Dec 26, 2005

God help the outcasts
Hungry from birth
Show them the mercy
They don't find on earth
The lost and forgotten
They look to you still
God help the outcasts
Or nobody will
I ask for nothing
I can get by
But I know so many
Less lucky than I
God help the outcasts
The poor and downtrod
I thought we all were
The children of God

a summary of december

if there's anything consistent about my posts, it's the three-week break in between them.


been a crazy month, but i won't say much about it, 'cos the details have all been obscured by the more recent memories. i need more RAM.

i was commenting to someone yesterday or today that this is the first time in a very long time that i've actually had a day with NOTHING scheduled. of course, it entailed me turning down a game of frisbee and a barbeque, but i really needed the rest. this is how tired i was/am.

i slept at about midnight last night.
i woke at 10am.
i fell asleep slightly after 1pm.
i only woke up again at 6pm.
its now approaching 10pm. i'm very sleepy. just waiting for a phone call.

i've been falling asleep on buses on every bus ride without fail. i've managed to fall asleep several times on the mrt while standing. i think i really am a glutton for sleep... really can't do without an average of seven hours plus... can't focus properly with lack of sleep, which kinda messes up alot of stuff. seems a little unfair when i think about those people who seem to survive fine on four hours.... but i guess God created each of us special, and different, and that we just gotta make do with what we are given. warts, pimples, and all.

liked my christmas presents. got a Zits(r) treasury, which i finished within three hours of opening it about 27 hours ago, and have already read it a second time through. goes very nicely with the various Foxtrot and Get Fuzzy and Calvin and Hobbes and Baby Blues all over the house... thinking of bringing them all into my room and starting a collection. comics - good, clean entertainment. doesn't promote poor values, doesn't mess around with your emotions, portable, and easily readable in any small amount of spare time you have (no continuity required). gotta love 'em.
got yellow-orange polo tee thingy which came in this really interesting net thingy made from brown string.... trying to figure out some interesting way to use the net.... seems like a shame to just stuff it away somewhere out of sight.
got USB PS2 controller for the PC.... i remember just mentioning off-hand to my sis a couple of weeks back how the Winning Eleven 8 which i bought didn't play well with a keyboard, and so she got me that. it's very nice when people remember your off-hand remarks... shows you they actually listen. =). makes me feel valued.

quite happy with today, managed to get abit of stuff done. cleared up my room abit, caught up on a whole lot of sleep, typed an email which i've been putting off for awhile, wrote in blog! but still lots of things to do... feel like taking half day tomorrow to get it done..... the house is still in the post-christmas mess... feel like doing something about it.... got scholarship application which i've put off for very long, need to send some documents in to NUS by early Jan latest to confirm my place this year, still putting off driving lessons, haven't mounted the corkboard in my room which i bought two weeks ago.... and probably a bit more which has currently slipped my mind.

oh yeah, and my work is in a mess too. got more responsibilities than i know what to do with, and i'm slipping inexorably into ORD-mood .... i.e. i don't want to do anything at work anymore. but MY UNDERSTUDY HAS COME IN!!!! i.e. the guy who is supposed to take over my job, so i can start pushing my responsibilities away now. yay.

Dancing bears,
Painted wings,
Things I almost remember,
And a song someone sings
Once upon a December.


zzzzzz......

Dec 6, 2005

?

been pondering a couple of verses today...

"With this in mind, we constantly pray for you, that our God may count you worthy of his calling, and that by his power he may fulfill every good purpose of yours and every act prompted by your faith." 2 Thess 1:11

i was taught when i was young that having a good purpose is insufficient, and that we should act in God's will. so i have had a tendency to wait and not do anything, waiting for "the Voice of God" to speak to me and get me moving. i wonder if that's the way.... or rather, where the balance is found.

and also this:
Again the LORD spoke to Ahaz, "Ask the LORD your God for a sign, whether in the deepest depths or in the highest heights."
But Ahaz said, "I will not ask; I will not put the LORD to the test."
Then Isaiah said, "Hear now, you house of David! Is it not enough to try the patience of men? Will you try the patience of my God also?

but Jesus quotes the same words in Luke 4, "Do not put the Lord your God to the test". (the original quote is from Deut 6:16 thereabouts.) It looks for all the world like a contradiction to me.... you might say that the LORD spoke specifically commanding Ahaz to ask for a sign, but i have always believed that what God says will always be in accordance with His Word as written in the Scriptures - Ahaz was quoting Scripture, but it angered God? strange....

being a Berean, I am.

GEPers? %@!

been a spate of articles in Today regarding the elitist nature of those who are in the Gifted Education Programme.

of all the arguments, the only one that makes sense to me is that students of every kind and creed tend to hang out with people from their own class. and by some strange coincidence, GEPers' classmates are... MORE GEPERS!!! a more amazing leap of logic i have never deduced.

and, contrary to the newspaper report, we are not known even to ourselves as GEPers. we are known... as ... jeeps. take it from a "GEPer" himself. newspaper should REALLY try to get accurate information before publishing it for public misinformation.

and i REALLY, REALLY think that a SUB-EDITOR of the Today newspaper would have more SENSE and TACT than to compare GEPers with lepers. I officially register my displeasure, and wish the writer a plague of whitish skin that eventually causes his digits to fall off.

honestly. and i haven't even seen an apology from the newspaper.

.

it seemed so much easier when i was young to say, "here i am Lord, send me." as we grow up in this fallen world, as we live with people and rub shoulders with them, we start to develop other goals in our life. to get a certain job, to make a certain amount of money, to order life in the way which you see as being best for yourself and your own happiness.

but then you begin to make decisions that align to your own vision of life, your own path. you start to worry about having sufficient by way of material things, even though God has proven himself faithful time and time again. and you forget to consult God the all-wise and all-loving. i think the sermon touched on this on sunday - how we will only figure out what God's good, perfect and pleasing will for our life is AFTER we have presented our bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable unto God.

i shock myself that i actually remember what was preached in the sermon. doesn't happen often.


I surrender all
My silent hopes and dreams
Though the price to follow
Cost me everything
I surrender all
My human soul's desires
If sacrifice requires
That all my Kingdoms fall
I surrender all

Everything I have
All I've done and all I've known
Now belongs to You
The life I live is not my own
Just as Abraham laid Isaac
On the sacrificial fire
If all I am is all that You desire
I surrender all...


i'm pondering taking up a responsibility.... don't know what to think about it.

Dec 4, 2005

Exercise *classified*

it's amazing how pampered we are. what a blessed life i lead. such that i now take certain small luxuries for granted, y'know? things like hot showers, and a room/cupboard to call your own.

i was sent on an exercise, albeit a "senang" one which takes place inside of a building, fully expecting to spend the entire week cooped up, caged, unable to taste the free air. resigned to it, even. and when unexpectedly released close to 8pm on the first day, the joy which welled up within me seemed a strange counterpoint to the frustration and anger i feel if i am forced to remain beyond normal working hours, on any normal working day. how is it that going home at 6 is a greater cause for anger than going home at 9? it's all about perspective...

its interesting to see how lost, and unsettled i felt in those first few days, when i had nowhere to put my stuff down that i could call my own. i had packed enough for six days, and it was no small amount, and i continued to feel uneasy till a good friend found me some unofficial lodgings. how to describe it? i just wanted a place to set out my stuff, to organise the mound of belongings inside my bag, and a place to have some quiet solitude amongst the teeming masses. it did not happen till the third day. it reminded me of Jesus, somehow... some vague memory of having no place to call his own. hmm..

i was granted the unexpected favour of being able to return home on the first three days. on that fourth night....ok, i'm too tired to write nicely anymore.. anyway, it proved extremely hard for me to convince myself to take a shower... it was 10pm, the water was cold, the showerhead wouldn't produce anything but a single stream of water, and the cubicle was unfurnished but for a single clothes hook. the luxury of my current camp (which is so old that it is due to be refurbished within the next two years) is such that each shower cubicle comes with a clothes hook, a bench to park your stuff, and a shower curtain to prevent your stuff from getting wet. sheer luxury eh?

anyway, yes, took shower. couldn't really avoid it. the initial step is always the hardest.


so i stayed in camp for two nights on a bed that was not supposed to be mine. its occupants had obviously decided that home was a better place to be, but i did not have that option. and on the third day, when i was due to go home, i found that i was strangely calm about it. gone was that breathless anticipation, the aching desire to run all the way out the gates and to the bus stop, and fly home with all haste. in fact, i even stayed a little later than i needed to, to keep that good friend company for awhile.

one might marvel at how quickly humans adapt to new conditions. or perhaps it was the prior training i had, at BMT and OCS, which allowed me to adapt quickly to this new-old environment. but another week is coming up, when it is doubtful i will return home at all... and we shall see how things go.

Nov 16, 2005

echoes...

this happened a couple of weeks ago, during yet another prolonged absence from the blogboard, but i'm only writing it now.

it was the morning of Nov 6th, after a semi-sleepless night half-spent standing by my camp's main gate and waiting for people to appear so that i could open the gate for them. now that i think about it, i remind myself of those doors on that legendary starship, the Heart of Gold (go read H2G2!!) - "Thank you for making a simple door very happy!" *ugh*

so it was a sunday, and i was somewhat sleepy, suffering from sunday morning stupor, aided by somniferous sermon, so i decided to just flip through my notebook.

its an old notebook... used it way back in J1, half-filled it, then stopped for some reason. been carrying it around recently, but not really making entries in it... out of the habit. so i flip through the notebook, taking a glimpse into my life as a J1.....

it truly boggled the mind. i was numbshocked. and saddened.

recorded in those pages were the thoughts and prayers of someone whose life was totally focused on God. every decision, every problem, every plan came under the dominion of God. verses, reflections, prayers, the kind of journalling i'm trying unsuccessfully to do now. i read the prayers, and i saw someone who wanted with all his heart to submit each and every facet of his life into God's hands, with no regard for his own wants. put me in mind of the song lyrics.

