Remembrance

On this day in 1918, what was the worst war the world had ever seen finally came to an end. Today, 93 years later, do we still remember what happened? Do we still appreciate the sacrifices which paved the way for us to become who we are?

Today, let us honour those who served so bravely for God, for country, and for liberty. And perhaps, as they look on, and see that we still remember, they may yet rest in peace.

"If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields." ~ John McCrae

 Lest we forget.

A House Divided Cannot Stand

A house divided cannot stand,
It crumbles, shattered from within;
A house is torn by inner hand.

Wise are the ones who understand
The good old adage which has been:
A house divided cannot stand.

And if there be grave reprimand
From those of nearest kin, it's then
A house is torn by inner hand.

From history we learned firsthand,
And from the past we've duly seen
A house divided cannot stand.

When spars and quarrels take command,
When sanity is wearing thin,
A house is torn by inner hand.

A fragile mind cannot withstand
Both thought of good and urge to sin;
A house divided cannot stand,
A house is torn by inner hand.

5 November 2011

Erosion

A gentle tide crashes the jagged shore,
Smoothing out edges left by tempests past,
Yet carving out anew—along the vast
Complex coast—jagged faces, more and more.
The waves work with a deadly silent roar...
From the surface rocks protrude and cast
An evil shadow, exposing at last
A demon deep within a hardened core.

Feast, waters, feast! upon this stony land,
'Til all the ground is but fine grains of sand,
Then carry thou this devil's work to sea,
To lands beyond that which mine eyes can see;
And as old landscapes slowly fade away,
May new ones build with every passing day.

29 October 2011

Contronym

Your name misleads.
You are not what you are called.
Man fell as you entered his being.
Many men continue to fall today
On account of possessing you––
Or rather, on account of you possessing them.

You show them something,
And they must have "it"––
More and more of "it."
Never satisfied, they seek endlessly
For "it," as you look on,
Nodding your approval.

You are strong and enduring.
You have persuaded us
Of your invincibility.
Despairingly, we hold to this belief.
You are powerful, but your name
Is Weakness.

27 September 2011

Untitled

The yellow wallpaper drives me insane

The sun beats down
The paint peels
The wallpaper fades
And yet it drives me insane

The wind whips up
The paint flies
The wallpaper fades
Even so it drives me insane

The rain drives through
The paint runs
The wallpaper fades
But still it drives me insane

The blank wallpaper drives me insane

The painters arrive
They work
They go

The blue wallpaper drives me insane...

18 September 2011

Distraction

The Past returns: it rears its heads at me––
A joyous moment flashes by to taunt,
A thousand failures follow through to haunt;
A sheepish grin with great ferocity.
I see it fade and morph with Destiny––
O! visions grand, a happy mental jaunt;
Then nightmares, grander still, my psyche daunt,
No effort made to hide hostility.

Distractions all! I start, senses returned,
Old Father Time still faithfully walks on,
Not changing course, nor speed, nor looking back––
Was her fate not grave when her eyes she turned?
Begone, both Past and Destiny! Alone
I'll follow Father Time's slow, steady track.

15 September 2011

Tuesday, August 9th, 2011

Proverbs 24
"An honest answer
is like a kiss on the lips." ~ v. 26

When I read this verse, I immedately thought of how to reconcile this with when the truth hurts. And then I realized, a kiss on the lips is for loved ones, and you would never lie to your loved ones, even if it hurts. At the time, it seemed like telling my parents about school problems would hurt, so I held back. I refused to admit anything. And because I held back, when I no longer could conceal it, it had already inflicted a whole lot more damage in addition to whatever little telling the truth could have caused. I don't want to say much on this, so I'll stop here.

Two days ago I highlighted Proverbs 22:28 (Do not move an ancient boundary stone set up by your forefathers.) discussing ancient boundary stones. I mentioned about how that may have meant land distributions or old laws that we shouldn't alter. However, yesterday, a similar verse came up in Proverbs 23:10-11. It says, "Do not move an ancient boundary stone or encroach on the fields of the fatherless, for their Defender is strong; He will take up their case against you." Upon reading this, moving ancient boundary stones took on a third meaning: to cheat people or to behave dishonestly. The LORD is a just God and He will avenge injustice. Both verses, ultimately, are related. Let them be a warning to us, keeping us honest, and on the straight and narrow.

