I try not to lose sight of the real reason we rejoice.
As she eloquently puts it:
"every year i do this, but i have to consciously remind myself (and you dear reader) that christmas is not about all i've mentioned. i need to be quiet, and to think - to remember - why we celebrate. Christ's birth, Christ's coming, God Incarnate, Emmanuel."
Have a blessed Christmas y'all.
Under Pressure
What does it feel like to be persecuted?
It happens, in big ways and small, if we choose to see it.
The barbs sting, even when they are blunt.
It can be tiring to fend off - to have to constantly justify and to explain why you should exist in a particular capacity.
It can sap your strength when people choose not to understand.
On the other hand, how could they - unless they have been put through the wringer too?
On the other hand, aren't these but small, fallen things?
Do we glorify God if all we care about is how we appear to others?
Are we being a good testimony to Him who loved us so by thinking only of how we feel when others mock us?
He would want us to perservere under such conditions.
His life was His gift to us, after all.
The least we can do to honour this Gift is not to throw bricks at the sky just because we are going through something which, in comparison, is but an existential pin-prick.
Such are my random ramblings on this night ^_^
It happens, in big ways and small, if we choose to see it.
The barbs sting, even when they are blunt.
It can be tiring to fend off - to have to constantly justify and to explain why you should exist in a particular capacity.
It can sap your strength when people choose not to understand.
On the other hand, how could they - unless they have been put through the wringer too?
On the other hand, aren't these but small, fallen things?
Do we glorify God if all we care about is how we appear to others?
Are we being a good testimony to Him who loved us so by thinking only of how we feel when others mock us?
He would want us to perservere under such conditions.
His life was His gift to us, after all.
The least we can do to honour this Gift is not to throw bricks at the sky just because we are going through something which, in comparison, is but an existential pin-prick.
Such are my random ramblings on this night ^_^
Under The Table And Dreaming
So I had a rather interesting conversation with a colleague today.
Over some Dutch swiss rolls (they reminded me of Arctic Rolls, but fluffier),
we talked about relocation and the future.
She told me about their wanderlust plans, which were about to bear fruit.
I told her about my sister's impending move to Oz, and her suggestion that I pursue post-graduate studies there.
Why don't you? she asked. It's not within the realm of impossibility, especially when you won't be alone there.
I told her I had not given it a lot of thought. Bread and butter issues have basically pushed such pipe-dreams to a filing cabinet in the furthest corner of my head.
You should not wait too long, she cautioned. It gets harder with age.
She has a point. Dreams do get ever more elusive the longer we put off trying to pursue them. They lie latent but when they are left unfulfilled for too long, they manifest in weird and unpleasant ways.
I must say that I never harboured a specific dream or wish. No "I want to be a fireman" or "I want to be a ballerina" type of ambition. What I always believed, however, was that anything was possible so long as I put heart and soul into making it happen.
Dare I pursue or articulate these dreams? The least I can do now is to give them some serious thought.
Over some Dutch swiss rolls (they reminded me of Arctic Rolls, but fluffier),
we talked about relocation and the future.
She told me about their wanderlust plans, which were about to bear fruit.
I told her about my sister's impending move to Oz, and her suggestion that I pursue post-graduate studies there.
Why don't you? she asked. It's not within the realm of impossibility, especially when you won't be alone there.
I told her I had not given it a lot of thought. Bread and butter issues have basically pushed such pipe-dreams to a filing cabinet in the furthest corner of my head.
You should not wait too long, she cautioned. It gets harder with age.
She has a point. Dreams do get ever more elusive the longer we put off trying to pursue them. They lie latent but when they are left unfulfilled for too long, they manifest in weird and unpleasant ways.
I must say that I never harboured a specific dream or wish. No "I want to be a fireman" or "I want to be a ballerina" type of ambition. What I always believed, however, was that anything was possible so long as I put heart and soul into making it happen.
Dare I pursue or articulate these dreams? The least I can do now is to give them some serious thought.
First Day
I finally decided to blog because
- It's time I got out of this calcified stupor and got down to doing some writing
- It's time I got out of this annoying habit of writing in point form
- Along the way, I might surprise myself by saying something interesting
- I think "kitsune digs lucky charms" is too irreverent a phrase to just cast away.
- Just felt like lah. Like Aesop's tortoise, I am slow but I get there eventually.
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