Kung Fu Panda: Lesson 2

2.      The first step to our dream is to wake up.

We all have to start somewhere; to paraphrase the Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu, “the journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step”. In the world of dreams and fantasies, we can do anything—from beating the most powerful foe with one little finger, to executing the most difficult stunt. However, in the real world, nothing worthwhile is easily obtained.

In the movie, Po’s initial reception by the Furious Five and their master, Shifu, was anything but warm. He was ridiculed and poked fun at. In one scene, Tigress, his idol, told him straight in the face, “Look, you don’t belong here! You are a disgrace to kung fu!” In another scene, Shifu derided Po: “Look at you! This fat butt, flabby arms, and this ridiculous belly, and utter disregard for personal hygiene… Don’t stand too close, I can smell your breath!”

When I first started teaching, I also encountered critical comments from students (despite my good intentions and best efforts). Some of these comments included:

·  “he lacks confidence… should be more at ease”,

·  “need to improve on his presentation style... always reading straight from the slide. Not very clear during [the] lecture”,

·  “his lectures are not well organized. Notes are often out of order” 

·  “content [is] too dry and technical”.

Two negative responses to such criticisms would be denial and self-pity. Denial would involve rejecting negative feedback by rationalising that students do not know how to identify “good” and “bad” teaching; that their view of a good teacher is based primarily on popularity and showmanship rather than substance. Self-pity, on the other hand, would involve allowing the negative feedback to eat into one’s confidence and emotion, which could lead to depression and making excuses about one’s teaching skills. In the movie, a dejected Po cried,

“I suck! They totally hate me! How is Shifu ever going to turn me into the Dragon Warrior? I mean, I’m not like the Five. I’ve got no claws, no wings, no venom, even the mantis has this… Maybe I should just quit!” 

In short, critical words can break the confidence of a young apprentice. I am glad that Po did not quit despite such setbacks. If he had, his story would have ended there and then, and there would have been no “Kung Fu Panda”. I wonder how many stories have remained untold and dreams unfulfilled because someone said, “I quit!”

Source: "Four Lessons from Kung Fu Panda", OEA Public Lecture Series 2012.  

Kung Fu Panda: Lesson 1

1.      Every great thing starts with a dream.

 

The movie starts with a dramatic scene of Po fighting alongside his idols, the legendary Furious Five (Tigress, Crane, Mantis, Viper and Monkey) to defeat an army of villains. Alas, it was only a dream, a crazy dream it seems!

 

Like Po, many of us can recall having childhood dreams. However, at some point in time, many cast aside these childhood dreams. What happened? Maybe as they grew up into adulthood, they learnt that dreams and fantasies were for children and would have no place in the adult world. Maybe, they learnt from bitter experience that dreams and disappointments were correlated. The bigger the dream, the greater the disappointment! As such, in order to insulate themselves from being hurt, they stopped dreaming.

However, dreams are important. To be honest, my pursuit of teaching excellence involved pursuing a series of dreams, starting from scaling small hills to eventually aiming for the peak—the Mount Everest of the OEA! In the words of the great American industrialist Henry J. Kaiser,

“I always have to dream up there against the stars. If I don’t dream I’ll make it, I won’t even get close. So, dream a great dream, a lofty dream, an impossible dream!”

 

 

Source: "Four Lessons from Kung Fu Panda", OEA Public Lecture Series 2012.

Gold for Bronze? (2 Chronicles 11-12)

Riding on the Olympic season, my reflection for today:- “If you have a gold medal, would you exchange it for a bronze?”

As part of the IDT journey, I have been reading the books of Kings and Chronicles recently. A lot of lessons can be gleaned, but what stood out for me was succession planning... from Saul, to David, to Solomon, to Rehoboam,… Allow me to share my study from 2 Chronicles 11-12, which focused on the story of Rehoboam, who succeeded his father King Solomon. Although he faced opposition to the throne, he listened to the word of God (11:4) and as a result Judah prospered. Quoting from 11:17, “they strengthened the kingdom of Judah, and for three years they made Rehoboam the son of Solomon secure, for they walked for three years in the way of David and Solomon.” (ESV)

