A Dream. . . . . .

As the weather turns colder (Its 9 degree Celsius in Vancouver, Canada), the rains longer, the days shorter, and the evenings darker, sometimes it is nice to dream nice things. Here is my dream...... written in a song. (Sing to the tune of Celine Dion's "My Heart Will Go on" in the movie Titanic. Song adapted as well.

My Drool Will Go On

Every night in my dreams
I see you, I feel you,
That is how I know you go on

Far across the distance
And spaces between us
You have come to show you go on

Near, far, wherever you are
I believe that my drool will go on…….
Once more you showed me the bowl
And I wish you’re in my stomach
Thought my mouth will drool on and on…..

Smell can reach me us one time
And last for a lifetime
And never let go till you’re gone

Taste was when I loved you
One chopstick I hold to
In my life we'll always drool on

Near, far, wherever you are
I believe that my drool will go on…….
Once more you open the door
And you're here in my heart
And my mouths will drool on and on…..

You're not here, there's nothing to cheer,
And I know that my drool will go on
We'll stay forever this way
You are ever in my heart
And my drool will go on and on






"Bak Chor Mee (Egg noodles with pork)"

I stumbled upon this blog that highlights a potpurri of favourites that make me miss Singapore/Malaysia.

My saliva's drooooooooooooooling................. Help! Someone invent a instant food transporter!

ks

Hug It But Not Too Much (5Cs of Tech Addictions)

Hug It but not too much
We have it in our cell phones. We use it daily to send emails and extract information. We drive them and it brings us to faraway places in quick time, in comfort and in style. Taking the shape of machines, technology has become so much a part of our lives that we cannot do without them. ABC has a news article on this.

In this article, I shall argue that there are 5Cs of addiction we need to take note of. It makes people susceptible in a high-tech electronic age. Firstly, people have taken more to calculations as a form of identity. Quantifiable means have replaced and subsumed the qualitative. Secondly, many people cannot do without cellphones, and they will feel largely incomplete and unfulfilled in case somebody tries to contact them. Thirdly, lots of people are addicted to their computers, so much so that they are not able to properly function without one. Too much information are stored in their computers already. Fourthly, throughout the nation, even the world, the convenience of information at one’s fingertips is driving people to the keyboards rather than to a community center or a place where people gladly meet. Finally, addiction to cyberspace is something that affects all of us, especially the younger people who are more tech-savvy and cyber-groovy who can easily become online junkies. In conclusion, I shall assert that there is hope to address these 5 addictions. The first step to any recovery process is in the recognition that the addict is indeed addicted and needs help. In all of these addictions, the core reason is due to the lack of self identity one experiences, and any efforts to use addictions to the 5Cs as a way to define one’s self-worth is useless. Instead, a healthy relationship with God is utterly essential to escaping the tempting clutches of the addictions of modern society.

1) Addicted to Calculations
Technology is both a friend as well as an enemy, says Neil Postman, a 20th century cultural critic. He warns us about the tyranny of machines over man. What is particularly insightful in Technopoly is his view of the mathematical representation of reality. He argues that the human society has essentially reduced reality into a set of numbers. Our worth in education is based on the grades we get, or our GPA score. Our heart pressure is measured in terms of the systolic and diastolic heart rate numbers. Our identity is measured according to our height, weight, date of birth, social security number, driver’s license number, insurance number, etc. Our economic worth is measured based on how many years of working experience, how much we earn, how many degrees we have, how many awards and certificates we collect, etc. Our IQ can also be measured. Governments have tried to conduct multiple censuses over the years, collecting data and processing them, compressing, compiling and eventually distilling all the information and reducing humankind into a miserable statistic. Can we do that to relationships? Can our friendliness be measured by how many friends we have? Can a quality of a friendship be based on how much a friend is willing to lend us money, and by how much cash?

Neil Postman writes powerfully:

“To a man with a pencil, everything looks like a list.
To a man with a camera, everything looks like an image.
To a man with a computer, everything looks like data.
To a man with a grade sheet, everything looks like a number.” (Neil Postman, Technopoly, New York: Vintage Books, 1992, p14)

If I can add, to a man with an addiction, everything looks like gas to FUEL their obsession. People have unconsciously placed quantity over quality in their quest to measure something that cannot be measured. They have attempted to use numbers to bring a ‘standard’ meaning to non-measurables. I argue that relationships have to be seen in their own light and we must not take the lazy man’s way to try to simplify things in the name of making it ‘easier’ to understand. Every relationship is unique and we must be careful to preserve it and enhance it according to how much we understand of the relationship, not using the world to explain the person, but to understand how the person sees the world. Technology accelerates this calculation phenomena.

