So I chatted with this girl, right, because I was worried that she's leading a double life. Christian on Sundays and non-Christian when she's with non-Christians.
When I brought it up, she cries. She told me that there is a problem and she's talking to someone about it. I was blocked. And it left open the question of what the problem is. Is it a sad problem? Or a sinful problem?
What do I do? There may be nothing to worry about. And there may be something to worry about. My hunch is that it's a sinful problem. If I say something *just in case* there was something to worry about, it's ok, right? since a Christian should be able to understand that concern.
... So anyway, I hope to speak to her again and tell something she already knows. I'll going to tell her the gospel. It's a comfort if there's a sad problem and it's a rebuke if it's a sinful problem. If anything happens, I'll post!
What would you have done?
Saturday, 30 August 2008
Love You, Long Time
I like things that take time:
- A well written and well delivered sermon.
- Cooking.
- Evolution of friendships.
- Breakfast.
- Unraveling of a mystery.
- A baby.
- God's kingdom.
Random Facts Meme
I've been tagged by Nicole to do this meme. I'll get the 'rules' out of the way first!
1. Link to the person who ‘tagged’ you!
2. Post the rules on your blog!
3. List 6 random facts about yourself!
4. Tag 6 people at the end of your post!
5. Let each person know they have been tagged by commenting on their blog!
6. Let the tagger know the entry is posted on your blog!
Here are my 6 random facts:
1. I spent my teenage years as a "dark child", rarely smiling because of braces hurt my mouth to smile, reading horror novels / watching horror movies and wearing black and grey.
2. I've worked as a piano teacher, English teacher, receptionist in an engineering firm, hair accessories demonstrator at Vic Market, check out chick, registered nurse (Wards / Medical Imaging / Operating Suite), agency nurse in the UK (Emergency / Plastics theatre in the famous Harley St), trainee staffworker.
3. I've been on national TV a few times. My sisters were playing in a hotel lobby once and ended up in an ad in China. I was in the Myer Music Bowls Carols by Candlelight choir for 2 years (looking like a giant, forgetful and unhappy elf because the robs were elf green; we weren't supposed to look down at the words very much and I have difficulty remembering beyond the first verses of most carols; it hurt to sing with braces)
4. I was born in the summertime and celebrated my birthday in the summer holidays for the first few years of my life.
5. I have a savoury tongue, rather than a sweet tooth, which betrays my Asian palate. I also like durian (which is a stench to some, a fragrance to others!).
6. It's very hard to get an accurate Myers Briggs thingy on me. My personality is a "form" that changes every so often. Like a gas.
Now, I tag: Bek, Diane, Andrea, Matt, Fletcher, Doug...
1. Link to the person who ‘tagged’ you!
2. Post the rules on your blog!
3. List 6 random facts about yourself!
4. Tag 6 people at the end of your post!
5. Let each person know they have been tagged by commenting on their blog!
6. Let the tagger know the entry is posted on your blog!
Here are my 6 random facts:
1. I spent my teenage years as a "dark child", rarely smiling because of braces hurt my mouth to smile, reading horror novels / watching horror movies and wearing black and grey.
2. I've worked as a piano teacher, English teacher, receptionist in an engineering firm, hair accessories demonstrator at Vic Market, check out chick, registered nurse (Wards / Medical Imaging / Operating Suite), agency nurse in the UK (Emergency / Plastics theatre in the famous Harley St), trainee staffworker.
3. I've been on national TV a few times. My sisters were playing in a hotel lobby once and ended up in an ad in China. I was in the Myer Music Bowls Carols by Candlelight choir for 2 years (looking like a giant, forgetful and unhappy elf because the robs were elf green; we weren't supposed to look down at the words very much and I have difficulty remembering beyond the first verses of most carols; it hurt to sing with braces)
4. I was born in the summertime and celebrated my birthday in the summer holidays for the first few years of my life.
5. I have a savoury tongue, rather than a sweet tooth, which betrays my Asian palate. I also like durian (which is a stench to some, a fragrance to others!).
6. It's very hard to get an accurate Myers Briggs thingy on me. My personality is a "form" that changes every so often. Like a gas.
Now, I tag: Bek, Diane, Andrea, Matt, Fletcher, Doug...
