Back to office

After more than two weeks time on training and afterwards days off,all are back to office again. It's quite simple these days with my new ministry. My thoughts are just on studies and training. But we have also to prepare for the sudden changes arising from time to time.

Western Rail

I have been travelling to NW Territories in the afternoon today using the 20 dollars day pass with Janet. Tin Shui Wai,Yuen Long and Tuen Mun are areas we seldom go.

We took three hours on West Rail and the Light rail to visit the above areas. Since it's just a regular day and between rush hours it's quite convenient and not many people on the carriage..

I recall days when Yannie was young then we sometimes travelled on Monday together to different parks in HK. Gone are these days have we such kind of leisure.

After two weeks training I get two day offs and so I can spend half day doing the travellings. Janet still had her morning office and we can just spend the afternoon.

For me Light Rail facilitates only the NW residents. The stops are too frequent and not speedy enough for fast move. For Yuen long West Rail is more in touch and fast enough for commuting between Kowloon and Yuen Long.

Holidays on rail travel is one way of relax for thoughts and conversations on the move.

A hospital visit

We received an urgent call to see an elderly lady in the hospital this morning.

Janet visited her two months ago. But it's been a long time for me to see her,just had a phone talk on my way back HK on the train then.

She's glad to see us and it's grateful to the Lord that she stayed awake,even with big smile. It' sad to see her struggle through using machine to keep her alive. She indicated to go home and be freed from all the given bondages.

I prayed for her with Janet and Catherine together. If it's not waiting for her young daughter to come from mainland,may be her other daughters would agree to let her pass naturally without any further assistance when necessary.

PL,Leo came one after the other and another sister later on who always visited her before.I seldom had to hurry to the hospital these few years in my new role but it makes me think of days before in my pastoral duties. I still enjoy visits though it seems we are so helpless to see others pass away. We seem helpless but not hopeless with the love of our God.

I pray then her family members can come to the Lord and be clear of conflicts and misunderstandings with each other. For the respect of their still existent mother,they can come together with each other.

Forgive to Live

A few definitions of forgiveness from a book I read today :

• Forgiveness is the process of reframing one's anger and hurt from the past,with the goal of recovering one's peace in the present and revitalizing one's purpose and hopes for the future.

• Forgiveness is giving up my right to hurt you for hurting me.

• Our friends are those who know their own faults well enough to forgive ours.
  

• Forgiveness is the feeling of peace that emerges as you take the hurt less personally,take responsibility for how you feel and become a hero instead of a victim in the story you tell... Forgiveness means that even though you are wounded,you choose to hurt and suffer less.
  

• He who cannot forgive others breaks the bridge over which he himself must travel.

Our healthy condition hinged upon our willingness to forgive as said. May God help us in this important self reflections.

Clear up files

I am not that orderly in my desk files. Past files and papers pile up all the time and have not been put into the right place. Though I can figure out quite fast but still it's too complicated in sorting things out. That's why in my old office I have to undo so many files when leaving. It still has not finished as I remove bit by bit and from time to time.

I learned these lessons :
1. No need to print out hard copies only when really necessary.
2. To clear up the papers ASAP better everyday.
3. Have a good filing system but cannot have so many classifications.
4. Send good but unused materials for others to read and let them clear.

Untidiness is a reflection of what's inside us.
Tidiness is an unreachable ideal but is essential in life.

Paul's walking

Acts 20:13 recorded Paul's decision to walk instead of joining the mission team.

To understand why he did so might be a futile search and mostly just making own conjectures.

It might be that he stayed behind to console Eutychus the restored youth.
Most probably it's Paul's own quiet time before the Lord to clear his own emotions.

He faced the trials and persecutions from the Jews (Acts 20:3,19,22,25,38)
He faced the departures with the Ephesian elders.
He faced his own uncertain futures
He knew he was bound by the spirit's steps,not his own plans

He gave himself sort of space to pause before the Lord
He created space for his teammates during his absence.
He allowed space for God to touch him

Einstein got a famous formula; E=MC2

Another formula from him too as follows:

Success = Work + Play + Silence

We need rest and silence too to take heed from the Lord.