2) Addicted to Cellphones
An ABC survey was done recently where: “40 percent of people surveyed can't cope without a cell phone, 35 percent of people used cell phones to escape their problems and 7 percent blamed the cell phone for a lost relationship or job.” When I was a teenager in the 70s, cell-phones were unheard of. Those who owns one must be very rich. The wireless phenomena slowly spreads. Popularized by the Hong-Kong ‘mafia’ style movies, gangsters in those gang shows were seen coolly using bulky Motorola ‘brick’ hand-phones called “Tai-Kor-Tai” which literally means ‘big brother big.’ The larger the phone, the bigger the significance of the status of the gang leader. Sometimes, it is an arm’s show of strength and prestige to be able to hold on tightly to a gigantic and heavy handphone in the 80s (see left). It has much more uses than the small cellphones we have nowadays. You can use it as a door-stopper, you can pound it on the table to prove your point, and you can even use it as a cockroach-killer. When that monster device rings, there is such a wow ring that everybody in the coffee shop knows you have that status symbol. A loud ring then needs a booming ‘HELLO’ to sync the whole talk experience.

There have been some attempts to dissuade people from greater phone usage. Some of them are medical, where some reports showed a higher radiation risk due to the wireless signals that could fry the brain. Others are plainly due to cost. I think the biggest problem is addiction. In Korea, some have taken on the fight against mobile phone addiction. An Australian talk show highlights this problem. In Japan, many are worried about children’s addiction to the mobile phone that the government is asking manufacturers to make phones with mainly the talk and location function. Click here to read more. To compound the problem, almost every form that I fill, every registration application for anything, ranging from product warranty cards to various service registrations, almost always, there is a small space for one to include their cellphone number. Can we really do without the cell phone? It is possible but increasingly difficult.

3) Addicted to Computers
When Bill Gates first entered the computer scene, his vision for his company is to have a computer on every desk at every home. His vision has tremendous success. Nowadays, it is not uncommon to have households with more than one computer. It will seem that with the wireless router popularity, every household will have a network or more to link all these computers together. As a technology guy, I network several computers very easily, doing load balancing among the different computers and different operating systems and trying to make the best use of old hardware and software while they are still useful. Upgrading unnecessarily can also be an addiction to fight against. With an increasingly networked environment and the ubiquity of information sharing via the Internet, the computer is fast becoming an indispensable tool. We use it to search for recipes for home cooked meals, we use it to read newspapers online, we use it to check TV programming for the day, watch sports, read digital books, communicate via email and update our lives on the blogspace. Advertisements are helping to make people think that they needed newer, faster and better machines all the time. There is a saying that the moment one buys a computer, it is already outdated. Some will venture to say that the moment a new computer rolls out of the manufacturing line, it is obsolete. This increases the volume of e-waste that creates havoc to landfills and environmental concerns. Some have argued for ending obsolescence by sticking to standard guidelines for saving information. You can read the white paper in pdf here. After-all, isn’t it true that information and data remain largely similar, only the format and the means to creating and keeping it has changed. For example, save the document on TEXT format or Rich-Text (RTF). We will then be able to avoid worries about whether it is compatible with Microsoft Word 2008, 2004, or OpenOffice, or Wordperfect, or MacOffice, or different kinds of different word processors. Of course, different manufacturers will claim to have their unique features, and claim to adhere to a certain standard. Often such moves are streamlined to ensure their dominance in the market. One can be addicted to so many things under the umbrella of computers.

• Addicted to Upgrading
  
• Addicted to Speed
  
• Addicted to Constant paranoia of disk fragmentation/defragmentation
  
• Addicted to NOT having the latest and the greatest
  
• Addicted to worry over sounds coming from the hard drive
  
• Addicted to eliminating all pixel malfunctions on the LCD monitor
  
• Addicted to a slow mouse movement
  
• Addicted to multiple windows / widgets that MUST appear at a particular moment and time.
  
• Addicted to the proper functioning of the random photo images display as Wallpaper
  
• Addicted to programs that HAS to function at a certain speed
  
• ……..

What drives such addictions? It is due in large part to something more internal.

4) Addicted to Convenience
Having technological tools around us is convenient. It is fast to check the nearest convenience store to drive to. We can even order food and grocery online. It is also convenient to drive our car to the nearby grocery store, provided the traffic is light and there is a parking spot available. With the advent of online maps like Google Maps, and GPS units, petrol stations employees will find lesser people asking for directions. Is that a boon or a bane? Well, we all know that working alone can be kind of boring, especially waiting for a customer to pop in. I worked in a service line before and I am always excited whenever there is a customer wanting to buy something. Not only does it makes good business for the organization I work with, it takes the monotony away.

It is convenient to simply pick up the phone and call someone, even our neighbour. It is convenient to throw in a few quarters to get our coca-cola pop-fix without having to wait in line for a convenience store cashier to serve you one. People in generally like convenience without risk or with minimal cost. Unfortunately, convenience stores are rarely cheaper than the larger supermarket chains. There is a price to pay for convenience. A 7-11 that opens 24 hours a day at a neighbourhood near us will normally charge us about 10-30% (or more) extra. Does it ever occur to anyone that:

• If everyone were to conveniently click on the computer, are we removing opportunities for face to face interactions? Will it spell the demise of a society who does not know anybody at all who is working at the nearby stores? Who is my neighbour will thus become a more difficult question each day as we embark upon the pursuit of convenience.
  
