When I was younger, I once visited an exhibition on the life and the works of Einstein. Besides the famous equation (E=mc2) the thing that I remember most vividly was the visual demonstration of gravity. The tour guide spread a spandex-like material over the four corners of a wooden box (the top had been taken off). She pointed at the spandex and said, "This, is the space time continuum." Next she held up a metal sphere and said, "This, is any old planetary mass" and as she dropped the sphere on the spandex she confidently asserted, "This is gravity - when an object of mass warps the fabric of space and time". She then gently rolled three silver-metal BBs across the spandex and as one of the tiny spheres passed the larger one its momentum carried it right to the edge of the dip in the spandex before it faltered and was pulled into the gravity of the Larger Sphere. I was fascinated.
I feel this to be true of the spiritual as well as the physical.
There is such a thing as Spiritual Gravity. As a person who has been at times driven by selfishness, fear, and anger, I find myself in my worst moments to be very much like the metal sphere. I work so hard to warp everything around me into an extension of myself. I begin viewing books as means of gaining more understanding and things not worthwhile in themselves but worthwhile only in making me seem more intelligent. The people around me become means of satisfying my needs and want and become important to me only in so far as they grant me a better picture of myself.
And my attitude towards the World affects those around me tremendously. Especially those I am in closest contact with, my classmates, my family, my friends, my mentors and teachers.
The opposite is true too. When I feel loved and liked and cared for and at peace with God and myself, my interaction with the World is fraught with joy, wonder, and compassion.
So I commend Self-Awareness to you:
“Self-awareness [as opposed to introspection] is attentiveness to my way of relation to people and things. In particular, it involves understanding how my outlook affects the way I see the world and how it affects the world itself. This self-aware life does not accept that there is a private world of introspection and a public world of action. It insists that my interaction with the world includes my attitudes as well as my actions.”
-Abbot Christopher Jamison “Finding Happiness”
Bottom Line: Insist on living a life that is self-aware and thus alive to ones interaction with the world. Why? Because I can only change if I am aware of the thing that needs changing – namely, me.
Friday, October 7, 2011
Friday, July 22, 2011
In Which I Begin Again
It's been a while. So many things have happened since I last wrote here. Hopefully, this will be a chance to create something new. And a chance to practice. And to Endure.
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
Monday, July 26, 2010
Sunday, July 18, 2010
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.
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.
Sunday, April 25, 2010
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).
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).
Thursday, April 15, 2010
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.
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.
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
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....
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....
Monday, January 25, 2010
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!
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!
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
If You've Never...
If you've never sat down for pizza with a Malaysian drug dealer...it's quite an experience. haha
Friday, December 18, 2009
In Which Tigger Goes to the Movies...
So I just got finished watching "The Brothers Bloom" and I must say, I haven't been that thoroughly entertained, bamboozled, made-to-think-I-knew-exactly-what-was-going-to-happen-and-then-having-the-rug-pulled-out-from-under-my-feet from a movie since "The Prestige".
One. Heck. Of. A. Movie.
The execution is not quite as clean as "The Prestige" and the tone is much different. It's a much more learned film and by that I mean that it has many many literary references and many many more layers, but as a consequence it does feel very muddy. I went in expecting something like "Ocean's 11" and I got blown out of the water. I had as much fun on this ride as I did in "Ocean's" but it was also as gripping as "the Prestige" and quirky and myth like as "Big Fish".
It's quirky, hilarious, fun, but also at the end it leaves you with this Agggghhhh feeling like a "What just happened!" Ahhhh!!!
There are so many good lines from the script. And so many unanswered questions.
The story is about two brothers: Stephen and Bloom. Bloom's real name isn't really Bloom, but his first name is so ridiculously embarrassing that he just goes by Bloom. The two of them grew up together bouncing from foster home to foster home and eventually became con men and have been at it for 25 years. (I tell the synopsis horribly, but you'll forgive me, this is Tigger's first review). Stephen writes the story's and Bloom acts them out conning their "marks" out of their money. But after so many years of it all, Bloom becomes disillusioned and quits. Stephen of course convinces him to do one last con and that begins the most fascinating series of situations I've seen in a very long while.
