Blessed Union

3 ingredients for a lasting relationship:

Communication, Compatibility & Commitment

True love is not demanding & taking, but giving & sharing.

Marriage requires falling in love many times, and always with the same person.


Pic: J & T, united on 190406

Wind Beneath My Wings

Caught the Progressive Rock fever yesterday when Alvin introduced the head banging Sonata Arctica and their fantastic rock remix of the all-time classic "Wind Beneath My Wings" originally by Bette Midler. Up & rising guitarist from the East, Jason Ong, has a rather comprehensive write up on Progressive Rock in his blog - http://jasonguitartalk.blogspot.com, with videos from Dream Theatre & Sonata Arctica. Check it out.

Below are the words behind the song - to which I dedicate to larlin' JO. ;)

It must have been cold there in my shadow
To never have sunlight in your face
And you can content to let me shine
You always walked a step behind

I was the one with all the glory
While you were the one with all the strength
Only a face without a name
I never once heard you complain

Did you ever know that you're my hero
And everything I would like to be
I can fly higher than an eagle
Cause you are the wind beneath my wings

It might have appeared to go unnoticed
but I've got it all here in my heart
I want you to know, I know the truth, yes I do
I would be nothing without you

If I Never Knew

If I never knew I was made for great things:

i'd be really ordinary

i'd live & let die

i'd settle for mediocrity

i'd not dream, let alone dream big

i'd see the world in black & white - why bother about colors

i'd get high, drunk, hang over & regret

i'd defy every possible rule that tries to govern me & my life

i'd rebel against authorities b'coz i'd want things my way on my terms

i'd be utterly selfish b'coz each man for his own

i'd slog for wealth & fame

i'd rise in arrogance & despise low graders

i'd be real cynical & judgmental & self righteous

i'd be pretty on the outside & real ugly & messed up on the inside

Scary thought, isn't it? Thank God I am told again & again that I am made for great things. Thank God I don't just live for myself - I have my Lord & the world to live for. M1's slogan put it best - ONE LIFE, LIVE IT!

Love

"Love in your heart wasn't put there to stay.

Love isn't love till you give it away."

- a quote by Oscar H.

Love can remain true & eternal when it is built upon the foundation of self serving & self receiving.

A sacrificial & unconditional love... to love in spite of the other's weaknesses and shortcomings - to love the other for who they are.

Love doesn't keep on growing by itself. You gotta make a choice to keep on loving or the love will wane. Love isn't just a feeling. It's a choice, a commitment. You can if you want to.

West Side Story

A splendid display of theatrical jazz moves, stage presence, powerful crisp vocals (and I do mean, POWERFUL in every sense of the word) of a Romeo & Juliet bitterweet romance set in the 1950s against the backdrop of New York city - a play that entwines youthful zeal, anger, love, dilemma, hate, murder & bitter end.

A word of thanks to my sponsor who opened my eyes to the shimmering & captivating world of Broadway musicals. Catch him in glasses below with his rock babe.

Now Is The Time

Not "when", but "NOW".

Not when things happen, now when I get what I want, not when I feel like it - but now.

I become a better worker not when I settle in the job of my dreams - I become a good worker now in my current job, notwithstanding my interest or lack of interest in my job.

I become a diligent person not when my living conditions improve - I become a diligent person now in the mess of my living environment.

I become a patient and filial child to my parents not when I have the emotional capacity and time to do so - I become a patient and filial child now while I still have them.

I love people not when they are nice, kind & fun to hang out with - I love others now when I really don't feel like it & they are not the least lovable.

Chinatown: Ann Siang Hill

Statistics: Pastorship

From the book "Pastors At Risk":

Consider what pastors think about work, home, and lifestyles as reported in a recent survey conducted by Leadership magazine:

1) 94% feel pressured to have an ideal family;

2) The top 6 problems in clergy marriages are:

• 81%, insufficient time;
• 71%, use of money;
• 70%, income level;
• 64%, communication difficulties;
• 63%, congregational expectations; and
• 57%, differences over leisure;

3) 24% have received or are receiving marital counseling;

4) 33% of pastors are dissatisfied with the level of sexual intimacy in their marriages; and pastors report 16% of their spouses are dissatisfied, which 69% blame on their busy schedule, 54% on their spouse's schedule, and 35% on frequent night church meetings;

5) 22% seek supplemental income to make ends meet;

6) 28% feel current compensation is inadequate;

7) 69% of the spouses work outside the home to make ends meet;

8) 67% of the pastors feel positive about their spouses working outside their home;

9) 9% of clergy have had extramarital affairs;

10) 19% have had inappropriate sexual contact with another person other than their spouse;

11) 55% of clergy have no one with whom they can discuss their sexual temptation.

Now who says that life is a bed of roses for the spiritual? Even pastors have it tough in their lives.

May you find comfort in knowing that the most imperfect of lives can love & serve God fervently, if only one is willing.

Truth vs. Error

Have men become so derailed that the authencity of the Bible is to be challenged again & again? First there was the uproar of the blasphemous Da Vinci Code, and now fresh from the National Geographics News is the finding of the lost gospel of Judas as discovered by the Coptic, or Egyptian Christian which also is yet another absurd attempt which depict the gullibility of some intellectual groups.

Here is an excerpt of the news:

"After being lost for nearly 1,700 years, the Gospel of Judas was recently restored, authenticated, and translated.

Biblical accounts suggest that Jesus foresaw and allowed Judas's betrayal.