• Driving a car merely for the sake of convenience may clog the road system for other more needy users, like ambulances, bikers, pedestrians, even adding extra carbon waste to the air we breathe?
  
• Convenience very often comes at the expense of additional packaging (and waste!)?
  
• Convenience may become the primary consideration over care and goodwill to one another? (I have seen people fighting over a parking lot just outside the grocery store)

Sometimes I tend to think that the addiction to convenience brings out the worst in people. People offer rides only if it is on the way. Rare is the chivalry that one will send another home, in spite of the inconvenience. Is society getting more addicted to convenience or to the fear of inconvenience? I think it is both.

It is more convenient nowadays to resort to a search on the Internet for all kinds of information. The trouble is, the more we spend time online, the less we have offline. Information conveniently located at web storage pages have also allowed companies to spend LESS on human resources and MORE on machines and equipment. Of course, some people will argue that human resources have been diverted to ‘more productive use.’ I have worked in the high-tech industry before and I know such an argument is like a leaking bag. With cut-throat competition, the fastest way to cut costs is to reduce headcount for the largest expense in any corporation is salaries.

5) Addicted to Cyberspace
I guess a lot of people would have known that those who are addicted to cyberspace and the online world are people who struggle with offline reality. Their lack of connection to family, friends and God pushes them toward an inferior alternative via clicks on the Internet. It is much quicker and requires no need for extended patience to wait for a traditional human response. A HTTP address command gives one the web page one desires, which does not rebel or speak back against you. It responds quickly based on commands on the keypad giving one a sense of control. No requirement for human wait time. No need to allow human idiosyncrasies. No obligation to depend on other people’s moods. You want the news, go to CNN.com, ABCnews, and any of the thousands of web pages that parades the breaking news. You want the time or weather, check it out with a widget or a tiny electronic banner. You want the latest currency rates? Click the nearest financial website. You want to play games with a machine, or to look for online games, simply log in and play away! Even sexual fantasies are played out anytime, anywhere and any manner the online addict desires. Cyberspace companionship and computerized fellowship has been digitized into a Me-Tarzan-You-Machine relationship.

All of these addictions I believe are part of the human condition of sin. Jan Kern, a mother and author of several books tries to reach out to teens and young people in this electronic age. Her latest book, “Eyes Online: Eyes on Life” is a timely reminder for anyone addicted to online devices, that young people of this age are fast exchanging real life with online life. She writes:

“Names changed. That happens often online. Roles are played. Identities are masked. The Internet is a huge part of our lives, but I hope you won’t ever feel you have to hide your identity when it comes to being honest with God about your online activities. He cares deeply about you—the real you with all your hurts, struggles, and longings. ” (Jan Kern, Eyes Online: Eyes On Life, Cincinnati: Standard Publishing, 2008, p18)

Jan argues that contrary to external perceptions that the dangers of the Internet are due to the content (pornography, violence, language, etc), the hidden menace lies in the process. It is a zero sum game. An hour spent online means an hour lost not able to connect meaningfully with another human person using our ears, our hands, our eyes and even our noses! For Jan, the first step to recovery is to recognize that he/she has a problem and needs help. Without this first stride, there will not be any meaningful healing way at all. The prayer she offers is certainly one that is helpful:

“God, being online is a part of my daily life. It’s really easy to spend time there and get caught up in activities that keep me from being all you created me to be, from doing all that you created me to do. It’s especially easy to slide into believing what I do on the Internet doesn’t matter so much. Give me the courage to consider where you are leading me about my online choices, and give me the strength to go there. Amen.” (Jan Kern, p18)

A friend of mine works with an organization in Singapore that reaches out to teens and helps them to avoid the pitfalls and dangers of cyberspace activities. He says: “Some play to escape from real life, some to achieve what they can't get in real life and others to simply meet their social needs.” Escapism is long a channel for people to cope with a stressful and lonely society. Young people especially are prone to such acts. They need help.

What can we do about these addictions?
Like the popular saying: “Prevention is better than cure,” any form of disease or addiction is best prevented rather than waiting for the problem to happen and get worse. Even pharmaceutical products work best at prevention rather than curing. Take the example of cancer. There are many meaningful steps that can be taken to prevent it from happening. It is the small little things that add up to one big eventual bang. The same thing can be said for addiction. If we do not contain any of the addictions at its infancy, once it becomes full blown, the challenges rise exponentially. Once it is declared an epidemic, it is almost always too late.

I am part of the Theology and Technology group at Regent College. In this group, there are monthly meetings and presentations that individual contributors will share with the group. The community does boasts of a wealth of experience in the technology industry as well as the depth in theological thinking. There is a “faith and technology blog” that highlights some of the concerns of the group. I think the group serves a very important platform for continued theological engagement with the technology world as machines and devices regularly tries to metamorphosise themselves into the next latest-and-greatest big thing.

