Christmas - Blessed Be God

It was a good Christmas Day yesterday. I do not like all the commercial gifts and non-christian christmas carols. I just like a quiet time to remind myself of God's goodness.

Just a wonderful, simple song like this will make my day...
 

Blessed Be God.

God was not there !

The 12.12.12 news headlines screamed "Gunman killed 26 in US suburban Connecticut School " - 20 young children and 6 teachers.

As a christian, I need to reflect on this in relation to my belief in an all-powerful, all-knowing, all-present God who is loving and kind.
My conclusion is that, if God was there at the time of incident, God would have stopped the killing.

God is kind and loving and will not allow innocent lives to be taken away this way. My conclusion is that, during the few minutes of killing, God was not there. Although He is all-present, somehow, I cannot explain why, He was not there during that few minutes.

My conclusion is the only way my finite mind can justify both the existence of God, and the existence of disasters like this, concurrently at the same time.

Now He is there in Connecticut to comfort those who pray.
Alleluia ! Photo From Roving-light.com

Ineffable - that's the word

Not many people know the word 'Ineffable'.

"As Christians, we believe that the first thing we need to affirm is that God is ineffable. God escapes our thought. That means, while we can know God, we can't imagine God, can't conceptualize God, and can't speak with any accuracy about God. God is infinite being and that, by definition, is beyond the categories of our thought and imagination."

 (words by Father Ronald Rolheiser)
Photo From Roving-light.com

Veneration of Mary - Why?

I am a protestant. The following answer has helped me. Maybe it can help you to understand too...

Question: How do you suggest we Catholics explain our veneration of Mary to Protestants who ask us about her and her role in the Scriptures?
Answer: Sacred Scripture is clear on Mary's significance and her honored place in God's plan of Salvation. The Incarnation could not have occurred without Mary's obedient "Let it be with me according to your word"(Lk 1:38b). But as important as Mary is, she always points away from herself and to her Son, "Do whatever he tells you"(Jn 2:5b). This makes her precious to us, because she leads us to her Son. We also know that, as the Mother of our Lord, Mary has an honored place in God's kingdom. Like all saints whom the Church believes to be in heaven, she is a tremendous intercessor for us. As our Lord was dying on the cross, he gave his Mother to "the disciple who he loved," as our Mother (John 19:26). After all, if you need a favor from someone, who better to have pleading your case than your mother? This is another reason we have profound respect for Mary. As a Redemptorist, I could not close without mentioning one of Mary's most revered titles, Our Mother of Perpetual Help. We do not pray to Mary, we pray through our Mother Mary, and like any good and loving mother, she is always there to help us.

(From Dear Padre, 30 Dec 2007 Issue)

God has Plan A, Plan B, Plan C ...(I think)

Jesus said to those around Him: 'Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words shall not pass away...' Matt 24:34.

I think the Apostles believed this literally. Paul and the other apoostles kept telling the early christians to watch out for Christ imminent return. Read Rev 1:3, Phil 1:10, etc, and you can feel the sense of urgency.

But 2000 years had come and gone, yet Christ has not returned. A bit puzzling right? People (including myself) started to ask whether Jesus made a mistake with the timing. The generation that was with Jesus Christ had all passed away, but 'these things' were not fulfilled yet.

I think God has Plan A, Plan B, Plan C, etc. If this is the situation, then adopt Plan A; if a different situation, then adopt Plan B, if yet another situation, then adopt Plan C !!! God can do contingency planning, right? After all, He is God!!

When Jesus spoke to the people in Matt 24:34, His plan was to return before that generation expired. But along the way, situation changed, so God adopted Plan B...He will come again much later.

Haha !! Photo From Roving-light.com

The Lucky and The Gifted

PSY's Gangnam Style success is phenomenal. People started to ask whether Singapore could ever produce a PSY.

It sets me thinking - when do you say someone is lucky? When do you say someone is gifted or talented?

I think the test is whether that someone can produce 'consistent results' or not.

If Mr. Sim Mong Hoo produced a soundcard that sold like hotcakes, and launched Creative Technology into a successful tech company, he may be just lucky. If he can repeat that success with another product, another 3 products, then he is talented.

If Warren Buffet makes a lot of money, ONCE, by choosing the right investments, he is just lucky. If he consistently do it over many years and many times, he is gifted and a true guru.

If PSY can come up with another video that is 'liked' by 1 billion people worldwide, he is talented. Now, he is just lucky.

In the world, there are lots and lots of lucky people who find fame and success ONCE. After all, there are 7 billion people on Earth. 0.001% lucky people means 700,000 lucky people.