There was a boy who had the faith to move a mountain
And like a child he would believe without a reason
Without a trace he disappeared into the void, and
I've been searching
For that missing person

i wonder where that person has gone, and whether he will ever come back. i wonder if its right to regret, and to be grieved over his disappearance. whether or not, like Aslan said in the Chronicles of Narnia, that you can never come back the same way twice. and whether or not that fire was merely laying the foundations for a stronger Christian life. but all the same.....

Look down and see this waiting host
And send the promised Holy Ghost
We NEED another Pentecost
Send the fire today!

i wanted to write more, but my sister is talking to me and i'm distracted. sigh... plus i need to go. late for rehearsal. sigh........

i want that same kind of fire, the all out burning passion to know God more, and to be known by Him. O Lord...

Nov 14, 2005

ever since starting work at my current job, i have begun to understand why some people display violent tendencies, why they throw things around, smash things up, create general mayhem. i have been much tempted to do the same myself. things like overturning tables, smashing computer monitors, throwing anything throwable, to more queer forms of rebellion such as - sitting under a table and refusing to talk to anyone for an entire day. finding an important document and systematically shredding it into minute pieces and scattering it over the floor. or just disappearing out of the office and going wandering round and round camp until it's time to go home.

it's attention-seeking, really. i felt, and still feel, unfairly treated. that people who don't work are getting away with it, and that the undone work falls on those who are left. and on days when the stress really gets to me, then such thoughts come into my mind, as a way to highlight my problems without actually ratting on someone.

and the sad thing is, i think it works. i have seen first hand how the organisation treats people who appear to be incapable of holding responsibility - they get less responsibility!! and they are given all kinds of leeway with regards to rules and such, and no one touches them. whereas it is entirely possible for someone who tries and fails to get penalised, for doing so much more than those slackers who act like they're dead, and avoid all responsibility. so i get frustrated. but then, i could never be like one of them.

i used to have a coworker who was capable and responsible. we worked well together, and urged each other on. now he has left, and i am left, left with incompetents and/or skivers.


i have also discovered that i am an extremely judgemental person. God give me strength to love people as they are, and not try to constantly harp on their faults.


i was listening to a song the other day, a song which i knew relatively well, and sang often. but listening to it afresh that day, i discovered that what i had been singing all along had only been the chorus, and that the verse too was written beautifully, and it meant alot to me.

When I am down and, oh my soul, so weary;
When troubles come and my heart burdened be;
Then, I am still and wait here in the silence,
Until You come and sit awhile with me.

You raise me up, so I can stand on mountains;
You raise me up, to walk on stormy seas;
I am strong, when I am on your shoulders;
You raise me up... To more than I can be.

You Raise Me Up, Josh Groban

Nov 13, 2005

not giving up.

like it says. not giving up.


i suppose that when i'm too tired to do properly productive things, i can just settle for doing the mundane, brainless, menial tasks which are part of everyday life. like, chores and stuff. i can show God's love in my life without engaging the brain too much. it's nice to be able to show love in such a great variety of ways... never gets boring. will attempt to do chores immediately after this.


been hearing this song on the radio recently - it is possibly the most.... erm.... campy.. song.. since the one about the Witch Doctor. to refresh fading memories, it went something like

Ooh Eeh Ooh Aah Aah
Ting Tang Walla Walla Bing Bang

but now i like this song!

oh OH oh sHe'S FoLLOwiNg mE
oh OH!! oh shE'S oUt oF hEr trEe
oH Oh OH SHe'S oFf of HeR RoCkEr
I wANna mArrY my STALKER!!!!

wo0h0o!! super fun song. no idea who it's by. =)

oh the irony of it all...

is that when i have a thousand things to say here, its when i have no time. too busy doing all the things that i sometimes feel like talking about. sigh....


events of note:

bought iPod mini. it is green. it seems like this is one of those possessions which may end up possessing the owner if he is not careful. beware.

the setup is annoying me. i suppose that getting it second hand means that i may have been short-changed the EZ Guide to Setting Up Your iPod Mini, which is proving frustrating. i need someone to teach me how to use iTunes. please?

heckuva taxing week. two guard duties, as well as one other "wayang" show where i stayed back in the office till 0130am in the morning, doing absolutely nothing, just to show that my branch is doing some work. firstly, it was a near-total waste of time. secondly, i doubt i did the image of my branch any good by sitting around reading /sleeping. thirdly, it was at least the third four-hour-of-sleep night i have had this week, which tends to impede the brain functionality. and the other nights weren't great either.

passed driving, basic theory. attempted to book a date for the advanced theory yesterday, but by some convergence of unfortunate circumstances, my test has been booked for this coming friday. morning. and i haven't even cracked open the theory book yet. i foresee a minor miracle, because it occurs to me that if i somehow pass the test now, i can book a driving test before i end army, which was what i was planning around.

and to think i haven't even gotten a driving instructor yet. perhaps planning too far ahead. ah well.

oh yeah, and effective immediately, i'm renouncing dota. having been addicted to it for about a month now, i think things have gone abit too far. i've spent seven hours this weekend playing, a rate which i haven't reached perhaps since the halcyon days of secondary school, when i would play ten hours in a single day. i have since renounced those days, and have no intention of reverting to my hedonistic self. i authorise anyone seeing me playing, or even reading about dota online, to issue a verbal warning. y'know, like "halt! put your hands in the air". stuff like that.

upcoming major exercise in camp, which is rumoured to be stay-in for two weeks. i have been slated to do a job which i have no idea how to do. it seems to pose yet another major hurdle to me turning up for musical rehearsals. sigh...

there is nary a moments to lose. we are all involved in a mission that is far greater than any of our daily troubles, and i struggle to remember that each minute and each second. i try, and i fail, but hey! at least nowadays i even try. it's a great improvement, yet there are miles to go.

everyday, i see more of my frailty. there is nothing good in man, not one thing. O wretched man that I am, who will save me from this body of death?

Hosanna, hosanna to the Lamb that was slain.
Hosanna, hosanna, Jesus died and rose again.


reading: The Case for Faith, Lee Strobel. anyone got a good book to lend me?




hallelujah, the iPod appears to be working. shame i can't bring it to camp though. saw a iPod Nano just now... looks fragile. does not fit into hand well. plus it was pink. happier with this one that i have.

Oct 24, 2005

sometimes also known as Ben's weekly....

oops i left my real name there. oh well. now perhaps people can link all my seditious posts to me and have me arrested under the ISA or something. =).


it's impossible to find silence nowadays. unless you have those white-noise-headphone things that blank out all sound. but its kinda hard to wear those all the time. hard to relate to people then.

there was like only one person in the office today (besides me, that is) for some time. and still there was noise. he was listening to music on the comp. similarly next door... only one person, with a radio on. it seems to me that people can't stand the sound of silence. and that's just sad.

our heads are continually bombarded by streams of sensations... is it any wonder that we have trouble being quiet before the Lord? some days it seems that in the rare periods of silence, my brain generates its own "noise", so much so that i can't focus on anything.

i lose my train of thought so much more easily, nowadays. attempting 'A' level math... i'll be chugging along, working things out systematically, when suddenly my brain decides to stop of its own accord.... i'll be thinking the same mathematical phrase over and over and over again... and after about ten seconds i'll forget what i was thinking about. 100% packet loss. sigh.... this is what being out of school for two years has resulted in.

i visited a secondary school today. part of work, setting up an army exhibition thingummy, Nan Hua Secondary. went with this lady Captain, spent over an hour in her vehicle with her during the travelling to and fro. and apparently i'm an adult now, 'cos we talked about bank loans and bringing up children and the difficulty of affording life in Singapore and changing values of the generations. was rather relaxing actually, notwithstanding the weighty conversation topics.


there is a difference between doing what is right, and doing the right thing. that was phrased terribly, but i don't know how else to put it. but there is no point in following rules legalistically - "everything is permissible, but not everything is good". that's actually quoted directly from the Bible, which probably would surprise many people. but our faith is not about following a bunch of laws laid down back in the days of Moses, but rather, about loving people, and doing things that edify them, and show them who God is.

it's so difficult to remember this, and apply it.



not giving up.

Oct 17, 2005

i'm improving!!

yay. it's only been like a week since my last post. definitely an improvement.


although i daresay that frequency of posts is not a criteria to determine a good blog.


just reading the blogs of a couple of friends from church, just wanted to say something about that. about how nice it is to read how God works in other people's lives. it's like testimony, and it's available worldwide! edifying....

work was good today. somewhat high coming home. which is rather incredible considering the circumstances... about 5 hours of sleep, people suddenly deciding to fall sick and not turn up, and various things going missing at work which i'm supposed to keep track of... thankfully i was not subject to verbal reprimand, which i take rather badly. but there was abit of constructive discussion and brainstorming on how to improve work procedures.... things to look forward to, as opposed to things to dread.

and i brought a CD to work today. Petra Praise 2, edifying music. listened to edifying music all afternoon, which really, really helped. alot. edifying music is important - so many people i know place the lyrics of songs which have touched them recently on their blogs... i've hardly listened to music these past two years Serving the Nation... my song repertoire is seriously out-dated. =). plus what with all the CCLI stuff and that i refuse to pirate music.... well... sigh. never mind, not to dwell on such things.

what with people on leave and having various excuses, i was alone in the office in the afternoon. and i really enjoy that. working at my own pace, having fewer people popping in and out, music which i enjoy, and the ability to have more serious conversations with people.... i remember feeling really crap in the morning because of the various "issues" about missing items, then i prayed during lunchtime that the people around me would be happy with what work i did, so that i would not be a nuisance and hindrance to them. and it seems to me that the answer was yes! hallelujah!





did i mention i've just come back from Hong Kong? =) amazing place... so much cooler than Singapore.