Rodney Clapp writes:

“Our addictions to substances or experiences – to speed, noise, frantic activity, alcohol, shopping – are among other things consuming distractions. We embrace these addictions to be distracted from boredom, from a nagging sense of shallow meaninglessness, and not least from the fact of our mortality. Asceticism for our day would be a mortification of our pervasive and profuse capacities for addiction. This mortification would in turn be a liberation from our self-destructive addictions. It would take us beyond ourselves, since even self-denial and self-hate are ways on concentrating on the self. It would lead us to be caught up by, to have our attention absorbed by, God’s kingdom, and in that kingdom the needs and hopes of our neighbours and the world.” (Rodney Clapp, Tortured Wonders, Grand Rapids: Brazos Press, 2004, p166-7)

Ditto. What makes the high-tech C's so tempting and attractive is that it fills a certain vacuum, one that is increasingly empty of meaning of life and desperately lonely. The failure to have meaningful connections with people have driven many to find a grossly inadequate alternative: online world.

One more observation. The eyes have a certain propensity to be distracted, at least much more than the ears. How many times have we learned to observe silence by closing our eyes and simply listen? Using our ears more is a way to address any unhealthy compulsion with our eyes. The eye is an amazing part of our body. It contains at least three different types of light-sensitive cells. The rods and cones are image forming a visual picture while the photosensitive cells detect light rhythms. With the ear, one learns to still the rest of the body in order to listen more attentively to any soft sounds. With the eye, a slightest flash from behind turns one to move away from any focal point in front, losing concentration in the process. Some advertisements try to play on this distractive element. For example, in one shampoo commercial, while a man is driving an elegant car with his wife, all it takes is the sight of a sexily dressed long-haired blonde waiting by the roadside to divert his eyes from the road. You know the rest of the story. The car gets smashed. Taxis and trucks behind creates a nasty pileup. The man gets slapped by his wife, and the blonde lady nonchalantly walks away. All it takes is one look and the whole world pays for insurance claims arising from the accidents.

Technology. You can hug it but not too much. Like what Forrest Gump say, "Life Is like a Box of Chocolates... You Never Know What You're Gonna Get!" I will add, too much of it and you will find it too sweet. Too much technology, you will find that you get hooked on addiction. May the Lord guide you the reader, even as you read this article online, that you beware of any addictions that lurk on the background.

ks

Our Best Versions (Relationships)

OUR BEST VERSIONS
Last night as I was driving a friend home late at night, we chanced upon the comparison of Oxbridge, like what is the difference between Oxford and Cambridge. My friend said that Cambridge has better library resources in terms of ease of use and its modern convenient way of getting information. I countered by saying that Oxford is pretty strong in the humanities and philosophy. Cambridge on the other hand is better known for their sciences. Such stereotyping does little justice to two great English Universities, which have contributed tremendously to the academic industry and the world at large. Many of my professors from Regent College are from Oxford and Cambridge. In fact, the training and academic rigour at Regent is so deep that many Regent graduates have gone on to England for their doctoral studies. Telling Oxford and Cambridge apart is hard, simply because both of them are unique in their own special ways. Tradition may separate them. Technology might even try to differentiate them. Either way, it is safe to say that stereotyping or over-simplifying Oxbridge is to be shunned. Both are great institutions of learning and have excelled because of each other. I dare say that Oxford is what it is today because of Cambridge. Likewise, Cambridge is most excellent because of the presence of Oxford. We all need healthy competition and edifying co-existence.

Life together is an opportunity to do just that. Relationships among church members have to be developed healthily, intentionally and tenderly (H.I.T). Building healthy relationship is to help one another become the best version of ourselves. No man is an island. Neither do we do not exist in a vacuum. Dietrich Bonhoeffer in Life Together says it very well:

“Whoever cannot stand being in community should beware of being alone. You are called into the community of faith, the wall was not meant for you alone. You carry your cross, you struggle, and you pray in the community of faith, the community of those who are called. You are not alone even when you die, and on the Day of Judgment you will be only one member of the great community of faith in Jesus Christ. If you neglect the community of other Christians, you reject the call of Jesus Christ, and thus your being alone can only be harmful for you.” (Bonhoeffer, Life Together, Fortress Press, 2004, p82-83)

Bonhoeffer then quotes Luther’s words in saying that “If I die, then I am not alone in death; if I suffer, they the community of faith suffer with me.” These words are compelling. As we live or die, we do it to Christ. If we live or die, we also do it with our neighbour. As much as Christ came down to die for us, we are expected to live and die for our neighbours. These words demarcate the perimeters of our life on earth, describing how to live for God as our vertical trajectory and how to live for neighbours as our horizontal frontiers. Christ is our ultimate guide, one who is fully divine and fully human. That is why when we follow Christ, we honour God and we respect one another both in life and in death. We cannot live for ourselves only. We can only become the best version of ourselves by being part of a community. In doing so, our presence can accelerate and encourage others to become the best version of themselves. This is the crux of a living relationship.