But then, we read in 12:1 “when the rule of Rehoboam was established and he was strong, he abandoned the law of the Lord, and all Israel with him.” At his peak of popularity and power, he abandoned God, and the result was destruction and Judah was conquered by Egypt. The king of Egypt took away the treasures in God’s temple and the king’s palace. He took away everything. He also took away the shields of gold that Solomon had made (11:9). In their place, King Rehoboam made shields of bronze. How ironic that “silver was not considered as anything in the days of Solomon” (9:20). Now we read that Rehoboam had to replace the gold shields with bronze shields, probably to maintain the appearance of former glory… From afar, bronze may glitter like gold, but they are not gold. When God is no longer central in our lives, maintaining the appearance of a Christian life becomes superficial. In our relationship with God, have the bronze medals taken over the place of gold medals? In our walk with God, the inner life is more important than the outward life.

How could this happen? The Life Application Bible suggests that “often, it is more difficult to be a believer in good times than in bad. Tough times push us towards God; but easy times can make us feel self-sufficient and self-satisfied.” We may fall into Satan’s trap thinking that we are not like Rehoboam, who ultimately rejected God. How about King David then? Perhaps we can relate with him better since he is “a man after God’s own heart”! In 1 Chronicles 21:1-3, Satan incited David to number Israel. The census displeased God, not because the action was wrong, but his motive was wrong – he took pride in the strength of his army, while forgetting that his real strength came from God.

Photo: Celebrating our 20^th Anniversary in Cotswolds, England (2012)

WHEN EVERYTHING IS GOING RIGHT,
GUARD YOUR FAITH CLOSELY.

THERE IS A FINE LINE BETWEEN FEELING CONFIDENT BECAUSE YOU RELY ON GOD’S POWER AND BECOMING PROUD BECAUSE YOU HAVE BEEN USED BY GOD.

A timely reminder for staying in the presence of God…, “if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land. Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayer that is made in this place.” (2 Chronicles 7:14, 15 ESV)

Reference: Life Application Bible

Outstanding Educator Award 2012

The University Awards 2012 was held on May 4, 2012 to honour nine exceptional individuals for their excellence in education, research and service to the University, to Singapore and the global community. In his address for the University Awards 2012, NUS President Prof Tan Chorh Chuan highlighted that, “excellence results from the individual’s deep desire to be exceptional and constantly do better. Yet it can be multidimensional, touching the life of others and having an impact on society in many different ways.”

Photo: Receiving the OEA award from NUS President

The Outstanding Educator Award (OEA) is given annually to honour faculty members in NUS who have shown outstanding performance, dedication and commitment to teaching. The citation read by Professor Tan Eng Chye, Deputy President (Academic Affairs) and Provost of NUS is as follows: 

 

“Associate Professor Joseph Ooi is a highly skilled and versatile teacher. He excels at lecturing and tutoring a broad range of subjects and is equally adept at teaching undergraduates, graduates and executives. He engages students through innovative approaches and various pedagogical means, such as case studies, storytelling and role playing.

 

A devoted teacher, Joseph enjoys interacting with students and cares for their well-being and personal development. He constantly keeps a lookout for students who need extra help, and adopts an “open door” policy for informal consultations and chit-chat sessions.

 

Joseph’s students have benefitted immensely from his supervision and personal mentorship. Some of them, have co-published their research with Joseph in top journals and have even gone on to win best paper awards at international conferences.

 

Beyond teaching, Joseph has spearheaded a number of notable educational enhancements within his Faculty. Amongst others, Joseph led the revamp of the Master of Science in Real Estate; he developed a new specialisation in real estate for the MBA programme, and pioneered an executive programme in Real Estate Finance.

 

In recognition of his contributions, Joseph has received six teaching awards from NUS. He also won the NUS Young Researcher Award in 2005 and the International Real Estate Society’s Achievement Award in 2008.

 

Joseph is a role model who embodies and fosters academic excellence at NUS; he is a truly deserving recipient of the 2012 Outstanding Educator Award.  My heartiest congratulations to Associate Professor Joseph Ooi.”