Oct 9, 2005

three-week hiatus, or sabbatical as the comic strip authors call it, and then two posts in two days. i am definitely beginning to see a pattern here.


i'm not supposed to be doing this. not now. i have many other things which need doing, all of which are being studiously ignored in favour of re-reading a Harry Potter book lounging on my mom's bed. supposed to be keeping her company these days - everyone else in the house is overseas.

Harry Potter books are adventure books. i like adventure books. i occasionally wonder how cool it would be if real life were like that; full of drama, intrigue, action. methinks it would be too tiring for me though.

i've grown to realise how JKRowling is actually pushing her own values through her writing. preaching, if i may use that word, against discrimination, with all that pure-blood / mudblood issues. against bullying the weak, how Harry's best friends are the round-faced forgetful one, the one called Loony (not Wayne Rooney, no), the buck-toothed know-it-all, the tall, gangly freckled one. not that i see anything wrong about being tall and gangly, but i've been brought up differently, i suppose. she's teaching kids not to judge people based on appearances, and i believe that she will be wildly effective in doing so, because the books are just so popular.

from the books, i see that she values courage and loyalty, and probably a sense of humour as well.

i've seen a couple of books being sold by Christian bookstores, whose titles generally lean towards things like "The Truth Behind Harry Potter", or something towards that meaning. i've heard someone tell me that some of the names used in the book are actually the names of demons, although how we learned the names of these demons was not told to me.(not to discredit the statement - its true that demons have names, i think. Legion, and Lucifer, amongst others)

but i have also learnt that the way to judge things is by their fruit. and if these books inspire young children to act in the same way as her protagonists do, then i see nothing wrong with the books.

although i do think there is a possibility that reading such things would inspire some kids to find out more about magic. that's a troubling thought that i haven't settled yet within myself. but i believe that kids of today understand the difference between fact and fiction.... we have to educate kids about such ugly truths in the world anyway.

i mentioned how i was drawn by the almost-chivalric ideals of courage, and loyalty as expressed in the book. i've always tried to be the gentleman, thinking it the right thing to do. but i realise that there are far better ideals to work towards; faith, love, humility, discipline... some of which i have in sorely insufficient quantities. these things are not highly prized or glorified in this world of ours, yet they hold more steadfast than anything this world can offer.



it seems to me that when i read blogs.... that guys and girls blog very differently. in general, i mean. there are exceptions to the rule. but ladies tend to be more... i dunno... in touch with their emotions, i guess. guys talk more about the world around them, things they've seen and experienced. as in, i just left a comment on a guy's blog with regards to (wrt) the etymology of H2G2. which would be distinctly out of place on a girl's blog. i think that a proper understanding of the differences between the two sexes will lead to healthier relations amongst the afore-mentioned.


and a big thank you to all of you who remembered my birthday. especially a certain someone who made it really special. =). its very nice to be remembered.

Oct 8, 2005

as usual, a three-week interval between posts....

so many things happen, so many thoughts, feelings, things of note - all gone forever, cos i had no time to write it down. only a few remain in my memory... which i suppose is a good thing, in a sense. kind of like an autofilter for the more important / interesting stuff.

like the huge turtle (well, relatively large for singapore anyway. about 18 inches) i found scrabbling around in a drain by the road last... tuesday? and the various frogs and lizards and earthworms i'm encountering in my new vocation as a drain-cleaner.

it's not been a very good three weeks. that's abit of a generalization, 'cos i suppose some days were pretty ok, while some were pretty horrible. strange how my perception of each day can vary so greatly when the actual proceedings of each day hardly change... it's an attitude thing, i'm beginning to realise.

i've not been doing my quiet time. i really have to cut some things from my schedule. 10.5 hours minimum at work / travelling, preferably 8 hours of sleep, 2.5 hours of various administrative things like eating and bathing, leaves three hours each day. and it seems there's always some useful / productive activity that i feel i can contribute to, that steals more of my time. i don't have any free time - it's all been allocated to my various tasks. i think i should cut back.

and to think i'm still supposed to be a happy, carefree youth. i dread the time when i hit adulthood, when my time will be further subdivided, to encompass familial responsibilities, a more stressful working life, more relationships to balance... oh for those halcyon days of childhood. i'm tired, but then again i say that all the time. i managed to fall asleep standing on the train yesterday. again.

i'm learning alot, still. i'm learning that no-one's perfect. that the people who annoy you aren't necessarily worse than the people you call friends. that a sense of self-fulfillment only comes with hard work.

there are times i get the feeling that all we ever do in life is to serve. and that's very tiring. i want to go Home.

even on this saturday, supposedly a day of rest, i have an assignment; to clean this house. and possibly worship prac later. and seeing as its already past noon, i doubt i'll finish. and i have a headache which i think is dehydration.

time to put some music on.

Sep 19, 2005

The strength of man is failing...

Tired... so tired. Came home, fell asleep.


Terribly tiring week. Been so terribly grouchy to everyone at work. Terrible terrible. Can't even focus my mind properly.... dry.

Anticipate sleeping at eight tonight.




They say that Solomon chose wisely, but I would rather have what David had.

Sep 12, 2005

Live Out Loud!!!

This whole weekend, the Abundant Life Family Church staged worship concerts over three nights at my church auditorium. I went the first night....

enjoyed myself. lost myself in the music, but sometimes i wonder if we're acting rather like fans at a concert... the whole jumping, screaming, singing till i'm horse, neigh**, i mean hoarse. it is an act of the will to keep my mind on the thing at hand, which i believe is called focusing, focusing on God. or, as All Star United put it, "It's true, we were meant to worship Someone. It's true, I do!!!" Perhaps that's why all the bouncing and shouting seems right.... Rejoice in the Lord, always, and again i say Rejoice.


the message was good. reminded me of what my sister taught me some time ago, but that's another story...
he spoke about seeing. to quote him, "Joshua and Caleb saw themselves as giant-killers; the other ten spies saw themselves as grasshoppers." For the context, read the Book of Joshua.

he was not referring to seeing as that of the eyes only, but more in terms of one's idea of the future... "what do you see yourself doing in ten years' time" kind of seeing. and this kind of seeing is significant...

it's a measure of your faith, really. quoting the speaker again, when Reverend Reinhardt Bonnke (not sure of spelling) arrived in Africa one fateful day many years ago, he was asked, "Reverend, do you see the depth of darkness and oppression that lies over this land?" He replied, "I see a blood-washed continent" (the whole of the above is reproduced from my memory, and is in no way guaranteed to be an accurate record of the actual quote.) That was the faith he had.


Somewhere along the line, it reminded me of the need to have a personal vision. What do you see yourself doing in ten years' time? What difference will you have made in the lives of the people around you? What are your priorities, where will you invest your time? Because where you invest your time is a clear indication of where your priorities are. The cliched question, what would you do if this day were your last?


I, am serving the nation. What a waste of time.





**this is meant to be a lame joke, a pun on the word nay. but if you still don't get it, nevermind.

Sep 7, 2005

the fallout

oh yeah, and i didnt bother with prayer meeting, since by the time i finished eating it had already started. went home to blog instead.


today i had tuition with the guys, so i needed a quick dinner to get to tuition on time. i went back to the same store, gave the lady the same smile, ordered the same thing, went off to buy a paper and sat down at a table - out of view of the store. she smiled at me too, a little more ingratiating than usual i think, but there was no acrimony, no hard feelings. confession allows for forgiveness, which allows life to go on as usual. and gave me the opportunity to show her what love is.

Sep 6, 2005

yet another unimaginative title... i think i'm in a rut!

i really hate blogging. really, i do. i've done sufficient thinking in the lead-up to this rambling post to tire my brain out and rid me of any desire to further exert the thinking circuits tonight, although i should. but while such thoughts cooped up in my head will benefit me and me alone, hopefully on this stage it will find larger audience.


i've realised recently that much of my moodiness and depression is due to my dread of anything that appears on my schedule. this is even though everything on my schedule, save army, is there by my choice, and is something that i strongly want to do. this is because at heart, i'm exceedingly lazy, and want nothing better than to lie in bed and do nothing very much. the dread of upcoming activities and my dismay at having them is far more overwhelming than the activity itself.

i take a new mindset about these days. to quote a theme from american culture, "a man's gotta do what a man's gotta do." even if you happen to be female i suppose, but perhaps they think differently. i've put all these things into my schedule, and i should just get on with them because i know that i should be doing these things, and leave the worrying to God who is able.


i was on branch duty today. was getting quite happy to see every person but one left by six. usually the last person lets the clerk off early if all other matters have been settled, but this officer is new, and this custom was not adhered to. and so i waited, and helped with the work, and fought against the thought that had this lady compassion, i could've left an hour earlier. and smiled, and did my duty with all due diligence, to the point of chasing her down after she left to pass her something she left behind. wandering home, i discovered that there was no family dinner, on account that there wasn't any family around. it then occurred to me that if everything went well, i could make youth prayer meeting sorta kinda on time, so, not even pausing to change, i whizzed back out the door and downstairs for dinner.