Lessons from Pleasantville
The movie ‘Pleasantville’ depicts a utopian society where everyone lives in a seemingly perfect world, where people behave in a similar manner, conforming themselves to specific rules and customs. Thus ‘similarity’ and ‘conformity’ are the twin methods to preserving a ‘perfect’ community. Using black and white footage in the 50s era, the director tries to push the show as a critic of conformity-pushers, that it does not last. Relationships are straitjacketed by such black-and-white rules that life is all about doing the right things and not doing the wrong things. The director, Gary Ross touches on racism, on the folly of extreme orthodoxy, a critique of an archaic view of a perfect world made via values of strict observance of rules. Relationships were built on restricted gender roles, and people agreeing on a common set of values.

One of the most beautiful scenes of Pleasantville is the slow and romantic drive from black-and-white world into a panorama of colour. If a relationship can progress from simply doing right-vs-wrong things into one that accepts one another’s strengths and weaknesses, that knows when to admonish and when to speak a word of encouragement, it enhances life with meaning and purpose. The movie tries to inject a multiple spectrum of different perspectives in order to break the innocence of a black-and-white society. On the surface level, it is a welcome relief, and any audience will immediately emphathize with the poor people locked and trapped in their own world of strict rules and 'boring' adherence to the laws of the land. At this point, I find the movie rather one-sided. "More than Cake" has some interesting lessons to learn from the movie.

Apart from this, the movie does have some disturbing references to that moment of sin at the Garden of Eden. It gets the audience on the side of permissiveness, promiscuity and a slap on the folly of plain innocence. It depicts God like that of a strict disciplinarian who insists only on right-and-wrong acts. Fight the Good Fight ministries have a rather interesting take on the subtle message of Pleasantville, a lot of it makes pretty good sense, especially the one on the part of glorifying sin. [As usual, note that these links does not imply I endorse them. The links are provided mainly for reference.]

The Greening of the Garden of Relationships
However, dismissing the movie totally is not recommended as it gives us a window into an emerging worldview that seeks to find its own identity. Too much authoritarian-style traditionalism repels the young. Too liberal a stance spoils the young. The challenge is to be able to reach out to people of this era in a manner that is respectful of tradition and yet mindful of the deep struggle for identity. Relationships are cultivated best in an atmosphere of trust and goodwill. Like a seed that is planted on good soil, it requires the warm sunshine of gentleness, not the scorching glare of forceful commandeering. It needs the subtle watery drops of care, not the impatient hosing of the seed, which may drown the young seedling, or wash away the essential nutrients of life. It needs the intentional attitude of tending the seed, not the purposeless scattering of many seeds for the purpose of accelerating production and growth for a quick sale of its produce. Relationships are not to be bought or sold at any price. We are all called to be gardeners in the plantation of relationships. Some will sow while others will water. Some will prune while others will tap. Some will harvest while others will reap. At every stage of the gardening effort, God will be there to give any form of increase. Relationships can be cultivated at any level. It might be tougher at some phases of life, but it is all part of growing. I like this quote that talks about appreciating one another when we can.

“Present your family and friends with their eulogies now - they won't be able to hear how much you love them and appreciate them from inside the coffin.” (Anonymous)

What a wonderful reminder that we learn to appreciate one another while we still can. Speak encouragingly while we are still up and kicking and healthy. Say the words of love while we are together. For we do not know when our life on earth will end. We cannot simply assume that people will be there to shake our hand tomorrow, next week or next year. Life is fleeting and temporary. Indeed, most of us will say that relationships are critical in this life. Building good relationships seem almost always a given in job interviews or part of any job description. Even those who telecommute will need to know how to relate to others via the telephone or email communications. Most importantly, each person in any community must learn that they not only have a responsibility to themselves but to the people around them and the world at large. They are called to help one another become the best versions of themselves.

In Jim Stovall’s "The Ultimate Gift," the potential beneficiary of a huge inheritance, Jason Stevens, speaks of his learning about friendships. He relates the story between Gus Caldwell and his uncle Ted Stevens about a group of cattle ranchers whose ranches, though several miles apart, shared the same range. Each spring, all the ranchers will have to round up their cattle’s young calves. Each rancher needs a minimum number of cattle to remain in business. Gus, who was concerned that his friend Red might not make the numbers decided to brand a number of his own with Red’s brand. The following spring, at the roundup, instead of 30 cattle short, Gus found to his surprise he have almost 50 more cattle in his numbers! Only many years later did he learn that his friend Red also had a similar idea and did the same (even more) than what Gus did. Such friendship of giving to one another is a beautiful picture of a relationship that treasures one another.

