This was a story I attained from an outing to mass in Church of the
Holy Family, Kajang by our local CSS MMU Cyberjaya :)
In Kajang, we met CSS UCSI, and also CSS UTAR, and then, after the
mass, all of CSS UCSI people and MMU fellows went for makan-makan at
the chinese stalls nearby..
While eating, someone (from UCSI) got a message which touched me a lot..
It was a short story, but sent in one single SMS. It was initially in
chinese, but we requested one of our chinese friends from MMU to
translate it. I listened intently to the whole thing. It goes like this...
One day, there were two friends walking along a desert. They were
chatting and talking about many things, and when they touched on a
certain topic they started arguing and bickering with each other.
Turning out to be a heated argument, one of them slaps the other on
the face.
Then, feeling sad and crying, he/she (not mentioned) bent down on the
sand of the hot desert and wrote "Today, my friend ..(name).. has
slapped me on the face, and I feel so sad and disappointed. "
Continuing their journey, they stumbled upon an oasis (a very rare
area of the desert which has water), and then both of them started to
get excited and jumped into the water. Minutes later one of them (the
one who got slapped earlier) started to drown in the water, and then
his (just using 'his' for future reference) friend swam towards that
direction of the call for help to save him. He successfully caught
hold of him, dragged him to safety and brought him out of the water.
Feeling very grateful, in front of him, a large stone wall, he took a
small stone found on the ground and carved words onto the large stone
saying "Today, my friend has saved my life, and I feel so grateful and
thankful."
Soon as they continued on their journey, his friend (the one who
slapped the other and saved his life) asked him, 'why are you writing
every single event or thing that happens between us? You wanna keep a
diary in the desert?'
His friend replied,
"Writing on the sand is for sad and dreadful things, things that we
should forget. Writing on the stone wall, on the other hand, is for
good deeds that we should remember. Why, because the words on the
sand, will be gushed and blown away and everything written will be
disappeared and forgotten after a very short while; however, words
carved on the stone wall will remain; and hence always stays there for
us to see."
email shared from a friend - eugene (CMO-KLCC)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
We know many people through our lives some may leave an impact bad or good many more might not. How many around us are really friends? Or are they just mere acquaintance? Who and what are friends ? Oxford definition :
A
1 A person joined by affection and intimacy to another, independently of sexual or family love.
2 A near relation. Usu. in pl., those responsible for one.
3 A person who is not hostile or an enemy to another; one who is on the same side.
4 A person who wishes another, a cause, etc., well; a sympathizer, helper, patron,
a supporter of an institution etc., who regularly contributes money or other help.
A helpful thing. LME. c A person who acts for another, esp. (Hist.) as a second
in a duel. E19.
5 An acquaintance, an associate; a stranger whom one comes across or has occasion to mention again.
6 A romantic or sexual partner, a lover. Now a euphemism exc. where qualified as boyfriend, girlfriend, lady-friend, man-friend, etc. LME.
7 (F-.) A member of the Society of Friends. M17.
So ur friends are under which 'A'?
There are many people out there too in disguise of being a friend to you actually is not - they back stab, use you, do not respect you for who you are, take you for granted, stain your image, brings u down etc etc.
How nice if there are really true friends?? this will only occur is everyone in a society your are in have the same mentality of being a true friend for one another.
To break this bond all it needs is mistrust, selfishness, fear and low self esteam of ONE person who will form a vicious cycle creating problems in a group ending up no one trusting each other. I have seen that happening and it saddens. Lots of caliber found within them could not be used to benefit themselves by working together.
I remember times when we were told to make friends then it came a time to be careful which friend you chose (u chose a group to befriend) then be careful who you chose as friends (need resumes now to join the club - cliques appear - i have no cliques in 98% of my life). Further it went trust only a few friends but now dreadfully trust no one. So if you dont trust anyone u would end up on your own and when u r on ur own u need to survive thus doing whatever it takes to survive thus being selfish. Now this is a cycle as ur action will directly or indirectly affect those around you and vice versa everybody will become untrustworthy to everybody. How then to happily live in such environment. Its difficult to be good for people will take you for granted and as a joke. At the same time u cant do bad for these 'friends' are like vultures too waiting for one to do a mistake then use it to bring u dwn even after many years too. what is this world getting into now???
Sadly a 'friend' for me in today's world has become just mere acquaintance. Very few (can count with fingers) will remain true good friends.
Friends including good friends too, come and go and also many times forgotten. But that is ok as long as during that short period of friendship time, quality relationship had developed. And happy moments were etched in memory.
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
ATOMIC
http://cssucsi.blogspot.com/2008/06/chitchat-with-greg-part-1.html
http://cssucsi.blogspot.com/2008/07/chitchat-with-greg-part-2.html
I was the president and founder of CSS UCSI ATOMIC - 2007/2008.
The largest undertaken accomplishment so far.
Malas wanna re-write those though so go ahead to that blogsite to read it if u want to lah but at the same time u can also visit CSS UCSI ATOMIC and also from there go and visit other CSSes around Malaysia.
http://cssucsi.blogspot.com/2008/07/chitchat-with-greg-part-2.html
I was the president and founder of CSS UCSI ATOMIC - 2007/2008.
The largest undertaken accomplishment so far.
Malas wanna re-write those though so go ahead to that blogsite to read it if u want to lah but at the same time u can also visit CSS UCSI ATOMIC and also from there go and visit other CSSes around Malaysia.
Heaven and Hell
Whats the point of having heaven and hell. yeah those days by saying this and telling stories people wud get scared and do good just to go to heaven. Now??? Does it still work? Maybe still.
But to go to heaven or to hell one may need to simply.....die 1st... right or not??
When one does lots of good on earth blah blah blah one wud go to heaven after death. Otherwise one would go to hell. So what. In the after life one would either be eternally tormented or eternally live happily ever after.
My point is so what???
Why cant God instead of punishing those bad people on earth when on earth and reward the good people at the same while on earth instead on sentencing them after death.