On this note, good night!

Sunday, August 7th, 2011

Proverbs 22
"Do not move an ancient boundary stone
set up by your forefathers." ~ v. 28

I write this back home in Hong Kong. During my time in Israel, I promised myself to not use the internet. This was, after all, my pilgrimage, and I didn't want any distractions. Everybody knows, a vow to go lacking is hardest to keep towards its end, and it was near the end that I was tested. I was carrying my Aunt's laptop for her, and the last few nights we stayed at Radisson. Free broadband in the room. Praise the LORD, my resolve remained. Nevertheless, this got me thinking: there's so much inaudible "noise" that encapsulates us nowadays, besides the physical noises. I suppose school and the internet are the two biggest ones. In Israel, I had a hour, more or less, each night, where I could just sit, pray, read a chapter of the Bible, and write down my thoughts for the day. Spiritually speaking, it was so refreshing! I could listen to God, both around and inside of me.

I write this now because I just happened to pass by a friend's blog and re-read his post about silence. In the post it mentions a video about silence, which we watched during fellowship one night, about a month ago. When we watched the video and when I read his post the first time, I have to admit that I didn't give it much thought (sorry!). Actually, asides from the passing moment of inspiration, the last few years I never really gave much thought to anything. If I was asked for my thoughts it was usually very superficial. If I was asked for my attention, I didn't give it fully. I listened and thought exclusively about myself. Everything had to lead back to myself. I almost thought that I forgot how to listen to others. In Israel, I discovered that this wasn't true. That I did remember how. That I was just excusing myself from it. I expect to habitualize a daily time of silence for God, from the foundation I laid in Israel. Who knows, some of it might find its way here.

As mentioned above, in Israel, I set aside time for prayer, one chapter of the Bible, and some writing each night. I actually began a daily reading of the Bible in Hong Kong, but it was just that - reading. I chose to begin with Proverbs, because it has many lessons which I have heard much of, but thought little about. While I may not have time to write like this every night during the school year, I hope and even expect to habitualize a daily time of prayer, Bible reading, and thought, building on what I started in Israel. This actually was a habit until I got undisciplined, complacent, and distracted for the past few years. May the LORD grant me a new resolve.

Each night in Israel, I began writing by copying a verse from the chapter of the day. Tonight, I begin with a verse from the 22nd chapter. This verse is interesting. I looked it up; originally it referred to land distributions that the LORD set out for Israel during the time of Joshua, and the law which dictated a reset to these boundaries every 50 years. However, nowadays this verse may have a different application. Our nation's laws were founded on Biblical notions. Even the national motto is taken from the Bible. Today, our lawmakers do exactly opposite of what King Solomon warns. They have begun to put the nation on a slippery moral downslope. While we may not be able to reverse or even stop them, it is our duty as Christians to not be pulled along with them, to hold our ground, and to keep our "ancient boundary stone" exactly where it should be. Coincidence or not, the Ten Commandments were originally written in stone. Let this be a reminder to us.

That's it for tonight. Good night!

Pilgrimage

I'm very blessed to have the chance to undertake the Christian pilgrimage...after flying to Hong Kong later today, I will have a couple weeks in the Holy Land. I'm rather excited, being able to walk where my Lord has walked. I do hope I am brought closer to Him when all is said and done. At the same time, do pray for my and my brothers and sisters' safety, as our trip will take us through both Jordan and Egypt, and both nations are still quite unstable.

If I find internet access, I will try to remember to blog along the way.

I'll miss everybody in Vancouver, for sure, but six weeks will pass in a huff and a puff...

Why, Vancouver, why?!

To lose a Game 7, in the Stanley Cup Finals, to a respectable original six team in the Bruins isn't bad. I'd say this was a remarkable run, a great season. And the core is still intact. There is next year. And the year after that.

But to lose our dignity as a city...that is a totally different matter.

And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors...

