Tag: Christ

Faith as motivator

Faith not fanatic is one of the strongest motivators.

Fanaticism is one-dimensional one-upmanship taking to the max. Not worth paying attention to (that way, it deflated on its own). But faith propels a man beyond himself. Take Cold Mountain for instance. It gives you a chill just to relate to the character (during the Civil War, weather-beaten just to drag himself back home, to love awaiting). Or that which drove a widow with child to drop in a backward tribe to learn their native tongue and ultimately translate the Bible into that tribal language (Elizabeth Elliot).

He is no fool to lose that which he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose.

We wake up each morning (some of us wake up each evening) counting on the rising of the sun, and neutrons, protons all held together. That gravity still works.

Faith.

We read about the Crusades, the battle of the faiths. The force of beliefs went astray.

While the future pulls , faith pushes.

The challenge is to walk the tight rope between belief and reason. When discussing the Rise of the Rest, we don’t really expect to see our own Gospel of prosperity applied to all.

Tolstoy touched on the conflict between public good vs private interests (while Moscow was burning, the rich and the rest only worried about what was immediately relevant to them).

Public good and personal gratification, when conjoined, makes for a happy society.  When in conflict, hypocrisy. Instead of planning for the future, we kick the can further down the road.

This is why we cannot solve climate problems or other issues on the commons. Politics at its worst got in the way, instead of being a way. We “bowl alone” , close our doors and our eyes. Down the street, it’s someone else’s problem. (Conversely, when the Evangelicals try to play politics, they barely get pass first base even with full-page ad on the NYT).

With no institutional memories (church history was quite skewed) and talent to navigate the modern world, men of faith simply see his strength dissipate, leaving the mike for fanatics whose agenda are too distorted. The Bible wasn’t intended to be a substitute for the IRS tax code.

To decode God‘s instructions, one needs a set of “braille-like” keys, whose main code is faith, besides love ( Him and one’s neighbors). To own up to that takes up a life time.

Major not in your minor. Focus on faith, but realising that it’s not the only motivators. Other people have their own ideas of faith besides their universal and inalienable rights to pursue happiness.

From that common base, we can go ahead beyond gamesmanship. While being dogmatic, we should know that those 9/11 fighters were just as fanatic (and barbaric).

Faith remains important but needs a dose of relevance and verifiable reality, called life.

Though now see through a glass darkly…oneday we may see face to face.

When dreams are gone!

A few blogs ago, I wrote about Noel Decoration in Saigon.

A few weeks from now, the glitters will have been all gone.

Party is over.

Then, it’s a long grind. 2013.

The quants have already crunchedl year-end data: sunk costs, margin, consumer behavior (irrational at times – hint: sell spirits over the holidays).

The monks look on Christmas helplessly. They wait their turn (Buddhist birthday).

Girl friends are hoping loudly for gifts, employees for bonus.

After all, it’s Christ‘s birthday.

The author became a character in a  play he had created.

Empathy. Homelessness. Rejection. Illegitimacy (ask him for his birth certificate).

Our consumerist society has co-opted and corrupted every single occasion to sell merchandise. Together, we build “brand”.

The dream goes like this, “it’s Christmas, the season of giving. So borrow and buy, first for your miserable self, then for those near and far, like them or not. Ship them, don’t like them, then return them. We will send something else, or give you store credits to shop some more”.

Many of these “gifts” end up in the closet along with next year’s wrapping papers.

And dreams just don’t stop there. New Year’s Resolution, ranging from vocational training, weight loss program, and cosmetic surgery. We keep trying, because after all, “life’s a moment in space” with a few surprises around the bend (hopefully they installed mirrors around the curves).

“When dreams are gone, it’s a lonelier place”. In a few weeks, those same hot spots where decorations are now up, will be desolate.

The crowd will have moved on, from Bethlehem to Babel, from cashier to customer service. Next! Return or exchange? 2013, long grind.

Advent and Apocalypse

Parents prepare gift-wrapping and children get wish list ready for Santa.

Suicidal souls worry that this would be their last season, or else they would die by default on Dec 21 or 23 , Mayan calendar apocalypse.

What would we like to do in these short weeks?

Finish those novels to know their endings?

Send an encouraging note to a child?

Cheer up an old colleague who is looking for work?

I would pray long and hard, with sincerity. By that I mean, for about a minute.

All else devoted to pounding the pavement.

Major historical shifts always involved men and women of conviction, who acted.

Their sense of self, of destiny and of timing in lock step.

In denying self, they found it.

In going to war resisting Evil, they found peace.

In the end, they face death with dignity and sense of fulfillment.

I remember reading Jobs’ biography around this time last year.

How stirring it was.  Learning about his eccentricity and obsession about product quality.

Now everyone wants an I Phone 5.

I am sure it’s on a lot of people’s wish list.

Even with Apocalypse pending.

It’s Advent season.

Both Advent and Apocalypse draw us to our knees.

To realise there are greater things than ourselves.

And we share those hopes and fears with others.

It’s the season of sharing, of gifting. This year, of hoping we can see Dec 24th and open those wrapped gifts.