Scattered Thoughts: Where Where?

Search the Internet, and you will find many people asking "Where is God in Hurricane Sandy (USA), or Typhoon Bopha (Philippines).
Sure. Hundreds of church congregations knelt and prayed to God for deliverance from natural disasters. -- Yet the Hurricanes and Typhoons still came... There is no direct answer to this Question. We know God is there to comfort the aggrieved when the disasters were over. But we do not know why God allowed the natural disasters to take place, anyway.

God is with us,though sometimes He appears to be not with us. In His time, His will be done...

Know God, and Make Him Known

Actually, how much of God do we need to know? To receive the Gift of Salvation, we just need to know that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and that He is the Way for us to go to the Father. Hence, do not have to know much, a little knowledge is suffice. If we want to receive lots and lots of Heavenly Rewards, we need to know God a bit more. We need to know what to do while on Earth so as to 'accumulate' treasures in Heaven. But then, all heavenly treasures and trophies will be laid down on Christ's feet finally - we do not need them finally. So why do we need to be diligent in knowing God? Know a little is enough right? Well sometimes its just Vanity. We just want to know. It makes us feel good !!! By the way, our finite brain will never able to understand the infinite God, fully.

Do it all Day, Everyday !

The newspaper headline says that "Psy, his job is to 'Gangnam Style' all day and everyday". Thanks, no thanks, to his phenomenal success to achieve 900 million views on Internet. Now the best job can be boring, if you do it all day and everyday. We love Cat Mountain King durians. But eat it everyday? (even if it does not make you ill?) Even the most difficult job would become easy if you do it over and over again for 10,000 times. Even the most interesting job would become boring if you do it over and over again 10,000 times. There are 3 exceptions: Firstly, some politicians love their jobs so much that they willingly hold on the job for 30, 40, 50 years ! They cannot let go Power ! Power is Addictive! Secondly, some people do the same job for 30, 40, 50 years ! They cannot let go Passion. Passion is Addictive, including passion to earn more money! Thirdly, some people hate their job but slave on for 30, 40, 50 years! They have Lost the ability to live on their own.

Scattered Thoughts: Not for longer Life, But for Shorter Length of Disability

My mother has Dementia due to Alzheimers for about 10 years. Her prolong illness has affected the well-being and the quality of life of family members negatively. Man's average lifespan is 79 and woman's is 83. The length of disbility prior to life-end is 6.5 years for man and 7.5 years for woman. I see many people doing all kinds of health-enhancement activities, like food supplements, morning exercises, Qigong, etc, to live longer. Really, to live longer should not be the key objective. Reducing the length of disability, perhaps from 6.5 years to 1 year, should be the key objective. There is no use having a longer lifespan, when the length of disability remains the same. In fact disability is even more painful when the lifespan is longer. Increasing lifespan, without reducing the length of disability, is the curse of longevity. Sadly, modern medicine aims to prolong life, at the same time prolonging the length of disability !

Scattered Thoughts: Not About Wisdom

Christianity is not a religion about wisdom. Wisdom is about being human, how to live in this world of humanity. Christianity is about God. About God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. If we want to learn more about wisdom and humanity, then other religions offer much more. But if we want a personal relationship with the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, then come to Jesus Christ. Jesus can touch your life when you accept His grace and reciprocate with faith.

Scattered Thoughts: Vanity of Vanities! All is vanity!

I wholeheartedly agree with the Preacher in the Book of Ecclesiastes. He said All is vanity! It's school holiday! People booked plane tickets to visit touristsy places. Visit Taipei's night market. Visit Paris. Go Hokkaido... Quench the desire to go somewhere, experience something different ... Finally, finally, its just vanity. Several New Musicale/s came to town. There was the J Lo's concert. The SM Town concert. Go, go.. Queue up for the ticket. $200 per ticket? never mind, its worth it...Quench that desire to see my favourite idols...Finally, finally, its just vanity. Yes, life is mostly vanities. Besides food, lodging, clothes, human relations, all else is vanity. The Futility of Desires.

Scattered Thoughts: Christ's Return

Today is the first Sunday of Advent. We are reminded of Christ coming to Earth, quietly as a child in a manger. He will come again, this time gloriously, loudly, decending from heaven, on his second coming. It has been 2000 years since His first coming. On average, one generation is 20 to 25 years. There are 100 generations since Christ's birth. An every generation looked forward to His second coming. 100 generations waited and did not experience it. I believe in Christ's second triumphant coming. I am ready for it. However, I am not hopeful that it will take place in my lifetime. It matters. It does not matter. The timing is not important anymore.