"It's the most wonderful time of the year."

This morning, as I stood at the bus stop, waiting for the bus to work, I realised I was excited. I could feel the coolness of the morning, a familiar indicator of the end of the year in our clime - sometimes accompanied by lengthy, heavy rain. And there had been a line from an old song running in my head the last 2 days, "It's the most wonderful time of the year." 

I had thought about cookies, about making gifts for people as part of my farewell to them when this year closes. 

But I needed to remind myself, Christmas is more than that.

(The following is an excerpt from the November/ December 2016 edition of Barnabas Aid.)

Christmas is God coming to sinful humankind to establish with us a covenant of peace, enabling us to have a right relationship with Him. God's peace transmitted through a Messiah, the Prince of Peace, whose authority will grow continually until there is endless peace and His Kingdom is established with justice and righteousness.

Not only has this Prince of Peace brought salvation, healing and wholeness, but also He has brought victory over Satan and all the evils of this dark and sinful world. Because of this we can live in the peace of God, knowing that by it we are not only saved from sin and made whole in our being, but also will triumph over Satan. So, whether the outward events of our lives are peaceful or rough, our souls continue to rest in the wellbeing of shalom. 

City

Of crowded trains,
And points of focus,
Of scents and screens,
And shared spaces.
The mornings (moanings?)
of a city-dweller.

Knowledge

"Without knowledge of self there is no knowledge of God...
       Without knowledge of God there is no knowledge of self." 
- John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion

Such eyes!

On the bus from lunch, there was a little girl who looked like she had had a cleft lip operation before.
I looked at her, she looked at me, and I wondered how to react - I knew my hair was messy, did I look funny?
But I smiled an older-person-crinkly-smile at her and she turned her attention back to her family.
Later, when she was about to alight from the bus, she turned and looked at me expectantly. Such eyes!
So I smiled an older-person-crinkly-smile at her, said bye to her and got a smile back.

Now I lay me down...

I’m starting to understand and feel that rest is a way to worship God. In recognising that He is infinite, and I am finite, that He is God and limitless and I want to, I need to surrender my cares to Him. That I need Him, I worship Him. So now I lay me down to sleep (nap).

Cleaving

Deuteronomy 10:20 
You shall fear the Lord your God. You shall serve him and hold fast (cling, hold tightly to Him, be united with Him) to him, and by his name you shall swear.

"this reminds me of a story"

So I'm sitting here in the office, working on tomorrow's work, and I'm hearing bits of the conversation my colleague is having with a pre-teen and I have to smile.


It's so sweet that the pre-teen feels comfortable enough with my colleague to share with her - what she wants to wear to this weekend's service, how she is being told to wear this and that by her mother, and her questions. Prattling. This child is comfortable enough to prattle and be herself with my colleague.
I hope that I will be such an adult, that younger ones would feel they can be themselves in my presence.

傻傻分不清楚

One of the worst flubs/ bungles a student could make - to mix up the files of her assignment and delete (permanently!) the one which she needs to submit.

I will choose to laugh at myself and learn.