I haven't felt this excited about talking about a film with friends since "Big Fish" at Emmaus Forum!
There are references to Ulysses, The Odyssey, Hermann Melville, and a whole host of other fun stuff. The film wrestles a lot with the stories we tell to others and ourselves (myths I think is the word - maybe? [I say that intending the meanings a Torreyite might attach to that word]) and the line between reality and fiction.
For now, I feel like I need to process it a lot more before I can make a call on whether it is a Good film (Yes, that is a capital "G") but for now I think I can say it is a good film. ("Big Fish", by the way, was a good film, but it was not a Good film)
I was definitely surprised.
"That was the best card trick I've ever seen!"
Anywhoo, go watch it y'all it's worth it - plus, Adrien Brody's in it, and you can't go wrong with that!
If anyone watches it or has watched it, I'd love to discuss!
A-
P.S. I also watched Howl's Moving Castle, Gladiator, The Proposal, and The Blind Side within the past 48 hours...yeah, I went a little crazy =P
Don't worry I won't subject you to my reviews on those films, but I do have to say that I really really really liked Howl's moving Castle and would like to discuss that as well =]
One. Heck. Of. A. Movie.
The execution is not quite as clean as "The Prestige" and the tone is much different. It's a much more learned film and by that I mean that it has many many literary references and many many more layers, but as a consequence it does feel very muddy. I went in expecting something like "Ocean's 11" and I got blown out of the water. I had as much fun on this ride as I did in "Ocean's" but it was also as gripping as "the Prestige" and quirky and myth like as "Big Fish".
It's quirky, hilarious, fun, but also at the end it leaves you with this Agggghhhh feeling like a "What just happened!" Ahhhh!!!
There are so many good lines from the script. And so many unanswered questions.
The story is about two brothers: Stephen and Bloom. Bloom's real name isn't really Bloom, but his first name is so ridiculously embarrassing that he just goes by Bloom. The two of them grew up together bouncing from foster home to foster home and eventually became con men and have been at it for 25 years. (I tell the synopsis horribly, but you'll forgive me, this is Tigger's first review). Stephen writes the story's and Bloom acts them out conning their "marks" out of their money. But after so many years of it all, Bloom becomes disillusioned and quits. Stephen of course convinces him to do one last con and that begins the most fascinating series of situations I've seen in a very long while.
I haven't felt this excited about talking about a film with friends since "Big Fish" at Emmaus Forum!
There are references to Ulysses, The Odyssey, Hermann Melville, and a whole host of other fun stuff. The film wrestles a lot with the stories we tell to others and ourselves (myths I think is the word - maybe? [I say that intending the meanings a Torreyite might attach to that word]) and the line between reality and fiction.
For now, I feel like I need to process it a lot more before I can make a call on whether it is a Good film (Yes, that is a capital "G") but for now I think I can say it is a good film. ("Big Fish", by the way, was a good film, but it was not a Good film)
I was definitely surprised.
"That was the best card trick I've ever seen!"
Anywhoo, go watch it y'all it's worth it - plus, Adrien Brody's in it, and you can't go wrong with that!
If anyone watches it or has watched it, I'd love to discuss!
A-
P.S. I also watched Howl's Moving Castle, Gladiator, The Proposal, and The Blind Side within the past 48 hours...yeah, I went a little crazy =P
Don't worry I won't subject you to my reviews on those films, but I do have to say that I really really really liked Howl's moving Castle and would like to discuss that as well =]
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Reflections on the Torah
So, this first semester in Torrey we read through the Pentateuch. And to quickly summarize my thoughts.
1) My whole conception of the first five books of the bible before this trip through the actual books was dominated by the Creation account (2 Chapters) and the ten commandments as stated in Exodus 20. I didn't even know that Balaam was in Numbers! I always thought he was in Kings!
2) I often wondered how people survived on just the OT for so many hundreds and even thousands of years. After reading through the first five books, I guess I could summarized it by saying, "Wow! There's SOOO much stuff in here!"
3) God in the OT is often stereotyped as mean, vindictive, judgmental, and harsh. Reading through the Five, I'm pretty much pat convinced that this stereotype is pretty false. The God of the OT is the same as the one of the NT.
