chronicles of young

"May God bless you with a restless discomfort about easy answers, half-truths, and superficial relationships, so that you may seek truth boldly and love deep within your heart. May God bless you with holy anger at injustice, oppression, and exploitation of people, so that you may tirelessly work for justice, freedom, and peace among all people. May God bless you with the gift of tears to shed for those who suffer from pain, rejection, starvation, or the loss of all that they cherish, so that you may reach out your hand to comfort them and transform their pain into joy. May God bless you with enough foolishness to believe that you really can make a difference in this world, so that you are able, with God’s grace, to do what others claim cannot be done." 不是莫名的感动，而是因 神而感动。The past 3 days at The Oikos have been nostalgic, somewhat convicting but more reminding of my vision. Especially when B. excitedly reminded me that we had first met on the streets when ...

I am glad that I have a really meaningful (not well-taken but whatever) photo of you. In the photo, you were looking on at L. pen down his response to: 'What is Man's purpose in life?" We were all wearing the camp shirt emblazoned with Romans 10:13-15. How beautiful is your feet! Thank you for your kind cheery heart that looks out for those on the fringes and seeks greater love amidst the strife. I am very sad, but also somewhat joyful too. You have brought people together like how you would have wanted and worked for. Father of compassion and God of all comfort, You have not left us orphans in the grief.  Even as I grief, not just for this dear child of Yours but also for mum's response this morning, it turns into something beautiful by faith.  Watch and wait and see, what is yet to be

I was journalling this bit of reflection down and thought it would be wise to blog it for easier access- I need to be reminded of this constantly. That is: Knowing myself, and with people affirming that I am capable, I must never give myself over to the lie that I am of greater worth.  My worth is not in skill or name In win or lose, in pride or shame But in the blood of Christ that flowe At the cross       [My Worth Is Not in What I Own] "According to the bounty of his land, They have embellished his sacred pillars." (Hosea 10:1) The last thing I want is for my thinking to be so fixed and so closed off to others due to pride that I become like the person I have difficulties with now. I'm pretty sure there is a lot of room for examining my thoughts about this person but that is for another time. On a brighter and totally different topic- met up with 3 friends from JC today! It was our first meeting together in like 5 years?! I am fil...

This 1960s children's show is super lit. So so so much goodness, genuineness and the sense of neighborly love modeled in Fred Rogers and the other characters. Truth in a simple way too-  What if I were very very sad, And all I did was smile, After awhile, I wonder what might become of my Sadness What if I were very very angry And all I did was sit, And never think about it, What might become of my Anger? Where would they go,  And what would they do, If I couldn't let them out? Maybe I'd fall, Maybe get sick, Or doubt. But what if I, Could know the truth, And say just how I feel? I have been watching this show ever since coming across a FB post on how Fred Rogers intentionally modeled the equality of man by persuading brown-skinned Francois Clemmons to join his show- just when battles over integration of 'blacks' and 'whites' were raging. Teared when watching that episode where Fred Rogers welcomes...

This should be for when I feel like I am not going anywhere, not making any difference, or not doing enough where I am in social work. 蜻蜓/pepatung/dragonfly 荷叶孤浮水面上， 带着莲花之盼望。  水底海草蜻蜓迷，  放纵自己去探索。    The most part of this month was grappling with wanting to be free.   Free to do what, and from what? To do what I want, both in social justice and interfaith work and what-not to change the world, and more frivolous stuff like going where I want when I want (i.e. alone). To be free from being bound to imperfect systems- in my mind operationalised as getting told what to do regardless of whether I choose to or not. (But the root of it is, I realise, I hate getting told what to do especially when I feel like it constrains the create-tive use of my time) Are you truly free?  For what seemed like a long struggle, I didn't want to accept that in many senses, I am not free to do as I please. Resentment would be riled up when I perceived that my time...

Hoan Kiem Lake Hari ini Jumaat Baik. What a strange sounding translation of Good Friday. It is also strange that I am in Hanoi instead of Good Friday service. Listening to the intermittent honks from the traffic below our hotel and watching the sunlight slowly suffuse the 'therapeutic' room as Jas described. Dua kawan-kawan aku masih nyenyak tidur, seperti semua baik di bumi. Good Friday meningkatkan aku tentang Yesus Kristos terseksa di Calvary. Thinking about it I realised that sufferings and sorrows are often reflected back to joy, in the Lord. Joy of a deeper kind, leaning on the full weight of assurance in a heartrendingly glorious eternity with our Creator. Manusia kesengsaraan... Let my heart be broken but not despair. I have come to see happiness with a tinge of sorrow, like the people sleeping in the streets even as I was really happy to be exploring places with my dear friends (I counted four in the short 2 hours we were out yesterday). And on ...

Ayeeee. It has been an eventful day. Actually I was in NUS the whole day like a boring but the conversations over WA/email were anything but. Of thankfulness, flipped back to the start of my current journal this morning and amazed at God's faithfulness in these short few months since December. Talking to my SW/life mentor about the upcoming lunchtime talk, about ministry in PGP, meeting Dr Calvin, even help from a senior for the policy project. He has blessed me with such wonderfully made people :') Of grief (and hope), a dear friend's uncle's passing. Reminded of my own aunt, my grandma too. Of joy and adventure. I just booked the ticket to Hanoi today whoop. To visit Hagar , an international NGO that engages with sex trafficking issues. Afterward I reflected, I actually haven't given much thought into this. Impulsive impulsive me I guess reframing you can say it is a kind of gung ho-ness but let me not get ahead of God. Of satisfaction, at the day's...

Usually as years draw to an end, wistfulness and bittersweet memories lead me into a reflective mood. This year has been quite different; as I review the year and FB reminds me that exactly one year ago I was on the plane back to Singapore reading cards from my dear friends, I have a quiet joy. Lord, you have been faithful and good.  Majodi Centre | Anntic 2016 Unshakeable Yesterday morning as I nursed a cup of coffee under the vast expanse of cottony clouds, I made a recommitment to God: To continue loving recklessly, enabled by the Spirit. As God is love and I am of God, let me participate in this divine hospitality that condescends to be where we are. 2017 would be a change-filled one, personally and in the ministries I'm in (hopefully). I'm expecting days of intense emotions, of perplexity and of clarity of purpose, of intimacy with God and of temptation towards atheism, of good days and of terrible ones. Through it all, it is well. Indeed, it is well with my s...