Why i say this is that bad people when do bad affect others especially the good people and escape happily till they die. Probably subtlely they may encounter some hardships or some downs (God's so called punishment)but there are high chances they might not realize its a form or punishment. So whats the point then. when u r punished u ideally need to learn a lesson right but here they dont and wont. So evil prevails.
Now sadly....the good people would get more temptations with an excuse that they would become more good. But again whats the point of tempting them till death. Reward today, following day get masalah again haha. God is just having fun with us keke. Some more worse that bad people will kacau us and they would get away and we get cought.
No wonder people say hell is on earth. Maybe i would have to agree with that. Hell is on earth so we need to do good to go to heaven, which is not on this earth, which u wud only get in once God has been satisfied with ur performance here on earth. If u r good and have lots of problem then perhaps God is not satisfied with you and would like to play with u more keke. Come on God!! Give the good people some break!! haha.
Frustrations.
People ask why good people die faster than the bad ones. A friend of mine answered well. (a pastor told him) He said that when good people die their function on earth has been achieved and completed. So here we all have a function in live. What is your have u asked yourself or pondered over it. I have found mine but find it hard to do it which is normal. Good things don't come easy. That is why i ask God to give me a break. I ask for help he give me problem haha funny..!!!..(:-P.
God has his plans and we have no mind to understand it. Only faith in Him will keep us going. We may plan all we want but God has the last word. Well at the same time God is not cruel he is very merciful so thank God for what u have already. :-)
ps - this is a cynical post. just to keep ur mind thinking about it for fun.
But to go to heaven or to hell one may need to simply.....die 1st... right or not??
When one does lots of good on earth blah blah blah one wud go to heaven after death. Otherwise one would go to hell. So what. In the after life one would either be eternally tormented or eternally live happily ever after.
My point is so what???
Why cant God instead of punishing those bad people on earth when on earth and reward the good people at the same while on earth instead on sentencing them after death.
Why i say this is that bad people when do bad affect others especially the good people and escape happily till they die. Probably subtlely they may encounter some hardships or some downs (God's so called punishment)but there are high chances they might not realize its a form or punishment. So whats the point then. when u r punished u ideally need to learn a lesson right but here they dont and wont. So evil prevails.
Now sadly....the good people would get more temptations with an excuse that they would become more good. But again whats the point of tempting them till death. Reward today, following day get masalah again haha. God is just having fun with us keke. Some more worse that bad people will kacau us and they would get away and we get cought.
No wonder people say hell is on earth. Maybe i would have to agree with that. Hell is on earth so we need to do good to go to heaven, which is not on this earth, which u wud only get in once God has been satisfied with ur performance here on earth. If u r good and have lots of problem then perhaps God is not satisfied with you and would like to play with u more keke. Come on God!! Give the good people some break!! haha.
Frustrations.
People ask why good people die faster than the bad ones. A friend of mine answered well. (a pastor told him) He said that when good people die their function on earth has been achieved and completed. So here we all have a function in live. What is your have u asked yourself or pondered over it. I have found mine but find it hard to do it which is normal. Good things don't come easy. That is why i ask God to give me a break. I ask for help he give me problem haha funny..!!!..(:-P.
God has his plans and we have no mind to understand it. Only faith in Him will keep us going. We may plan all we want but God has the last word. Well at the same time God is not cruel he is very merciful so thank God for what u have already. :-)
ps - this is a cynical post. just to keep ur mind thinking about it for fun.
Help or Not to Help.
yup it is a stupid question. Of cos we must help.
But today's world arr.. not as good as those days i believe.
There are more sohais around, insecure people, backstabbers,
fakers and what not.
These people may come to you for help and u may help them.
Of cos although u do not and should not accept or aspect anything in return
but what if when u need help they, don't help u back or what if they don't treat u well later?? Should u continue to help them when they ask which they will eventually?? Do you still have the heart to help them.
I have a 'friend' who once asked me for my presentation. She wanted to see how i did mine. Do u know how she asked me? "Eh Greg - was ur presentation on iron deficiency accepted by Prof Win?" (ans was a yes) Read that line again.... what does it tell u?
What if my presentation was not good would she still accept it and take a look or will she not? If she does not would that not insult me indirectly maybe directly. Yes one can argue saying that whats the point of looking at a bad presentation?? But to me, is that how u ask? where is ur manners and due respect for the one who u need help from? Furthermore wouldn't a bad presentation serve u to make a better presentation?? Anyway i did send her my presentation with a heavy heart.
Then there are irresponsible people - they will by all means try to find a book (example) and also who it belongs to and borrow it then dun return till the owner will have to go and like beg for it back? sucks right?
I wonder to these people ever think? Ever wonder if they would like it if sum1 does the same back to them? Probably the wont that's the ever shittier part.
So now help or don't? God said that He would help those who help themselves. Not to go against it because i still feel that we should help those who help themselves but arnt all those sohais out there ARE helping themselves by asking for help? How do we know if they are sincere or not or not cheating u? Its hard also hard to say No especially if u are a nice person.
Well a person who helps themselves must be sincere and humble in heartlah that is the catch behind that phrase i guess. So if u think they are being selfish should u still continue to help them? yes u are doing a good deed but at the same time u are being taken for a ride and as a joke.
I think we should not help. (:-O). Now i feel bad writing that but i feel we need to take care of our pride and dignity from those who are threatening it. No point helping a guy who cheats or is selfish. You are just doing the Devil a favor. Talk about how the Devil works. He does bad in the disguise of goodness and that is where people get trapped and confused and makes the gray area grow wider and wider when it only supposed to be a thin line. Grey areas also give a wide range of excuses for people to escape their wrong doings.
Now here comes a weird part - irony. U help some one you are made a fool off and laughed at. U dont help you are tainted as a selfish person and mocked at. So do u want to be laughed at or mocked at? haha No people is there ANY GooD now in helping?
Some might say dont bother just help - true yes many good people were mocked at when they did good - the saints and all even Jesus himself.
Put out a question for urself. Can u take the mocking like how they did. U wanna become a saint or trying to be one? U know now if u constantly be bullied around, u are going to be in a loosing end, loosing out to those sohais (:-D). Others who dont know you well, and bad, if they are those in the top post and ur future is like depends on them, wud have the tendency not to prefer u too.