4) Which brings me to my fourth observation, the Israelites are IDIOTS, but I'm sooo much like them. Case in point:
This thanksgiving weekend I was visiting my old elementary school and I passed by a tree. It wasn't any old tree, there was a plaque under it "September 11, 2001 - We will never forget". Flashback to when I was 9, I remember watching my teachers and my principal (at the time) planting that tree. I remember where I was during that day. But to be totally honest, I've forgotten much. The event, though huge and traumatic, has truly been pushed to the back of my mind. Could it not be the same with the parting of the Red Sea, or the Wonders of the Wilderness?
(Cummins is in the room right now and for about 5 minutes he convinced me that his skin was like superman's and he's never bled in his life. Darn. I'm gullible. =P) (We ended up talking till 2:00 am about Loving God rightly, the commandments, the Sabbath, faces, authenticity, personhood in Christ)
All in all, the Scriptures are beautiful, and in them is life. Christ is, after all, the Word.
1) My whole conception of the first five books of the bible before this trip through the actual books was dominated by the Creation account (2 Chapters) and the ten commandments as stated in Exodus 20. I didn't even know that Balaam was in Numbers! I always thought he was in Kings!
2) I often wondered how people survived on just the OT for so many hundreds and even thousands of years. After reading through the first five books, I guess I could summarized it by saying, "Wow! There's SOOO much stuff in here!"
3) God in the OT is often stereotyped as mean, vindictive, judgmental, and harsh. Reading through the Five, I'm pretty much pat convinced that this stereotype is pretty false. The God of the OT is the same as the one of the NT.
4) Which brings me to my fourth observation, the Israelites are IDIOTS, but I'm sooo much like them. Case in point:
This thanksgiving weekend I was visiting my old elementary school and I passed by a tree. It wasn't any old tree, there was a plaque under it "September 11, 2001 - We will never forget". Flashback to when I was 9, I remember watching my teachers and my principal (at the time) planting that tree. I remember where I was during that day. But to be totally honest, I've forgotten much. The event, though huge and traumatic, has truly been pushed to the back of my mind. Could it not be the same with the parting of the Red Sea, or the Wonders of the Wilderness?
(Cummins is in the room right now and for about 5 minutes he convinced me that his skin was like superman's and he's never bled in his life. Darn. I'm gullible. =P) (We ended up talking till 2:00 am about Loving God rightly, the commandments, the Sabbath, faces, authenticity, personhood in Christ)
All in all, the Scriptures are beautiful, and in them is life. Christ is, after all, the Word.
Saturday, November 28, 2009
Monday, November 23, 2009
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Meta Torrey's Are Awesome!
It seems like when I enter the dialectical process with people, at the end of it, somehow, someway I come tumbling out loving the people I've gone through it with.
I realized yesterday why my closest and best friends are the by and large those whom I have dialogued deeply with.
It's because we see each other's souls in discussion, no more pretense, no presumption, it's a chance to look deeply at a thing outside ourselves and in so doing come to a greater love for each other.
Not that Philosophy's only merit is in bringing people to love one another, but for me, it is at least that.
Looking for the answer to life's big questions and then seeking to live them out.
When it's done right, people become authentic in a way that I just haven't been able to find anywhere else.
Here's to baring our souls so that Christ might somehow, someway conform us closer to His Image.
Good Day!
I realized yesterday why my closest and best friends are the by and large those whom I have dialogued deeply with.
It's because we see each other's souls in discussion, no more pretense, no presumption, it's a chance to look deeply at a thing outside ourselves and in so doing come to a greater love for each other.
Not that Philosophy's only merit is in bringing people to love one another, but for me, it is at least that.
Looking for the answer to life's big questions and then seeking to live them out.
When it's done right, people become authentic in a way that I just haven't been able to find anywhere else.
Here's to baring our souls so that Christ might somehow, someway conform us closer to His Image.
Good Day!
Monday, October 26, 2009
A Confession
Self Reflection is often a good thing.
In looking over my past blog posts, I see now how I was able to worry much less back then.
