Jeremy Lin and Landry Fields “Secret” Handshake (by TheJlin7)
This makes me smile.
“Don’t touch the chinchilla.”
“The spectacles signify our connection… Stanford and Harvard—basically geniuses.”
“It’s actually a Bible, which signifies our faith in God and our whole purpose in life.”
“I try to bring a different verse every day—
“—and I sing hymns.”“After that, it’s a point up to God, signifying our faith, just in case you didn’t hear us the first time.”
Source: youtube.com
I used to think that God’s gifts were on shelves one above the other; and that the taller we grew in Christian character the easier we could reach them. I now find that God’s gifts are on shelves one beneath the other. It is not a question of growing taller but of stooping lower; that we have to go down, always down, to get His best gifts.
F.B. Meyer
I needed the reminder. Got to keep digging for the bottom of the barrel.
Open Doors USA
2nd: Daph gave to Open Doors USA, an organization which serves persecuted Christians worldwide. Whatever your faith background, I think we can all agree that no one should be persecuted for their choice or position of faith or non-faith, be it from their friends, family, or government.
Mimicking the Highrock Quincy planting pastors: these photographs are from the FIFTH ANNUAL HIGHROCK CHRISTMAS BENEFIT CONCERT! (click through to see video) Videos on Youtube here and here.
I was in the choir last year, but somehow, I wasn’t prepared for how powerful the concert would be this year. Singing (some would say shouting) the story of Jesus 13 x 6 shows (calculated by our beloved conductor, software engineer Brian Ni) does a work in your heart, in your spirit, as you sing it. When you’re giving everything your lungs’ve got to lines like “This is our God!/Loving and reaching/Scandalous mercy and mighty to save!” and “Glory, glory, we have our Savior!,” how can it not? When you’re singing words like “despite your fears and failures/He loves you as you are…with this message from above/Child, you are loved,” how can you be unmoved?
This year, I’m celebrating Christmas knowing that God came to earth as a little baby, born to an impoverished couple in a tiny town. Not as an heir to a fortune in an important city, but in a random stable, and slept in a food trough for animals. That Jesus started life with the unseen of society, in insignificant circumstances, and went on to spend most of His ministry serving them. The Messenger sent into the darkness of this world to bring light—evidence that God loves this world, in all its ugliness and imperfection and suffering. God came here, and chose those people, and those circumstances? Of course He can meet me, and you. And of course He wants me to go and love others, whoever they are, wherever they might be.
Hadn’t realized that my fellow soloist, Hyomi, posted our performance of “Grateful” on youtube! She opens, I follow at 1:40. If she wasn’t such an awesome, generous person, on stage and off, she would’ve been a tough act to follow. ;) Thanks Hyomi! <3 This was from the Spring’11 concert.
Went back to Tufts last night for the semesterly Third Day Gospel Choir concert. It was my first time as an audience member! We all rocked out, choir and everyone else. There is something so freeing about praising God like that. Full director’s-cut details on the concert here.
I really need to get my hands on an mp3 of “Well Done.”
The Economist: The Trouble With Newt
In an Esquire profile last year, Marianne said her former husband “was impressed easily by position, status, money” and believed “that what he says in public and how he lives don’t have to be connected”.
I wish I could say that the rest of us don’t suffer from this problem. I know I struggle with it.
Daily Economics—Non-Rival Goods:
Sunsets;
Cool Breeze;
God’s love.
If you’ve ever heard/read me mention TCF in-person/on this blog and asked, “What is that?” or “What do you do?,” this is for you. :)
The Quintessential Summer Saturday in Boston
Today, Elaine, Anisha, Kai and I had the perfect summer Saturday in Boston. A day of wandering, completely spontaneous activity, for the most part drenched in sunshine and warmth that is so precious for Bostonian residents. Definitely a day worth recording.
We started out the day with brunch at the Clear Conscience Cafe, then took a nice long walk down from Central Square towards the Charles river, stopping at Flour Bakery on the way, where Kai got some really yummy bread ends for really, really cheap (!) while I got some of their refreshing homemade raspberry spritzer.
