Today, I'd like to share some wise words from Bill Stuntz and this was what he said: "Christians err when we imagine that God is supposed to heal all our diseases. That is not promised to us, not in this life. More the opposite: Jesus said, “In this world you will have trouble” — not “might have,” but “will have.” But while God does not offer to take my cancer or my pain away, He offers something even better: that good will come from those illnesses, and that the good will be larger than the suffering it redeems. Romans 8:28 says that “in all things, God works for the good of those who love Him.” Cancer and chronic pain remain ugly, killing things, enemies of all who love life and beauty. But try as they might, those enemies do not get the last word. Our pain is not empty; we do not suffer in vain. When life strikes hard blows, what we do has value. God sees to it. That is an enormous mercy."
How do I overcome? My eyes must always be fixed on Jesus!
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Saturday, June 13, 2009
Sittser again...
The Lord continues to bless through the pen of Jerry Sittser! Consider these impactful words ...
"Loss provides an opportunity to take inventory of our lives, to reconsider priorities and to determine new directions. Loss invites us to ask basic questions about ourselves – such as “What do I believe?” “Is there life after death?” “Is there a God?” “What kind of person am I? “Do I really care about other people?” “How have I used my resources – my time, money and talent?” “Where am I headed with my life?” Deep sorrow is good for the soul for another reason too. It can make us more alive to the present moment.
Gifts of grace come to all of us. But we must be ready to see and willing to receive these gifts. It will require a kind of sacrifice, the sacrifice of believing that, however painful our losses, life can still be good – good in a different way than before, but nevertheless good. I will never recover from my loss and I will never get over the missing ones I lost. But I still cherish life.
I will always want the ones I lost back again. I long for them with all my soul. But I still celebrate the life I have found because they are gone. I have lost, but I have also gained. I lost the world I loved, but I gained a deeper awareness of grace. That grace has enabled me to clarify my purpose in life and rediscover the wonder of the present moment."
In my next post, I will share some photos of our recent church camp in KL.
"Loss provides an opportunity to take inventory of our lives, to reconsider priorities and to determine new directions. Loss invites us to ask basic questions about ourselves – such as “What do I believe?” “Is there life after death?” “Is there a God?” “What kind of person am I? “Do I really care about other people?” “How have I used my resources – my time, money and talent?” “Where am I headed with my life?” Deep sorrow is good for the soul for another reason too. It can make us more alive to the present moment.
Gifts of grace come to all of us. But we must be ready to see and willing to receive these gifts. It will require a kind of sacrifice, the sacrifice of believing that, however painful our losses, life can still be good – good in a different way than before, but nevertheless good. I will never recover from my loss and I will never get over the missing ones I lost. But I still cherish life.
I will always want the ones I lost back again. I long for them with all my soul. But I still celebrate the life I have found because they are gone. I have lost, but I have also gained. I lost the world I loved, but I gained a deeper awareness of grace. That grace has enabled me to clarify my purpose in life and rediscover the wonder of the present moment."
In my next post, I will share some photos of our recent church camp in KL.
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
More nuggets from Sittser...
Someone asked me if I had recovered. It's difficult to say "yes" as that would not speaking the truth.
This is what Sittser wrote: "Recovery is a misleading and empty expectation. We recover from broken limbs, not amputation. Catastrophic loss by definition precludes recovery. It will transform or destroy us, but it will never leave us the same. There is no going back to the past, which is gone forever, only going ahead to the future which has yet to be discovered. Whatever that future is, it will and must, include the pain of the past with it. Sorrow never entirely leaves the soul of those who have suffered a severe loss. If anything, it may keep going deeper.
But this depth of sorrow is a sign of a healthy soul, not a sick soul. It does not have to be morbid or fatalistic. It is not something to escape but something to embrace. Jesus said, "Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted." Sorrow indicates that people who have suffered loss are living authentically in a world of misery, and it expresses the emotional anguish of people who feel pain for themselves or for others. Sorrow is noble and gracious. It enlarges the soul until the soul is capable of mourning and rejoicing simultaneously, of feeling the world's pain and hoping for the world's healing at the same time. However painful, sorrow is good for the soul.