Partly it was because I didn't have as much to worry about.
But mostly it was because I spent an hour daily in communion with God.
I confess, I've slowly and imperceptibly but surely shifted my focus so that even though I'm at Biola, all this time I've been thinking, "It's by my power that I'm here", "this is my education", "this is my time to shine", etc, etc.
I haven't been talking with God as much or spending enough time in His Word as I ought to.
Besides being just downright silly, I've noticed that my personality, my way of being in the world reverts back to what I would be without Christ (It only makes sense that if you don't stay connected to the vine, you start withering!) - a craven, sick, wobbly, anxious, needy, insecure twit.
"Overcome us, Lord, that so overcome, we might be ourselves"
I don't know if it's Athanasius, or Williams, or Lewis, or the Bible, but one or several or all of them have this idea that since God is Being (unqualified), as we are restored by Christ to right relation towards God (i.e. Loving rightly) we are also being restored to our true selves, our true being. In other words, as we journey closer to the Heart of reality, we consequently become more Real, more truly ourselves than we ever could have been if we had tried to stray (See Augustine's conception of Good and Evil).
Evil is literally negative - that is, it negates what is truly real.
But then again, what do we mean by real?
All this is to say,
He truly is the Person in whom we "live, move, and have our being".
Lord God have mercy on me, a sinner.
All that I am and ever will be, I owe to God.
I'm going to start living out that fact again.
Under His Mercy,
Gabriel
In looking over my past blog posts, I see now how I was able to worry much less back then.
Partly it was because I didn't have as much to worry about.
But mostly it was because I spent an hour daily in communion with God.
I confess, I've slowly and imperceptibly but surely shifted my focus so that even though I'm at Biola, all this time I've been thinking, "It's by my power that I'm here", "this is my education", "this is my time to shine", etc, etc.
I haven't been talking with God as much or spending enough time in His Word as I ought to.
Besides being just downright silly, I've noticed that my personality, my way of being in the world reverts back to what I would be without Christ (It only makes sense that if you don't stay connected to the vine, you start withering!) - a craven, sick, wobbly, anxious, needy, insecure twit.
"Overcome us, Lord, that so overcome, we might be ourselves"
I don't know if it's Athanasius, or Williams, or Lewis, or the Bible, but one or several or all of them have this idea that since God is Being (unqualified), as we are restored by Christ to right relation towards God (i.e. Loving rightly) we are also being restored to our true selves, our true being. In other words, as we journey closer to the Heart of reality, we consequently become more Real, more truly ourselves than we ever could have been if we had tried to stray (See Augustine's conception of Good and Evil).
Evil is literally negative - that is, it negates what is truly real.
But then again, what do we mean by real?
All this is to say,
He truly is the Person in whom we "live, move, and have our being".
Lord God have mercy on me, a sinner.
All that I am and ever will be, I owe to God.
I'm going to start living out that fact again.
Under His Mercy,
Gabriel
Friday, October 16, 2009
The Importance of (Not) Worrying
My goodness! Can you believe the amount of stress and burden and downright ickyiness you can add to yourself just by being worried about things?
Oh, my poor roommate and friends! I pity the people who have to be around me when I'm in my icky moods!
And it's funny how prophetic you can be regarding these things. If you think and dwell upon worry (not even the thing you're worried about but the worry itself) it starts exponentially multiplying because you worry about your worry and how your worry is affecting and harming those around you.
In other news, I took a 1:00 am awesome bike ride to Albertsons last night. Which was fun! It felt like flying. (The Brittons have awesome bikes)
Midrags when splendiferously and I'm quite chipper about that.
And Its sooooo good not to have pressure in regards to romantic relationships and such.
At least for me, I find that this maxim works so so well, "When you play, play, when you pray, pray" And so on for all things.
So here's to NOT worrying about things and driving everyone around me INSANE. ;)
My sincere apologies to Mr. Jonathan Diaz who has had a rough week (mostly probably because of me) =/
I'll do my best not to worry so much anymore. =] HAVE FAITH!
Oh, my poor roommate and friends! I pity the people who have to be around me when I'm in my icky moods!