Yes one can argue that good will prevail but in the mean time u have lost the opportunity and now due to that u would need to work harder to get another. comes another question is it fair??. When u r helping others are u helping urself? Should u help urself?
So when u help some one. How do you help? What is the intention of the 'friend' wanting ur help in ur mind (u maybe wrong and that might make a prob for ur friend - which i wud say oopps?!?!. Even this act can shun away authentic good people asking for help sadly - r u wrong now or not?) How much do you help?
Uhmp! doing a good deed is not as easy as it seems eh...no wonder all do bad haha..
Anging tak mengenang budi (transalated tamil proverb)
God will help those who help themselves
Good will prevail all evil
(some sayings to share related to this topic)
But today's world arr.. not as good as those days i believe.
There are more sohais around, insecure people, backstabbers,
fakers and what not.
These people may come to you for help and u may help them.
Of cos although u do not and should not accept or aspect anything in return
but what if when u need help they, don't help u back or what if they don't treat u well later?? Should u continue to help them when they ask which they will eventually?? Do you still have the heart to help them.
I have a 'friend' who once asked me for my presentation. She wanted to see how i did mine. Do u know how she asked me? "Eh Greg - was ur presentation on iron deficiency accepted by Prof Win?" (ans was a yes) Read that line again.... what does it tell u?
What if my presentation was not good would she still accept it and take a look or will she not? If she does not would that not insult me indirectly maybe directly. Yes one can argue saying that whats the point of looking at a bad presentation?? But to me, is that how u ask? where is ur manners and due respect for the one who u need help from? Furthermore wouldn't a bad presentation serve u to make a better presentation?? Anyway i did send her my presentation with a heavy heart.
Then there are irresponsible people - they will by all means try to find a book (example) and also who it belongs to and borrow it then dun return till the owner will have to go and like beg for it back? sucks right?
I wonder to these people ever think? Ever wonder if they would like it if sum1 does the same back to them? Probably the wont that's the ever shittier part.
So now help or don't? God said that He would help those who help themselves. Not to go against it because i still feel that we should help those who help themselves but arnt all those sohais out there ARE helping themselves by asking for help? How do we know if they are sincere or not or not cheating u? Its hard also hard to say No especially if u are a nice person.
Well a person who helps themselves must be sincere and humble in heartlah that is the catch behind that phrase i guess. So if u think they are being selfish should u still continue to help them? yes u are doing a good deed but at the same time u are being taken for a ride and as a joke.
I think we should not help. (:-O). Now i feel bad writing that but i feel we need to take care of our pride and dignity from those who are threatening it. No point helping a guy who cheats or is selfish. You are just doing the Devil a favor. Talk about how the Devil works. He does bad in the disguise of goodness and that is where people get trapped and confused and makes the gray area grow wider and wider when it only supposed to be a thin line. Grey areas also give a wide range of excuses for people to escape their wrong doings.
Now here comes a weird part - irony. U help some one you are made a fool off and laughed at. U dont help you are tainted as a selfish person and mocked at. So do u want to be laughed at or mocked at? haha No people is there ANY GooD now in helping?
Some might say dont bother just help - true yes many good people were mocked at when they did good - the saints and all even Jesus himself.
Put out a question for urself. Can u take the mocking like how they did. U wanna become a saint or trying to be one? U know now if u constantly be bullied around, u are going to be in a loosing end, loosing out to those sohais (:-D). Others who dont know you well, and bad, if they are those in the top post and ur future is like depends on them, wud have the tendency not to prefer u too.
Yes one can argue that good will prevail but in the mean time u have lost the opportunity and now due to that u would need to work harder to get another. comes another question is it fair??. When u r helping others are u helping urself? Should u help urself?
So when u help some one. How do you help? What is the intention of the 'friend' wanting ur help in ur mind (u maybe wrong and that might make a prob for ur friend - which i wud say oopps?!?!. Even this act can shun away authentic good people asking for help sadly - r u wrong now or not?) How much do you help?
Uhmp! doing a good deed is not as easy as it seems eh...no wonder all do bad haha..
Anging tak mengenang budi (transalated tamil proverb)
God will help those who help themselves
Good will prevail all evil
(some sayings to share related to this topic)
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Catholocism Triad
Catholics are unique in its beliefs just as all other religions are unique in its own respective ways.
we in our faith structure consist of a interdependent triad of God, Community and Self.
The fulfillment of this 3 aspect of the triad makes one a Catholic.
Many other deviations and other religions these 3 concepts are not interlinked but is just a straight line. Beginning with God - Self - Community.
Now lets look at God - Here we learn the Bible and the teachings of Christ; catechism. We believe in it. However we don't take it literally but we take it as a guide and a basic information before leaving earth. Learning the bible alone and saying our whole life must be based on the bible leaves us on a one track railway road and shuns us away from the aspect of community especially, which in the bible itself mentions we ought not too. Also it makes us become selfish as if God only belongs to oneself. (further discussed in future post on interpretations)
Self - ones characteristics, attitude, manners, discipline and all the other moral components. By learning God and His ways how much have we internalized into our daily living. How much has God shaped our life? Some one track minded people praises God on one side but on the other side (if u realize its the community) act differently. For them as long as u praise God, God would reward you. Rubbish i say. Is God so full of Himself that all u need to do to please Him is by Praising Him? But on the other side u contribute to the downfall of His work now, which He came down for us then. Example : everyday go to church and be so active but on the other side u are proud, selfish, hurtful to others. Jesus said that only through Him can they go to God the Father. Many have interpreted it literally saying that only if you belief in Jesus u go to heaven. Walau weh!! Rubbish. See how have they took God for themselves. Does this not contradict later of what Jesus says that his message is for all mankind?? We all know that Jesus thought us to Love one another just as how i have loved you - bringing to say that God is Love. If God = Jesus = Love then don't u think what he actually meant there is that If you show Love u would go to heaven.