Friday, 22 August 2008
Breaking the Rules
~ Spoiler Alert: Dark Knight ~
The Dark Knight is a horror movie. Slasher films or films with invading radioactive aliens carrying lasers of mass destruction are more likely to make people yawn or laugh, rather than scream. A true horror unpicks your sense of security. Dark Knight was profoundly disturbing because it is possible. There are no super-powers or supernatural forces - there are just average people and their capacity for evil. Gotham city is our world, our values in close-up. The movie forced us to face the real, underlying evil in each of us.
An excellent review on the excellent movie floated up some ethical issues I've been chewing over. The Joker doesn't subscribe to anybody's rules. He advances in his schemes by letting people choose: to break the rules that underpins society and benefit, or to hold fast to the rules and absorb the consequences? As people choose to break the rules, they participate in destruction and help The Joker win the game of exposing the society's rules as a farce.
The citizens of Gotham city let him down in the ferrie incident by making the nobler but riskier choice. But that was a squirt of Hollywood-flavored syrup! (I think the makers lost the nerve to quench the smoldering hope in the human spirit.)
Even its true, unsung hero barely emerges virtuous. When tested, the Batman almost-but-not-quite breaks his only rule not to kill. He only just subdued his murderous intent and engaged in a desperately unethical, Orwellian strategy to overcome evil. Gotham city's hero tottered on the edge of integrity, like Harvey and many of the citizens.
What do you do when your enemy doesn't play by the rules? Do you get to break your rules to overcome evil for the greater good? What's the point of keeping the rules when others don't and sell you out?
I wonder what the Joker would say if he went head-to-head with Jesus. No Comprehende? He'd feel a bit let down, I think.
Jesus, the mighty hero, makes the nobler choice, refuses to break God's rules and absorbs the consequences himself. Jesus emerges completely virtuous and victorious over his enemy! He overcomes his enemy, sin, by dying on the cross and comes out clean in his resurrection. What's more, he does this for the benefit of everyone else.
~ John 1:9-13
Our world is less noble and more stuffed up than Gotham City. But we have a hero greater than Batman. If it wasn't for Jesus, wouldn't we just despair and wail for our society?
Brilliant film. Mighty Savior!
The Dark Knight is a horror movie. Slasher films or films with invading radioactive aliens carrying lasers of mass destruction are more likely to make people yawn or laugh, rather than scream. A true horror unpicks your sense of security. Dark Knight was profoundly disturbing because it is possible. There are no super-powers or supernatural forces - there are just average people and their capacity for evil. Gotham city is our world, our values in close-up. The movie forced us to face the real, underlying evil in each of us.
Some men aren't looking for anything logical~ Alfred, The Dark Knight
They can't be bought, bullied, reasoned or negotiated with.
Some men just want to watch the world burn.
An excellent review on the excellent movie floated up some ethical issues I've been chewing over. The Joker doesn't subscribe to anybody's rules. He advances in his schemes by letting people choose: to break the rules that underpins society and benefit, or to hold fast to the rules and absorb the consequences? As people choose to break the rules, they participate in destruction and help The Joker win the game of exposing the society's rules as a farce.
The citizens of Gotham city let him down in the ferrie incident by making the nobler but riskier choice. But that was a squirt of Hollywood-flavored syrup! (I think the makers lost the nerve to quench the smoldering hope in the human spirit.)
Even its true, unsung hero barely emerges virtuous. When tested, the Batman almost-but-not-quite breaks his only rule not to kill. He only just subdued his murderous intent and engaged in a desperately unethical, Orwellian strategy to overcome evil. Gotham city's hero tottered on the edge of integrity, like Harvey and many of the citizens.
What do you do when your enemy doesn't play by the rules? Do you get to break your rules to overcome evil for the greater good? What's the point of keeping the rules when others don't and sell you out?
I wonder what the Joker would say if he went head-to-head with Jesus. No Comprehende? He'd feel a bit let down, I think.
Jesus, the mighty hero, makes the nobler choice, refuses to break God's rules and absorbs the consequences himself. Jesus emerges completely virtuous and victorious over his enemy! He overcomes his enemy, sin, by dying on the cross and comes out clean in his resurrection. What's more, he does this for the benefit of everyone else.
The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.
