Shoot. I'm so glad this Exists.

Dante Alighieri Academy

Poem From the Fridge

I saw bits of the first line already there and composed the rest. Enjoy!

Treasure Chests

There's a book I once read.
About a man whose body became a diving bell.
Trapped and locked-in with only his blinking left eye to communicate with the world.

And so he became a collector - a collector of memories
The meals are always delicious if you get to choose the best ones you've had.
And so are the moments.

I'm not trapped, nor do I seek to be.
But I like his idea.
And so I keep a treasure box in my mind.
A place to store away those moments that I love
And bring them out to glitter in the sun when the need arises

A feast with friends
The light that falls upon the golden cross atop an altar.
A lake in England with the gentle rain pattering upon its surface the fog rolling in and mountains looming on the furthest shores.
The halo that the setting sun forms as it dances with her hair
The first time I heard Rachmaninoff's 2nd.
The love I feel for those whom I know and who know me.

I could go on.

But really, you should make your own.

Happy Collecting.

An Affirmation on the Way

There is such an incredibly rich tension in the paradox of faith.

It's visceral.

There is no salvation apart from Christ

and yet to have faith in Christ means living that out in works.

On one hand 'cheap grace' is not the grace of Christ,

but on the other, works without faith is dead.

That knife's edge that avoids both and yet holds both in tension...that's the rub.

One thing that I do know, I am a sinner apart from Jesus (present tense!), and it is His work that saves me.

I cannot be saved through faith in myself.

Having faith in Him means thinking about Him, talking with Him, reading His word, doing His work - Loving Him in the fullest sense of the word.

In Him is found true joy, true peace, true rest.

To Him belong my best and highest.

He is the end of all my striving.

"For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome." (1 Jn 5:3)

Because of these facts, I humbly, but firmly affirm: "there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, for whoever has entered God's rest has also rested from his works as God did from his." (Hebrews 4:9-10).

Notes on Hong Kong

Hong Kong is one of those places where the squalid comes together with the luxurious and trendy like runny ink from two different colored pens.

In the midst of some of the narrower streets its hard to see the sky. As if being crammed full of jutting advertisements and blaring car horns wasn't enough, both sides of the road are flanked by skyscraper apartment buildings at least 20 stories high. After all, you've gotta live somewhere when you're trying to fit 7 million people in an area roughly the size of the area from La Mirada to Yorba Linda.

Yet, if you get into one of those apartment buildings (the one's called 'mansions' anyway) the 22 floor has a spacious and commanding view of the harbor, the airport, the park, and most of the Hong Kong skyline.

In fact, Hong Kong truly lives up to its origins as the center of trade in south east Asia and a former British Colony.

For example:

They drive on the left side of the road, and the driver's side is on the right - not the left.

English and Chinese signs are alternately and often simultaneously displayed in ads, storefronts, etc.

The whole of the city/country is chok full of Shopping places. Every brand name you've ever heard of and some you probably haven't show up here.

And what struck me most was the fact that most of the ads feature fair skinned models which were starkly contrasted with the sheer amount of my people who were buying the merchandise. (97% Chinese population!)

One can have Dim Sum for lunch and go for Afternoon Tea a couple hours later.

You can get everywhere by Subway, Bus, or Taxi...much like New York.

If there was ever a place where East met West - it'd be in Hong Kong. (And Singapore! As it so happens, my parents are from both those places).

The language is also quite fascinating, I've yet to find a language that is as expressive, flexible, and immediately casual and intimate as Cantonese. Even if it's two complete strangers, the moment one starts using Cantonese, it sounds as if they've known each other for years.

The funny thing is that Cantonese is really a dialect of Mandarin which is the official Chinese language. The writing is the same, but Mandarin speakers and Cantonese speakers respectively see each other's languages as 'the chinese with the funny accents'.

It's hard to find Hong Kong Residents who can speak both fluently.

..........

Hong Kong's a busy and fast paced city...and its lifestyle is more resilient to the gospel than a lot of other places. Plenty of distractions. I've had some pretty interesting experiences there...more of that later.

What Does it Mean to Live Intentionally?

I was looking through some old bubbs emails and came across this:

In thinking over this question[What does it mean to live intentionally], I was motivated to re-examine why I follow Christ. Now I'm not completely done with this yet (Both as for now and perpetually, as we should never stop examining why we follow Him), but for the sake of a great disscussion, I encourage you all to crack open our old Inkling texts to "The Weight of Glory", the "Practical Romance" of "Orthodoxy" and "Burnt Norton" from "The Four Quartets". But just to start us off, I think the reason we follow Christ and why it's not futile is because there is an undeniable desire for him that was built-in to us. It also has to do with the idea of a "Practical Romance" (I know, I know, it's that pesky term that we all spent two weeks banging our heads over) something that is at once familiar and comfortable yet exciting and ultimately fulfilling. Just some appetizers to chew on. As Lewis says, "Further Up and Further In!"

Hum....

Hermeneutics and Heresies

When I was a wee little lad of sixteen I actually ended up having an argument with my Grandmother about the personified Wisdom of Proverbs 8. It seemed to me that it was impossible for that passage to have referred to Christ for several reasons.

1) Christ was not yet incarnated, hence, how could Solomon be talking about Jesus?
2) The text only said Wisdom, and not anything else, so of course it couldn't be talking about Jesus!
3) Darn it, I was determined to show off my newly acquired hermeneutical snobbery after a good dose of Walt Russell.

Thank God that didn't last very long (I still need to tell my Grandmother that I agree with her now)! The second Person of the Trinity always existed and will always exist answering the first point. 2) Of course Solomon couldn't have mentioned Jesus, He was not yet incarnate! But it just goes to show that the doctrine of the Trinity is not a newly created "christian' idea, it is deeply rooted in the Old Testament and finds its clearest expression in the New. God is three Persons of one essence. 3) I am still at a loss as to how I should practice hermeneutics...and poor Mr. Russell who has to have me as a student! I should pull out "Playing with Fire" again! =D

Lord Jesus have mercy on us who unwittingly commit heresy! Guide us into all truth - your Truth. Amen.

Happy Hermeneutics!

If You've Never...

If you've never sat down for pizza with a Malaysian drug dealer...it's quite an experience. haha