Switchfoot Videoclip

HT: Challies.com

An Engineer's Guide to Cats

HT: Tim Challies

"Worship"

Here's an audio clip of a song by Shirley Booth I found on YouTube. It's based on Isaiah 58.

And here are the lyrics:

It seems so far away –
The thought of suffering, of hunger and need.
Lord, we’re so comfortable,
They’re only pictures on my TV screen.

Oh, we fast but we know we can eat the next day,
And we travel to church in a car.
There are carpets to comfort our knees when we pray,
And no danger in being what we are.

Are my praises so loud that they drown out the cries?
Do I fail to stoop down
‘cause my hands are raised so high?
Are my eyes shut so tight when I pray I won’t see?
Am I worshipping God for only me?

You say that worshipping, Lord,
Is more like something I should do with my life.
Not just at Sunday School –
No Lord, You’re calling me to put these things right.
There are hungry to feed – I have so much to spare
For the naked and down-trodden too.
So much hurting around me, please help me to care –
Lord, I want to start worshipping You.

You make me shine like the sun,
And Your glory will shelter me.
When I cry out, You come.
You restore me Lord, setting me free!

"Who do you say I am?"

(Matt. 16:15b)

Back in the day, a friend and I had lots of fun doing newsletters for a church college group. Some adventures had in the process. One of these was a trip to the local store (not sure if anywhere else in addition to that for this particular mission) to survey people's answer to the question: "Who do you think Jesus is?"

Well I just found the newsletter with the responses:

1. "He's a dude. Just a dude. Read the Bible."

2. "I'm an athiest."

3. "Jesus is God."

4. "I don't know."

5. "That's a hard question. I never really thought of that before. He came to earth and was crucified and that's why we have Easter."

6. "What you said." (Jesus being the Son of God.)

7. "Just a prophet."

8. "Jesus is the Lord."

9. "I'm a Catholic. Does that explain it?...I don't believe in the Trinity thing...I just hope He comes back soon to end all this..."

10. "No one's ever asked me that before."

Wow huh. Not sure if this was the exact order in which we received the responses. Not necessarily advocating this particular method, but I think I stepped up in my younger years in ways that I wouldn't necessarily repeat now. (Though I might be willing to do the 'survey' method again provided it were not inside a store and if I weren't doing it alone.) Would be nice to be courageous and proactive with regard to speaking of God when out and about.

Facebook Song

What is 'travel'?

Traveling is much more than sightseeing; it encompasses interactions, experiences, and life lessons learned. It's life...wherever you happen to be. In January of 2004, when I was about a year and a half into my first two years in Japan, I wrote:

One thing that I am grateful for is receiving the small kindnesses from those around me. For example, working in the small bakery near my apartment is an elderly lady who through the glass acknowledges my passing by with a friendly nod or wave. At the elementary school, the nurse whose desk is next to mine gives me gifts such as おにぎり (onigiri -- rice balls) and small trinkets. A few of the other teachers at the schools where I work have also been kind to me. I have gone out to lunch with some of the teachers before. I am pretty conscious of receiving the gestures of kindness from those around me in Japan. Not everyone around me is the friendliest sort of person, but, I do notice the friendly ones. Throughout my life, I should try to become increasingly aware and appreciative of others' kindness.

Does one have to be in a foreign land to experience diverse interactions and kindness? NO! Not at all! We can 'learn' wherever we are. Take the word 'learn' to not only mean 'learning for the first time,' but to include 're-learning' or 'growth from experience'...of course I didn't learn kindness in Japan for the first time, but I felt it, and was conscious of feeling it, to some extent...

So what's the point of even thinking about this? Well...for one, I think it could be neat to host or go to a 'travel party', where people could come together to share their experiences and interactions abroad. But I also think it could be neat to mix such stories with people's more localized stories of their interactions and life lessons learned. So...maybe the 'travel party' could become a 'life-sharing party' :)