Deep sorrow often has the effect of stripping life of pretense, vanity, and waste. It forces us to ask basic questions what is mot important in life. Suffering can lead to a simpler life, less cluttered with nonessentials. It is wonderfully clarifying. That is why many people who suffer sudden and severe loss often become different people. They spend more time with their children or spouses, express more affection and appreciation to their friends, show more concern for other wounded people, give more time to a worthy cause, or enjoy more of the ordinariness of life."
This is what Sittser wrote: "Recovery is a misleading and empty expectation. We recover from broken limbs, not amputation. Catastrophic loss by definition precludes recovery. It will transform or destroy us, but it will never leave us the same. There is no going back to the past, which is gone forever, only going ahead to the future which has yet to be discovered. Whatever that future is, it will and must, include the pain of the past with it. Sorrow never entirely leaves the soul of those who have suffered a severe loss. If anything, it may keep going deeper.
But this depth of sorrow is a sign of a healthy soul, not a sick soul. It does not have to be morbid or fatalistic. It is not something to escape but something to embrace. Jesus said, "Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted." Sorrow indicates that people who have suffered loss are living authentically in a world of misery, and it expresses the emotional anguish of people who feel pain for themselves or for others. Sorrow is noble and gracious. It enlarges the soul until the soul is capable of mourning and rejoicing simultaneously, of feeling the world's pain and hoping for the world's healing at the same time. However painful, sorrow is good for the soul.
Deep sorrow often has the effect of stripping life of pretense, vanity, and waste. It forces us to ask basic questions what is mot important in life. Suffering can lead to a simpler life, less cluttered with nonessentials. It is wonderfully clarifying. That is why many people who suffer sudden and severe loss often become different people. They spend more time with their children or spouses, express more affection and appreciation to their friends, show more concern for other wounded people, give more time to a worthy cause, or enjoy more of the ordinariness of life."
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Jerry Sittser on Loss, Darkness...
This was what Jerry Sittser （A Grace Disguised, p. 49) said: "It is therefore not true that we become less through loss-- unless we allow the loss to make us less, grinding our soul down until there is nothing left but an external self entirely under the control of circumstances. Loss can also make us more. In the darkness we can still find the light. In death we can also find life. It depends on the choices we make.
Though these choices are difficult and rarely made in haste or with ease, we can nevertheless make them. Only when we choose to pay attention to our souls will we learn how much more there is to life than the external world around us, however wonderful or horrible that world is. We will discover the world within. Yet such attention to the soul does not have to engender self-absorption. If anything, it eventually turns us toward the world again and makes us more compassionate and just than we might otherwise have been.
Not that the choices we make will always have happy results. That is especially true if we choose to face our losses squarely. When we plunge into darkness, it is darkness we experience. We fell pain, anguish, sorrow and despair, and we experience the ugliness, meanness and absurdity of life. We brood as well as hope, rage as well as surrender, doubt as well as believe. We are apathetic os often as we are, hopeful and sorrowful before we are joyful. We both mourn deeply and live well. We experience the ambivalence of living simultaneously in the night and in the light."
So darkness is not something to be avoided but to be entered into trusting that our faithful God would eventually turn the mourning into joy and give us beauty for ashes.
Though these choices are difficult and rarely made in haste or with ease, we can nevertheless make them. Only when we choose to pay attention to our souls will we learn how much more there is to life than the external world around us, however wonderful or horrible that world is. We will discover the world within. Yet such attention to the soul does not have to engender self-absorption. If anything, it eventually turns us toward the world again and makes us more compassionate and just than we might otherwise have been.
