are left alone after. Her friend soon left and another friend came along and started another conversation. Just as it was about to come to a turning point, a little boy came an embraced her and started crying. Knowing that this was an urgent matter, she took him by his hand and lead him off to a distant place..

Guy: He was like a silent yet strong father to me although I still do not understand the value of the relationship we have. He stood by me, guiding and supporting me even when I was tired and frustrated. He calmed me and encouraged me and even gave me unimaginable strength to work things out. Time and time again, He got me out of trouble just at the right moment and even giving me unimaginable confidence. Crazy as it may seems, but I doubt His help all the time even when I have been proven wrong again and again. The amazing thing is, He never left once.


In all these, no-one is to be blamed. I guess. I just have to work on my timing. And hopefully, He will guide me through.

p.s. Thanks Su, your gift on Sunday morning was amazing =)