Lessons

Written By Regina Brett, 90 years old, of The Plain Dealer, Cleveland , Ohio "To celebrate growing older, I once wrote the 45 lessons life taught me... It is the most-requested column I've ever written. My odometer rolled over to 90 in August, so here is the column once more:

1. Life isn't fair, but it's still good.
2. When in doubt, just take the next small step.
3. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone...
4. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends and parents will. Stay in touch.
5. Pay off your credit cards every month.
6. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.
7. Cry with someone. It's more healing than crying alone.
8. It's OK to get angry with God. He can take it.
9. Save for retirement starting with your first pay check.
10. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.
11. Make peace with your past so it won't screw up the present.
12. It's OK to let your children see you cry.
13. Don't compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
14. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn't be in it.
15. Everything can change in the blink of an eye. But don't worry; God never blinks.
16. Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.
17. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.
18. Whatever doesn't kill you really does make you stronger.
19. It's never too late to have a happy childhood. But the second one is up to you and no one else.
20. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don't take no for an answer.
21. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie. Don't save it for a special occasion. Today is special.
22. Over prepare, then go with the flow.
23. Be eccentric now. Don't wait for old age to wear purple.
24. The most important sex organ is the brain.
25. No one is in charge of your happiness but you.
26. Frame every so-called disaster with these words “In five years, will this matter?'
27. Always choose life.
28. Forgive everyone everything.
29. What other people think of you is none of your business.
30. Time heals almost everything. Give time time.
31. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.
32. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
33. Believe in miracles.
34. God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you did or didn't do.
35. Don't audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.
36. Growing old beats the alternative -- dying young.
37. Your children get only one childhood.
38. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.
39. Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere.
40. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else’s, we’d grab ours back.
41. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.
42. The best is yet to come.
43. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
44. Yield.
45. Life isn't tied with a bow, but it's still a gift.

Banner

Hehe! That's my banner at Cheng San Residents' Committee Centre

Some Information on Joseph

Some of us already know something about Mary, the mother of Jesus. But few of us know much about Joseph the father of Jesus. Here is a bit of information.

The Catholic Church has its root from the time of Christ. The first Pope is considered to be Peter. It was Jesus who appointed Peter "You are Peter, and upon this rock, I will build My Church...Matt16:18". Hence it is Catholic Church that provides us with 'tradition information' that are not found elsewhere.

This article appearing in 'Dear Padre' on June 14,2009. It's an answer to the question "How did Joseph die?"

"The Church teaches that Mary did die, after which she was 'assumed' into heaven, meaning she was taken up not by her own power, but by the power of God. Assumption is not to be confused with Jesus' ascension into heaven, in which he was taken up by His own power.

We don't know how Joseph died, but we believe he died in the regular fashion and was not assumed into heaven. Tradition teaches that when Joseph died, both Mary and Jesus were at his bedside. For this reason, Joseph is called the patron of a happy death. The customs of the day dictated that, as Joseph's only child, Jesus would have made the arrangements for his father's funeral, possibly preparing the body for burial and washing, anointing, and wrapping Joseph's body, as others would later do for Jesus. We cannot know for sure what Joseph's death and burial were like, but we can assured that Jesus cared for his foster father with the utmost love.

Each of us can only hope that, as he was with Joseph, Jesus will be at our side when we breathe out last."

This is just a bit of information for those who are interested. It's not important though.

The Gospel of Prosperity?

There are some christian communities that advocate the idea that God wants His people to be very rich: "Look at King David, King Solomon, Abraham. They were godly men, though at times they sinned badly. God had blessed them, they were the richest men during their era! God will always want to prosper His people!"

As I mulled over this idea, I realised that all these 'rich' examples were from the Old Testament.

In the New Testament, the emphasis is not material wealth or prosperity. There was no mention of any 'very rich' believers. Jesus exhorted "...Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy...But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys...Matt 6:19."

None of the 12 (13 including Paul) disciples were wealthy. (I was told not to cite the 12 disciples or the tribe of Levites as examples because God had chosen and destined 10% of His people to be priests or other christian vocations. Understandably, they will be have no time to be wealthy.) But for us,the other 90%, God clearly intended us to be prosperous!

I too believe that God did not intend for us christians to be poor. "Look at the birds of the air...Observe the lilies of the field...Do not be anxious then saying, 'What shall we eat? What shall we drink? With what shall we clothe ourselves? ...But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added to you...Matt6:31".

So the focus is on His kingdom and His righteousness, NOT on prosperity.

If a man focuses on Getting Rich, then "it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God...Luk 18:25".

So don't focus on making money or acquiring wealth. Don't even aspire to earn a million $ to donate for God's work or for charity. God is not poor that He needs you to work day and night to earn money for Him.

Click below. Hope you will be inspired.

http://www.imeem.com/jesusistheanswer/music/kxXIutn5/psalty-kids-praise-seek-ye-first/

God is all-knowing, even about disasters.

SAO PAULO (Brazil) - AN AIR Air France jet Flight 447carrying 228 people from Rio de Janeiro to Paris hit strong turbulance and lost contact with air traffic controllers over the Atlantic Ocean, officials said on Monday. Brazil began a search mission off its northeastern coast.

God is omnipotent, omniscient - all-powerful, all-knowing...

Flight 447 left Rio on Sunday 31 May 2009, 7 pm local time. At 10.15 pm, the 3 pilots on board steered the plane through a thunderous zone of strong turbulence. The pilots did not know that in 2 minutes time, disaster would strike and the plane would sink to the bottom of the ocean, somewhere 300 km northeast of the coastal city of Natal.