The Racing Mind

What's the matter with my iPod shuffle? C'mon...don't fail me now....whew...it works. So many people...so far from the start line...what? It's time to go? Why are we still standing here? Are you running? Yeah, they might finish before we start. Finally the pack starts to budge. Little by little. Starting line. Crossed. Okay. Energy levels are high. Weaving time. In-n-out. Okay. Shed clothing on the street. Anyone need a sweatshirt or gloves? ... Anyone ever thought of shopping at a marathon for new clothes? Cool! How often does someone get to run on I-90?! Walkers seem to be on the right-hand side. Full marathoners left. Half marathoners right. Good. No way that could be any more clear. You're on my heart, just like a tattoo... Nice weather. Nice views. Wandering eyes soak in the beauty. When to take water, when to pass. Let it pass this time since they're way over there on the right-hand side. Wipe the nose. Adjust the hat bill. That's okay that my hat doesn't at all match my marigold runner shirt underneath my humongo jacket. Seattle is so beautiful! Upward I look and see Him there, who made an end of all my sin...to look on Him and pardon me... Oh man. Now people are passing me like crazy...they know how to pace themselves. Need to practice hilly runs and pacing. Set aside the cloud of witnesses. Take a little water. Bump. Sorry. Toss the cup. Keep going. Random people cheering at random places. Any familiar faces? No. Always with Liz. Who's Liz? ... her heart still beats inside... Where is the love?...One earphone out to catch the time. Okay, time to push it. GO! Lift those legs! Take it smooth and strong...Wow, gummy worms. Pass. You are yesterday, you will always be... Everything's gonna be alright... Alleluuuuuia....ALLELUUUUIA...Praise the one, risen Son of GOD!! Keep going. Okay, some more water. Keep it up. Last 3 miles? Push it! Up the trail. Various cars waiting. How long do they have to wait? Hopefully they aren't driving anyone to the hospital. Almost there. Space needle in sight. What? Going uphill again? Where's Memorial Stadium? 1/2 mile left. Next, next, next. Song search time. Police cars blocking off a street. Keep going. Anyone I know watching me? No. Okay, time to turn the music off...Fast forward a bit --> Wow, how cool is this? Running into a stadium, spectators all lined up looking for their loved ones. Go, go, go...02:19:34.8. Oh...there are my parents and Anne...I'm done. Certainly not my goal time, but, I'm done. And I exceeded my goal with the fund-raising for World Vision...THANK YOU, if any supporter is reading this...



*Note #1: The results for me ended up to be: 2:15:35.2 (chip time) and 2:19:34.8 (offtime)


*Note #2: In this recreation, while some of this might be truly what I was thinking, feeling, saying, doing, seeing or hearing, some stuff likely does not truly reflect my thoughts at the time and might not be 100% accurate...

edit: 1/27/08

Students are human, too!

Obviously. But really, encountering a wide spectrum of personalities is one of the fascinating aspects of teaching!

Two examples from today --

1) Honesty -- One student approached me because he thought he should have received one point less. I used to be like about points when I was a student, too!! Wow!

-- After school today, I helped and chatted with another student. One question she asked me was about a sentence she wrote for another class. She was supposed to have written a compound sentence, so she was supposed to rewrite the sentence she wrote. I think her concern was not knowing what else to write about to expand the sentence because she'd already written about all the pets in her home in America, I think.

2) Passionate Frustration -- So today in class a student was frustrated about a question on the quiz. He was also frustrated about a particular section (he only underlined the part he thought was the mistake; he didn't change the mistakes like he was supposed to). I addressed his question for awhile before moving on, and after the class it seemed as if his passionate frustration had subsided or disappeared.

3) Concern -- As I mentioned in #1, I met with a student after school today. She seems sweet and bubbly, but also she seems to have her share of difficulties with her life here (ie. transportation, not speaking English at lunchtime). I am glad she shared those concerns with me.

I like the relational aspect of teaching! And even #2 had a benefit -- seeing how wait time can truly seem to heal or subdue 'trauma' (even if it's seemingly very minor to most people).

In Short

(deleted a bit on 10/15)

Just a few words on a few topics...

1) Politics (at work) -- Not really into them, but, at the same time, it's interesting to listen to discussion of them.

2) Politics (ie. president) -- Not really into people's president-bashing, but if they are going to criticize the president, why don't they talk rationally and objectively about the actual politics vs. the intelligence/verbal abilities of the president. I can be clumsy at communicating; perhaps people who bash the intellectual capacity of the president internally judge me as well.

3) It's all in the name -- politics vs. selfishness, passionate vs. obsessed, busy-minded vs. procrastinator, too busy/stressed vs. uncaring

4) Confession -- I wonder if the confession of one's own personal sins among Christian friends/relatives is simply not often done. And if people were to do that more often, there is the risk of being gossiped about.

5) Setting the mind on things above -- Would be neat if I could more often focus on the deeper aspects of life and interactions that if extended might become more meaningful. Should think more about things that matter.

6) Life is life -- Mon. - Thursdays of this quarter, I've been trying not to do work at home. But if one is single, and there are no commitments on particular nights, is the ideal life necessarily getting all work done in a timely manner and saving the evenings for oneself? There is no mandate. Even if one were to work from morning to late night at the same place, God could still bring joy in that case. Who says that work has to finish by early evening, and pleasure must be had at home (again, on commitment-free nights)? Life is...life. "Wherever I go, there I am."

Life Reminder #18

18. Expect the worst, hope for the best.

Life Reminders #14-17

14. "We don't know what the future holds, but we know who holds the future."
15. We don't always know when people have busy minds.
16. "Stress is overrated."
17. Trials can act as opportunities for faith tests.