i ordered food. i remember that quite clearly. then i bought a paper and sat down to wait. paper was boring, i finished it in under five minutes. food failed to materialise. read paper again. read articles that i skipped the first time through. read paper again. and again, in between staring at my watch and watching my fingernails grow.

i was tempted to go and enquire after my food after fifteen minutes, but i told myself to have patience. i really wanted to go ask after my food after twenty minutes, but i recall doing that once and bumping into the lady carrying my order out. at twenty-five minutes i was just too stunned at the incredible wait to approach the store. at thirty minutes i got up and went to stand with the crowd at the counter. eye contact was made, the lady suddenly became very agitated, and i returned to my seat.

i realise recently that i am quite incapable of short posts. but oh well, at least people who come here will be entertained for more than thirty seconds, right?

within five minutes, my food came, and the lady apologized profusely. with a wan smile, i politely informed her that waiting for thirty minues was "yi1 dian3 tai4 guo4 fen4 ba", i.e. abit too much. she apologized profusely.

my initial reaction was never to eat there ever again. then i checked myself, remembering that she had apologized, and that served as a mitigating factor. then it occurred to me that had she made excuses for herself, i might have been less upset. it helps me, it seems, to have some kind of explanation for the delay, which i can choose to believe in to alleviate the anger somehow. as in, to focus on the excuse, to convince myself that no wrong was done to me, and calm myself. and it all seemed so wrong somehow.

it seems that if one person apologizes, the other person now has a choice to forgive the first person. but if no apology was ever made, and excuses given instead, how can the person who was wronged forgive the first person, when the second person isn't entirely sure something wrong has been done... like, i'd feel rather arrogant if i said "i forgive you for dropping an ice-cream cone on me" when it wasn't your fault that you tripped over some small whiny kid.

conversely, how can the person who has sinned accept forgiveness if he chooses to deceive himself that he has done nothing wrong? if you never admit your sin, even to yourself, then how can you accept forgiveness. you cannot receive forgiveness for a crime you claim you did not commit.

while God's forgiveness is freely given, we cannot accept it without confessing our sin. this is why confessing our sin brings freedom in Christ, while blustering and hiding our faults breeds darkness.

i now realise that no matter what her response to me was, my response to her should always be the same, to love.

and i discarded the thought of never patronizing the store again as unneccessarily vindictive, and resolved instead to sit within immediate line-of-sight of the store so she would not forget my order again.

Aug 25, 2005

all my titles are really unimaginative...

yesterday was abit of a nutty day for me. just abit. might have been macadamia nuts, or perhaps just mixed nuts.

woke at about five. to study. yes, SAF personnel, study. currently on course, which means i need to begin to understand certain new and very unfamiliar things, but i was actually studying C Math for A levels, attempting to get my head around the latter bits of Stats so as to actually be of some assistance to the poor souls who have me teaching them. breakfast, abit of stoning, then study until about 6.30ish, when my brain refuses to cooperate anymore and i end up reading my "Get Fuzzy" compendium till its time to go.

was not happy about being on course. i mean, its better than working, i suppose, in that i have fewer responsibilities, and less work to do, but the pointlessness of it all was getting to me, seeing as its a course for a scenario which i will never have to experience, and i can say with certainty that i will never have to use any of the information which i learn in the course of my current appointment.

but in the depth of my angst i chose to remember my lesson from the previous night, to know and believe and trust that all things which fall to me are placed there for reasons unfathomable by my Father who is in Heaven, and that that reason alone is enough to accept and even embrace all things which come my way, and to rejoice. and the day passed uneventfully, and i may have aced the little mini-test which was set at the end of that day.

but the dark and early start to the day ('twas not bright and early, cos the sun had yet to rise) was telling, and i was nursing a woozy head soon enough, with class upcoming in the evening. and i prayed.

i have discovered conclusively that when i pray before giving tuition, choosing to trust in God and to depend on His wisdom and strength to teach, the lesson goes better. a half-formed snippet of a phrase wanders in my subconscious - "but it is the Lord who gives understanding." as far as i could tell, the guys were actually enjoying stats, which is frankly incredible since i don't enjoy it at all. and i think i still have materiel for next week. super awesome.

and then i attempted to study for my course on the way home. reading CONFIDENTIAL documents on an 852 on the way home... didn't seem entirely right, but oh well. whoops =).



Hosanna, hosanna to the Lamb that was slain.
Hosanna, hosanna, Jesus died, and rose again.

Aug 23, 2005

.

was just feeling overwhelmed tonight by the things that had to be done, that i had to do. funny now that i think about it - i never had this feeling in JC, but then in JC i never felt as if i HAD to do anything - homework, assignments and study were strictly optional. now i'm growing up, and i have responsibilities, to my family, to the people around me, and to my God.


and as is the case when being overwhelmed, one eventually ends up doing absolutely nothing. i was playing guitar, letting the sorrow ease, when jill calls, and we talk. and it was of a great help to me, a reminder of things that perhaps i never knew, or perhaps i forgot.

and it all boils back down to trusting. to misquote from Matthew, the Lord knows that you need (to do) these things. and i must learn to trust that the Lord has given these things into my hand for me to do, and that He will provide the way and the means by which they will be done. i just do what little i can in the time that i have, and somehow it all will get done. The Lord is my strength.

I am reminded of the miracle of Ezekiel and the widow. Where the man of God used a small flask of oil, and got it to fill every container in the house full of oil. (with the soaring oil prices nowadays, that could prove useful) We pour out what little strength and energy we might have on what we are called to do, and somehow we find that we are able to keep pouring and pouring and pouring.

and that has led me to the computer, which i think was planned by God, judging by whats going on on MSN... praise be unto Him.

Aug 21, 2005

today

haven't been here for a couple of weeks... typing is so slow. my brain works faster than i can talk, and i talk way faster than i get type. this, as a form of release for my feelings and frustrations, just doesnt cut it. but it will have to do.

listening to some choral MP3s, given me by huien. just in the nick of time, i say, being in a horrendous mood. horrendous. on the CD, written in red marker, is "for (censored to protect my identity!!)... mp3s". i think its sweet.

managed to create a rift between me and a guy at work on friday. my fault, i say, being in the horrendous mood that i was. basically exchanging the usual verbal barbs which are usually jokes and lightly brushed aside, but i guess there was a little venom in my voice, and me stalking off ahead of everyone else didnt really help...... i just wanted to be alone, but the gesture came across really badly. anyway thank God its over and resolved, and the other guy made the first move too.

i was in a horrible mood, 'cos someone was having a senseless shouting match in my vicinity, and i get affected really negatively by that. and we were complaining about the unfairness of the army system, and the biasness of the boss, and that put me in seriously a bad mood. i attempted to hang back at lunch and let them disappear on first, but then they waited for me, and then the world exploded. sigh... backup singing at night, someone said the pitching was all over the place during rehearsal, didnt exactly make me feel good... i take criticism really badly sometimes.

yesterday was much better... was kinda "nua" the whole morning, being unreasonably tired for nearly nine hours of sleep, but i had a headache and was pretty sure i was on the verge of falliong ill. but i swung by jill's place, and she REALLY wasn't feeling well, and i felt better. happens to me for some strange reason - when someone around me is down or upset or whatever, i go to the opposite. i hope people find it encouraging and helpful. anyway, played frisbee with a bunch of people, had great fun, scored quite a number of points =) yay for me.

and then today... well, can't really say it was bad, just in abit of a mood now. worship prac, worship went fine. always petrified that the sound will be really terrible, not really confident yet. ditto with the backup singing, which cropped up unexpectedly near the end of service. but the reason i've got a horrible mood is that i wasted the whole afternoon playing Winning Eleven 9. wanted to get off after a couple of games, but people kept asking me to play for some strange reason, and i obliged, having neither the will nor energy to refuse them. and then i just felt crappy at the end of it all. should have come home and cleaned up my room or something, room being in a perpetual state of civil unrest. so, upset at wasting afternoon. releasing pent up frustration on blog. and listening to good music. good ol' harmony.

i heard this from someone, and it resonated with me. that sometimes, its hard to know who among your friends feel the same way about you. someone whom you feel comfortable sharing things with, do they feel the same way? or are they just listening because its the polite thing to do, because they try to love people in general. i fear that i may be imposing upon them with my fevered ranting... doesn't help that those you thought of as friends don't seem to keep in contact much... sigh.

dinner beckons.

Jul 23, 2005

possibly my favourite artiste...

I was lying in bed, on my back, listening to a cd, and holding the lyrics that came with the cd above me, reading it as i listened to the words.

and i wept, and the tears flowed down the side of my face, and dripped off my ears, and onto my pillow.

Oh, for a heart that does not ache
For a backbone that won't break
For some steady feet or sturdy ground
A road that isn't gonna let me turn around and run
For a thousand tongues to sing

To wear wisdom like Solomon's robe
For the patience and perspective of a man like Job
Just to soar on wings of eagles
For no other reason than the bird's eye view
For a flight or two
And the list gets longer
Who I wish I was, and was no longer

I never could be good enough
To measure up
But You want to take me as I come
You're the only one that can
Take me as I am

Oh, to feel hope in hopeless times
Never mind the silver lining 'cause the clouds are fine
To breathe prayers that move the heavens
Or save hundreds from the flames
To know my place, to know my name
But the gap grows wider
Between who I am and all I aspire to be

At the end of myself, at the end of the day
I can find little else but the courage to say I need You
That's all... I need You

Written by Nichole Nordeman and Mark Hammond
Copyright 2002 Ariose Music / Mark Hammond Music / ASCAP /
Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing

and also

It's a fear that keeps me wide awake
In the middle of the night
When the expectations are too grerat
And the bar gets raised too high
So I do the best with what I've got
And hope that no one knows
That I strain to see how high I can
Try to stand on these toes
Until I'm measured, but You know better

So, thank you, Jesus
Even when You see us just as we are
Fragile and frail and so far
From who we want to be
So, thank You, Jesus
Even when the pieces are broken and small
Dreams shattered and scattered like the wind
Thank You, even then

So I put aside the masquerade
And admit that I am not okay
Which may not be the thing to say
But I'm not ashamed to need You more each day

We raise the standard, and try to reach You
But we'll never make it, and we don't need to...