Forgiveness is so much easier said than done, and a reason for that is because of my memory. For whatever bizarre reason, things I try to forget, I remember; whereas things I try to remember, I forget. This begs the question: if I still remember the incident(s), can I forgive? Further still: is it even possible to truly forget?

"Forgive and forget" is something that is repeated so much that it has, for all intents and purposes, no meaning at all. However, recently, this issue has come to the forefront of my attention, and for good reason. I realized that I remember a lot of things. Very, very old things, which I claim to have completely forgotten about and forgiven, and therefore have no bearing whatsoever on current relationships at all. I was so wrong, and it took some soul-searching with a level-headed and uninvolved friend (at the time of our conversation) to find out.

In a sense, I was half right. I had forgotten the details of the past. But that's just a chip off the old brick. The bulk of the memory, the emotional memory, was still there. I just turned a blind eye. Lied to and fooled myself, and the other person. To take my friend's word for it, I was "hardened." I had no clue, but I was still, in some corner of my heart and soul, mad. Some part of me still wanted to pick up the blame of past and present and just chuck it at this person who had crossed me -- no, who I thought had crossed me -- years ago. By the way, said person is a very important one.

It's actually been over a month since this issue first came into the spotlight. This post has been a work in progress ever since (hence the lack of posts recently). My thoughts are so scattered, and I am so heavily involved that I have had no idea how to arrange the post. To date, I still lack a complete answer to the two main questions. However, I think I have at least a few pieces of the puzzle.

Logically, I should try to answer the second question first, so I will. I don't think that it's possible to truly forget things like this. When the emotional scar comes between people as close as that person and me, even if the details become lost in the sea of time, the thoughts and feelings accompanying it will never, ever get completely washed away. It may be dulled, but it will always be there, somewhere. God may be able to completely blot out our sins with Christ's blood, but that's because he's omnipotent. I am -- we are -- not. Even so, as my friend pointed out, this is not a free pass to dwell on the past. It is not a reason to expect badly of the future. Life was meant to be lived in the present, and problems are to be fixed in the present as well.

God never commanded us to forget wrongs, but He has told us to forgive them, and nothing He tells us to do is impossible. That is why I think that even though I may never be able to forget, there is a glimmer of hope that I can, however slowly, reach the realm of true forgiveness. It won't be easy. I've only taken a few baby steps. I'll be the first to acknowledge that I could move faster, that there are still way too many thoughts that get in the way; but at least I'm pointed in the right direction.

As I've let these thoughts percolate in my head, it has led to a vastly increased appreciation of how great, how awesome, how unfathomably deep God's love for us is. The difficulty I face in my problems with one person, compared to the sin of the entire world and its billions of people. Still He promised never again to flood the world. Still he promised to give the world a way. It cost Him dearly, but He delivered. It is the ultimate example of and inspiration for forgiveness.

All these years, I have "forgotten," but never forgiven. Now I see that maybe it should be exactly the other way around. "Forgive, but never forget" is a quote that is also thrown around. It is a quote that probably deals with problems and has a background that is vastly different from that of mine. However, for now, this is what I will go by. If only for the fact that, as a Christian, I am called to forgive. If only for the fact that it might be impossibly difficult to forget. Perhaps it ought to be "forgive, despite not forgetting." If I can achieve that, I believe I will have mastered the highest level of human forgiveness.

As to "forgive and forget" -- flawed, but sufficient for the small things in life.

Making amends

Raindrops fall to earth and gather,
Free to flow but pooled together.
One night a hard freeze grips the town,
And London Bridge is falling down.

17 April 2011

Picking up the pieces

There it lies––shattered, broken,
Like some nebulous fragile glass form.
“I didn’t do it,” you exclaim,
“It was him!” “It was her!”
“It was that pesky thing from across the street!”

Ah, yes. Let the irrational finger pointing begin.
Of course; I believe you.
Just that I was there, watching you.
Just that I was what you did.
But you adamantly deny it.

What can I say?
After all, I am only the dust
Remaining from a tree, cut down,
Only shards and fragments on the floor,
Waiting for the dustpan and the brush.