The Poor, The Aged & The Alien

The Singapore Parliament kicked off the debate on the Budget yesterday. As reported on Channel News Asia, most of the Members of Parliament (MPs) focussed on the schemes announced to help the low income, the elderly and small businesses. A total of 25 Members of Parliament spoke on Tuesday. Here is an extract of the news reported by CNA:

MPs have described Budget 2012 as "A Budget for the Future" while others called it "A Caring Budget". Under it, the government will spend about $5.5 billion over the next five years to help the less well-off in Singapore. Its new initiatives are targeted at the elderly, disabled and lower-income group. So it was no surprise that in nearly every speech delivered on Tuesday, the plight of two groups of Singaporeans - the elderly and the low-income were addressed.

Zainudin Nordin, GPC Chair for Manpower and MP for Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC, said: "I urge the Government to place some emphasis, using the power of whole of Government, to look at how we can improve the lives of this group...While I am sure that they appreciate the rebates, vouchers and so on that the government offers from time to time, I think there is a need for a closer examination of where each dollar that a low-wage worker earns goes to." Sylvia Lim, MP for Aljunied GRC, said: "In this Budget, the Finance Minister course-corrected to ensure that our poor, elderly and disabled are not stuck in isolated pockets of poverty in our island of prosperity. Let us all agree never to allow the formation of a permanent underclass."

My bible reading for yesterday morning was on Leviticus 19. The outline for the chapter is as follows:
19:1-2 be holy, because I the lord, your god is holy!
19:3 respect your parents, keep the sabbath
19:4 avoid idolatry
19:5-8 correct sacrifice of the fellowship offering
19:9-13 be generous & don't covet
19:14 do not be a stumbling-block
19:15-18 love your neighbor as yourself
19:19-25 unequal yoke
19:26-31 do not worship the occult
19:32-34 love the elderly & alien
19:35-36 use honest scale
19:37 keep my decrees

Coincidental to the discussions in Singapore Parliment, I choosed to focus my study on the following verses: Leviticus 19:9, 10, 32-34 (ESV)

"When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap your field right up to its edge, neither shall you gather the gleanings after your harvest. And you shall not strip your vineyard bare, neither shall you gather the fallen grapes of your vineyard. You shall leave them for the poor and for the sojourner: I am the Lord your God.

"You shall stand up before the gray head and honor the face of an old man, and you shall fear your God: I am the Lord.

"When a stranger sojourns with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong. You shall treat the stranger who sojourns with you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.

Specifically, the above verses focus on our posture towards three groups of people: 1) the poor, 2) the elderly, & 3) the alien. In the Life Application Bible, it was written that: 

1) The Poor: God provides for those in need. He required that the people leave the edges of their fields unharvested, providing food for travelers and the poor. It is easy to forget about the poor but God desires generosity. In what ways can you leave the "edges of your field" for those in need?

2) The Elderly: People often find it easy to dismiss the opinions of the elderly and avoid taking time to visit them. But the fact that God commanded the Israelites to honor the elderly shows how seriously we should take the responsibility of respecting those older than we. Their wisdom gained from experience can save us from many pitfalls.
3) The Alien: How do you feel when you encounter foreigners, especially those who don't speak your language? Are you impatient? Do you think or act as if they should go back where they came from? Are you tempted to take advantage of them? God says to treat foreigners as you'd treat fellow countrymen, to love them as you love yourself. In reality, we are all foreigners in this world, because it is only our temporary home. View strangers, newcomers, and foreigners as opportunities to demonstrate God's love.

Two Birds

Found this poem, entitled TWO BIRDS on the internet.

Two birds begin a journey long,

from different points in a far off land;

With a luring urge - in heart a song,

two novices heed life's command.

As they make their great migration,

Their feeble feet turn to taloned hands;

And the two reach their destination

As seasoned travelers in the southern lands

Still unaware that the other lives,

Each alights upon the very same tree;

And there the two, as if guided by God,

Fall madly in love and marry.

Thus so it is with you and me;

Two birds which Heaven's winds did blow

To this blessed rendezvous of life,

Like the two Swallows at Capistrano.

by Ara John Movsesian (1983)

White-Rumped Shama

Many thrushes are powerful songsters but the White-Rumped Shama Copsychus malabariscus is surely one of the best. Its rich and bubbling song is a delight to hear in the forest.