Lastly community - Here community means the Church and your neighbors. In the church Catholics ought to follow its teachings and have faith in its structure. (of cos if the structure is defunct then dontlah but at the same time don't have to break and destroy but help fix it from within. unlike last time when it happened, now u see - all broke further and sort of lost themselves). Jesus said to Peter - upon this rock i will build my church. Rock being Peter. He said further what u say here on Earth will be regarded in heaven (something like that) and on Pentecost day he send down the Holy Spirit and set them out to spread His Message of Love. The Church consist oh highly educated religious who constantly pray and do research deepening the faith and further understanding it and therefore its results are dignified and becomes our faith. We do not follow the head or self interpretations on one particular leader. We follow One Body of 2009 yrs of spirituality solid as our faith which the foundations began from the beginning of time as stipulated by the bible.
The other community - neighbor. We ought to do charity and give alms and also do social service. God came to serve and not to be served. And that is what we should do. Serve and offer yourself to the community in whatever way u can and able too. Only then God will reward you.
God did a lot of community service so we to need to do it. But one should not do it just to Glorify God or like an eye wash or like hypocrites. But the service should come from within, and to do so u need to internalize what God has thought u through the teachings of the Church. See the triad.
This is how u evangelize not by brainwashing, showing how superior your God is over the other God's indirectly or playing nice just to attract people like adverts and publicity commercials. Later one being a sucker.
A song goes they will know we are Christians by our Love, so show your Love not parade your God and compare too.
Proud to be a Catholic [God <> Self <> Community <> God]
ps : this write up is based on a conversation between a priest and me
we in our faith structure consist of a interdependent triad of God, Community and Self.
The fulfillment of this 3 aspect of the triad makes one a Catholic.
Many other deviations and other religions these 3 concepts are not interlinked but is just a straight line. Beginning with God - Self - Community.
Now lets look at God - Here we learn the Bible and the teachings of Christ; catechism. We believe in it. However we don't take it literally but we take it as a guide and a basic information before leaving earth. Learning the bible alone and saying our whole life must be based on the bible leaves us on a one track railway road and shuns us away from the aspect of community especially, which in the bible itself mentions we ought not too. Also it makes us become selfish as if God only belongs to oneself. (further discussed in future post on interpretations)
Self - ones characteristics, attitude, manners, discipline and all the other moral components. By learning God and His ways how much have we internalized into our daily living. How much has God shaped our life? Some one track minded people praises God on one side but on the other side (if u realize its the community) act differently. For them as long as u praise God, God would reward you. Rubbish i say. Is God so full of Himself that all u need to do to please Him is by Praising Him? But on the other side u contribute to the downfall of His work now, which He came down for us then. Example : everyday go to church and be so active but on the other side u are proud, selfish, hurtful to others. Jesus said that only through Him can they go to God the Father. Many have interpreted it literally saying that only if you belief in Jesus u go to heaven. Walau weh!! Rubbish. See how have they took God for themselves. Does this not contradict later of what Jesus says that his message is for all mankind?? We all know that Jesus thought us to Love one another just as how i have loved you - bringing to say that God is Love. If God = Jesus = Love then don't u think what he actually meant there is that If you show Love u would go to heaven.
Lastly community - Here community means the Church and your neighbors. In the church Catholics ought to follow its teachings and have faith in its structure. (of cos if the structure is defunct then dontlah but at the same time don't have to break and destroy but help fix it from within. unlike last time when it happened, now u see - all broke further and sort of lost themselves). Jesus said to Peter - upon this rock i will build my church. Rock being Peter. He said further what u say here on Earth will be regarded in heaven (something like that) and on Pentecost day he send down the Holy Spirit and set them out to spread His Message of Love. The Church consist oh highly educated religious who constantly pray and do research deepening the faith and further understanding it and therefore its results are dignified and becomes our faith. We do not follow the head or self interpretations on one particular leader. We follow One Body of 2009 yrs of spirituality solid as our faith which the foundations began from the beginning of time as stipulated by the bible.
The other community - neighbor. We ought to do charity and give alms and also do social service. God came to serve and not to be served. And that is what we should do. Serve and offer yourself to the community in whatever way u can and able too. Only then God will reward you.
God did a lot of community service so we to need to do it. But one should not do it just to Glorify God or like an eye wash or like hypocrites. But the service should come from within, and to do so u need to internalize what God has thought u through the teachings of the Church. See the triad.
This is how u evangelize not by brainwashing, showing how superior your God is over the other God's indirectly or playing nice just to attract people like adverts and publicity commercials. Later one being a sucker.
A song goes they will know we are Christians by our Love, so show your Love not parade your God and compare too.
Proud to be a Catholic [God <> Self <> Community <> God]
ps : this write up is based on a conversation between a priest and me
Friday, April 17, 2009
Science and religion
Today is the 2nd Sunday of Easter. A very highly educated priest in the field on theology and philosophy particularly (line of masters and doctorates also author of few books) came and celebrated mass here in KT. (was here for holidays).
Well he gave a wonderful mass which is not always common and also a beautiful sermon altogether.
According to the readings of this Sunday he picked out 2 points which we need to ponder upon. One is reason and rationality/faith and spirituality which we use to believe in something. The other is simply law and love.
St Thomas a.k.a doubting Thomas was right in using his rationality and reason wanting to believe in Christ. - see to believe. However he fell aback to realize to believe also needs faith and spirituality. Here Jesus came say then - Happy are those who see and believe, and those who don't see yet believe. My friend and i few days ago were discussing on how and why some people (jews) who saw Jesus and his acts did not believe in him then, now in this modern world where the concepts of science and facts, see to believe thoughts, many believe in Chirst!!! Irony??
Now what as this got to do with science? Later after mass, Fr Stephen, i don't know co-incidentally or not, he was requested to give a talk for the students at the formation house and the title was science and religion. Well he did not make any connections with today's readings during the talk though. I integrated it.
Back in - nature automatically shows the glory of God and science is to understand nature. While we learn to understand nature we will eventually begin to realize the wonder of an unknown order controlling this universe. Some superior being in whatever form which i believe humans can never eventually comprehend specifically.
Many famous science Laureates like Einstein, Newton etc do believe in God although not of a specific God (making them not an atheist ok!!...)and are more spiritual then those who believe in a specific God.