Conclusion
Indeed, Oxford and Cambridge may be archrivals in the British academic scene, fierce contenders in the annual Oxbridge rowboat race (University Row Boat Race) and whose tradition of rivalry extends deep among faculties, students, alumni and supporters throughout the world. One thing that remains clear to me is that each of them has become the best version of themselves only because of the other. Does Cambridge bring out the worst of Oxford? Or does Oxford draw out the best of Cambridge? I believe healthy respect and an arm’s length admiration augers best for best institutions. Like any relationship, we need to discern when it’s best to come close and when it is best to stay away. Matthew Kelly, based in Australia, says it well in describing relationships as a synonym of making one another the best-versions-of-ourselves. I agree. The wonderful thing is that as we help others become the best version of themselves, we find ourselves strangely formed into the best version of ourselves. It is indeed not good for man to be alone. It is far better for one to help another, the best way he can possibly be and do. Like the wise Qoholeth in Ecclesiastes, there is a time for everything under heaven and on earth. Relationships are cultivated best in knowing when is the time ‘to embrace and a time to refrain’ (Eccl 3:5b).

ks

"Hockey Night in Canada" Theme Song

This is the original Hockey Night in Canada theme song, reputed to be Canada's 2nd national anthem. As hockey is virtually a religion in Canada, many people have been annoyed that CBC, Canada's national broadcaster have refused to continue paying for the rights to use this anthem, written by Dolores Claman in 1968. For more than 40 years, Canadians have listened to and enjoyed this anthem. Fortunately, TSN/CTV have bought the rights to the anthem and the anthem will still be played at their channels. That's a winner. Personally, I think the two CBC anthem finalists do not come close at all to this classic. The first, 'Canadian Gold' sounds a little too similar to the original at some point. The second, 'Sticks to the Ice' starts a little too slow though it picks up momentum in the middle and has a better ending. Unfortunately, both misses the consistent built up of what hockey actually means: Accuracy, consistency, speed and sheer pride to be wearing that hockey gear, or simply being a hockey fan. I think CBC has made a mistake. A big one.

Interestingly, a son of my professor at Regent College have sent in an entry. It was not selected. Anyway, in 'American-Idol' style, the number of finalists have been reduced to two, and the winner will be based on the highest number of votes. Check out the links below to hear it. Come this Saturday, the new anthem will be launched. For fun, I voted #1, which I feel is the better of the two, though not quite the class of the original Claman's version.

1) Anthem #1 (Canadian Gold)
2) Anthem #2 (Sticks to the Ice)

Financial Crisis (a super-simple explanation)

With the current financial crisis worldwide being the talk of the town, here is a simple video explanation that kind of explains the situation.........

ks

---

Other Links which you might be interested:

• Reuter's video explanation
  
• 7 Steps to Stop Finger-Pointing in a Crisis
  
• 10 Countries Least Affected by the US Financial Crisis
  
• Alan Greenspan's take
  
• A professor blames the god of the prosperity gospel for the crisis
  
• George Soros's view
  
• Singapore's Lee Kuan Yew's Viewpoint
  
• The Economist's Opinion
  
• Time Magazine's "Behind the Global Markets Meltdown"
  

Weaning

Fear is a real human condition. It affects our way of thinking and our actions. It impacts our way of life. It paralyzes one from making and doing good rational decisions. In fear, all kinds of foolish acts are possible. Some cling on to their crummy jobs because they fear that they will then be jobless. Some fasten themselves onto whatever structure their hands can grab hold of, every time the winds of change blow their way. Others refuse to give up their current possessions for fear of not having anything for the future. Some will sacrifice others in order to save themselves, due to fear. Fears are often internal. Some people fear that their children will not get a good enough mark for their education, and during that time, compromise all other things to make sure that their children are studying hard enough for the dreaded exam. Many people will take annual leave, give up social engagements and all other entanglements so as to ensure that their children perform well academically. If we were to measure anxiety, I wonder whether the person taking the exam is the child or the parent? I am not surprised when it is the parent who are more anxious than the bewildered child.

Inner fear is one of the most damaging emotional causes of depression and despair. We are becoming a therapeutic nation, where every symptom we encounter is something that needs treatment straightaway. I have heard that doctors usually treat symptoms rather than the whole person. They cannot handle emotional problems patients have. That will dangerously compromise medical ethics as well as lead to a sharp increase in medical premiums! There is also another aspect of fear that is deeply damaging, especially in the long run. Fear distracts us from the main focus of our calling, which is to Christ. CS Lewis says it powerfully through the character of Screwtape:

"The use of Fashions in thought is to distract the attention of men from their real dangers. We direct the fashionable outcry of each generation against those vices of which it is least in danger and fix its approval on the virtue nearest to that vice which we are trying to make endemic. The game is to have them all running about with fire extinguishers whenever there is a flood, and all crowding to that side of the boat which is already nearly gunwale under." (CS Lewis, The Screwtape Letters)

Indeed, fear has kept us from becoming our true selves. Distractions move us away from the strait and narrow road that the Spirit is leading us along. Distractions disturb our inner beings from that steadfast mind on Christ. Distractions deceive us into thinking that only when we have a wide arsenal of different tools of worship can we then worship God the Father. Some think that they can only worship God through many spirits and many truths. No! When that happens, one becomes vulnerable to make these methods and tools into mini-gods of worship. We will unconsciously become like these idolatrous images. The Lord our God is one. He desires our one focus and our single attention. He does not need many ways in order to get to him. Instead, he wants ALL of our ways to bend toward him. The Lord is one, and all of us who desire to worship him must do so in spirit and in truth, that is with one heart, one mind and one soul all dedicated and focused on him. The act of love is one of paying attention.

