Presenting...

http://thedreamist.wordpress.com

Reasons
1) Blogger have been screwing me up.
2) Same reason as why change from thisismycry to simpletruths.

Please do update your links. Do continue to post your comments. They are very much valued. =)

Hope: Perth
9-16 March 2007

"Win the youth today, win the world tomorrow."








Something new coming soon. Look for it when i'm back.

[Moments in our lives such as these]

Dedicated to those await their A level results, O level's posting and then the A level's posting respectively.

In a few days time, it would be the collection of results of many sorts. Some await results pertaining to the next school they would be entering, others merely wait for the results that will also give them the choices of the school they have left with to select from.

Where as many people view this as the moment of truth regarding their test, I thought that there may be an alternative perspective to view this moment in life from. Especially for a Christian that has a worldview that includes a God that (1)resides in eternity, (2)is understood to be sovereign over all things and (3)never ever makes mistakes, those results never ever truly show us the extent in which we pass or fail our test* ; that revelation will only be given to you on judgment day.

Instead may we learn to see this as the sequel to God's plan, the next step that is about to be revealed by Him. Just like how we wait in expectation for the next book in the Harry Potter series, the day that the results are release is the equivalent to the day we find out the progression of plot the story of our life written by the Divine author Himself. For some, it is the predictable plot of the standard happy ending, for others there is that exciting twist of plot that allows the protagonist to fight against the mundane world's stereotyping of the condemned. We all love supporting the underdogs, favoring the all so famous rags to riches stories. Why is that so? Could it be due to the fact that we can find ourselves identifying with the story? More then often, people are resigned to the fact they aren't the type of knights found encircling King Arthur's round table, but more have a lifestyle more similar to the poor Cinderella. Such stories continue to instill hope in the lives of the ordinary, which is why they are so endearing to us.

Whatever results that you may receive, always remember that it is not the full stop in the sentence, but the comma for the next phrase. With this new attitude, such days are no longer terrifying, but exciting. That slip of paper you hold in your hand is the next page of your book. Enjoy.


*I mentioned before in one of my previous post that the test/exam is not one of knowledge, but of character.

I saw this quote recently off Ting Ting's blog and it spurred some thoughts in my mind.

"If Satan reminds you about your past, remind him about his future."

No condemnation for those who are in Christ right? That is because we have been offered forgiveness by the blood of Christ. What is forgiveness to you? It seems like a sort of reset button to me. It allows us to start on a clean slate. Actually to be frank, when I first started out as a Christian, I though forgiveness was no big deal. It was something like a tool that allows this sinner into heaven. Cause it is common sense that no human with sin on Him is allowed to enter the perfect place. Hence this forgiveness is a sort of shower that keeps cleansing us. And we have to keep asking for forgiveness because we never know when we will die. If we died with an unrepentant heart, we may just fail to qualify for entry into heaven. Basically in simple terms, it is more of an afterlife consideration.

However, recently I just had a change of worldview. Forgiveness is as relevant in our life on earth as much as it is relevant for life in heaven. Have you ever done something so bad that you just want to press the reset button? Just like if a painting have gone awfully wrong, we can always tear up the paper and repaint. If a computer is screwed, we can reboot; in extreme case, we can reformat. Even a badly scored exam can be retaken. What about a damaged human life? The previous examples are all concerning objects, but what sort of a "RE-verb*" can we use to fixed the damaged human life?

I believe forgiveness is the key. It is the reset button for the damage that one human did to another of its kind. It is fundamentally used to repair the hurt caused, the brokenness in the relationship. And obviously, all hurt must be caused when we are still on earth, not in heaven. People desire a reset very much. Just like how people migrate to other countries to start on a clean slate, how people celebrate New Year, and how people changes jobs, life stations and environments. It is all about finding new hope in a unblemished record book. Nothing is known about them, nothing is held against them. Its a new chance to set things right.

Well, we all know that with limited amount of cash, chances and common sense, we cannot keep changing environment. Eventually, we just have to put up with mistakes. These however can be washed away with the reset button of forgiveness. However, this leads us to a problem. How can an imperfect human being dispense perfect forgiveness? This leads me to pessimistic thinking of that the age old idea "forgive and forget" is just a beautiful but empty notion. We all know that things cannot be the same ever again. Some hurts cannot be erased, some scars are permanent. How do we account for that portion? Even the church is not perfect, since imperfect people make up the church. A number of people do leave church not because they wish to leave God, but because they feel that they have screwed up so much in that church that they only way to move on is to change a church environment because of the stigma that is attached to them. Sad, but it is true. It is hypocritical because Christians are supposed to be a forgiving lot, but then at the same time it is understandable because we are an imperfect lot as well. God is supposed to be the answer in this gaping hole problem. I can understand how He can completely and perfectly forgive us for the sins we done against Him since the sin is committed against him. But how does He helps us to completely and perfectly forgive the people that have hurt us, and vice-versa-lly*, to help the people we have hurt to completely and perfectly forgive us when He is not directly involved?

In the words of a typical Singaporean:

So How?

*imaginary words






Please let me press the reset button.

[Adventures on the 2nd Day of CNY]

Warning: Image Heavy Content Ahead

The Good Lookings...

2nd Stop: Angela's house. She is trying to kiss the cam. Haha.


Ok ok. Take properly this time. (Elise is trying to sniff the chair though)

OK OK. REALLY TAKE PROPERLY. Elise and the dang Wilson (look at the size of that thing!) that me and Samuel had to carry though the whole orchard. Don't ask why.

VPJ... ask her what it stands for.

Outside Harry's house. Note: This pic was taken cause VPJ insisted that my camera was lousier then her's.

David and Goliath. This cute little boy was wrecking my majong game by sitting on me 50% of the time. The remaining 50% was tahan-ed by our dear Goliath.

Little Long Ting Guan having a try at majong. He can really play I tell you.

The End: Hp ran out of batt. =X