What makes something a discipline?
In the children's book Frog and Toad Together, the 2 central characters discover the limits of mere trying when Frog bakes a batch of cookies. "We ought to stop eating," they say, as they keep eating. "We must stop," they resolve, as they eat some more. "We need willpower," Frog finally says, grabbing another cookie.
"What is willpower?" asks Toad, swallowing another mouthful.
"Willpower is trying very hard not to do something you want to do very much." Frog says.
Frog discusses a variety of ways to help with willpower - putting the cookies in a box, tying the box shut, putting it high up in a tree - but each time Toad points out (in between bites) that they could climb the tree and untie the box. In desperation, Frog finally dumps the remaining cookies outside on the ground: "Hey, birds!" he calls. "Here's cookies!"
"Now we have no more cookies," says Toad sadly.
"Yes" says Frog, "But we have lots and lots of willpower!".
"You may keep it all," Toad replies. "I'm going home to bake a cake!"
by John Ortberg - "The Life You've Always Wanted" page 47-48.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!
What makes something a spiritual discipline?
Disciplines that are spiritual are simply those that help me live in the fruit of the Spirit.
Spiritual discipline: Any activity that can help me gain power to live life as Jesus taught and modeled it.
How many spiritual disciplines are there? As many as we can think of. Certain practices are basic, such as solitude, servanthood, confession, and meditation on Scripture. We will look at all these in the remaining chapters of this book. But we can turn almost any activity into a "training exercise" for spiritual life.
What is a disciplined person?
The link between disciple and discipline is obvious, But getting the definitions right is very important, lest discipleship become rigid and mechanical.
A disciplined person is someone who can do the right thing at the right time in the right way with the right spirit.
Notice what a disciplined person is not. A disciplined person is not simply someone who exercises many disciplines. A disciplined person is not highly systematic, rigidly scheduled, chart-making, gold star loving early riser. The Pharisees were rigid and organized but they were not disciplined persons in the sense required by true discipleship.
Disciplined people can do what is called for at any given moment. They can do the right thing at the right time in the right way for the right reason.
This definition applies to artists and athletes and astronauts as well as to followers of Jesus. A disciplined follower of Jesus - a "disciple" - is not someone who has "mastered the disciplines" and never misses a daily regimen of spiritual exercises. A disciplined follower of Jesus is someone who discerns when laughter, gentleness, silence, healing words, or prophetic indignation is called for, and offers is promptly, effectively, and lovingly.
by John Ortberg - "The Life You've Always Wanted" page 50.
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
Sunday, November 04, 2007
Loving beauty 愛漂亮 / 美麗
Every time I am moving - always a BIG move - thousands of miles - I always realize how true Jesus said in these bible verses Matt 6:19-21. "Do not store up for yourselves treasure on earth where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal." Heaven! So much worldly possessions in boxes. Naked we came, naked we will depart.
I get the kick out of it by how much stuffs I acquired. It's so true we are meant to acquire. Companies make products to be acquired. Marketing teams to sell stuffs... employees to run the machineries. People to buy stuffs and the government to get a cut via taxes. Hey that's how you get social benefits (health care...). Every stuffs came out of a box and will go back into the box. No wonder M&A i.e Mergers and Acquisitions is a thriving business in good times. Even companies do acquire because there is synergy i.e complementary. Some merge on "equal" terms but in the long run one side of the management get to stay.
My books will be devoured by worms (aka - bookworm), clothes will eventually run out of fashion. My car is still chugging at pretty good mileage with oil this expensive!!! US96$/barrel! I am glad I got a My goodness, where in the world are we now. Climate change! I think less consumption will be good. We just need the necessities of life. No need for shopping. Need water resources, China is lacking that as lakes are polluted. Toxins, heavy metals, years of neglect. No wonder we get cancer these days. People I know hit with cancers. Cannot avoid it these days. Gotta watch what you eat, where the drinking water comes from. Sometimes the environmentalists are more of a threat than the neglected / polluted water sources. Silent of the lamb! in combating pollution in China. Beauty - oh beauty - where thou art? Quality control QC!!!
Gee consumerisms is at an all time high... in the 70s most Chinese owned a bike and Americans owned a car. In 2007 now - most Chinese want a car (even with high oil prices) and Americans want a bike (we know why with oil at US96$/barrel). Canadian dollar rules!!! Oh beautiful loonie!!! Took you more than 30+ years to get noticed this past year. Everyone wants you, everyone loves you!!! We should be with "Oh beautiful loonie!" instead of "Oh Canada"!
