The Tent: Writings

Discovering God's Will

This was delivered as a sermon at Ampang Gospel Centre on June 19, 2005. Many thanks to AGC for inviting me.

Should I marry him/her? What course should I study? Which job should I take? Is it right for me to watch this movie? When was the last time you asked such questions? Are you asking one now? Life is full of choices and crossroads, wouldn’t it be easy if God just told us what to do? There are few questions in a Christian’s life more fraught with frustration than this confusing thing about Discovering God’s Will. Twenty years into being called a Christian, I have to admit I have no idea how to (discover God's will).

But I do know that I can be asking the wrong questions, for the wrong reasons, and without knowing what I'm really asking for.

Seeds of Hope from the Silver Screen - Spirituality from the Movies?

When the lights dim and curtains part, something magical happens. Raptured into stories of joy, sorrow, triumph and disappointment,movies can change us. I remember watching the English Patient many years ago. When the credits rolled up, my legs wouldn't move. I was paralysed by the sheer poetry of the tale. The irony of love - a power that gave life to one man plunges another to his death - gripped me for a long time after.

Movies are often frowned upon for the crass materialism, libertine sexuality, and hedonism they manipulate into our minds. We rightly reject them. Yet not throwing the baby out with the water, I believe many good movies can be watched redemptively. Listening at once to the story, to ourselves and to God - we may leave enlightened and strengthened in our journey of faith.

In this moment

I will live
Live each day
Each hour
Each minute

Not as a means
To any end
There is no end

Holy Rest!

I was reading from the Bible yesterday and this passage from the Creation narrative leapt out at me.

'On the seventh day, having finished his task, God rested from all his work. And God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy, because it was the day when he rested from his work of creation.'

I'm so glad such words were written & preserved for us - the 21st century man who is ever driven & insatiable in his quest to achieve & accumulate more. For whom anything more than a TV break or game of squash is counter-productive and a waste of time.

Incredibly Called

The Incredibles was truly incredible to watch. Trust Brad Bird to write a story that's fall-off-your-seat entertaining and emotively satisfying all at once. Having given us years of irreverent Simpsons and some heart-warming work like the Fox and the Hound, Bird is a master at his craft of story-telling and irony. And what a story of ironies it is!

Bread and wine

I've taken the communion meal more times than I can count. I've taken it in so many ways - big fluffy loaves, tiny wafer biscuits the size of a watch face, slices of Gardenia torn to a hundred bits, or Hup Seng cream crackers - you name it, I've had it. Whether its Ribena, Australian red wine or Fanta grape - served in silver chalices, plastic Yomeishu cups, or from a packet grape drink - I've downed it with vigor. I've served it, been served it, and said my marriage vows with it. I've done it at the altar, in ramshackle beach chalets, and on a cold tin roof of a car under the starlit sky. But in whatever form or occasion it's come to me, it has never ceased to do its 'magic'.

Discovering calls

Just stepping back into KL made me sad. I've just come back from a lovely trip to Kinabalu. From majestic hill country to grimy city life - it's a steep descent into the humdrum of Klang valley.

Part of the pain comes from the lack of challenge and purpose in my job. I have yet to find the 'thing' that grips me from ahead and propels me forward. Surgeries are few and far between, and I haven't got many patients I can call my own. Surely I trained all these years to do more than warm my office chair and brew coffee every morning?

I struggle just to get up in the morning and head to work. I have nothing to look forward to. This is bad.

The Power of Pain

Pain is simply painful.

Medical textbooks are rife with definitions of pain. The American Society of Anesthesiologists define it as an unpleasant sensory or emotional experience, associated with actual or potential damage, or described in the terms of such damage. You mean like a slap in the face, or a dagger in the heart? Nice.

We all know what pain is anyway. It's dealing with pain that's the big question.

Biking my way to goodbye

I'm so glad I got the bike I have now.

Initially I took a look at Faruqi's, the specialist biker's shop and saw this delicious slender speed machine. It was gleaming green. I stroked it, admired it, felt its light-weightedness and thought to myself.. man I can fly with this thing. But when I asked the price, all I saw flying was my hard earned money. RM3700... NO WAY.

Wherever the road leads

Palm fronds are hugging the river banks. Tyres are bobbing in the quiet river. The sqwuak of sea gulls are carried from a distance by the gentle sea-breeze. All signalling to me - it's time to stop and let mother nature spoil you for awhile. I dismounted and pushed my bike over to a shack at the beach. Leaning it there, I romped through the soft, white sand that swallowed my shoes like so much flour.