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A close relative to the Magpie Robin, the White-Rumped Shama is also a good songster; its rich bubbling fluty whistle a characteristic sound of the lowland rainforest. Because of its beautiful song, it is trapped for the cage bird trade. It often descends to feed on the ground but delivers its song from a perch. Specimens see in cage are likely to be escaped cage birds. Source: Strange & Jeyarajasingam (1993)

Head, breast and wings are entirely glossy black in male; bold white rump and long, graduated black tail with white edges; lower breast and abdomen rufous-orange. Female similar but dark grey and rufous rather than black and orange; shorter tail. Source: Davidson & Y.F. Chew (1995)

Pacific Swallows

Pacific Swallows are found everywhere, but usually near water and open country. In Singapore, they are particularly common along the coasts, and also found in mangroves. Earlier this year, a few pacific swallows rested outside my office window. Thus, I was able to take some close-up photos of them.

photo: Kent Ridge

Pacific Swallows eat insects, catching them during flight. To feast on swarming insects, they may join other birds like Swifts. But unlike Swifts that simply trawl the air with their mouths open, Swallows don't hunt on the wing. They perch and wait, then actually chase after individual prey and perform aerial acrobatics to catch them. Swallows also hunt at lower levels than Swifts.Unlike Swifts, Swallows can perch and also come to the ground to drink or gather nesting material.

This species is a small swallow at 13 cm. It has a blue back with browner wings and tail, a red face and throat, and dusky underparts. It differs from Barn Swallow in its shorter and less forked tail.
Adult: Upperparts metallic blue; forehead, throat, upper breast chestnut; lowerparts grey, never white.

Juvenile: Upperparts browner; less chestnut on throat and forehead.

text source: http://www.naturia.per.sg/buloh/birds/Hirundo_tahitica.htm

Asian Koel

Some time back, a pair of Asian Koel was sighted on the tree outside my office. Big and long-tailed, the male is glossy black all over with red eye and pale heavy bill. Female similar in shape but dark brown with bold spots and bars all over.  Calls unmistakable, often starting before dawn: ten or more increasingly loud glissading notes, koel!

A remarkable case of rapid spread: in ten years koels have colonised the whole peninsula of Malaysia, as nest parasites of crows and mynas. Like many species of cuckoos, Asian Koel practices brood paratism, which is defined as a bird laying its eggs in the nest of another bird (either another species or another individual of the same species) so that the young will be raised by the host parents.

NUS Kent Ridge

My search on the internet reveals that cuckoos have evolved various strategies for getting their egg into a host nest, depending on the host defensive strategies.

Egg-laying strategy: Female cuckoos have evolved secretive and fast laying behaviors, and in some cases, males have been seenn to lure host adults away from their nests so that the female can lay her eggs in their nest in the first place. It is also noted that the shells of the eggs of brood-parasites is usually thick - they have two distinct layers with an outer chalky layer that is believed to provide resistance to cracking when the eggs are dropped in the host nest. 

Egg-mimicry strategy: Some host birds are able to distinguish cuckoo eggs from their own, leading to those eggs least like the host's being thrown out of the nest. In such setting, female parasitic cuckoos lay eggs that closely resemble the eggs of their chosen host. Parasitic cuckoos that show the highest levels of egg mimicry are those who hosts exhibit high levels of egg rejection behaviour. Some hosts do not exhibit egg rejection behavior and in these cases, the cuckoo eggs look very dissimilar from the host eggs.  

Egg-camouflage strategy: Other species of cuckoo lay "cryptic" eggs, which are dark in color when their hosts' eggs are light in color. This is a trick to hide the egg from the host, and has evolved in cuckoos that parasitize hosts with dark, domed nests.

Big-bully strategy: Some parasitic cuckoos have also exhibit "mafia-like" enforcement, in which adult cuckoos will completely destry the host's clutch if they reject the cuckoo egg. In this case, raising the cuckoos chick is less of a cost than the alternative - total clutch destruction!

It's in the genes: The cuckoo egg hatches earlier thatn the host's, and the cuckoo chick grows faster; in most cases the chick evicts the eggs or young of the host species. Since the chick has no time to learn this behavior, it must be an instinct passed on genetically.

  

source: Davidson & Chew (2008); wikipedia. 