Written by Nichole Nordeman
Copyright 2002 Ariose Music /ASCAP / Admin. by EMI Christian
Music Publishing

Amongst many others. But I've had enough typing for now.

new every morning...

some time ago, i realised something more profound than it seems at first glance.

i am a member of my family.

seems quite duh right. but its implications are large.

part of the family's responsibilities, so to say, include keeping the house and home in order. this is but one of the many roles of the family, and i can't elucidate right now being sore of head. therefore, ergo, in view of this, my role as a member of this family includes the maintenance of the house, in whatever free time i find.

fast-forward to this morning. i have set aside this morning to household chores, taking a break to type this. i realise that my dad has trained me in doing household chores - therefore i can start taking initiative and doing things myself now.


i have also re-discovered the importance of listening to music that is edifying in getting each day right. and the usefulness of disney music in distracting my brain while engaged in the tedium of chores. =)

think the wash is done, probably need to hang up clothes now.

cont'd

wasn't in all that great a mood going to bed. work the next day, with an assignment hanging over my neck which i saw as simply being impossible - beyond my capabilities to do. i think many people are like that - if the task seems beyond them, they'll never get started. not that i hadn't tried - i tried and found myself stumped. i prayed that night for God to resolve the problem - not to find some way to get it done to the specifications demanded of me, but rather that at the end of everything, that every person associated with the problem would find it resolved to their satisfaction.

and so i went to work the next day, half dreading the coming reckoning, and half anticipating the resolution of the problem. scared, a little. and i met my boss, and talked with him, and discused things. took all my courage to go and approach him, 'cos i could have just chosen to ignore the problem, and he, being busy, would not have bothered me, and the problem would have snowballed and gathered momentum and eventually killed me. so i found the courage. actually no. i was given courage by the fact that i had prayed over the problem, so i approached my boss so as to resolve the problem quickly. suffice to say, he acknowledged that the initial task was quite impossible, not in a thousand years, and, displaying a wisdom worthy of Solomon, re-defined the parameters so as to simplify the job and still accomplish the same objectives.

with the task now seemingly achievable, i started on it with a will, and as of now, it has been accomplished. but it has been a very trying week. i thank God for solving the problem, and i totally forgot to mention it during testimony time at cell last night. oh well.

Jul 20, 2005

Mr Crouch

Liverpool have signed Southampton's top striker Peter Crouch for 7 million pounds. I'd have preferred Crespo, but i guess i'm happy enough. I'd rather have spent the cash on a centre-back though. Hyypia's getting old...

Jul 18, 2005

And then came evening, and then morning. A new day.

a thousand things to say, and no time to say it in. i'm typing so fast, i'm making typos all over the place, and having to go back and correct them.

went through quite the range of moods today, but i think i'll start with yesterday...

yesterday. sunday morning. woke up bright and early in camp, having had a restless sleep, and feeling quite a way away from being refreshed. did my stuff, handed over to MAKK, and left at about 8.30. the DOO was very nice. was just singing a song to myself as i strolled out of camp - singing aloud, singing like no-one was listening, which was probably true, being sunday morning in a military camp. was singing my choral arrangement for the Lord's Prayer, and one line struck me rather violently on the noggin.

"Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me."

To reference another verse, something to the effect of "Spare the rod and spoil the child." which i believe is in Proverbs somewhere, the rod is a tool of discipline. And yet, to this writer David, both the Lord's discipline and guidance were a comfort to him. (The staff is something sheep herds, erm, shepherds, use to guide the sheep along, i think.)

That was a thought. David welcomed the Lord's discipline in his life. It was a comfort to him, for though the disciplining may have been harsh for a moment, it had eternal benefits. And so it should be with us!! We should welcome the discipline of the Lord, for it is by that discipline that we grow. To quote out of context from the bible,"This is a hard teaching."


I pray you’ll be our eyes
And watch us where we go
And help us to be wise
In times when we don’t know

Let this be our prayer
As we go our way
Lead us to a place
Guide us with your grace
To a place where we’ll be safe

I pray we’ll find your light
And hold it in our hearts
When stars go out each night
**this line in spanish, don't get it**
Let this be our prayer
When shadows fill our day
Lead us to a place
Guide us with your grace
Give us faith so we’ll be safe.

We ask that life be kind
And watch us from above
We hope each soul will find
Another soul to love

Let this be our prayer
Let this be our prayer
Just like every child
Need to find a place,
Guide us with your grace
Give us faith so we’ll be safe

- apologies to the copyright holders.




to be cont'd

Jul 16, 2005

Today's Reading - Mark 7:24 to 8:21

7:37 People were overwhelmed with amazement. "He has done everything well," they said...

For I know, whate'er befall me, Jesus doeth all things well

-a hymn



It seems an impossible task, to do all things well. Especially so in this crazy, madcap, fast-paced world which we live in. We run like insane hamsters, just to stay in one spot. Our schedules are crammed tighter than sardines in a can. The winds of circumstance blow, and the storm rages on. How can one possibly hope to do all things well?

Many people ask themselves that question in some form or other, whether with regard to specific failings or just the general stresses of life. The question highlights the fallacy; there is no need for us to do all things well - Jesus does all things well. There is no doubt that, with the skills and gifts and talents that have been granted us by the giver of all good gifts, we have the capability to do some or many things well. But the ability to do all things well is beyond reach of any human, even Oprah.

There will be times when your best is not enough. When you lack the skill or the strength, or events simply seem to conspire against you. On these occasions, I urge you to bring these things before God, and cry out for help in humility, and commit these things into His Almighty hands.

I am currently facing a situation at work, where I lack the talent needed to complete a task assigned to me. I have prayed, and I await an answer expectantly.


8:12 He sighed deeply, and said, "Why does this generation ask for a miraculous sign? I tell you the truth, no sign will be given to it."

I'm sure there's something significant here that i'm missing about those last seven words, besides the fact that they differ slightly from the other account of the same incident (i think). hmm..


8:16 They discussed this with one another and said, "It is because we have no bread."

This is downright hilarious. Go read it in context. Honestly!! "because we have no bread" what?! make no sense whatsoever. but these are the same guys who, 2 chapters earlier, "drove out many demons and anointed many sick people with oil and healed them."
Maybe they lacked intelligence, wisdom, perception, whatever. But with the faith that they had, and with the good example of Jesus before them, they cast out demons and healed the sick and preached repentance to the people.


You don't have to be smart.... "If anyone lacks wisdom, he should ask for it" in James somewhere i think....

first over everything

Now playing: WOW Worship Red: Disc 2

Dear Lord, forgive me.

Forgive me for always forgetting who is first over my life. Forgive me for forgetting what it is that should take the first priority each day, each minute, each second. Forgive me that i can neglect you for days on end, and let lame, flimsy excuses take me away from time with You.

Dear Lord, i choose to repent. To change my mind. That these lousy excuses of having no time, having no mood, having no privacy will no longer stop me from coming before You.

Help me, Father God, for I am weak. I have not disciplined my mind to be quiet before You, and so often when i try to pray, my mind is just a tangled mess of thoughts. Help me, O Lord. I believe that when i commit these times to You, Father, that you will bring forth good fruit from it. Grant me strength to hold fast in times of adversity, that i will not forsake your ways when stressed. Be First, O God.



Jesus
Be the centre
Be my source, be my light
Jesus


Jesus
Be the centre
Be my hope, be my song
Jesus

Be the fire in my heart
Be the wind in these sails
Be the reason that I live
Jesus, Jesus


Jesus
Be my vision
Be my path, be my guide
Jesus

WOW Worship Red: Disc 1
Be the Centre - Kathryn Scott; Michael Frye


Apologies to the copyright holders.

once again

here i am, once again. on duty on a beautiful saturday, my friends are at sentosa playing frisbee, having meals and sending friends off at airport in the evening, and i am here. to use mild language, bah humbug.


i've realised that i'm not much of a blogger. anyone who actually comes here sometimes (i don't have a hit counter) would know it from the sporadic entries. but upon just a little bit of reflection, i've gotten a clearer picture of my attitude towards this whole blogging thing.

hmm... reflection, clearer picture. so true, even literally, that you never know quite what you look like unless you look in a mirror..


so often, i think of something that i feel like entering here. but its not always convenient, i'm not always near a computer, and i rarely have privacy. it would help if the computer in my room had internet, but i've given up on making that a reality anytime soon. i need the privacy somehow, a strange contradiction considering that what i type is available worldwide. but i do, and it hinders the frequency of my entries.

besides, i always think i have better things to do than blog. it seems a better use of my time to be actually doing things than blogging about them.


this exceptionally long break was due to a long-awaited family trip that lasted about nine days. it's the first time we've gone overseas as a complete nuclear family since Feb 2002, which is a 3-and-a-half year hiatus. it's been my first trip of over a week since December 2001, which is significant to me because i think that breaks of under a week are not sufficient to fully recharge the batteries.


the previous day's duty clerk has just left, which means that i will be interrupted at intervals by the telephone. as such, excuse any incoherent writings which may follow beyond this point.


we went to perth, and it was good. we left on a tuesday afternoon, and therefore i spent tuesday morning packing, amongst other things. wasn't too sure how to pack for winter, eventually found a general concept to work with which made things easier - long sleeved tee, short sleeved tee, jacket, jeans as one set, packing about three sets.

