to really live means...

Morris West

It costs so much to be a full human being that there are very few who have the enlightenment or the courage to pay the price. One has to abandon altogether the search for security and reach out to the risk of living with both arms open. One has to embrace the world like a lover. One has to accept pain as a condition of existence.

Source: quoted at herondance.org

A ! moments with God

today as i head out to have some personal quiet..which s really hard since i was going to Macdonald's..but well, I have found a way to tune out the noises....and...i..i received the "A! moments with God". i tried it and found it very refreshing and easy to remember. 
It is basically 3 parts:


Appreciate
- taking time to just appreciate where  you are at, and not at(!), people in your life, and pray blessing over them. i also took time to appreciate God Himself.


Anticipate
- is being quiet and still so the noises of your soul emerges..and u listen to the tunes: is it playing fear, worry, restlessnes...? Ask the Spirit to point the way. our current state predisposes us to choices and consequences. so anticipating is both looking within and looking ahead. at times the Spirit wants to highlight what lies ahead in our path and grant us wisdom to navigate with sensitivity and courage...


Anchor
- in Scripture and prayer..continue with what u are reading or ask for a word...and lay down your defenses and choose trust.


There- A! moments with GOD. Enjoy yours and tell me how it has changed your personal quiet time.

today's discoveries

Do you ever feel glad that something you beleive to be true, a gut feel, a hunch, a sense...is verified or supported by
research
others sharing your view
a line in a book
actual stories baring it out
i do
and today, i discovered- at breakfast with a working-class couple: Singaporeans' average income as represented at a recent political speech is perceived to be inaccurate. They should average white-collar incomes and blue-ones separately.

- while reading on the internet: advertising can rightly be considered pollution and a form of imperialism writes Micah White; we live in a toxic culture that hurts us more than we realize.

- more ideas for the children on the internet such as seterra - a geography download full of quizzes to help them navigate planet earth! (Keith and I merrily clicked on Asia and filled out the countries)

- that being loved can be hard when you are not loving

till next time fellow earthling, human and friend!

O kids!

Anger's seedbed
i don't really know where all the anger came from - i who author a book about happy kids, no less! But since he was able to toddle, it became clear i had an angry child in my home. He stomps on the bug without compunction.  He swipes at the carer, he throws stuff..then come the fists, the words and those moments when he literally runs away!
Yes it does get tired and it's not easy not to dish out anger in reaction.
But hey, i'm the adult. Being angry is not a bad thing coz there are lots of things to be angry about in our world - and it may well take some really angry persons to set them right. i see justice-advocate imprinted on his little developing soul.
The seeds that carry a harvest of anger include: feeling powerless (if you have a smarty-pants older sister!), sensing ongoing frustration (how come i dont get to make the rules?), and sadness.
So i had to learn how to help him
1. recognise the different seeds
2. find the right way to plant them (express) or discard them
3. develop a problem-solving mindset rather than a victim mentality.

we have used
-colour coding at age 3 to describe levels of anger
- verbal expressions at age 3
-empathy at age 4
- self-control at age 4
- focus on the good at age 4
- scenario assessment & problem solving at age 5

The other day, after an outburst, he said "mom, i felt like half my heart fell to the ground..."
So i say, "how do we pick it up and put it back? wo can help?"
..."if we ...would someone else's heart fall to the ground..."

He got expression, empathy and problem solving..until the next day!

So far? Lots of friction and some traction. We made good distance but it's gonna be a marathon for sure.

my latest book!

This is how the new book looks like. available at all bookstores and from Amazon. Spread the message of hope!

fullyalive?! will metamorph..stay in view..

dear friends, after recently being duly impressed with some blogs and also realizing that blogging is a recognized work..i am pumped to give this home a makeover.
and Providence sent someone to help me - who tend to make machines go 'ping'!
so pls pray for the changes, for the writing, for the impact.
and visit in a few weeks' time, bring some friends and a cuppa and catch up!

thanks.
jenni

Since young we watched nature documentaries. Before i could pronounce 'theology' i felt it... enjoy friends!

madness of faith

what is this deal called faith?
a madness.
isnt that the way we describe and treat those who have
friends unseen,
conversations with the air,
sudden smiles that light up the face,
uncommon strength, resilience and
dogged persistence?

why i seem to keep ...believing things will get better
that perfection will arrive
that hope springs up
people will change I will change
Someone hears me
knows my name
holds my hand

sign your name friend if you share this madness --
your days filled with ordinariness and yet streaking with glory
you died so many times yet live and
you plan to live forever because Someone told you so.

perhaps this is where we differ from those who get housed
we share this madness.

each time i walk the streets

each time i walk the streets

my heart tumbles as i see

lives, stories, minds, pains, longings..



our bodies are so smooshed on the train but

sharing air

nearly barely breathing properly

and yet

worse than strangers

it's like nothing is right next to us (unless he smells or make a noise or step into our space)



eating

buying

rushing

going

talking

looking

looking

looking



what is really real to us?



and Jesus - where is He?



in me.

in me?

safely tucked inside to be let out in church and cell?

in me?

trying to get out perhaps?

in me?

O Jesus, i dont hear and see the bodies all around

s'fraid i dont really see or hear u either...



so

now

what

marking Nanking - thoughts on a play

nelson chia's third take on the massacre was n honest, caredul attempt. he cleverly tried to stay out of the way of a subject to huge and intense to be easily interpreted, portrayed or even referenced.
however, he comes short of a deeper, more engaging delivery; because as he honestly adnits, after looking and reading the materials for so long, he does get numb to it.
but as the audience i am not numb and dont want to be. he tries to steer awat from shock value but the direction he is trying to orient is in the end unclear.
perhaps he can rest and come back with fresh hunger for a deeply disturbing subject most of us reduce to image and newsbyte: power, evil, and choice.
would being informed by the philosophers give the piece more depth?
could we ask what the average Japanese was doing, feeling and believing until the atomic hell befell them? did these ordinary souls not have any power of influence?
i want to come away challenged and changed by art.
but the poser at the end was a math question that could not do that. i can easily distance myself - i wont be pressing the button to release the bomb - yes, 250000 lives here, 300000 lives there...
and it's still faraway..but evil instincts - o have u never ever delighted in dark deeds..., perhaps that's too direct for our postmod milieu; but that is what makes art powerful: it seeks the truth.
HHistory will have subjective bits; but the truth still stares all the same. humankind has a dark side that can consume us all - unless - we face it and bring it to light.

i look forward to version 4.