Behind every door in science there is God (Angels and Demons - Dan Brown). Simple analogies Fr Stephen gave. If we arrange all the molecule in 1 liter of water we can go the moon and come back 7 times!!!!!!!!!!. Can u comprehend that?? here is another. In an atom there are many spaces - spaces between electrons and the nucleus. In the nucleus between the protons and neutrons and other subatomic particles. If this is the case why cant we put our hand through the table?? The inability to do so is because of the gazillion number of atoms so closely packed it is strong enough, also has enough energy to hold themselves together. Another - How a brain works; conscious and a soul and feeling??
So there are many things which is uncomprehending by science even in the theory of evolution which they got everything right except the missing parts in it and yet some still believe and that needs faith.
The bible does not give much details of these uncomprehandble stuff but it does mention the wonders of it. (psalm ... - forgot which :-P).
A question was posed to him - does scientist believe in the bible - answer is depends on which interpretation. The bible can be interpreted literally (solar Scriptura - also like how the Muslims take their Quran) or by reality which we Catholics don't. If taken literally then in the book of genesis of cos the scientist wont believe but in reality of which i think is the order of creation(process) then is believable. How can there be life without water, air and light (oklah maybe not light). Water air and land and light needs to come first right? Takkan u want man to be created 1st??
Another of cos comes the theory of evolution - according to him there are truths in this theory but there are many missing elements in it which is not explained by Darwin for simply the theory cannot meet the concept of evolution. Furthermore he says the church is sort of becoming soft in this theory although not accepting it fully. Perhaps God as given a single cell the various capabilities to mature and specialize into later. Time was taken and step by step each capability of this single cell has evolved into the world we see today.
The of cos comes cloning etc etc - it is not only the matter of playing God which is in dispute but the exploitation and de-dignifying of the usage of clones the church is against. we may be able to create a clone human but will it have a soul, feeling and those uncomprehandable stuff which science cannot explain of human biology? Probably a living robot will be made. Even that if it is made it comes the issue of ethics - is it still human? if yes - how can we exploit them later for organs etc etc.
It is very interesting. Fusion of science and God - spirituality. Facts and faith.
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Law and love - God gave us law because he loves us. Analogy - A child runs to the mother and kisses her and says u are the best mummy in the world and the rest are dummies. The mother puts her child down and says, ' yeah yeah...u say like that but never listen to me'. The part : listen to me = law. So what is the point to love but u don't listen nor follow. What and where is your love and devotion and loyalty is?? 'No need to follow the law but i still love u'. Hypocrisy? Is it like lets make fired kueh teiow but with no kueh tieow.
how do we show love then? Materials? How long would it last? It may buy u if u are cheap. But look at the difference made and compare it - the response - if u follow the law, rules and listen to them to show your love and giving materials. Go deep to see the response and not only see the superficial. This i believe is in any relationship among humans.
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done for the day
Well he gave a wonderful mass which is not always common and also a beautiful sermon altogether.
According to the readings of this Sunday he picked out 2 points which we need to ponder upon. One is reason and rationality/faith and spirituality which we use to believe in something. The other is simply law and love.
St Thomas a.k.a doubting Thomas was right in using his rationality and reason wanting to believe in Christ. - see to believe. However he fell aback to realize to believe also needs faith and spirituality. Here Jesus came say then - Happy are those who see and believe, and those who don't see yet believe. My friend and i few days ago were discussing on how and why some people (jews) who saw Jesus and his acts did not believe in him then, now in this modern world where the concepts of science and facts, see to believe thoughts, many believe in Chirst!!! Irony??
Now what as this got to do with science? Later after mass, Fr Stephen, i don't know co-incidentally or not, he was requested to give a talk for the students at the formation house and the title was science and religion. Well he did not make any connections with today's readings during the talk though. I integrated it.
Back in - nature automatically shows the glory of God and science is to understand nature. While we learn to understand nature we will eventually begin to realize the wonder of an unknown order controlling this universe. Some superior being in whatever form which i believe humans can never eventually comprehend specifically.
Many famous science Laureates like Einstein, Newton etc do believe in God although not of a specific God (making them not an atheist ok!!...)and are more spiritual then those who believe in a specific God.
Behind every door in science there is God (Angels and Demons - Dan Brown). Simple analogies Fr Stephen gave. If we arrange all the molecule in 1 liter of water we can go the moon and come back 7 times!!!!!!!!!!. Can u comprehend that?? here is another. In an atom there are many spaces - spaces between electrons and the nucleus. In the nucleus between the protons and neutrons and other subatomic particles. If this is the case why cant we put our hand through the table?? The inability to do so is because of the gazillion number of atoms so closely packed it is strong enough, also has enough energy to hold themselves together. Another - How a brain works; conscious and a soul and feeling??
So there are many things which is uncomprehending by science even in the theory of evolution which they got everything right except the missing parts in it and yet some still believe and that needs faith.
The bible does not give much details of these uncomprehandble stuff but it does mention the wonders of it. (psalm ... - forgot which :-P).
A question was posed to him - does scientist believe in the bible - answer is depends on which interpretation. The bible can be interpreted literally (solar Scriptura - also like how the Muslims take their Quran) or by reality which we Catholics don't. If taken literally then in the book of genesis of cos the scientist wont believe but in reality of which i think is the order of creation(process) then is believable. How can there be life without water, air and light (oklah maybe not light). Water air and land and light needs to come first right? Takkan u want man to be created 1st??
Another of cos comes the theory of evolution - according to him there are truths in this theory but there are many missing elements in it which is not explained by Darwin for simply the theory cannot meet the concept of evolution. Furthermore he says the church is sort of becoming soft in this theory although not accepting it fully. Perhaps God as given a single cell the various capabilities to mature and specialize into later. Time was taken and step by step each capability of this single cell has evolved into the world we see today.
The of cos comes cloning etc etc - it is not only the matter of playing God which is in dispute but the exploitation and de-dignifying of the usage of clones the church is against. we may be able to create a clone human but will it have a soul, feeling and those uncomprehandable stuff which science cannot explain of human biology? Probably a living robot will be made. Even that if it is made it comes the issue of ethics - is it still human? if yes - how can we exploit them later for organs etc etc.