*phone rings. i just called a sergeant a sir. owell*

got pretty annoyed with my dad that morning. kept bugging me to help out with the house cleaning. i had expected house-cleaning. i had planned for house-cleaning. but i had planned house-cleaning AFTER bag-packing, as my priorities stood. my mum packs for my dad, so that he is free to clean house, but i don't have that luxury. i mean, there isn't much point in cleaning up all the stuff in your room only to dig it all out half an hour later to pack right? yeesh. had to consciously watch my mouth and hold in all the sarcastic/whiny comebacks i could think of.

i was ready to go 10 minutes before schedule. shoes on and all. dad was in the toilet and didn't get out till five past. hmm. took cab down, checked in luggage, stole address tags from neighbouring airline counter (valuair doesn't provide those), wandered into duty free. bought nothing. never do. got free coke from McDonalds, took many photos in the cactus garden in the airport itself. went on plane.

plane was approximately 80% empty. 34 passengers for 168 seats. my dad counted, being the walking encyclopedia that he is. after take-off, he shooed us all off to find a set of three seats to lie down on for a little shut-eye. the food was really really really good. very simple, but very good. rice, hot-plate tofu, kailan. piping hot, very tasty. i took a few shots of it.

touched down in perth. was going delirious stepping through those airport doors. "We'reherewe'reherewe'reherewe'reherewe'rehere!!" something like that. happy. tasted the brisk wintry air of 11pm Perth, and revelled in it. took about 50 brochures off the shelves at the airport, hopped into cab. went to hotel.

the roads were entirely empty. we had entire stretches of road completely to ourselves, and went minutes at a time without seeing another vehicle. checked into hotel. we had booked just one room, seeing as we only planned to stay one night, from about midnight to 8am. figured we could survive for that long. turns out we almost didn't. the heater, as far as we could tell, wasn't working. and in the morning, we discovered that we had left a small window open. it was 3 degrees out. genius.

anyway i've typed for an hour and i'm tired. more later.

Jul 1, 2005

Mark Chapter 3

Verse 4: "Then Jesus asked them, "Which is lawful on the Sabbath, to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?" But they remained silent" A useful verse to remember sometimes when tempted by legalistic thoughts. It will always be lawful to do good.


Verse 5: "He looked around at them in anger and, deeply distressed at their stubborn hearts....."
It's not wrong to be angry, and even deeply distressed. I think it's probably wrong if you are angry but not distressed, because that anger is probably on your own behalf, as opposed to anger + distress, which i see as the anger at someone doing wrong accompanied by a distress for that person who is lost.

Jun 27, 2005

blogscape

it's quite fun surfing blogs randomly when you've got spare time and nothing to do with it.. its like, connecting with people. it's the benefit of life experiences without having to go through them yourselves; it's putting yourself in someone else's shoes, its a boon to curious people.

which is why i haven't told anyone about this blog yet. well, all of two people, actually, but they're not the type to go reading blogs, i think. 'cos the stuff i share is deeply personal, and i am at heart a very private person. you'll never hear me talk about some of the things i say here aloud, so if my friends read this.... well, it'll be strange. someday i suppose i will tell more people, but that can wait awhile...
it's been a bad couple of days.

had a great church camp. i did. and even while having the great church camp i was keeping an eye out for what happens next, which is the crash...

well, i didn't exactly crash. but my life didn't exactly change either, which was exactly what i testified about. "all these spiritual experiences, moves of the Spirit etc., aren't the things that change your life. It's in the daily, disciplined walk with the Lord that real change occurs, that real joy is found." let's add something to that, something which i began to realise this past week... if you're not moving forward, you can be certain that you are slipping backward. so it seems to me anyway. the drift will be quite imperceptible at first, but weeks later, when you struggle to get going again, it will be 100 times harder than it was in the first place. humbug.

i'll say it frankly here. the last time i had proper, consistent quiet time was back in 2002. three full years ago. and every once in awhile i try and get back on my feet, but the effort is massive, and my will is weak. and i slip and i fall, and i lie there for awhile gathering strength to try again... i can't find the exit sign! that song that twila paris did a cover of really yelled to me.. "The Warrior is a Child"...

i've always intended to spend at least some time when doing overnight duty to read my bible and be quiet for awhile. it hasn't really happened... instead i spend time surfing the internet and doing bad things. today was about a hundred times worse than usual - just about everyone i met had work for me which kinda just stacked up into a pile that then proceeded to fall on me - hard. basically working till i fell asleep almost, managing to forget the two things given me by the highest-ranked one and earning myself ire. nothing to be done about that now, but i think i will try to avoid a certain officer when the duties are being planned now..

just to post a link here.. http://icestryder.blogspot.com/ came across it while randomly surfing blogs... it was abit of an encouragement to me. to pick myself up and start moving again. icestryder, if you ever wander across this post - thanks. i often hope that my own writings will sometime be an encouragement to others.


...

Jun 15, 2005

call me marvin

people are depressingly stupid.


i was on a train, headed home, bone tired and achey all over. mental faculties were functioning at a minimal level, kinda taking in the hustle and bustle of rush hour without paying too much attention.

there was a bunch of young people standing next to me. guessing they're just into adulthood, so i suppose i should call them old people since i have yet to attain that distinction. two guys, and a girl. the conversation somewhere turned to army, a favourite topic among Singaporean males. one guy was going on about some CO or other who went on a route march with his men, in admiring tones. the other was like, yah right. he took a rover right? bet he carried nothing at all. went on to comment how there are a zillion and one ways to chao keng in army, and how COs get paid the most money but don't need to do all the tedious marching and all that stuff. how depressingly stupid.

at the risk of actually taking what he said at face value (maybe he was just acting dumb for the sake of having someone to insult), someone obviously does not understand that this whole not-marching business is NOT the sum total of the job of the CO, but that this job entails much more in the way of man management, logistics planning and other tactical stuff than he can get his sodden brain around, and that HIS job of marching long distances carrying heavy weights has ACTUALLY BEEN MADE OBSOLETE by this guy we call Henry Ford. seriously. complain that the guy doesn't march with you when he has to wrestle with the responsibility that his every decision may result in massive loss of life. how depressingly stupid.


getting off the train, and groaning under the burden of a heavy load, i chose to take advantage of the convenience of the recently-installed elevator system to get my weary bones down a level to where the exits were. entering the lift ahead of me was a slick young guy, hair combed smoothly back, in a pale pink long-sleeved shirt and black trousers.

i happened to notice that instead of slouching about in the lift waiting for the inevitable closure of the door and subsequent descent, as i was doing, this pro-active, full-of-initiative, gung-ho young man was doing the following:

a) pressing the button "1" as well as the "Door Close" button simultaneously, holding them down in fact withno small amount of force.
b) glaring vehemently at the closing door as if threatening anyone who dared to disrupt his nefarious plan of efficacious door closure and elevator descent and subsequent world domination.

now, it makes exactly zero point zero zero sense to hold on to the door close button, since the door close button simply doesn't work that way. the door has a uniform rate of closure whether you hold down the button or jab it repeatedly or invoke mysterious powers of tai chi on it. holding down the door close button will also fail to override any outside attempt to halt the closure, since the lift button OUTSIDE of the lift will override the door close button INSIDE the lift.

it seems that some people think it terribly unprofitable should they even have to wait for TWO SECONDS for someone else to enter the lift, even if waiting that two seconds would save the other person a minute or so of waiting for the return of the lift. obviously their time is far more valuable than anyone else's, time being money and all that sort of malarkey, and should any insidious force even ATTEMPT to disrupt their effort at going down in the lift as quickly as possible, such people will affix the culprit with menacing glares and mutter ominous sounding curses under their breath. how arrogant to believe your own time more precious than anyone else's. how depressingly stupid.

i realise that the sound of the dripping sarcasm actually hinders the full appreciation of the point i am trying to make. excuse me, and read the above again.


i really sympathise with marvin.




Now I lay me down to bed,
Darkness won't engulf my head;
I can see by infra-red,
How I hate the night.
- marvin

Jun 3, 2005

Will You Be My Friend?

somehow i feel like the person i was chatting with online ignored me yet again. am i paranoid? it started with a long silence... which i ventured to break with a sarcastic remark about long conversations... and then the person disappeared.


i think i'll start approaching inanimate objects and asking them ot be my friend. real people are so fleeting.

birds i have known

O thrice-accursed rule that forbids us from carrying cameras into camp.

I have had the greatest privilege of being in a less-built up area of Singapore, where trees are plentiful and the air is cool. On my daily sojourns to camp and back, and even within the camp compound itself, i have been blessed in observing the wonders of creation practically at an arm's length.

I was walking. An innocuous activity. I heard a hooting, and marvelled that that owl was up so early, it being only 6pm. Curiosity piqued, i peered into the trees, searching for the source of the sound.