Weaning Ourselves From Milk
Dietrich Bonhoeffer urges Christians to be focused on God through the Word alone. In Life Together, he writes:

It is not necessary for us to find new ideas in our meditation. Often that only distracts us and satisfies our vanity. It is perfectly sufficient if the Word enters in and dwells within us as we read and understand it. (D Bonhoeffer, Life together, MN: Fortress Press, 1996, p88)

Like a growing disciple of Christ, we need to go beyond milk unto solid food. We need to wean ourselves away from milk that does not satisfy. What are the common things that we need to wean from?

1. SEMINARS: Some of us attend seminars and make it the main course of our spiritual life. We pay hundreds, sometimes a few thousand dollars to get that momentary boost. Often, most of the seminar learning evaporates after the last day of the seminar. We then stumble back to our normal way of life, waiting for another re-injection of the next latest and greatest seminar in order to feel more 'spiritually' alive. Avoid this form of spiritual narcotic. Seminars can supplement our spiritual growth, but it should not become the main staple of our Christian diet.
   
   
2. NEWER METHODS/IDEAS: We live in a world of ideas, where the latest and the greatest becomes the talk of the day. People flood to such movements.
   - "Why didn't the worship team use the latest Powerpoint version?"
   - "Why don't the pastor use more multimedia in his sermons?"
   - "Have you read the Bible in a Kindle yet?" (Kindle is the Amazon machine for reading ebooks)
   
   The truth is that many new ideas are like fads. They do a better job in distracting rather than focusing on worshipping God. For example, I remember one church that uses beautiful Powerpoint slides, which are beamed upfront with the words of the songs of worship each Sunday. All goes well if the slides are in sync with the worship leading. Occasionally, the words for the right song failed to appear, and worshippers end up frustrated by not being able to participate along. I found myself distracted by the different slides and words that do not flow in sync with the worship leading.
   
   
3. HAVING MORE: We do not need many things in order to live a life meaningfully. Some people find that only when they have a zillion variety of dishes will they be able to satisfy their guests. This has more to do with a faulty view of true hospitality. Lauren Winner, an adjunct professor at Regent College writes:

   God’s creation gives us a model for making and sharing homes with people, but the reality of God’s Trinitarian life suggests that Christian hospitality goes further than that. We are not meant simply to invite people into our homes, but also to invite them into our lives. Having guests and visitors, if we do it right, is not an imposition, because we are not meant to rearrange our lives for our guests—we are meant to invite our guests to enter into our lives as they are. It is this forging of relationships that transforms entertaining (i.e., deadly dull cocktail parties at the country club) into hospitality (i.e., a simple pizza on my floor). As writer Karen Burton Mains puts it, ‘Visitors may be more than guests in our homes. If they like, they may be friends.’(excerpted from Mudhouse Sabbath available from Radiant magazine.)

   In fact, having less things to prepare can free us up to spend more time with our guests.
   
   
4. BOOKS: Too much of a good thing is not necessarily good. The dangers of reading too many books is that we have less time to read the Bible. Even Qoheleth in Ecclesiastes admits it after a long search for meaning via the study of many books.

   But beyond this, my son, be warned: the writing of many books is endless, and excessive devotion to books is wearying to the body. (Eccl 12:12)

   We need to adopt reading as well as applying what we learn. In other words, 'talking-the-walk' must be done together with 'walking-the-talk.'
   
   
5. FEAR: We come back to this point introduced from the beginning. We need to be careful that we do not fear the small fires of our lives and get distracted from the fiery furnace of sin. Like in Screwtape's advice to Wormwood, people have a tendency to re-direct their essential fire-extinguishers to put out small fires, emptying that saving device to leave themselves vulnerable to a real fire looming right ahead.
   

We must wean ourselves from all of these and adopt the posture of Christlikeness through simplicity, focus and self-discipline. We must be focused on the goal of our life: Glorify God. John Ortberg writes that "the enemies of simplicity are multiplicity and duplicity. (John Ortberg, The Life You've Always Wanted, Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2002, p175)" He has a good piece of advice for us:

The goal is not for us to get through the Scriptures. The goal is to get the Scriptures through us. (Ortberg, p187)

Truly, true spirituality involves the discipline of simplicity. A story was told of Abba Ammonas

who was asked, 'What is the "narrow and hard way?" (Matt. 7.14) He replied, 'The "narrow and hard way" is this, to control your thoughts, and to strip yourself of your own will, for the sake of God. This is also the meaning of the sentence, "Lo, we have left everything and followed you." (Matt. 19.27)

Indeed, let us wean ourselves from distractions that may extinguish little flames at the expense of preparing ourselves to fight against the bigger flames that may come our way at any time.

ks

"The Dream Giver"

He started the Walk-Through-The-Bible
ministry in 1976, to guide people through the 66 books of the Christian Bible. His "Seven Laws of the Learner" remains etched into the minds of many people, used by many Churches and helped in the discipleship of young Christian believers. You can read about the 7 laws here, here, or here. His book, the "Prayer of Jabez" released in 2000 continues to be popular. "The Dream Giver" comes hot on the heals of that success. The Dream Giver is Wilkinson's update of the age-old classic: "Pilgrim' Progress." In The Dream Giver, Bruce Wilkinson shares his journey through the different stages of his life pursuing a dream he has. Through the parable of "Ordinary," who is a "nobody" in the "Land of Familiar." One day, Ordinary receives a Big Dream from the Dream Giver. Much like Abraham who was told to leave his country of origin to go into the land of Canaan, Ordinary is given a dream. To move from being a 'Nobody' to a 'Somebody.'