It is very interesting. Fusion of science and God - spirituality. Facts and faith.
----------------------------------------
Law and love - God gave us law because he loves us. Analogy - A child runs to the mother and kisses her and says u are the best mummy in the world and the rest are dummies. The mother puts her child down and says, ' yeah yeah...u say like that but never listen to me'. The part : listen to me = law. So what is the point to love but u don't listen nor follow. What and where is your love and devotion and loyalty is?? 'No need to follow the law but i still love u'. Hypocrisy? Is it like lets make fired kueh teiow but with no kueh tieow.
how do we show love then? Materials? How long would it last? It may buy u if u are cheap. But look at the difference made and compare it - the response - if u follow the law, rules and listen to them to show your love and giving materials. Go deep to see the response and not only see the superficial. This i believe is in any relationship among humans.
--------------------------------------------------
done for the day
Friday, April 10, 2009
Gender '='lity
I was at ICG 07, St Anne Penang and there they had a session on gender equality.
It was humorous to me when this workshop was conducted. Boys and gals were splitted separately and then divided into smaller groups. Now each group was to list down the characteristics/qualities of a women/man that they would like to see, conveniently husbandslah. First at the beginning of this session the women were blasting the men about what ladies could do. Basically women can do what man can. The guys were quiet. The women broke the gender curtain in the discussion and the men lost. But now back to the workshop the women in the end listed down the qualities of men genderly defined for them and of cos the men happily listed down the gender defined characteristics of a lady. So ladies if u can do what man can do then why need them?? The fight for gender equality is actually supposed to be like the fight against discrimination.....read on....
Why r we fighting for gender equality?? Or may i say, what do we expect from from gender equality?? The way it is going it is like man n woman are swapping roles in society. Is it right? What we should be thinking is how far we should fight for gender equality. Of course equality should be practiced but our basic human fundamental role must not be forgotten. Why is there man and woman in this world then? Why did God create us such away? There must be a reason. If we r to be equal then why do we have opposites? It is to complement each other's role that is why there are opposites. Do you know the Ying n Yang - that explains it all. Even in the yin n yang the white area has a define black spot and the black area has a define white spot. Is there gray(equal amount of black n white)? So how far is the equality going too? The equality we should be fighting for is the equality man made and not god made. Fundamental gender arises as the manifestation of the biological sex capability and function. So we cant run away from gender issues or in away tag the usage of the term gender to be insensitive to the opposite sex. In a relationship between peoples there needs to be complementation's and equality to express that complements. What build us Humans? DNA - Do u know that DNA strands are not equal but 2 complementary stands but it needs to be equally divided to produce the next generation of cells. A complementary relationship provides room for growth so we can make better, make richer and grow in love in the relationship. When we are equal, what is there to grow? We are placed in this world to grow not stop and be equal. Even the division of DNA is know as semi-conservative division where 1 complement pair strand divides and form 2 single strands which is completed by formation of a new strand finally forming 2 new pairs. (replication process). As one may read this they will still be strong on the equality so here now i put it simple. A man does what a man does - everyone already knows what he does.(role wise). The woman can do anything she wants, even get a phd - no problem but their role as a Mother, Wife and binder of a family should not be forgotten. If the person says here the woman is more superior then the man so the man should take care of the family. Where is equality? Now it is superiority and inferiority matter. Know u see it looks like equality is gender biased itself more towards women. Contradiction! Can u achieve total equality in this gender issue? NO! Go back to ICG during the talk about gender equality. The participants were asked to differentiate between gender and sex. Then questions were posted so to make us aware of the gender issues which is not equal. It was said the man can also do what is usually gender define a woman should do. The woman can do what the man can do. Later what we were asked to do is to list out the qualities one would want in a husband or wife. Hahaha. It was all gender qualities! The girls wanted a husband genderly defined and the guys wanted a wife genderly defined. If what a man or woman can do what the opposite sex does then??? So yes there are dads who play the motherly role but how many? What is the proportion? Can be said insignificant. Exceptions are always there. Aren't we living in an imperfect world?? Women being a complement to man is already equal.
" Woman was created from the rib of man, not from his head to top him, neither from his feet to be walked upon. She was made from his side to be his equal, from beneath his arms to be protected by him, and from very near his heart to be loved by him." (author unknown)
It was humorous to me when this workshop was conducted. Boys and gals were splitted separately and then divided into smaller groups. Now each group was to list down the characteristics/qualities of a women/man that they would like to see, conveniently husbandslah. First at the beginning of this session the women were blasting the men about what ladies could do. Basically women can do what man can. The guys were quiet. The women broke the gender curtain in the discussion and the men lost. But now back to the workshop the women in the end listed down the qualities of men genderly defined for them and of cos the men happily listed down the gender defined characteristics of a lady. So ladies if u can do what man can do then why need them?? The fight for gender equality is actually supposed to be like the fight against discrimination.....read on....