But who are you? Do I know you?
I look harder, and then it dawns on me.
You were me. Or, rather, I was you;
And my soul, your soul…
There it lies––shattered, broken.

6 April 2011

Night Falls

The sun descends into the ocean’s wrath,
And on my listless soul a darkness falls,
But nary a star will shine upon my path,
Though wearily I gaze on heaven’s halls.

Blindly I stumble, groping for my way,
I call for help, but there is no reply.
The night drags on, contented to delay
The morrow morn, and pleasèd to deny.

Were I to summon all of mine own pow’r,
Still I would fail to overcome the night;
So I must wait for the appointed hour,
And trust, in time, that all will be made right.

Behold––the morning star breaks night’s dark guise;
The sun will once again, triumphant, rise!

21 March 2011

Forgiven

I put my soul upon a cloth,
And up rose crimson stains.
I gave it to my Lord to wash,
And take away the pains.

He washed it out the best He could,
He rinsed it through and through.
Still, when He handed back to me
My cloth––red residue!

I said, "My Lord, why is this so?"
He wisely then replied,
"My child, it is because 'til now,
My grace you have denied."

And so the sun shines through again,
The clouds lift up their veil,
As I accept this gift of grace,
And find my holy grail.

24 January 2011

Thinking outside the boundaries

It's generally agreed that thinking outside the box helps solve problems, and innovative thought patterns are a good thing. However, there are times when an active imagination can be a bit of a drag.

Ever have those moments when things just seem too coincidental, setting off a chain of thoughts that leads to the conclusion that something isn't right? Or one of those moments when you suddenly question somebody's motives and come up with some totally out-of-character, evil genius explanation for what was otherwise a trivial deed?

I'm guilty of it, but it taken a while for me to admit. I'm often very quick to point out when somebody might just be thinking a little out of bounds, a bit too much, and over-analysing the situation. However, I don't often recognise it when I do it myself, out of sheer bloody paranoia while the thoughts are firing off.

Of course, there are times when being wary is the right thing to do, but when we're talking about tried and true friends, this sort of thinking is hardly necessary, much less beneficial for me, or the person involved.

So here's to a happier, healthier, simpler thought process.

Productivity

一朝國祚可甚長，但若亡國，豈不只列為歷朝之一嗎？周雖歷七百餘年，貢獻無多。相反，秦歷僅十五年，卻統一中國，是為首大帝國。生命也是如此。重要的，不是壽命，乃是成就。

Translated, that means:
"A dynasty may last for some time, yet if it falls, is it not but listed as one dynasty? Even though Zhou lasted over 700 years, its contributions were limited. On the contrary, Qin lasted but 15 years, yet unified China, as the first great (Chinese) empire. So too is life. What is important is not longevity, but achievement."

Productivity - it's not how long you're at the job, it's what you manage to do with it. I guess the same could be said of school.

Eyes on the road

Time flies, they say, and indeed it has. Already we've come to the end of a year, and the beginning of a new one. Since this is the time everyone looks back on the previous year, and also forward into the new year, it is perhaps fitting that we take a look at looking.

Perception is so important. How we see things, from which angle, all that jazz...however, it is nonetheless impossible to see anything of worth unless the initial issue is addressed: where do we look?

This question might be easier to answer with an analogy. In terms of perception, life is much like driving. When you go for a drive, you do not look through the sun roof, and by law, not at the screen of your smart phones because that's bound to get you into an accident. Rather, you keep your eyes on the road, often checking the side-view mirrors, and occasionally looking in the rear-view. So too in life. In front of us, our future, and where we look to go; beside us, our present, all too important and requiring attention; behind us, our past, there to reflect on, not dwell on. Miss out on any one of these, and it's off to the metaphorical (but sometimes even literal) hospital.

So, here's to a 2011 where I can learn a bit from 2010, look to friends and family around me now, and in doing so, strive for the future. Looking back, 2010 has had its ups and downs, but it's been a great one. Now, it's time to turn my eyes back onto the road.

Therefore, I'd like to conclude by wishing everyone a Happy New Year...and all the best for the year (and years) to come!