And it's funny how prophetic you can be regarding these things. If you think and dwell upon worry (not even the thing you're worried about but the worry itself) it starts exponentially multiplying because you worry about your worry and how your worry is affecting and harming those around you.
In other news, I took a 1:00 am awesome bike ride to Albertsons last night. Which was fun! It felt like flying. (The Brittons have awesome bikes)
Midrags when splendiferously and I'm quite chipper about that.
And Its sooooo good not to have pressure in regards to romantic relationships and such.
At least for me, I find that this maxim works so so well, "When you play, play, when you pray, pray" And so on for all things.
So here's to NOT worrying about things and driving everyone around me INSANE. ;)
My sincere apologies to Mr. Jonathan Diaz who has had a rough week (mostly probably because of me) =/
I'll do my best not to worry so much anymore. =] HAVE FAITH!
Saturday, September 26, 2009
A Few Weeks In
So, a general what-I-have-learned-in-the-first-few-weeks-of-College:
1) I am a very very selfish and prideful person.
2) Sleep is ooooh so good.
3) College isn't as easy as I thought it'd be.
4) Gabriel + Romantic Fuzzy movies (Whisper of the Heart, Emma) = Varied and Interesting Reactions...
5) Friendship is like the lowest note of a Steinway Grand, it's like a bedrock for your soul that sounds the depths of your being. You can't help but want to be a better person and wishing in some way to be worthy of that friendship. (And you also can't help but cringe at a lousy simile.) ;) It's as if God shows Himself to us through the kindness of our friends and for a moment, we glimpse Heaven.
6) I'm rather horrible with remembering people's names...
7) Chemistry and Calculus don't like me...at all. sigh. >__<
8) Family is a gift that should never be taken for granted.
9) I don't want to be a monk... =P
10) I have a long, long, long way to go in becoming a good man.
1) I am a very very selfish and prideful person.
2) Sleep is ooooh so good.
3) College isn't as easy as I thought it'd be.
4) Gabriel + Romantic Fuzzy movies (Whisper of the Heart, Emma) = Varied and Interesting Reactions...
5) Friendship is like the lowest note of a Steinway Grand, it's like a bedrock for your soul that sounds the depths of your being. You can't help but want to be a better person and wishing in some way to be worthy of that friendship. (And you also can't help but cringe at a lousy simile.) ;) It's as if God shows Himself to us through the kindness of our friends and for a moment, we glimpse Heaven.
6) I'm rather horrible with remembering people's names...
7) Chemistry and Calculus don't like me...at all. sigh. >__<
8) Family is a gift that should never be taken for granted.
9) I don't want to be a monk... =P
10) I have a long, long, long way to go in becoming a good man.
Sunday, September 20, 2009
The Marshmallow Test
A wonderfully hilarious illustration.
It's a famous psychology test...
What does this have to do with how successful a person becomes in life? (hint: there is a correlation)
It's a famous psychology test...
What does this have to do with how successful a person becomes in life? (hint: there is a correlation)
Saturday, September 12, 2009
On the Biola Bubble
Just a few things I've noticed after being in college for 3 weeks:
I haven't heard a single cuss word on campus.
People actually care enough to skip over a needless sex scene in a movie.
I can talk to people about Dante without seeing eyes glaze over.
We can pray together as a class.
We can share openly and freely about what God has done and is doing in our lives.
There is such a focus on ministering to the community.
I can talk to my mentors about anything.
Some of my best friends live a couple hundred yards away (or closer).
We can have devotions together.
The Ratio is pretty awesome. ;)
GYRAD is coming up.
Torrey is here.
I know I came to the right place.
I haven't heard a single cuss word on campus.
People actually care enough to skip over a needless sex scene in a movie.
I can talk to people about Dante without seeing eyes glaze over.
We can pray together as a class.
We can share openly and freely about what God has done and is doing in our lives.
There is such a focus on ministering to the community.
I can talk to my mentors about anything.
Some of my best friends live a couple hundred yards away (or closer).
We can have devotions together.
The Ratio is pretty awesome. ;)
GYRAD is coming up.
Torrey is here.
I know I came to the right place.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)