Why r we fighting for gender equality?? Or may i say, what do we expect from from gender equality?? The way it is going it is like man n woman are swapping roles in society. Is it right? What we should be thinking is how far we should fight for gender equality. Of course equality should be practiced but our basic human fundamental role must not be forgotten. Why is there man and woman in this world then? Why did God create us such away? There must be a reason. If we r to be equal then why do we have opposites? It is to complement each other's role that is why there are opposites. Do you know the Ying n Yang - that explains it all. Even in the yin n yang the white area has a define black spot and the black area has a define white spot. Is there gray(equal amount of black n white)? So how far is the equality going too? The equality we should be fighting for is the equality man made and not god made. Fundamental gender arises as the manifestation of the biological sex capability and function. So we cant run away from gender issues or in away tag the usage of the term gender to be insensitive to the opposite sex. In a relationship between peoples there needs to be complementation's and equality to express that complements. What build us Humans? DNA - Do u know that DNA strands are not equal but 2 complementary stands but it needs to be equally divided to produce the next generation of cells. A complementary relationship provides room for growth so we can make better, make richer and grow in love in the relationship. When we are equal, what is there to grow? We are placed in this world to grow not stop and be equal. Even the division of DNA is know as semi-conservative division where 1 complement pair strand divides and form 2 single strands which is completed by formation of a new strand finally forming 2 new pairs. (replication process). As one may read this they will still be strong on the equality so here now i put it simple. A man does what a man does - everyone already knows what he does.(role wise). The woman can do anything she wants, even get a phd - no problem but their role as a Mother, Wife and binder of a family should not be forgotten. If the person says here the woman is more superior then the man so the man should take care of the family. Where is equality? Now it is superiority and inferiority matter. Know u see it looks like equality is gender biased itself more towards women. Contradiction! Can u achieve total equality in this gender issue? NO! Go back to ICG during the talk about gender equality. The participants were asked to differentiate between gender and sex. Then questions were posted so to make us aware of the gender issues which is not equal. It was said the man can also do what is usually gender define a woman should do. The woman can do what the man can do. Later what we were asked to do is to list out the qualities one would want in a husband or wife. Hahaha. It was all gender qualities! The girls wanted a husband genderly defined and the guys wanted a wife genderly defined. If what a man or woman can do what the opposite sex does then??? So yes there are dads who play the motherly role but how many? What is the proportion? Can be said insignificant. Exceptions are always there. Aren't we living in an imperfect world?? Women being a complement to man is already equal.
" Woman was created from the rib of man, not from his head to top him, neither from his feet to be walked upon. She was made from his side to be his equal, from beneath his arms to be protected by him, and from very near his heart to be loved by him." (author unknown)
Alpha
Today is Good Friday 10th April 2009.
Miss the celebration at home with family
especially the banana leave lunch we would have together before
we go down to celebrate the solemnity of Jesus Death.
Was contemplating for a long time whether to start a blog or not.
I was against the idea of it till i told myself why dont just give it
a try. A registered this blog last November. After reading another
friend's blog of mine a few days ago, it gave me the push.
I would be writing about my thoughts in this blog, thoughts about
what i witness and experience in my life. It would be dull to many but maybe
of enlightenment to a few but i hope i would be able to shine a light of a
different perspective of thought. I dont follow the crowd like many do. I have my own
way of thinking and school of though which u would definitely not find in any books.
Anyway below is my 1st post. wrote it when i organized a forum on leadership among campuses in the KL Archdiocese. Well of cos i din read the whole paper but i just summarized it.
Miss the celebration at home with family
especially the banana leave lunch we would have together before
we go down to celebrate the solemnity of Jesus Death.
Was contemplating for a long time whether to start a blog or not.
I was against the idea of it till i told myself why dont just give it
a try. A registered this blog last November. After reading another
friend's blog of mine a few days ago, it gave me the push.
I would be writing about my thoughts in this blog, thoughts about
what i witness and experience in my life. It would be dull to many but maybe
of enlightenment to a few but i hope i would be able to shine a light of a
different perspective of thought. I dont follow the crowd like many do. I have my own
way of thinking and school of though which u would definitely not find in any books.
Anyway below is my 1st post. wrote it when i organized a forum on leadership among campuses in the KL Archdiocese. Well of cos i din read the whole paper but i just summarized it.
Leadership
As time go by people change. And all these people are being lead some how or rather; by the government to the head of the family. In respect to that, the kind of leadership has also changed with time. The kind of leadership depends on the people who they are leading however the principals of leadership are the same. What differ are the styles, systems and the mechanics of it. As civilization grows so are the maturities of the leadership. To simply put in those days if a king has a dispute with another kingdom he just attacks. But now it is by diplomacy, though at times war is still apparent.
Having a constant changing human thought process how are we to deal with this as a leader. Let us start by the leader himself carrying the baton of leadership. The leader’s mentality, attitude and approach and management.
As time go by people change. And all these people are being lead some how or rather; by the government to the head of the family. In respect to that, the kind of leadership has also changed with time. The kind of leadership depends on the people who they are leading however the principals of leadership are the same. What differ are the styles, systems and the mechanics of it. As civilization grows so are the maturities of the leadership. To simply put in those days if a king has a dispute with another kingdom he just attacks. But now it is by diplomacy, though at times war is still apparent.
Having a constant changing human thought process how are we to deal with this as a leader. Let us start by the leader himself carrying the baton of leadership. The leader’s mentality, attitude and approach and management.
Part 1
Leadership is a leader on a ship. The faith of the ship lays rest on the captain on the ship. It is a big responsibility once one becomes a leader and the role needs to be taken with respect and appreciation by the leader especially and also by the followers. It should not be taken as a burden but should be taken with pride and dignity. If one thinks it as a burden then one should not lead as this will not only benefit the person oneself but most importantly the followers for they will be relieved off the burden shown and thrown upon by the ‘burdened’ leader. A leader should not think for ones own benefit but the benefit of the group one is leading. If the leader ones to do that, then it is better to lead himself alone then to make use of his followers.
When one becomes a leader one has to (if accepted the role) take it has a challenge, a learning opportunity and an opportunity to serve. Jesus is our leader and how did he lead? He served us. He came to serve and not to be served. A good leader is a good server. In leading you are to benefit your followers and not to lead them astray.
But being humans temptations are there to make use the position as a leader to do selfish stuff or expecting a reward which is rightful with all the hard work done. Well don’t aspect for it. The thought of it will be there but don’t aspect it nor crave for it. You will get it if you deserve it at times without yourself realizing. A way God rewards you for your good work and you will be rewarded though at times in different ways not expected.
Perseverance. One will receive a goody bag of struggles being a leader. What do you do with it? Well enjoy it. Isn’t it a ‘goody bag’? You will have lots of it especially when you are leading a social/community based organization basically like doing church work. (Why? It is another topic) How to go about it then? Sacrifice. Jesus persevered and in the end He sacrificed for us. Didn’t He not? When you become a leader you need to sacrifice, if not, your whole team will be sacrificed by you yourself. Here we can say that what you are, decides mostly what your team will be and how it goes. When you are doing God’s work then you cannot run away.
Sounds scary? Well if you look at it that way then you one to be a leader without wanting to serve like being a doctor without wanting to treat patients.