~ John 1:9-13
Our world is less noble and more stuffed up than Gotham City. But we have a hero greater than Batman. If it wasn't for Jesus, wouldn't we just despair and wail for our society?
Brilliant film. Mighty Savior!
Thursday, 14 August 2008
Happy Birthday to Blog!
This wee blog is already one! Or two, if you count the Chinese way.
Anyway, welcome! Feel free to explore and leave your thoughts.
I know, I know... it looks like a blog. But it's actually a cleverly disguised list of lists (I love lists). There are a few post series but they are scattered throughout. Here's a list to help you get started.
Through a Glass Darkly
1 Corinthians 13:12
Film, Stories
Face to Face
Musings on Hell (from a college essay)
Lying about Hell
Because God is loving, Hell exists
Hellish Resources
Fear God, Escape Hell
The Ultimate Horror of God's Universe
Thinking about Hell is edifying
Family
Mum
Dad
Cantonese Idioms
Like?
Childhood Foods
Givers & Takers
Abuse
Wolves
Self or Other
Self and Other
Loving Self-centred People
... and after all that, remember!
The Silly One
Black Music
Quick Kip
Changing Platforms Hazards
Anyway, welcome! Feel free to explore and leave your thoughts.
I know, I know... it looks like a blog. But it's actually a cleverly disguised list of lists (I love lists). There are a few post series but they are scattered throughout. Here's a list to help you get started.
Through a Glass Darkly
1 Corinthians 13:12
Film, Stories
Face to Face
Musings on Hell (from a college essay)
Lying about Hell
Because God is loving, Hell exists
Hellish Resources
Fear God, Escape Hell
The Ultimate Horror of God's Universe
Thinking about Hell is edifying
Family
Mum
Dad
Cantonese Idioms
Like?
Childhood Foods
Givers & Takers
Abuse
Wolves
Self or Other
Self and Other
Loving Self-centred People
... and after all that, remember!
The Silly One
Black Music
Quick Kip
Changing Platforms Hazards
Friday, 8 August 2008
It is those we live with and love and should know who elude us
The alien moment always happens in the micro. Something mundane: an off-handed comment, a joke, a contortion of face muscles. A little gesture that disturbs the equilibrium of acceptance between friends. Why would she say that? Is there a secret world I don't see in which my friend dwells?
It would be too much to ask them to unpack all their mental luggage. What if they stuck their hand into one of the zipped pockets behind the lining to produce a decomposed and smelly old memory? Don't tell me about your childhood.
The alien sitting at my kitchen bench pulls at her earlobe, expertly mimicking the gesture of my beloved friend, as if to mask her alienness.
I change the topic casually, "What's happening with Mr Lee?". I hoped the question was pumped with enough mundane-ness to mask the identification verification.
"Poor uncle. Milk-bars aren't what they used to be. Now he's stuck with a tonne of lollies and tazos... " She dutifully supplied the slow news-day gossip. Identification was verified by the detailed knowledge of a peripheral character. Beloved friend's prattle trailed off, and she pulled at her earlobe again to denote boredom. The alien has been exorcised by the reality of her uncle's milkbar.
But it still wasn't safe, and may never be again. That little sign broke the innocent bond of trust and commonality.
This was written in 90 minutes at The Faithful Writers' conference last weekend.
It would be too much to ask them to unpack all their mental luggage. What if they stuck their hand into one of the zipped pockets behind the lining to produce a decomposed and smelly old memory? Don't tell me about your childhood.
The alien sitting at my kitchen bench pulls at her earlobe, expertly mimicking the gesture of my beloved friend, as if to mask her alienness.
I change the topic casually, "What's happening with Mr Lee?". I hoped the question was pumped with enough mundane-ness to mask the identification verification.
"Poor uncle. Milk-bars aren't what they used to be. Now he's stuck with a tonne of lollies and tazos... " She dutifully supplied the slow news-day gossip. Identification was verified by the detailed knowledge of a peripheral character. Beloved friend's prattle trailed off, and she pulled at her earlobe again to denote boredom. The alien has been exorcised by the reality of her uncle's milkbar.
But it still wasn't safe, and may never be again. That little sign broke the innocent bond of trust and commonality.
This was written in 90 minutes at The Faithful Writers' conference last weekend.
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