Spotted Dove

The Spotted Dove is a very popular cage bird and the illegal trapping of will individuals is still a common practice. An adaptable bird with a wide tolerance for habitat, it is found in woodlands, open country and fields. It spends a lot of time walking on the ground near long grass, feeding on seeds.

Feeding on the ground, this is the most abundant pigeon of open country and cultivation.

Description: Brown above, mottled darker brown; vinous pink head and underparts, with white-spotted black half-collar joined round sides and back of neck. Taking off, conspicuously whitish sides to tail and pale grey panel on carpal joint of each wing. Singly or in pairs on ground, feeding on seeds and other bits of vegetation, or perched on wires or low trees; not large flocks. Call a three- or four-note coo.

source: Davidson & Chew (2007); Strange & Jeyarajasingam (1999); Photographic Society of Singapore (2010)

Pinked-necked Green Pigeon

PIGEONS are mainly arboreal birds while DOVES usually feed on the ground in more open habitats. Together they form the family Columbidae.

NUS Kent Ridge

The Pinked-necked Green Pigeon is a widespread and common garden bird throughout South-east Asia. This chubby pigeon can be enormously common in coastal scrub when fruits are abundant. From a distance, the birds look predominantly green. While this is true for the female, the male is more colorful, wearing a light pink neck and splashed with an orange spot on the breast.

Description: It can be distinguished from other green pigeons by grey tail with black band and grey tip. Male has grey head passing through pink to orange lower breast; green back and wings. Female dull green without markedly pale throat, best identified by tail pattern and association with distinctive male.

Calling a lilting coo, varied and prolonged. This pigeon usually forages in flocks, especially near coast in mangroves, scrub, secondary forest, forest edge, feeding on a variety of fruiting trees. It is particularly fond of figs (as shown in the photos above).

source: Davidson... ; Y.K. Chew (2007); K.S. Ong (2008); PSS (2010)

Common Tailorbird

WARBLERs are a large family of small insectivorous birds. Some are found in forests, others in mangroves, gardens or open grasslands. Many of the species are somewhat similar in appearance, they all move quickly through the vegetation, and are hard to photograph. Some recreational bird photographers give them a miss as they are simply too hard to locate and capture.

Bt Batok Nature Reserves, Singapore

The tailorbids are a delightful genus of warblers, being active, vocal and attractive. But the 11-12 cm long birds which move with lightning speed through dense trees and bushes are not easy to photograph. Found in secondary growth, scrub, gardens, plantations. Their darting, low flight from thicket to thicket and continual change of perch make tailor birds hard to see well even when they are very close.

Description: Olive above, creamy buff below including buff under tail-coverts, with rufous forehead and thighs, greyish face. Often shows some grey or even blackish feather-bases on throat but always less than Black-necked Tailor Bird; distinguished from that species also by thigh colour, lack of yellow on under tail coverts, longer tail.

An active and vocal bird, it always move about low in the bushes looking for insects. Call: a loud kedeek kedeek kedeek. True to its name, it actually builds its nest inside two large leaves which it sews together using silk for thread.  

source: Davidson & Chew (2007); K.S. Ong (2008)

Keep Me Save (Psalms 16: 1-11)

vv 1-2. Keep me safe, O God for in you I take refuge. You are my God and apart from you I have no good thing.

vv. 5-6 Lord you have assigned me my cup and my portion; you have made my lot secure. The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places.

Location: Wildlife Reserves Singapore

vv. 7-10 The Lord who counsels me; even at night my heart instructs me. I have set the LORD always before me. Because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken. My heart is glad & my tongue rejoices; my body rest secure; because you will not abandon me...

v. 11 You have made known to me the path of life; You will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.

Coppersmith Barbet

BARBETS are related slightly to woodpeckers, both groups have strong bills and feet and nest in tree cavities. Barbets, however, feed mainly on fruits, while woodpeckers hammer into dead wood and bark for ants, termites and larvae. Barbets are colourful and attractive forest birds, but most species live mainly high in large trees, and getting good views of them is difficult. They usually move inside the foliage and are best located and identified by calls.

Location: NUS Kent Ridge

The Coppersmith Barbet is a common resident that prefers open-country habitats. It is found in parks and gardens, on the fringes of mangroves and even in busy heartland districts. This species often goes unnoticed due to its small size and habit of perching on the top of tall trees.