Not that the choices we make will always have happy results. That is especially true if we choose to face our losses squarely. When we plunge into darkness, it is darkness we experience. We fell pain, anguish, sorrow and despair, and we experience the ugliness, meanness and absurdity of life. We brood as well as hope, rage as well as surrender, doubt as well as believe. We are apathetic os often as we are, hopeful and sorrowful before we are joyful. We both mourn deeply and live well. We experience the ambivalence of living simultaneously in the night and in the light."
So darkness is not something to be avoided but to be entered into trusting that our faithful God would eventually turn the mourning into joy and give us beauty for ashes.
Monday, May 11, 2009
Mother's Day remembrance at the Lawn Cemetery - May 11, 2009
Happy Mother's Day, Juliana!Enjoy the blessings of heavenly life!
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Thoughts about Grace & Gifts...
Two comments struck me deep this morning...
Commenting on the healed Samaritan in Luke's Gospel, Boring & Craddock said: "This (grace) is a completely spontaneous act, the expression of a gratitude not commanded by Jesus. Gratitude cannot be commanded or exacted ... There is no presumption that "of course God heals/forgives/saves --- that's God's business." Grace cannot be calculated; grace is always amazing grace. "Grace" and "gratitude" are related linguistically and theologically; just as the two words are derived from the same root, so there can be no awareness of grace without gratitude, no gratitude without an awareness of grace. " [Boring & Craddock in "Luke," The People's New Testament Commentary, Louisville, KY: WJKP, 2004, 247.]
Rev. Tan Soo-Inn commented recently in his Grace@Work Mail commentary said: "Life is a gift. Creation is a gift. The Cross is a gift and so is the new heaven and the new earth and everything in between. For those with eyes to see, life is strewn with the generous gifts of God and people, ranging from our eternal salvation, to a cup of cold water on a hot day. For those of us who want to orientate our lives around the twin loves of God and neighbour, there are many reasons to say thank you. Indeed we are to give thanks in all circumstances (1Thessalonians 5:18) believing that a gracious God can bring good even out of evil (Romans 8:28)."
Perhaps, and dare I say, death is also a gift? for it leads us into God's presence where we shall have eternal peace, joy and love? I think for many of us our eschatological orientation is wrong a lot of times for we only think of the here and now forgetting that once we become Christians, our perspective ought to be aligned with that of God's.
Commenting on the healed Samaritan in Luke's Gospel, Boring & Craddock said: "This (grace) is a completely spontaneous act, the expression of a gratitude not commanded by Jesus. Gratitude cannot be commanded or exacted ... There is no presumption that "of course God heals/forgives/saves --- that's God's business." Grace cannot be calculated; grace is always amazing grace. "Grace" and "gratitude" are related linguistically and theologically; just as the two words are derived from the same root, so there can be no awareness of grace without gratitude, no gratitude without an awareness of grace. " [Boring & Craddock in "Luke," The People's New Testament Commentary, Louisville, KY: WJKP, 2004, 247.]
Rev. Tan Soo-Inn commented recently in his Grace@Work Mail commentary said: "Life is a gift. Creation is a gift. The Cross is a gift and so is the new heaven and the new earth and everything in between. For those with eyes to see, life is strewn with the generous gifts of God and people, ranging from our eternal salvation, to a cup of cold water on a hot day. For those of us who want to orientate our lives around the twin loves of God and neighbour, there are many reasons to say thank you. Indeed we are to give thanks in all circumstances (1Thessalonians 5:18) believing that a gracious God can bring good even out of evil (Romans 8:28)."
Perhaps, and dare I say, death is also a gift? for it leads us into God's presence where we shall have eternal peace, joy and love? I think for many of us our eschatological orientation is wrong a lot of times for we only think of the here and now forgetting that once we become Christians, our perspective ought to be aligned with that of God's.
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Remembering Her on Our Wedding Anniversary - April 15th, 2009
It's been a blessed 20 years since we've got married and a good 13 years of parenting before God decided that I should shoulder the parenting task from here on...May the good LORD grant me the grace and wisdom to do this faithfully for as long as He so desires.
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