Seeing as there was but a single row of trees in my immediate vicinity, i plodded along it, discerning by triangulation the exact tree from which the sound emanated. Eyeballs straining at their sockets, i sought to see the surreptitious songbird silhouetted against the evening sky. And behold, i beheld it. And it was sitting on a branch. And shaped seemingly like a dove. Only by the nearly imperceptible motion of its beak did i identify it as the mystery singer, carrying on an avian conversation with another dove some distance away. it really did sound like a conversation, one bird saying something, and receiving a response some moments later. i was fascinated. the soft yellow light from the dying rays of the sun did little to dispel the magic of that moment, giving the creature a certain golden hue. my flab was bergasted (i mean i was flabbergasted). i have also mentally reclassified that particular sound as a "coo", as opposed to a "hoot"

minutes before that, i saw a beautiful bright blue kingfisher swoop straight into a little crevice in a wall, for reasons unbeknownst to my mammalian brain.

this morning, i saw what seemed to be a kingfisher, complete with disproportionate tail and beak. it was trilling. i found it quite... thrilling. normal bird twittering is just so uninspiring.

and there is absolutely no real point to this post. owell, they can't ALL be gems.

May 26, 2005

.

in the office where i work, there are several persons who are universally, or close to it anyway, despised. to use english (as opposed to hokkien), they are labelled skivers. though treated with civility by the general populace, behind their backs they are slammed and generally made fun of, in bitter and somewhat resentful tones.


i had come to realise after awhile that joining in with the discontent rumblings constituted something akin to gossip, i.e. saying bad things about people who aren't present, and so i sought to understand the foundations of this ill-will and negative feeling about these particular people. you know of such people. answer this question with the first person that comes to mind: who do you hate?


it took me quite awhile to understand the dynamics at work. at a cursory glance, these people are conscientious enough, doing what work is assigned to them with vigour and verve. They complete the tasks which are appointed to them, and somehow still manage to leave the office on time everyday. i toyed with the idea that these people might simply be efficient.

then i realised what distinguished these people from others, from my personal experience. these guys were the ones who would come to me and ask me to help them complete tasks. simple menial tasks, such as faxing documents, photocopying, pasting, stapling etc. time-consuming, but menial tasks. they make these requests under the guise of friendship, YET WHEN YOU REQUEST THE SAME OF THEM.... they'll be busy. they'll be doing their own work. things to do, people to see, whatever it is, a thousand apologies but they CAN'T possibly help you at this particular moment, maybe tomorrow or next year or next millenium.

i realised eventually that there was a more fundamental problem there... its kind of like selfishness, in a sense. these people have a very clearly defined scope of what is THEIR work, and what is SOMEONE ELSE'S work. and they have absolutely no incentive to do anyone else's work. their own work will always take priority, and when they ARE free, they'll ask you to get someone else to do it cos the other guy does it better/has too few responsibilities anyway.

i realise i react best to the people who immediately try to help me/understand my problem better. it doesn't take a genius to understand that, everyone loves a helpful person. i don't expect that reaction all the time, of course, since people have their own work to attend to, but if i get a helpful response occasionally it's enough to convince me that they're good people in general.

these buggers who annoy me... never lift a finger to help me when i ask. or do so only when it suits their own purposes. they finish their work, and make themselves scarce. if i only did the work that my job scope entails, i'd have half the amount of work to do.

it is a struggle for me to love this person. i spent all of lunchtime silently telling him off in my head, blowing off a head of steam. but i recall one pearl of wisdom that got lodged in my clamshell head some time ago...

you can't blame people for the way they are. if you do, you'll begin to hate. remember that all the bad in each person is a manifestation of that deception Satan introduced on earth all those thousands of years ago.

who can take credit for his own character? the unique ways in which each of us act is a product of a potpourri of factors. so the guy acts like a complete asshole. perhaps his parents didnt bring him up too well, or there were family problems, or he fell into bad company. either which way, he is a person to be pitied simply because HE DOESN'T KNOW ANY BETTER. He doesn't know what it means to be loved, and to love people whole-heartedly. He doesn't have a focus in his life, or it might just be a lousy focus that will end up as nothing. being a complete asshole is in itself pitiable - he'll have no true friends, he has no joy in life, life is futile, meaningless, a chasing after the wind.

We, as Christians, we have a choice. To love mercy, to do justly, and to walk humbly before our God. What more does the Lord require of us?


i cannot, and i struggle to remember this, i cannot take credit for all that people admire me for. i had good parents, maybe not great, but they taught me what was important. i had natural ability, but that comes from God, and i had no part to play there. good teachers, a church to grow up in, i have had more than most. even things like self-discipline and determination - you cannot take credit for them, they are determined by nature and nurture.

so what reason have we to boast? Praise be to God, from whom all blessings flow, from whom all good things come down to us.

.

it was with no great amount of hope, and no small amount of weariness, that i trudged my lonesome self into camp today. grey clouds cast a pallor over what is usually an idyllic stroll from home to camp, replete with cooing doves and fluttering butterflies at no extra charge. and then i discovered, INTERNET IS WORKING!!!


having valorously resisted the temptations of the information superhighway, along with being snowed under by drifting stacks of paperwork, and general busyness in general, i have finally been overtaken by the Quark side, and have been sucked through the local i'net terminal into the collective consciousness of the World Wide Web.

to mark this monumentally momentous occasion, i shall hereby make a proclamation that shall resound about the known world, that shall make grown men weep and whirl their shirts around their head and act like 3-year-olds in general: LIVERPOOL HAVE WON THE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE!!!

it is not yet lunchtime, and i have been awake for ten hours. the sweet siren song of somnabulity, in cahoots with the usual post-prandial stuporification should have the desired effect momentarily.




*zonk*

May 12, 2005

roots

Discipleship has the same root word as discipline.


I want to learn more, to grow in knowledge and wisdom, but i need that daily discipline of studying and meditating upon the word.

I need your discipline,
I'm calling out, light the fire again.

May 8, 2005

clogs.

what with my endless expanse of free time that represents this sunday spent in camp, i've been surfing blogs aimlessly, or, as one blogger vehemently put it, "i refuse to grant these sites the same status as my *some complimentary stuff here* website. hence i will call them clogs." cant remember the exact words, but quite an interesting new buzzword to play with. those things REALLY clog up the internet.



somehow, from our little red dot of 4 million people, we manage to generate about a tenth of the blogs on blogspot. this was deduced from using the "next blog" function at the top of most blogspot pages which, presumably, transport you to a random blog. and the VAST majority of these Singaporean blogs are... ugh.

like, "Scanning... no sigh of intelligent life-forms." Not intending to be mean or anything, just a commentary on our social landscape.

I guess i shouldn't expect to much from them. The typical Singaporean blogger is 13/14 years of age, almost always female, and almost always gushing over a certain guy in their life, with many xxx's and ooo's. most of them also seem incapable of rendering thoughts in standard english, or indeed in the standard 26-character cipher which comprise our english alphabet. it boggles the mind to decipher the mass of exclamations, amphersams, and other symbols cluttering up their sentences... not to mention the seemingly ubiquitous trend of typing each letter in triplicate... o wait, i mean tttrrriiipppllliiicccaaattteee. something like that. makes for rather hard reading.


like i said, i shouldn't expect too much. i probably wasn't thinking highly mature thoughts back then either. but i guess its the endless gushing over guys that leaves me a little scared as to what their idea of luurve as they put it, is. "eii willch luurve eeuu 4evuur" seems to be the refrain, and while i admire the sentiment, relationships are built on a whole lot more than just sentiment. they display emotion, but not too much in the way of EQ, and that's worrying. setting up for a fall so it seems.


plus, it makes the whole world think that singaporean girls are bimbotic airheads. and that's just sad. i guess its just that when i went blog-hopping, i was looking for something else... different perspectives on life, about how people think, about living life in some other country.... things to widen my horizons yeah? have been rethinking my decision to further my studies in sunny singapore....

i6uuaq has been placed on your ignore list

just attempted chatting with a couple of people on MSN. saddened that neither of them see fit to reply to my queries. sigh... rather depressing.

i'd love to think that its not deliberate, and, judging by what i know of them, i don't think they'd ignore me, but still....

i would never ignore someone who started a chat with me... even if i'm in a rush and have but time to exchange a few pleasantries. if anyone reading this has done this before, please don't. it's not pleasant. 'twould be rude doing that in RL, and i see no reason why it should be different online.

actually, this happens so often to me, i'm beginning to think i see a real trend here. and the conclusions i draw from that are downright depressing. these are people i would normally consider "friends". being ignored simply compromises my already-fragile self-worth.

this song touched me once, long ago.
Oh yes, I'm the great Pretender.
Pretending my life's going well.
My need is such,
I pretend too much.
I'm lonely, but no one can tell...






to be ignored by people i consider friends. i choose to believe it wasn't deliberate. off to find solace.

intellect inside

and somehow i find solace in intellectual musings. i always do. its a whole lot easier to use the brain than the heart.

**note to self: write about conversation with miss cheah and the crippled singaporean mentality**

actually, too drained to work the brain now. could force it, but lazy. later perhaps.

i can't be bothered to think up a title so there.

reading a friend's blog a few minutes ago. struck by the beauty and the poetry inherent in those words. i envy those people, who weave pictures into their words, whose minds dream of things outside my humdrum world, whose imaginations take them to places exotic and beautiful, even on such a dreary day as this. but i am not that person.

i have picked out a path in life. my journey is set, mapped, planned, or so i think. i used to be sad for those people who haven't a clue what they want in their future, who lack a vision and a direction, but today i envy them. without the shackles of a set path in life, they are free to dream dreams that bestride the narrow world, that send the mind aloft with the innumerable possibilities that are offered to us lucky cretins who live in a prosperous and free society.

O to live the life of the idle rich. To have the freedom and wherewithal to live in the lap of luxury, to wander and to wonder at the mysteries of this earth, to have the freedom and the capacity to indulge all my curiosities and my wanderlust. where am i going?

the phrase "dwell in the tents of the wicked" jumps to mind. psalm 84, somewhere. because i know that idle hands do the devil's work, as i know only too well. because living a life that serves only one's own desires is meaningless and empty, and that one cannot live such a life without descending into depression and depravity.