In the latter passage of Matthew 6:21 says "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." Who do you love? One's treasure is where one's heart is! One person's treasure is a house, a car, an expensive trip to Bora Bora, Tahiti! Another is an education or a career. One's is the hazards of life with it's insecurity, the other is the heavenly treasure of eternity and cannot be touched by hazards which is security. I have acquired different residences and citizenships... one by birth another by naturalization. That's plain paperwork. However the most precious citizenship I was given was the citizenship of the fellowship in Christ, says in Philippians 3:20 "For our citizenship is in heaven." I prize and need to work even harder for my citizenship in Heaven. No man can be slave of two masters! That's where your beauty is! Exercise that beautiful relationship with Christ.
An earthquake, a hurricane, a fire, a flash flood, wars... will take away whatever we acquired in a snap. However, what will last is God, His Words and His people. The friendship we have with God will only last when we keep his commandments. Like Jacob holding unto God's feet.
Just like how a child so love his/her parents that they will hold unto their feet and hand. God is hope and always faithful, holding onto his feet is like holding unto that hope. Such a beautiful child of God! I wrote a poem that goes like this...
"La beauté d'un enfant.
L'enfance qu'elle est belle.
La joie d'une vie et d'un futur merveilleux.
Les moments qui resterons a jamais graver dans notre coeur.
Les yeux et sourires d'une future mère qui illumine un coeur d'amour.
The beauty of a child.
Childhood is such a wonderful time.
Joy of a life and a marvellous future.
Precious moments which will always remain engraved in our heart.
Eyes and smiles of a future mother which illuminates a heart of love. "
Peter 1:24-25“All men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of the Lord stands forever." And this is the word that was preached to you.”
Nowadays, we all seems to be in a hurry... for instance fast food- burgers or easy instant noodles or even instant coffee... we are in a hurry. In the good old days, we take the time to cook, to prepare the meal, to brew our own coffee... and we take time to seat around family and have a good conversation around meals. We take the time to be creative in making a gift such as grandma knitting a pullover for the girls or grandpa making a wooden toy for the boys. We take time to write a good old fashion snail mail and glue the stamps on it to mail to our friends or lover. We would walk over our neighbors to chat with them. We will bike to our friends to have tea or coffee with them and play a game of lawn bowling or horse shoes. We manage time well. I am unfortunately living in a new generation that demands instant gratification in anything. The blackberry is invented to be 24 hrs married to our emails which replaced snail mails which someday will go the way the Poney express had gone (to the history books). We replaced face to face contact with Facebook... We don't even call a lot on people these days... simply write it on the wall. :) This is Web 2.0!!! This is a manner in which we lose 美麗- all that respect is gone! All that 美麗 is gone. To express once self in that way, loses the real meaning... with that we waste a lot of time by itself. Relationship building is now and need time to develop it - like the gardener need to cultivate and water the rose. I dream of skipping Web 2.0!!! even if Web 5.0 or Web 10.0 come in the near future. Yeah we are in a hurry! We tend to skip alot in between.
Everyone has the same amount of time each day. How much you use it in your little kingdom depends on how you were created.
We are like grass, we are like the flowers of the field. The beauty 美麗 of the flower is good when she is young and alive, planted on that field. Once you cut it - she is a dead walking flower... oh beautiful... oh ephemeral flowers. So water your rose.
"And now here is my secret: It is only with the heart that one sees rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye. It is the time you have wasted for your rose that makes your rose so important." From - Le Petit Prince - by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
Even though your rose may not be yours. Water your rose. She will make someone smile and happy. Not today! Friendship is a gift. Develop and cultivate it well. Family is a gift too. Love one another well.
Everyone knows that loving someone else is what life is all about. Remember to give it today to make it more meaningful. Friendship and Love are gifts... so remember to make space for them.
Feels like heading home... A change of environment is good. I'm readying up. Let's keep it up this way!
I get the kick out of it by how much stuffs I acquired. It's so true we are meant to acquire. Companies make products to be acquired. Marketing teams to sell stuffs... employees to run the machineries. People to buy stuffs and the government to get a cut via taxes. Hey that's how you get social benefits (health care...). Every stuffs came out of a box and will go back into the box. No wonder M&A i.e Mergers and Acquisitions is a thriving business in good times. Even companies do acquire because there is synergy i.e complementary. Some merge on "equal" terms but in the long run one side of the management get to stay.
My books will be devoured by worms (aka - bookworm), clothes will eventually run out of fashion. My car is still chugging at pretty good mileage with oil this expensive!!! US96$/barrel! I am glad I got a My goodness, where in the world are we now. Climate change! I think less consumption will be good. We just need the necessities of life. No need for shopping. Need water resources, China is lacking that as lakes are polluted. Toxins, heavy metals, years of neglect. No wonder we get cancer these days. People I know hit with cancers. Cannot avoid it these days. Gotta watch what you eat, where the drinking water comes from. Sometimes the environmentalists are more of a threat than the neglected / polluted water sources. Silent of the lamb! in combating pollution in China. Beauty - oh beauty - where thou art? Quality control QC!!!
