Skirting The Issue May 18, 2006
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Yes, an entire short entry devoted to my latest fashion choice.
I'm starting to wear long skirts again. They were a daily dress requirement for me years ago but I never really wore them by choice. Then last Saturday saw me out shopping for an ankle-length skirt. I found one, price was good, colour was right, style was decent, bought it.
Since then I've been enjoying wearing it when I'm out. It speaks to the bohemian in me. It suits the side of my personality that will always be an island girl. It has no slits so no fears of potential wardrobe malfunctions, yet walking in it is easy. It really caters to my feminity, oddly in a way that shorter skirts don't. I walk a little taller, I carry myself with a little more grace.
All this from one piece of clothing? Strange but true. It hasn't made me want to give up jeans or slacks yet but I can definitely see long skirts taking up permanent residence in my wardrobe.
Dabbling In The Da Vinci Code May 9, 2006
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By next week The Da Vinci Code movie will have hit our shores and I'm pretty sure my friends will be all out to watch it. I'm not too concerned about friends whom I know know the real truth behind the 'facts' in the book. It's just my other friends who aren't Christians whom I'm sure will have questions for me. The movie hasn't even opened yet and already I've got into a would-be tussle with a friend who was raving over the book. I was on my way to a seminar about unveiling the Da Vinci Code and asked him to come along but he declined. To him all they're going to do is debunk the 'facts' that Jesus was married to Mary Magalene and had a child, that the church has been fooling believers all along and that the Bible is unreliable. Well, excuse me but… yeah! Of course they're going to do that. Even non-Christian historians and academics agree that the so-called facts in Dan Brown's book don't stand up to what history and archaeology have proven. Aren't you curious to know the truth? I'm ashamed to say it took all of my willpower to fight the urge to jump in and shove the real facts down his throat. I don't want to do that, to just impatiently defend my beliefs and prove them right. In the end as I was running late I just said I know it's an engaging work of fiction (emphasis on the word 'fiction') and that I'm glad he knows that most of the things he writes about aren't really true.
This is just one friend though and I anticipate that there may be others. I think Boundless sums it up best in this article where Drew Dyck writes that:
Letting people talk doesn't mean validating their ideas. It means validating them. Besides, when you begin fielding objections before you hear them, there's a good chance you'll be giving answers to questions that weren't there in the first place. Sometimes the details of the debate aren't the real issue anyway. I knew Brent was opposed to orthodox Christian belief. A more fruitful discussion would have centered on talking about why he was really attracted to the theories in The Da Vinci Code. What about the story appealed to him? Why was he intrigued? Perhaps posing such questions would have opened him up to hearing my opinions, rather than putting him on the defensive.
I think I really need to abide by this suggestion when talking with my friends. I'm even considering borrowing the book and reading it in order to understand where they're coming from. I already know the truth and the background most of the 'facts' were based upon and don't mind sharing what I know but I have a feeling my friends may already know that too as documentaries have been all over satellite television that nearly every household has (except mine). I just want to know what fascinates them about the book and if they're willing to listen, maybe I can relate that to the Jesus whom I know. Off the top of my head I know three friends I have regular contact with who are mildly curious about Christianity so maybe for all it's short-comings, The Da Vinci Code may be a way to talk to them about what I know to be true.
I just hope I don't spark off a heated argument instead.
Plugged Into God May 1, 2006
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'Electrifying' best describes the scene that was the launching of Saturday Night Live (SNL) at my home church on April 29th. I had a long day running up and down Penang that started at 9am so it was quite a relief to arrive at my last stop of the day – church! I had been away from church since Easter and once again it felt really good to be back. SNL is set to be our permanent weekly youth service and judging from the fire and the passion I saw that night, I'm confident every week will be an amazing encounter with God.
We had Altered Frequency there to provide the worship for SNL. I knew of their existance and had heard their debut album Exalt some two years ago but this was my first time seeing the band in the flesh. The guys didn't disappoint. They sounded great on recording but their live performance was no less than incredible. It is so encouraging for me to see Malaysian Christian music come into its own.
One of my friends visiting for the first time thought Altered Frequency was my church band. Wow, I wish! Instead they mainly hail from The ACTS Church in Subang Jaya as well as other churches in the Klang Valley.
Worship that night itself was electrifying. Seeing God's people come together, raising hands, jumping and cheering in praise, clapping with joy and singing with all their hearts was a worship leader's dream come true.
Before Pastor Sam came out to share the message for the night they screened the preview to the upcoming movie Mission Impossible: III. As the clip rolled I could sense my friends becoming more and more perplexed as to why we were showing the preview of a secular movie. For all I know they must have been thinking this weird church has really got its priorities confused! Any doubt was cleared up when Pastor Sam took the floor and introduced the topic of his message which was Mission Impossible 4 – God's mission in our lives, for whom nothing is impossible.
The most significant part of his message to me was a story he told about a pastor at a conference who desperately had to visit the lavatory halfway through dinner. Upon entering, to his dismay he found that all the toilets were full of excrement in all their splendour. Resigning himself to the situation he was about to do the necessary business when his room key in the back pocket of his pants fell out with a *plink*. Except it wasn't really a *plink* but more like a :thud:. I know, YUCK.
As the key started sinking into its murky brown grave the pastor became frantic. Should he give it up for lost, leave it and get a new key? Or should he reach in and grab it despite the overwhelming disgust factor? Just when the fate of the key seemed sealed, he made the decision, plunged his hand in and bravely plucked out the key.