New

I prepare to have trainings on Ephesians coming November

C gave me an outline for sharing our ministry talks. He has to share two of the talks. I found it's from John Stott's BST series. It's quite useful and adopt 4 key words related with newness :

New Life (1:1-2:10)
New Community (2:11-3:21)
New Standards (4:1-5:20)
New relationships (5:21-6:24)

C will have talks on new life and new standards specifically for attending to the Christian growth and helping others grow. While I shall focus on teamwork and family issues in terms of new community and relationships.

Praying for our own newness in preparation.

Ordinary People

What makes ordinary people extraordinary is their willingness to be ordinary.

凡人之不平凡，在於他能甘於平凡。

An Open Sharing

Adult group sharing is not that easy to hear open talk.You can share your success and failures. Well,may be it's changed now and middle aged can share more on these because of numerous learning and failing experiences. Sunday afternoon's group sharing can understand more of this aspect and pray more intimately.

For present youths I do not know it's possible for them to do so. I hope that the adult's got enough examples for them to follow in the same steps.

Pictures on Continental Squares

Saturday might mean dinner outside and we went to Kwai Fong in the evening.

The most economic meal would be ordering beef rice before 6:00p.m. from the Yoshinoya for three of us. Janet usually takes chicken rice instead of beef while both Yannie and I would order.

After the meal we went up the 6/F to Everyday bookstore where Yannie wanted to search for any new DVD Detective Conan. To her disappointment no such new releases came forth. I then spent time appreciating a pictorial book on the various beautiful Square Photo pictures from 5 continents,Europe 28, Asia 10, Americas 10,Australia and Africa 2 where the no. means countries. About a hundred famous and unknown Squares and Plazas around the world were shown. I have not travelled to Europe before and so it's fascinating to see the various People's Square Photos displayed.

It's always enjoyable to read everywhere I go and such a habit helps me to widen my understandings. Too many book releases these days,much more faster than our reading speed.It's always a tension to chase after new books and also amazing to see so many newly written ones. But knowledge increase doesn't mean peaceful living.Knowledge increase according to Ecclesiastes might lead to worries and sorrows.

Might it not be so to the pious before God.I have to take heed or else I'll be in the same trap mentioned.

Training & Learning

I commit myself to training. But actually I am not that skillful in training. Training is not just transfer of notes and knowledge which most people can imagine of. Rather training should be a transformation of lives in our attitudes and even outlook which is the Lord's will for us.

In this process we ourselves do have to be changed too.Training involves also the continual learning that we should have.It's not only a transfer of knowledge but a renewal of our mindset.(Romans 12:1-2)

Lord ! Help me to grasp hold of what's your best will for ourselves as well as others.

A breakfast Fellowship

We had breakfast together for all the office colleagues this morning. C supposed to lead the morning devotion but instead she suggested yesterday that we could have breakfast together.

It's good to have informal time for table chat. Of course we heard of Rev. Lo's sharing more. Then we had opportunity to interview a colleague applying for training ministry.
Praying that by His grace we can have more in coming days to meet the demands.

One more week

Just a week left for us to start the training.I rounded off my Romans 'notes today. It's altogether 42 pages and Tracy helped me to put it into the right format for the attendants.

It's suggested that Nov 2 will be a picnic day for the office. We decided today to go to Sai Kung Peninsula to visit the Lions Nature Education Centre. There are altogether more than 12 centres or sites for tourist visits. I think already more than ten years since I last visited the place.

Good to Great and the Social Sectors

I read from today's newspaper a brief introduction of the above book by Jim Collins. I searched quickly on the website about the excerpt and found the followings:

The pivot point in Good to Great is the Hedgehog Concept.
The essence of a Hedgehog Concept is to attain piercing clarity about how to produce the best long-term results, and then exercising the relentless discipline to say, “No thank you” to opportunities that fail the hedgehog test.

When we examined the Hedgehog Concepts of the good-to-great companies, we found they reflected deep understanding of three intersecting circles:

1) what you are deeply passionate about,
2) what you can be the best in the world at, and
3) what best drives your economic engine.