Gee consumerisms is at an all time high... in the 70s most Chinese owned a bike and Americans owned a car. In 2007 now - most Chinese want a car (even with high oil prices) and Americans want a bike (we know why with oil at US96$/barrel). Canadian dollar rules!!! Oh beautiful loonie!!! Took you more than 30+ years to get noticed this past year. Everyone wants you, everyone loves you!!! We should be with "Oh beautiful loonie!" instead of "Oh Canada"!
In the latter passage of Matthew 6:21 says "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." Who do you love? One's treasure is where one's heart is! One person's treasure is a house, a car, an expensive trip to Bora Bora, Tahiti! Another is an education or a career. One's is the hazards of life with it's insecurity, the other is the heavenly treasure of eternity and cannot be touched by hazards which is security. I have acquired different residences and citizenships... one by birth another by naturalization. That's plain paperwork. However the most precious citizenship I was given was the citizenship of the fellowship in Christ, says in Philippians 3:20 "For our citizenship is in heaven." I prize and need to work even harder for my citizenship in Heaven. No man can be slave of two masters! That's where your beauty is! Exercise that beautiful relationship with Christ.
An earthquake, a hurricane, a fire, a flash flood, wars... will take away whatever we acquired in a snap. However, what will last is God, His Words and His people. The friendship we have with God will only last when we keep his commandments. Like Jacob holding unto God's feet.
Just like how a child so love his/her parents that they will hold unto their feet and hand. God is hope and always faithful, holding onto his feet is like holding unto that hope. Such a beautiful child of God! I wrote a poem that goes like this...
"La beauté d'un enfant.
L'enfance qu'elle est belle.
La joie d'une vie et d'un futur merveilleux.
Les moments qui resterons a jamais graver dans notre coeur.
Les yeux et sourires d'une future mère qui illumine un coeur d'amour.
The beauty of a child.
Childhood is such a wonderful time.
Joy of a life and a marvellous future.
Precious moments which will always remain engraved in our heart.
Eyes and smiles of a future mother which illuminates a heart of love. "
Peter 1:24-25“All men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of the Lord stands forever." And this is the word that was preached to you.”
Nowadays, we all seems to be in a hurry... for instance fast food- burgers or easy instant noodles or even instant coffee... we are in a hurry. In the good old days, we take the time to cook, to prepare the meal, to brew our own coffee... and we take time to seat around family and have a good conversation around meals. We take the time to be creative in making a gift such as grandma knitting a pullover for the girls or grandpa making a wooden toy for the boys. We take time to write a good old fashion snail mail and glue the stamps on it to mail to our friends or lover. We would walk over our neighbors to chat with them. We will bike to our friends to have tea or coffee with them and play a game of lawn bowling or horse shoes. We manage time well. I am unfortunately living in a new generation that demands instant gratification in anything. The blackberry is invented to be 24 hrs married to our emails which replaced snail mails which someday will go the way the Poney express had gone (to the history books). We replaced face to face contact with Facebook... We don't even call a lot on people these days... simply write it on the wall. :) This is Web 2.0!!! This is a manner in which we lose 美麗- all that respect is gone! All that 美麗 is gone. To express once self in that way, loses the real meaning... with that we waste a lot of time by itself. Relationship building is now and need time to develop it - like the gardener need to cultivate and water the rose. I dream of skipping Web 2.0!!! even if Web 5.0 or Web 10.0 come in the near future. Yeah we are in a hurry! We tend to skip alot in between.
Everyone has the same amount of time each day. How much you use it in your little kingdom depends on how you were created.
We are like grass, we are like the flowers of the field. The beauty 美麗 of the flower is good when she is young and alive, planted on that field. Once you cut it - she is a dead walking flower... oh beautiful... oh ephemeral flowers. So water your rose.
"And now here is my secret: It is only with the heart that one sees rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye. It is the time you have wasted for your rose that makes your rose so important." From - Le Petit Prince - by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
Even though your rose may not be yours. Water your rose. She will make someone smile and happy. Not today! Friendship is a gift. Develop and cultivate it well. Family is a gift too. Love one another well.
Everyone knows that loving someone else is what life is all about. Remember to give it today to make it more meaningful. Friendship and Love are gifts... so remember to make space for them.
Feels like heading home... A change of environment is good. I'm readying up. Let's keep it up this way!
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