While admiring the view of the city from the Cambridge side of the river, we saw some kayakers and asked them where they had rented their kayaks - they pointed us in the direction of the paddle boat rental service at Kendall Square, and we got a 4-person kayak and kayaked for an hour! On the Charles! The whole experience was so relaxing - the magnificent views, the natural quiet and calm that comes with being surrounded by water, the good company… amazing. :)
We were on a roll, with perfect timing, all through the day, getting out of the kayak just when the one brief and intense thunderstorm burst of the day happened. We ducked into Za, where we had a 10% discount from being kayak customers, and shared a beet salad and a lemon tart, both of which were surprisingly interesting and tasty, finishing just when the rain stopped and the sunshine returned. We then sat on a bench in Kendall Square for a bit, feeding the birds and properly drying off from being on the Charles - and then headed over to Mixx in Allston for some fro-yo (frozen yoghurt), weigh-and-pay style. The taro, red bean and lychee flavours were to die for - and made me wonder if the founders were Singaporean (or at least Asian)…
And then we went to Greater Boston Vineyard with Serena and Leo, to attend a showing of The Dark Side of Chocolate, a documentary investigating and presenting the child trafficking that takes place in the cocoa business. The showing was organized by a few organizations involved with the Boston Faith and Justice Network, and had a question-and-answer session after the showing, as well as some tables set up, where organizations such as Not for Sale and Equal Exchange were present to give their insights, and let us know how we can contribute towards efforts to stop child trafficking and support more equitable trade policies and practices, all with the larger perspective of combating poverty and promoting justice worldwide. Just for fun/education, there was also a chocolate-tasting!
It was so important and reinvigorating for me, personally, to be at the event, as I’d definitely been going deeper and deeper into my self-centred, I-need-to-get-a-job-and-take-care-of-myself, don’t-talk-to-me-about-other-people zone over the past few months. It just reminded me again how important all of these social justice issues are to me - and more specifically, through my conversation with Kai afterwards, how much I want to see Singapore use its political, educational, economic and spiritual resources to bring about development and change in Southeast Asia. There’s so much we can and should be doing, being such a nexus for the elite and financial capital of the region, with our locally-customized institutions/political model, and - most significantly - with our sheer abundance of thriving congregations and Christians, most of whom should be determined and activated to see justice done in our own society, and just beyond our island’s shores, if not the rest of the world, because that’s what Christ championed. The existing volunteer programs and organisations like World Vision Singapore are awesome; I’d like to see much, much more, at much higher levels of national and industry leadership, and on a much wider/more normalised scale in public society.
Yes, I’ve let my “don’t go to/don’t find out about/don’t get involved with __________ country/___________ people; they’re so dangerous and messy” attitude linger for too long. No, I shouldn’t live in my “I’m just here to take care of myself/my family/my friends/my country” cubicle; I reject the notion of it being “endemic to the local culture” as an excuse. Faith should not exist independent of action, faith should lead to action.
Which is more constructive: letting my belief in a God of justice lead me to whining when I’m suffering injustice (or at least think I am), or letting it lead me to be an agent of justice in the world?
22nd May 2011: Graduation!
I officially graduated today, this twenty-second day of May. A chilly Sunday, without much sun, but more importantly, with no rain. A long day, with an all-university ceremony at 9.30am, break for lunch with the wonderfully warm Teo family, plus Janelle at 11am, then the International Relations/Political Science/Latin American studies ceremony at 1.30pm, then dinner with the gracious Kincaid family, plus Charles.
The beautifully sunny Saturday before this, a deeply centering TCF Senior Service at noon, an elegant ROTC commissioning ceremony at 1pm, a fun lunch with Matt and Hope’s families at the Danish Pastry House, a funny and heartfelt Baccalaureate service at 3pm featuring fellow eleven-er Brian exhorting us to embrace the unknown, photo-taking and catching up with the Audet family thereafter, a festive graduation party at Molly’s at 5pm, then an intimate dinner with the Lim family plus Sonia, before ending the day - and our undergraduate years - off with the traditional candle-lighting ceremony on the hill at 11pm.
Points when I got emotional: when Larry choked up as he wished us well; when cheering for friends from the front row as they stepped across the stage - and when stepping across the stage myself!; when Professor Penvenne advised us to equip ourselves with kindness, generosity and patience, going forward; when friend’s families each welcomed me and others like surrogate children, sharing their lives with us, inviting us to visit and stay in touch, and expressing firm confidence that we would do well in life, however we might feel about ourselves.
Here, some words of thanks:
To my parents, for their love, in never witholding anything good from me, whether it was a rigorous and expensive education and the opportunity to see and learn from the world and its people, or sound discipline, a commitment to servanthood, and a relationship with God.
To my peers - both here and back home in Singapore! - whose inspiring examples both humble me and spur me on not only to greater personal achievement, but to greater acts of service, of thoughtful and change-making leadership.
To the families of my peers, from whom I have received so much hospitality, and who have shown me the genuine power of kindness and community.
To my teachers and professors, whose previous and continued investment in me and my peers are models of true selflessness, generosity, and what it to means to have in mind’s eye the greater good of society.
But most of all, to Him in the highest, who brings all people together, and who works all things out for good.