I know only too well what must have gone through his mind as his key fell in because the same thing happened to me not more than a few months ago. My carkey fell into the toiletbowl of a restaurant and I could do nothing but watch in horror as it slid into the bowels of the squatting toilet. God answered my prayers that day though because the restaurant management was able to extricate my key, praise God!
Back to the pastor in the story. Right then the Holy Spirit spoke to him. We are like the key, lost in all our mess and dirtiness of our sin. God could easily just pull the lever and flush us. But instead He bends down into the grime and filth, reaches in and plucks us out of the grave we were sinking into. Not only that but He washes us and makes us new again for that is the measure of how precious we are to Him!
At the end of the service a number of people surrendered their lives to Jesus for the first time and hundreds more stood up in response to Him. It was quite a night and I'm blessed to have been there and to be a part of it.
Sad Night April 26, 2006
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A cat killed a nest of baby sparrows in the corridor outside my room last night 
We have a lot of cats here, they live in the corridors, scavange the garbage cans and don't belong to anyone. My room is on the topmost floor where they usually don't venture to climb but lately that's changed as I've been seeing more of them prowling around. They don't cause trouble for me though.
Last night all of a sudden there was a sound like a whole bunch of birds had gone crazy. I thought birds were supposed to be roosting by then. I opened the door to look out and some 20 feet away I saw this cat batting around what looked like a giant hairball. I went to take a closer look and that's when I realised the noise was coming from this one sparrow flying around near the light fixtures while the giant hairball in question turned out to be a nest with babies cheeping inside.
I didn't know what to do and I regret not doing more than I did. I picked up the cat and deposited it downstairs but I didn't know where the nest had fallen down from or what else to do with it and I couldn't see the baby birds that I presume were somewhere inside the mass of twigs. I went back to my room but when I went out later the cat had made its way back and was attacking the nest again. I think it was a lost cause My roommate said it's following the law of nature. I suppose she's right but it still makes me sad. As pets I like cats more than birds but I don't like seeing killing like that even if it's their instinct to do so. It's times like these when it's so real how the fall of man messed up everything, so now even dumb animals kill one another. I'll be glad that in heaven we'll see a return to Eden, where the lamb will lie down with the lion and there will be no bloodshed ever again.
Unexpected Treasures April 19, 2006
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I went flea marketing last Monday. Now browsing the flea market is such a relaxing exercise for me that I only regret I don't have the opportunity to do it more often. The place was full of people selling anything from fruits to cellphone accessories, to spare engine parts and vintage items. And there were the random people with mats spread out on the floor hawking used belongings, most of which had seen better days. My eyes were on the vintage and used goods because you never know when something brilliant turns up amidst all the other junk.
I saw shiny betel nut tray sets, nyonya chain belts, colorful pins, black and white photographs, jewelry designed after the fashion of a bygone era, even a gramophone! But I was on the look out for vintage coins and I wasn't disappointed. There were many stalls or mats spread out with piles of old coins, usually watched over by a wrinkled old man or woman. The best sellers didn't even glance up at me as I knelt down in front of them, taking my time to sieve through the coins. The more pushy sellers would wave before me books of shiny coins in foreign denominations and priced more than I could afford. These I passed over quickly. I walked several times around the expanse of the market, comparing prices and trying to find the oldest coins possible.
Three times I passed an old man sitting at the corner of the market. He had only three small metal trays of coins laid out in front of him. No bigger than the size of my hand, the trays stood out in stark contrast to the large amounts the other sellers had. I walked past him twice without stopping to look, each time I did I noted the expression of sadness written on his face.
The third time I passed him I decided to pause and see what he had to offer. After all I reasoned, it wouldn't hurt and perhaps I could find a really old vintage coin.
To my surprise his countenance came alive with enthusiasm as smiling he happily picked out old coins from the trays, rattling off dates and denominations as I shyly inspected them one by one. In return I struck up a friendly banter with him, asking him about the sources of the coins and queried him on prices.
Finally he tossed before me an old bronze coin that was over 150 years old! I don't know if he noticed my excitement as I fought to keep it under control. That was the oldest coin I had ever laid eyes on so far and it was in beautiful condition. In the end after a spot of light bargaining he let me have it at much less than I'm sure it was worth. He was happy, I was happy.
I walked off feeling like I made a new friend. As I carefully slipped the coin into the linings of my purse I marvelled over how treasures can be found in the most unexpected of places and how you should never judge others lest you miss out on something special that they may have to offer.
(Further Up And) Further In April 11, 2006
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"Further in and higher up!" cried Roonwit and thundered away in a gallop to the West. And though they did not understand him, the words somehow set them tingling all over.
~ C.S. Lewis (The Last Battle)
'Further In' refers to delving further into myself, my thoughts and understanding of life around me. Since my inspiration for this title came from a section of The Last Battle entitled Further Up and Further In, for me 'Further Up' refers to delving further into my relationship with God who lives 'up' in Heaven. Therefore, knowing God and knowing myself. I also hope to improve my writing and to encourage myself to write as often as I can. And since I'm a very private person, maybe expressing myself here will be a way of opening up, gaining insight or just to vent my feelings.
May I just say though, that I am loving WordPress. I adore the layout and all the functions. All credit goes to Messy Christian for clueing me in on this lovely bloghost.