Though this bird is typically solitary, groups of more than ten have occasionally been seen at fruiting trees. Close up, this bird is a gem with its red forecrown and breastband, brilliant yellow throat and reddish feet. Plummage is dark green with streaked buff and green abdomen. 

Call a repetitive choink, choink, choink, of metallic tone, more than one note per second, sounding like a coppersmith's hammer. The only brightly coloured barbet of open areas. Found in scattered trees in open country, secondary growth, gardens.

The nest is built in typical barbet fashion, inside the cavity of a tree trunk. It can be seen feeding in fruiting trees.

Source: Davidson & Chew (2007) Birds of Peninsular Malaysia and Singapore; Ong K.S. (2008) A Passion for Birds; Lee T.K. (2010) Birds in the Garden City.

Be Glorified! (2 Thess 1:12)

This song by Don Moen kept resonating is my heart for the past two weeks... Be Gloried! Today, my devotional scripture reading is on 2 Thessalonias 1:12 which also focuses on the there... may the name of Jesus be glofied in you! What does this means? Listen carefully to the lyrics of the song...

 

With every beat of my heart
Every song that I sing
Every prayer that I pray
Every offering I bring
In every thought that I have
Every word that I say
Oh, be glorified (yeah, yeah)

From the start of each day
'Til the end of the night
Let me bring praise
Let me bring light
Lord, I offer my life
As a sacrifice
Be glorified (yeah, yeah)

This is my prayer
It's the cry of my heart
Lord, I want my life
To reflect who You are
Oh Lord, please stir up the fire
And burn everything
'Til all I desire is You

With every breath that I take
In everything that I do
Let me lift up Your name
And bring honor to You
Let the words of my mouth
Only speak truth
Oh, be glorified (yeah, yeah)

This is my prayer
It's the cry of my heart
Lord, I want my life
To reflect who You are
Oh Lord, please stir up the fire
And burn everything
'Til all I desire is You

This is my prayer
It's the cry of my heart
Lord, I want my life
To reflect who You are
Oh Lord, please stir up the fire
And burn everything
'Til all I desire is You

With every beat of my heart
Every song that I sing
Every prayer that I pray
Every offering I bring
In every thought that I have
Every word that I say
Be glorified (be glorified), oh, oh
Be glorified (be glorified), oh yeah
Be glorified (be glorified), oh Lord
Be glorified

In everything I say
Everything I do (be glorified)
In every situation
Every conversation (be glorified)

It's my prayer (be glorified)
Be glorified

Yellow-Vented Bulbul



photo: Dairy Farm Nature Park, Singapore

This is probably the most conspicuous garden bird in Singapore. It will be difficult to find a park in the region that doesn't support a population of this attractive bird, feeding in ornamental trees and breeding low inside dense bushes.

Call is a brief bubbling series of notes, the two birds of a pair calling and raising spread wings over their backs in unison. Its bubbling song provides the wake-up call at daybreak in any 'kampong' or housing estate with a bit of grenery.

Description: Brown above, the head chalky white with a dark crown and dark stripe through the eye; underparts are white, tinged brownish-grey on breast which looks faintly mottled; under tail-coverts pale yellow. Crest often raised into a short peak. 

location: NUS, Kent Ridge

The nest is a shallow cup built low inside a dense bush. 

 

photo: Botanic Gardens, S'pore  

source: Davidson & Y.F. Chew (2007) Birds of Peninsular Malaysia and Singapore

Devastating Events

Devastating events – disappointments; reversals; anything you didn’t want but got anyway; Plan B, not Plan A; things that discourage, that disappoint; things that threaten your well-being and threaten your understanding of the purposes of God?

We know what it is like to see our lives plunged into turmoil. We know what it is like to see our plans dashed. We know what it is like to see our dreams crushed. Every one of us has had that. … When those things happen to us, they will either make us bitter or they will make us better. It will be one or the other.

photo: sentosa, singapore

Seeing God in the midst of devastating events: These things didn’t happen outside the understanding of God. They don’t surprise God. These devastating events that Satan may have meant for our ill, God means for our good. He will bring us through those devastating events into an encounter with Him. He is preparing to meet us in a special way.