The Big Dream told him that he, a Nobody, was made to be a Somebody and destined to achieve Great Things. (Bruce Wilkinson, The Dream Giver, OR: Multnomah,
2003, p14)

The story has a very familiar line for many people who feels stuck in the rut. Here's a brief synopsis with some excerpts from the book.

In the Beginning........
It starts with a dream and novel excitement. As Ordinary embraces his big dream, he gets all pumped up. He decides to pursue his dream, say goodbye to his 'Ordinary Job' and leaves his comfort zone.He moves from the safe & secure familiar for the scary & unknown unfamiliar. Ordinary on reflection writes:

It was hard to leave my comfort Zone. But it would have been even harder to leave behind my dream, and I'm glad I didn't.... My Big Dream was on the other side of that invisible Wall of Fear. I had to step through it. I didn't think I could but I did. (26)

At the Border
Sometimes, it is at the threshold of change that fear and uncertainty peaks. It is the last exit before the border, the final parachute to jump off the plane, the remaining last moment to turn around and go back. All that combines to lift fears up to a chilling crescendo. Often this is made worse by please from loved ones. At the border, the dream-seeker meet 'nobodies' who try to dissuade him. Finally, he has to choose. Either to please the nobodies and the Familiarzoners, or to obey the Dream-Giver. Based on a promise, he proceeds in pursuit of his dream.

Ordinary, if you've found this boat, I know you've chosen to please the Dream Giver. Enjoy a dry crossing! Your dream is waiting for you in the Land of Promise. I promise! (Champion) (32)

Temptations and Discouragement Steps In
Once the enthusiasm wears off, reality seeps in. The dream-seeker travels into wasteland where he quickly consumes his food. He needs replenishment. Dryness and Exhaustion forms a potent combination for despair. He allows doubt to make the whole situation worse..until he found Faith.

Now I see that the Wasteland was not a Waste! It has taught me to trust the Dream Giver, even when he's nowhere in sight. (41)

Entering the Sanctuary
The dream-seeker soon arrives at a sanctuary. Here he receives a shocking request. The Dream Giver spoke to him and asked him to give back the dream. It was a difficult struggle. Eventually, he learns that "I am surrendering my Dream to you, Dream Giver. I've decided that it's you that I can't go on without." It was hard at first but greatly liberating for the dream-seeker. Toward the end, amazingly, this dream was returned back. Just like Abraham who was asked to offer Isaac as a sacrifice unto the Lord, and who eventually receives Isaac back alive as the Lord provided another sacrificial lamb. It made the dream-seeker realize that:

The Dream Giver gave my dream back to me. Now it is part of his big dream - and that means my dream is a lot bigger than before. May I always use it to serve him! (49)

Defeating the Giants
Journeys toward any dream are never easy. There are giants to overcome. The dream-seeker realizes that the biggest enemies are not the physical presence of danger but the insidious presence of unbelief. He writes:

Before I met my first giant, I met the Commander. He told me that I am a Warrior! He showed me that my weapons are every Truth I've learned on my journey. Unbelief is dangerous. So far, I have chosen to believe. But it feels risky every time. (59)

The Land of Promise

Dear Father,

I'm writing to you after a very long journey.
but I made it! I'm living in the Land of Promise and
watching my Big Dream happen all around me. And
to think it all started with sticks and mud when I was
a boy!

Father, I discovered that every Nobody has a
Dream, and it's never too late to pursue it! I know you
thought your Dream died, but a Big Dream never dies.
your Dream is here somewhere, waiting for you.
and if you don't pursue it, something very important
won't happen.

Of course, Mother has a Big Dream too! I can't
wait to see both of you!

Father as you see, I'm sending you my feather. It
will help you on your journey. It will lead you straight
toward a miracle that has your name on it.
I miss you!

Love your son

Ordinary

In summary, the Christian journey is like this parable. One starts with a high, gets challenged along the way, and only through perseverance and faith, one gets into the land of promise. This modern rendition of Pilgrim's Progress is a simple idea. It aims to spur one to leave the comfort of the ordinary which makes one nobodies. Instead, they should venture into unfamiliar territory in order to become somebody. Right on. We are indeed what we choose. What kind of life will you choose? Pursue your dream at the risk of uncertainty, or protect your current assets which is safe and secure (for the time being)? You choose.

ks