But at 10.15 pm, God knew exactly what would happen in 2 minutes time. God is all-knowing. He knew that 228 lives would perish.

He could do something to avert the disaster because He is all-powerful. But He did not.

He allowed "acts of nature" to take their course.

God had been asked a billion times "Why don't you intervene to save the innocent from disasters?" How can all disasters "...work together for the good of those who believe Him?"

God did not answer the questions. It will remain a mystery. We will never know.

And this is where FAITH takes over. If we know the answer, or if we know of an explanation which is acceptable to us, then where is faith? Then our belief in God is based on knowledge, and not by faith.

"Faith is the assurance of things hope for, the conviction of things not seen." Hebrews 11.1.

In the end, our Christian belief is based on Jesus Christ, who died, was buried and rose again and appeared to hundreds of believers.

Besides Jesus Christ, all our belief is faith - because we really don't know anything else for sure.

And our faith actually comes from God. Thank God for His grace for giving us the gift of faith.

My neighbour was a medium

Years ago, when I lived in a village, I had a neighbour who earned extra income by being a medium.

Ah Tim built a shed near to his house and installed an altar in it. On the altar sat an idol whom he would offer jossticks day and night. When customers came to consult him, he would light extra jossticks, josscandles and burnt some josspaper.

As it happened very long ago, I have forgotten much of the details. I vaguely remember that he could have an average of 1 or 2 customers a day. They came to ask him about the predicament of deceased relatives, asked whether they had offended any spirits, and very often, to get 4-D numbers to 'buy lottery'.

Ah Tim would go into a semi-trance and conversed with his customers in a mumbly voice. At times he would grab some pomelo leaves and stuff them inside his mouth to chew while meting out advice and information to his customers.

Now and then, a customer would return to Ah Tim and announced that he had won a 4-D lottery and would now wish to offer the idol thanksgiving and respect. Ah Tim would receive a thanksgiving 'red-packet' of course. Some neighbours would laugh and reasoned that if Ah Tim gave out 100 4-D numbers, surely 1 would 'open' as a winner.

By and by, all the families in the village were re-settled, and the area was renamed Potong Pasir Housing Estate instead. Ah Tim was re-settled in Toa Payoh. The last I heard was that he was doing pretty well as a medium.

I am writing this in my blog just to show that there are still such activities in Singapore.

We are never 100% sure !

If you have been reading my blog entries below, you would realised that I am always questioning, to the extent of being cynical sometimes. I have always questioned what I believe.

In my quiet moments, I would still ask myself "Are you sure you are a Christian? Are you 100% sure you believe in the right thing?"

As a "Doubting Thomas" by nature, I love to learn about apologetics. I think I can offer several reasons why Christianity is most creditable. I can cite many reasons, such as fulfilled prophecies, fulfilled claims of Jesus Christ, evidence of the empty tomb, Jesus appearing to hundreds of living people after he rose from the dead, real-life witnesses such as apostle Thomas poking his finger into the risen Christ's body, and the credibility of the many gospel books, etc.

But I am really not 100% sure. I have not seen Jesus Christ. I am only intellectually convinced. I am also experientially convinced. My heart has been touched many times by the grace of God. But, maybe, just maybe, I am only 95% sure or 97% sure....

I have never spoken in tongues. I do not have any gift of vision or healing or prophecy. Perhaps if I have such spiritual gifts and abilities, I may be 98.5% sure!

I would like to ask my mentors and seniors, people like Dr. Wilson Lau, like Dr Roland Tan, like my pastors, priests, bishops and even the Pope... Sir, are you 100% sure...?

If they understand my question, their answer would be no. No matter how brilliant we are, our understand and beliefs will not be 100% correct. We are corrected, time and time again for understanding the wrong thing - one moment, we are told drinking 8cups of water a day is good, another moment we are told drinking 8 cups of water is too much, etc. We will never be 100% right. Even godly men, in the bible stories, had their moments of doubt.

But even though I am not 100% sure overall, one thing I am 99.99% sure - that Jesus died, was buried and rose again on the 3rd day and appeared to a few, and then to hundreds at the same time.

With this 99.99% level of confidence, I know that Jesus Christ is alive somewhere. This is enough.

All the rest of my belief may be only 97% or even 50% sure. But, but all the rest of my belief, doesn't matter.

Still Surviving !

Over the last 3 years, I have the opportunity to dabble in a number of business ideas. I have earnestly tried going into the caregiver's business, the property business, the financial industry and some other business ideas. I have been waiting for the stock market upswing as well. (But I lost focus and I missed the boat now.)

Experience tells me that the chances of success in business is not much better than shrew timing when buying stocks and shares.

With holding power, it is unlikely that you will lose money in stocks and shares. In other words, you will not lose money if you are a long-term investor.

In business, the chances of profitability is probably 20% - i.e. for every 5 businesses that I spend time on, only 1 will succeed.

I am now expanding my small business in delivering training products. I started off by providing Silk Screening Worshops for Primary Schools. By God's grace, I am now a certified MOE AMIS trainer and a Peoples' Association (PA) trainer.

I have started extending the range of products to teaching Financial Literacy and Entrepreneurship. Now I am considering adding Decoupageing as a new product. I am trying to extend my customer segment from schools to RC Centres (Residents' Committee Centres) too.

So what is the relevance of God in all these endeavours? As a 'free-lance businessman' I am totally dependent on God's grace for customers and opportunities to close deals. I guess hawkers and businessmen generally have a 'religious pre-disposition' for the same reason - sometimes, oftentimes, whether you can successfully close a sales contract, is not something that you can control.

This is just some private information I can share with friends and readers. Please let me know if you can introduce any school teachers or RC members to me so that I can introduce my products to them.

Thank you.