Life Reminders #1-13

1. Step by step. Start small.
2. Work on it for 30 minutes.
3. Blossom where you're planted.
4. Don't marry someone you can live with - marry someone you can't live without.
5. Life is short.
6. Everyone has their own little world. Maybe their mom just died. Life doesn't revolve around you.
7. Here lived a street sweeper who did his job well.
8. In whatso'ever estate, there are relationships to cultivate.
9. Character is who you are when no one but God is watching.
10. Love your enemy.
11. Not teacher-centered or student-centered, but subject-centered.
12. Ecclesiastes is excellent.
13. Care about those who are caring for others. (Practical translation --> in a ministry, care about the leaders' spiritual being/fellowship as well as those being reached out to.)

Teaching Perk

Today I met with a student outside class, and I feel like she is in an 'aha' period of her writing skill development. I think she used a couple of handouts (not created by me) to influence her latest writing. ******Anyway*yay*******

How do you decide if you should do something 'big'?

First be content with doing the 'small and mundane', because even if you do the 'big', once you do that, life may still seem 'small & mundane'? And then once people get semi-established, I wonder if it's hard to pursue the 'big'...like now that I'm now I'm moved out (well, I still need to go through a bunch of junk back home), how would I ever even consider doing the 'big', unless I strive for the 'big' in the middle of the seemingly mundane life...and yeah, so maybe I'm on my way to being 'established', but, whatever that means, ... 'established' as a single individual who has possibly lived 1/3 + of her life, and possibly who will have a new kitten next month? Will that be my 'establishment'? What happened to my big 'dreams' of the past? Now here I am - all grown up, and in a time of transition. Now what...

The subtilities of manipulation & brain-washing & influence

I shouldn't take a lot of time to dwell on this concept right now, but, I think manipulation happens a lot, perhaps in both good ways and bad.

Through tones, attitudes, words.

Perhaps when it happens for the good, perhaps it's 'positive influence' rather than 'manipulation'...

Hmm.

And then why are people sometimes so easily manipulated or influenced?

Hmm.

Que Sera Sera

from the Doris Day song on http://www.lyriczz.com/lyriczz.php?songid=12960:

When I was just a little girl
I asked my mother, what will I be
Will I be pretty, will I be rich
Here's what she said to me.

Que Sera, Sera,
Whatever will be, will be
The future's not ours, to see
Que Sera, Sera
What will be, will be.

When I was young, I fell in love
I asked my sweetheart what lies ahead
Will we have rainbows, day after day
Here's what my sweetheart said.

[...]

Now I have children of my own
They ask their mother, what will I be
Will I be handsome, will I be rich
I tell them tenderly.

[...]

Aging

This is a picture of my grandma and I on Christmas Day of this year. I cropped me out because I don't want to post a picture of me on this. While I like this picture of us, she looks a bit sad and contemplative. I think she mentioned something to the extent that she's sad because she's aging. And she may have mentioned it after this picture was taken. Was she thinking about aging at the time of the snapping of the picture?

Sad...

What does it feel like to be an elderly person? Or a non-elderly person who is conscious of a terminal illness? What is it like to be conscious of the brevity of life? What's the perspective?

God please teach me to number my days.

From the Sara Groves website - the lyrics to "What Do I Know":

"I have a friend who just turned eighty-eight and she just shared with me that she's afraid of dying. I sit here years from her experience and try to bring her comfort. I try to bring her comfort, . But what do I know? What do I know? . She grew up singing about the glory land, and she would testify how Jesus changed her life. It was easy to have faith when she was thirty-four, but now her friends are dying, and death is at her door. . Oh, and what do I know? Really, what do I know? . Chorus: I don't know that there are harps in heaven, Or the process for earning your wings. I don't know of bright lights at the ends of tunnels, Or any of those things. . She lost her husband after sixty years, and as he slipped away she still had things to say. Death can be so inconvenient. You try to live and love. It comes and interrupts. . And what do I know? What do I know? . Chorus . But I know to be absent from this body is to be present with the Lord, and from what I know of him, that must be pretty good. Oh, I know to be absent from this body is to be present with the Lord, and from what I know of him, that must be very good."

Free Hugs Campaign

http://freehugscampaign.org/

"We often find ourselves thinking, 'When life settles down a bit, I'll...' But we should have learned by now that life never settles down. Whatever we want to accomplish, we must do it with life unsettled." (Donald Whitney)

Memory, Feelings, Change

Augustine -- "...the remembering is far different than the experiencing. Without rejoicing, I remember the joys I once felt. Without renewed sorrow, I recollect past sorrows. I can review old fears without being afraid and remember what I once wanted without desire. In reflecting on some memories, I now feel the opposite emotion I felt then" (p. 151 , The Confessions of St. Augustine, Modern English Version, abbreviated).

I'm glad certain feelings won't last forever... Why is it that feelings can be so piercing in certain areas, and in regard to other aspects be almost numbed?