A leader should not give up as it is better to lose. Ho Chi Minh once said to the Americans, “For every 7 Viet Kong you kill we will kill one American but we will still win the war”. They did. What if he had given up? Therefore it is better to put up a struggle or fight and lose, then to lose or give up in vain without doing anything. Despite losing, in it there is winning. What wining? Well it is in identifying your mistakes and not repeating them. You learn thus grow eventually. A good leader is not how he starts but how he ends. When fallen, get up, brush off the dust and walk straight, but remember how you fell. Even the enemy will salute you. Remember the movie, The Last Samurai? The part, where all (the white lead army) bowed after killing all the samurai.
Basically the leader should know what one is heading to; the challenges, the demands, your performance and the expectations and the responsibility at hand. One has to set ones mind clear on all those. Don’t go in blindly. One has to live up to it, if cants then don’t be a leader. But at least allow yourself to try, for everyone can become, and are potential leaders. One cannot run away for one will become a leader more than once definitely in their lives.
Part 2
Discipline, being a role modal, knowing how to carry oneself, bold, brave but in all humble. Those are some of the characteristics a leader should have basically of what I see but of course there is more than that. When people know you are a leader there are expectations which you need to meet. If not you would not be respected and not followed so in the end who are you going to lead. It is difficult and at times you might not be doing what you want or like or not to your interest. When you become a doctor you are expected to know it all although it is impossible but thus it should not be an excuse not to even try to know more. That is meeting expectations. People look up to you when you are some kind of leader in society therefore do you want to disappoint them?
It is said a good king is like his subjects. How then is to be a leader? Be like his subjects? Well a leader has authority and power but it is how and when he uses it. In every action taken by leader, it should not be done in the name of authority and power. Simply saying like being a dictator. There should be democracy. One should lead the idea of the team and not lead the team to an idea. And the idea is the agreed one from a meeting. Within a team authority and power should be used to control, steer and to get the idea worked. It is used to follow the objectives and not for self use.
One should treat the followers with respect and dignity for without them you have no role. One also should listen to all the followers’ opinions and try to understand them. It is of receiving input, collating, and analyzing them to set up a wholesome understanding of ones followers’ situation and environment and thoughts. This makes it easier to lead and future decision making will be better. It is like finding a formula.
Playing politics is very tricky and may get dirty and should be avoided when possible. The one that should play the politics is the leader himself. Another word is creating the strategy. If every follower plays politics there would not be unity and thus division will ensure. Even worst is having difficulty to run activities due to sabotages, uncooperativeness’ and having thorns in the meat. Every leader has a style and the followers should follow it if it is fulfilling the objectives. At times it may not be agreeable to you and it is to you. So as long as the objectives are up hold then it is ok. If not the duty is to inform the leader of his inappropriate style or change in a democratic way. The leader only, playing the politics is like playing the puppet which has many strings to control. He has to ensure there is coordination and task dispersion to the right people should be done based on merits and not favoritism. He creates a strategy, a picture or a chess play sending in the right pieces first to win the game.
A leader needs to maintain peace and stability of his followers too. Prevent and settle and not make conflicts. In doing so one needs to understand followers’ feelings and try to know what they are thinking and what will be their moves. Once in a while go and ask how they are, what do they think… . Be concern and sensitive. It is good as it maintains a good repot with your followers.
So here basically the leader needs to be a good driver, steering the followers to a right path into achieving a goal. Have a positive, fair, well informed mind in attitude and approach.
Part 3
A good leader is not how he starts but how he ends. To repeat this phrase, bringing it into the context of management. It is easy to start something as everyone is hyped up in doing so but haven’t you heard of the lamp dying off? So it is the maintenance of what begun counts. It all starts by having a vision then beginning a mission. To run the mission a set of objectives needs to be lined up with a theme which is a summary of your mission. Having all the ingredients then create the backbone and structure of your organization.
Creating the backbone is controlled by certain factors, which depends on the type of followers you are leading. So you need to see with what people you are dealing with then based on that you need to identify what they need and how they need to be lead.
Everyone today is educated and not easily fooled and worst of all materialistic and self centered. So how are you going to deal with them? More over people will only work when they know they will be rewarded or benefited. Therefore less rewarding task is lower ranked in the priority list. Why? Is it wrong to want a reward? Actually it is not but what is actually happening nowadays is that they want the assurance of a reward before they began work. If look closer it is the same as bribery. Gone were the days, I think where only when you work hard you will be rewarded. Passion is lost. So we are being ended up as robots. How this has come about is another topic. How much reward do you need to show your best? The whole world? Well, then you will never be able to show your best nor know you can do better @ have grown and matured. They might end up chasing something which is not there.
What is not realized is that the reward is an intellectual joy/ self satisfaction which once you have you are totally in control of your surroundings. It is a primary happiness which is explained by Socrates.
If your followers are like that then how are you going to lead them in a task which there is no materialistic reward? It is difficult of course. It would not be surprising if your team won’t last.
Follow the flow of your followers. Do what they want to do and lead them in it. Then it might work because it is all psychology. People have face and pride right? So if your followers are people of their word then they would have to do what they want to do in a team to save face right? It might sound proxy here but look at the situation. Use evil to do good or are we changing that evil into good?
Here now basically is that you have to lay the foundation and draw out a plan for which then your followers will built and your future leaders will improve continue and thus evolve and the organization to grow and mature. In anything you do it is not worthy if you do not seek improvement or growth.
Leadership now is not in an ideal situation. We are now not leading a team but individuals of different minds and interest. That is why a direction is important to start a journey. To drive the engine on the tract, people who have agreed to that direction can do it. All we can do is provide the tract on the direction and who wants to join can do so but those who don’t we can’t do anything. Even if we want to then our tracts and directions will have to keep on changing. But at this level (CSS) it is very difficult to do so.
If you realize the Church has done this already. I just realized it myself while writing this. There are many religious orders right? All of them have different approach to God and to do His service. Example:
Becoming a leader is difficult especially when you are leading a non profit or non rewarding organization. However there are of course times when luck is on our side. But still maintaining it is another thing. All one can do is first respect what you are doing and do your best you can. God willing your hard work will be paid off.
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