"and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free."

so i dwell here momentarily, in the carefree dreams of a child, in full knowledge that i have moved on to adulthood. i am now weighed with the cares and burdens of this world, as Atlas of old, and can no longer indulge in the fantasies of youth. such is my lot, to spend my life in service, in accordance to my calling, and i am already weary. i am weeping, inside and out. (in an army camp, good grief. i need to hide somewhere)

somehow i am supposed to find joy and peace in this. it takes greater maturity than i can find now.






two night's ago, listening to a message about a life of service, i was struck by an analogy. it was about parasites. not in the mood to carry on now, say more later.

Apr 29, 2005

of black holes, in more ways than one.

how can someone be so incredibly dense as not to realise that watching an Indian action movie approximately 2 metres away from someone who is trying to sleep on a floor with no access to earplugs is incredibly bad form? he must have the density ranging from somewhere between that of a neutron star and a black hole. the person in mind happens to be dark-skinned, so i'll go with the latter.

not to be racist or anything, but i think i'm just EXTREMELY not used to listening to Indian movies at ungodly hours of the night. especially Indian movies with their endless action scenes/chase scenes/dance scenes/song and dance scenes/market scenes/screaming monkey scenes. screaming monkeys just did it for me. i tried for HALF AN HOUR to subtly hint that i was having trouble sleeping, i wonder why gee, gave up, got up and WALKED OUT OF THE ROOM and i don't think he's noticed a thing. dense!!! way too worked up now to sleep anyway... hope i don't do something stupid like mouth off sarcastically at him later when he FINALLY stops... have retreated and attempted to do productive things. shalll probably politely ask him to shut the thing off once i'm done with all my productive things. bugger is talking with his gf at intervals, which probably explains why he has no attention left to notice the plight of the poor clerk in front of him.

i mean, seriously, Indian movie. not to be racist, i think i'm not used to it, but the music is jarring, their fast-paced nasal speech is jarring, and my nerves are shot to shit. i don't think i'll even sleep tonight.

making conscious effort not to hate this guy.

me.

i find it frankly disturbing that my writing style on any given day is directly affected by what i have been reading in the recent past.

dang that was phrased badly. but anyhow.

it's like, i have no identity, so to say. i write as such because i have been reading such writing. which frankly brings up a whole slew of issues.

i discovered this miming aspect of my writing some time ago, and it has recently resurfaced in this thing you are reading. it reinforces something which my youth pastor (to-peh) often mentions (with regards to us humans), summed up as follows: what goes in, must come out

the things we choose to fill our minds with are the things that will eventually manifest themselves in our speech, our actions, our values. try making a tape of someone saying "F*CK YOU!", put it to loop continuously, listen to it for 5 minutes each night. guess what you'll say when someone next annoys you? no prizes for guessing. it's kinda like how songs get stuck in your head. (incidently i had some other things to say with regards to the phrase F*CK YOU!, so i'm typing it out in hopes of reminding myself to do it sometime.)

which is why we probably should avoid watching certain things, and reading certain things, so on and so forth. the words of a song from sunday school...

O be careful little eyes, what you see...

goes on to

O be careful little ears, what you hear

and

O be careful little feet, where you go



It's not so much that you'll be tempted into black magic or witchcraft or whatnot, although i suppose there IS a possibility there... mostly it's more about your values... how you react to annoying people, how you choose to relate to people, and the things you view as important in your life. these things (and probably a whole lot more) can be affected by content you expose yourself to, and it's not wise. In the words of Paul(was it paul?) in his letter to the Philippians:

"Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things."

An important verse to practice to become more like Jesus.


I am hopeless at writing concise entries. If you still remember how i got onto that topic, it was from "a whole slew of issues". But i'm too lazy to write about that now.



later, peeps.

Apr 21, 2005

a fortnightly column?

i note from the dates of my posts that my last post was exactly 2 weeks ago. validating my fears that i don't have the persistence for this kinda thing. but i feel such an urge to share with people the things that i have, my perspectives of life, that give me such joy. most of the time, anyway.


i saw a couple of birds with "training rudders" yesterday. that's what it looked like, anyway. if it had been a still photo, you'd have thought that there was a little speck of dirt right behind the bird's tail. but watching it fly, i saw how the speck was a single long feather extending from the bird's tail... for better steering i suppose. and the term "training rudder" popped into my head... like training wheels on bikes, you know.

i saw a pair of cats yesterday, mother and daughter by the looks of it. one alot smaller, with exactly the same colorations, the smaller following the larger around. they were that beautiful tawny gold colour, the colour you only expect to see on lions and jaguars and the like. if you ignored the size of the thing, you could almost imagine the smaller cat being a jaguar, such were its proportions. saw the smaller one again on my return trip.


on saturday, 5 days ago, i was heading up to Woodlands to give tuition. a girl in school uniform approached me with a collecting tin - every saturday its Flag Day for some association or other. The girl was holding the tin and stickers in such a way that the stickers totally hid the emblem on the tin... i like to know who i'm giving to. found out that it was for the Down's Syndrome Association, which i think is a worthy cause, so i fished out my wallet, plucked out a ten dollar bill, and then i heard her gasp quite audibly. funny, but a little sad too, that it seems obvious to me that no one else saw fit to give any significant amount. i mean seriously, when you give, give like you mean it! what are you trying to say when you give 20 cents and take a sticker? "yes, i support you to the tune of 20 cents. Your charity is of such significance to me that i see fit to give you 20 cents." I don't think we were meant to follow the poor widow's example in giving two mites, but rather in giving ALL THAT WE HAVE. Colin Goh once wrote an insightful article about how people in Singapore were becoming desensitised to giving nowadays, giving as a form more than anything else.... how sad.


if you believe anything, yet act contrary to your belief, you are a hypocrite.
"Anyone who knows the good he ought to do, but doesn't do it, sins."

Apr 7, 2005

making excuses.

the reason i hadn't posted in such a long time was that i was rather overloaded at work... what with half the people in my office disappearing overseas and the workload mysteriously doubling, i was working non-stop for a whole week. since most of my posting is done in the office anyway, that kinda stopped with the dearth of free time. as you can see by this, the second post of the day, the workload has slackened off tremendously. thank God. was getting quite irritable by the end of last week...

which is a shame really, cos plenty happened last week, which i can barely remember... sad because i started this blog partly to keep track of how i would change as a person over the months and hopefully years.... and a week's worth of thoughts have slipped away..

so here i am, making excuses. not that i'm liable to anyone for not posting... but i'm sorry anyway.

listening to on radio now: Reach by Gloria Estefan. really nice song... heard it first when i was eight, i think. olympics 92? somewhere there lah...

.

Does it matter that i don't say witty or particularly deep things that might make people actually come back and want to read more, or that i rarely say anything here at all, given that my last post was what, 2 weeks ago? This blog is peripheral to my own existence, a frill, icing on the cake. At no point in time should i give my web presence more time than i do my Bible. After all, like it says in Micah 6:8

He has shown you, O man, what is good.
And what does the Lord require of you
But to do justly, to love mercy,
And to walk humbly before your God

Mar 26, 2005

7. The Reason for Everything

For the glory of Your name.


His glory is inherent in who He is. The love and grace and truth that is His very nature shines through like light, and that is His glory. That is why we glorify Him, for who He is.

We bring glory to God by doing as He commands us, for His commands serve to bring Him greater glory. We recall Jesus' prayer, " I brought glory to You on earth by doing what You commanded me to do."

To live for God is the only way to live. Everything else is merely existing.


-taken from Chapter 7, The Purpose-Driven Life, by Rick Warren


I testify to the truth of the above passage. ben.

Mar 14, 2005

serving the nation.

duty clerk tonight. basically means i stay in camp and answer phone calls, amongst various other duties. gets abit boring sometimes, but what to do?


what to do is indeed the question. this duty thing is a 24-hour duty thing, confined to a fairly small room. on this, my fourth attempt, i have finally succeeded at bringing a good book (The Unquenchable Worshipper, Matt Redman) and actually sitting down and reading it. was earlier unwilling, having given in to the lie that i wouldn't be able to concentrate on what i was reading what with all the high-ranking personnel wandering around and occasionally handing out punishments. but today's been good, so far. nothing much really happened. hallelujah. actually finished the book (it's really itty), gonna move on to some other stuff i brought. hopefully this duty will become a time of rest for me rather than a time of dread (the duty clerk tends to come into close proximity with a certain disciplinarian "affectionately" known as the DarkSide, who was mercifully absent for much of today).

one problem is that this fairly small room has a computer with an internet connection. rather distracting. bored guys should not have internet connections, for explicit reasons. also, the duty clerk tends to get "arrowed" with all kinds of menial tasks, which means that there might not be much spare time at all, which has its good and bad points. but the accomodations are pretty terrible by army standards. i get an old, worn mattress and the floor. and a pillow. and several phones to wake me at all hours. which is frankly unappealing, seeing as i've had trouble sleeping the past two nights. i remember back in JC, one frequent prayer pointer was for a good night's rest. i may start that again.

To quote Matt Redman(approx.), "Setting aside time for God often results in God becoming more apparent in all other parts of your life". I think this post might be testimony to that.

Did i mention that i've been on the verge of falling ill this whole past week? air-con is not doing my throat any favours, prospect of unsatisfactory and interrupted sleep tonight, and a packed schedule tomorrow. time to pray.