On the above third circle,in terms of non-profit organization,the Hedgehog Concept just shifts from being an economic engine to a resource engine.The critical question is not

“How much money do we make?” but

“How can we develop a sustainable resource engine to deliver superior performance relative to our mission?”

I think as a body of Christ the church can also be benefited in developing a sustainable resource effort to deliver superior performance relative to our mission.

Real Freedom in Midlife

Men in mid-life crisis understand freedom like the following:

• Men are free when they are in a living homeland, not when they are straying and breaking away.

• Men are free when they are obeying some deep, inward voice of religious belief,obeying from within.

• Men are free when they belong to a living, organic, believing community, active in fulfilling some unfulfilled, perhaps unrealized purpose...

• Men are most free when they are most unconscious of freedom.

Taken form D. H. Lawrence in David schoof's The Disquiet among Men

It's quite meaningful to have the above 4 characteristics in real freedom :
1. Homeward Bound
2. Inward Bound
3. Community Bound
4. Bound Unconsciousness

But all in all,it's Jesus Who 's wise to say real freedom is Truth Bound !
Only in knowing truth shall we be free ! (John 8:32)

Paul J. Meyer 's Law of Inevitability

The words you use will eventually make an impact. It is inevitable.

If you were to shoot an arrow up into the sky, the question would not be, “Will it fall back to the ground?”Instead, the question will be, “Where is it going to land?”

Similarly, the words that go out from your mouth will make an impact … but will they have the desired impact? As children, when someone believed in us enough to say, “You can do it,” didn’t those words have a way of seeping into our hearts and minds, affecting the other things that we did? Likewise, the opposite, “You can’t do it,” had the same far reaching effect.

What goes up will come down. Your job is to decide beforehand what you are aiming at. If you are aiming to better yourself in some way, then you can rest assured that your affirmations will eventually hit their mark. It is inevitable!

This law of inevitability just warns us of words from our mouth.
Let's be encouraging each to be always positive in our interactions with others. Lord ! Help us so.

Two quotes for thoughts

Prayer is not asking for what you think you want, but asking to be changed in ways you can’t imagine. -- Kathleen Norris--

What the caterpillar calls the end of the world, the master calls a butterfly. --Richard Bach--

We Get & Give by Winston Churchill

As I got the quotation from Churchill,I searched for more on what he said and got one more reflective saying on giving as follows:

We make a living by what we get,
we make a life by what we give.

Living & Life are related to each other through get and give.
Live a more meaningful life then by willingly to give,not just in getting.

That itself is a victory in our transient life !

Our Midlife---Beginning and End

As we are all in our midlife transition and many ladies have to face their menopause,I came across a report on it through the HKU POP website.

The quotation at the end of the report is meaningful and I put as follows:

It is not the end, not even the beginning of the end. Perhaps, it is only the end of the beginning.”

---Winston Churchill---

「更年期並不是生命的完結篇，更不是落幕前的序曲。也許，這只是人生前段的結局。」
----李福謙醫生----

At the same time I read a book today by Susanne Braun Levine on

The women's Guide to second adulthood.. ...I found within it a lot can apply to all in the mid years in my reflections:

Midlife is a time to recalibrate our lives:

1. To let go and say no
2. To reconsider our work
3. To rediscover our passion
4. To redefine our intimacy
5. To confront bravely towards adversity
6. To move on to what's next
7. To make peace & take charge
8. To take nothing too personal,least of all ourselves
9. To try to do whatever you do as an act of celebration

Though it's also applicable in other life stages but it's quite to the point in our middle years as I thought.May all these be grasped hold of in our further walk with Him with a view towards Christ's likeness.

Reading & Rest

My holiday spent in readings and rest.

Janet went to pastoral care with church needs while Yannie stayed home to finish her homework.
I borrowed another six books from the library in returning the books.

It's sad to hear the news of church members and just wonder how to make things right without the help from the Lord.

Rest day is for more quiet time before Him.