If we look carefully into the devastating events of our lives and into those things that threaten our well-being, we will find that there is a burning bush, and God is endeavouring, through those devastating events to bring us to Himself.

source: James T. Draper, Jr (2004) Joy for the Journey in Preaching with Passion

Never Refuse Friendship

"Never refuse any advance of friendship, for if nine out of ten bring you nothing, one alone may repay you." - Claudine Guérin de Tencin, French socialite and author.

photo: at wildlife reserves singapore.

The Stilling of the Storm (Luke 8:22-25)

A great sense of relief... I have just completed today my lecture series for this semester. The title of the lecture today is “Riding the Market Cycles”; and the synopsis is – Getting started is the largest single challenge in the real estate business. Surviving when faced with adversity is a close second since the real estate market goes through cycles of boom and bust. I would like to anchor this sharing on a key point in my lecture, which is weathering the storm.

Today, I would like to share my reflections on a familiar passage in Luke 8:22-25... One day Jesus said to his disciples, “Let’s go over to the other side of the lake.” So they got into a boat and set out. As they sailed, he fell asleep. A squall came down on the lake, so that the boat was being swamped, and they were in great danger. The disciples went and woke him, saying, “Master, Master, we’re going to drown!” He got up and rebuked the wind and the raging waters; the storm subsided, and all was calm. “Where is your faith?” he asked his disciples.
There are many valuable lessons we can learn from this story. For example, the Life Application Bible suggests that “when caught in the storm of life, it is easy to think that God has lost control and we’re at the mercy of the winds of fate. In reality, God is sovereign. He controls the history of the world as well as our personal destinies. Just as Jesus calmed the waves, he can calm whatever storms we may face.”

But tonight, I find comfort in the writing of Robert Llewelyn, entitled The Stilling of the Storm. As you read the scripture passage in Luke 8, consider this point… that there is a sense in which Jesus worked this miracle unwillingly. The impression is that the better way would have been for the disciples to have passed through the storm confidently and courageously, and that the miracle was worked as a concession of their weakness. “Why are you fearful? How is it that you have no faith?”

What is the storm that you are facing right now? Whatever it is, God could remove this obstacle, this trial which presses heavily upon you, by an act of power, as Jesus stilled the winds and the waves on the Galilean lake. And sometimes he does remove the storm, and we may praise him for it, for he knows best. But it may be that his primary will for us is, as was his primary will for his disciples, not that the storm should be removed but that we should pass through it with untroubled hearts and our faith intact.

In his writing, Llewelyn recounted the case of a woman of remarkable faith and character who worked as a matron in a school he was serving in India. He remember the day when she told him that she had been diagnosed as suffering from cancer, and that she would have to leave the school for a period to undergo an operation and treatment. In his words, “We had a special service of intercession for her and many remarked on the Spirit’s power on that occasion. I have no doubt that God could have arrested the cancer and reversed the decaying process by a single act of power had he so willed, but he chose not to remove the storm but to see her through it. I had a letter from her – telling of the indescribable peace and sense of God’s protecting love as she awaited her operation in the ward and then on the operating table. She was out of the hospital in less than half the expected time – no doubt her deep trust and acceptance assisted her recovery – and she lived for another thirty years.”

Llewelyn went on to conclude, “May we not believe that God wrought a deeper service for this person by drawing out her faith and courage, and our faith and love – seeing her through the storm – than would have been possible if the storm has been removed?” It may be that we often get our priorities wrong in these matters. We look for our storms to be removed whereas God would have us pass through them in serenity and trust. For the one who had built their house upon the rock of the gospel we are not told that they would be protected from storm and tempest. We are told rather that when the rain fell, and the floods came, and the storm raged the house remained standing. That was their reward: the house stood firm!

Whatever trials we are going through, as the Psalmist went through in Psalm 46, may we take time to be still and know (and exalt) Him as God! The Lord Almighty is with us; the Lord is our fortress; our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear (Psalms 46:7, 11, 1, 2).

A Friendly Trail

"Try leaving a friendly trail of little sparks of gratitude on your daily trips. You will be surprised how they will set flames of friendship that will be rose beacons on your next visit."

- Dale Carnegie, How to Win Friends & Influence People.