As told in the New Testament Gospels, Judas betrayed Jesus for "30 pieces of silver," identifying him with a kiss in front of Roman soldiers. Later the guilt-ridden Judas returns the bribe and commits suicide, according to the Bible.

The Gospel of Judas, however, gives a very different account.

The text begins by announcing that it is the "secret account of the revelation that Jesus spoke in conversation with Judas Iscariot during a week, three days before he celebrated Passover."

It goes on to describe Judas as Jesus' closest friend, someone who understands Christ's true message and is singled out for special status among Jesus' disciples.

In the key passage Jesus tells Judas, "'you will exceed all of them. For you will sacrifice the man that clothes me.'"

Kasser, the translation-project leader, offers an interpretation: "Jesus says it is necessary for someone to free him finally from his human body, and he prefers that this liberation be done by a friend rather than by an enemy.

"So he asks Judas, who is his friend, to sell him out, to betray him. It's treason to the general public, but between Jesus and Judas it's not treachery."

The newfound account challenges one of the most firmly rooted beliefs in Christian tradition."

______________________

"Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many."

"Take heed that no one deceives you."

(Matt 24: 11, 4)

One

There is nothing too hard for God in a marriage.
Seek God in problems and for answers.
The only hard thing in a marriage is when parties stop seeking God.

The marriage licence is like a hunting licence. One hunting licence to hunt down one deer only.

One licence, one deer. One marriage, one dear. ;P Woo-hoo!

Res Ipsa Loquitor

"Res ipsa loquitor", a Latin term used in a legal context, means "the thing speaks for itself" - which otherwise means, it needs no further explanation than what can be seen with the eyes or heard with the ears or proven with action.

Action speaks louder than words.

Simplicity & sublimity conveys the love of Christ. The touch of a hand to the dejected, the warm hug to the despaired, the cash aid to the financially burdened, a shelter to the homeless, a family to the orphan, love to the unwanted.

Action speaks louder than religion.

Islam talks of Allah, the compassionate one. But it was Jesus who went to the cross. Compassion literally means to suffer weight.

Leadership

When leaders make a mistake, they say, "I was wrong."
When followers make mistakes, they say, "It wasn't my fault."

A leader works harder than a follower and has more time;
a follower is always "too busy" to do what is necessary.

A leader goes through a problem;
a follower goes around it and never gets past it.

A leader makes and keeps commitments;
a follower makes and forgets promises.

A leader says, "I'm good, but not as good as I ought to be;"
a follower says, "I'm not as bad as a lot of other people."


Leaders listen;
followers just wait until it's their turn to talk.

Leaders respect those who are superior to them and tries to learn something from them;
followers resent those who are superior to them and try to find chinks in their armor.

Leaders feel responsible for more than their job;
followers say, "I only work here."

A leader says, "There ought to be a better way to do this;"
followers say, "That's the way it's always been done here."

Stairway To Heaven

Life’s Lessons: Adversities

“In the world you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33)


Wilma Rudolph was the 20th of 22 children. She was born prematurely and doctors didn't expect her to survive. She did but at the age of 4, she contracted double pneumonia and scarlet fever, which left her with her left leg paralyzed. At the age of 9, she removed the metal leg brace she had depended on for the past five years and began walking without it. By 13, she had developed a rhythmic walk, which doctors said was a miracle. That same year, she decided she wanted to begin running. She entered her first race and came in last. For the next three years, she came in dead last in every race she entered. But, she kept on running until the day came that she won a race. Eventually, the little girl who was not supposed to live and then who was not supposed to be able to walk would win three Olympic gold medals.

___________________

Before the Civil War, Edmund McIlhenny operated a sugar plantation and a saltworks on Avery Island, Louisiana. Yankee troops invaded the area in 1863, and McIlhenny had to flee. When he returned in 1865, his sugar fields and saltworks were ruined. One of the few things left were some hot Mexican peppers that had reseeded themselves in the kitchen garden. McIlhenny, who was living hand to mouth, experimented with the ground peppers to make a sauce that would liven up his dull diet. His newfound sauce is known today as Tabasco sauce. To this day, over one hundred years later, the McIlhenny Company and its Tabasco business is still run by the McIlhenny family.

___________________

Bette Nesmith was a single mother trying to support her young son on the meager pay she received as a secretary in a Dallas Bank. While typing letters for her employer, she found that electric typewriters don't erase very well, so she developed an idea: Artists paint over their mistakes, why not try it with typing mistakes? She continued to develop this idea, which eventually became the product known as Liquid Paper. This simple tool increased the efficiency of secretaries throughout corporate America. Eventually she sold the company for $47 million. One good idea, acted upon, was the difference between poverty and wealth for Bette Nesmith. (p.s. Bette Nesmith's son, Michael Nesmith, later became a member of the 60's rock group, The Monkees.)

One Love

Sunshine, on the horizon

Over two young lovers, while its goin' down

Somewhere, the same sun rises,

On another two lovers, as the world goes around

Same scene, played over and over

Same sweet passion, same warm blood

Softly speaking, the universal language

So many lovers ... One love

One love, might make a difference

Might take the walls, and tear them down

One light, might keep on shining

If we take one love and we spread it around

Old religions, new generations

Caught in a struggle about a righteous way

Can't see the forest for all the frustrations

So many lyin', so many dyin' .. but only one love

Too many stories we've all come and shared

Too many roads untraveled, all reach the same end

Same scene played over and over and over now

Same young passion, same red blood

Universal language, goes unspoken

Too much hatred, too much hatred now ... but only one love

-Hootie & The Blowfish