Friday, August 10, 2007
Long Walks Are Nice
It was NATIONAL DAY YESTERDAY!! YAY (seriously... cuz of the holiday) Haha, Qinrui invited Mat and I to go watch the fireworks at Harbourfront (yes... on his yacht... which was seriously cool). Interesting day all in all. Met some of Qinrui's OG mates lol. Mat will know what I mean when I say that they're an... 'interesting' but surprisingly pleasant bunch. Anyway, we couldn't see the actual parade but we had a great view of the fireworks :) Oh yeah, made some funny concoction that we drank - peach syrup plus sprite plus low fat milk lol. Thanks Qinrui and friends for a great night! Too bad Mat and I had to leave after the thing, I wouldn't have mind playing one or two games of pool.
Now... the best part of these 2 days so far... I went 'jellyfishing' today in the words of Liselle the Great aka Cowpat (dun ask me why). Studied as much as I possibly could at her house with Mat, Boon Peng and Hamster (their old classmate). I was feeling kind of sick but who cares? Took some stupid photos (they know what I'm referring to), and had Signature dish Cheese Brownie for dinner. Not joking here. By the way, it was REALLY good... hmmm...
Ah... here's the actual best part. I followed Mat to Catholic Spiritual Centre (opp Nativity Church) for AMPLIFY. It's a youth ministry I think. Our first times under the invitation of Andrew Tay, Mat's fellow catechist and 1st 3 months classmate.
We arrived late though. Everyone was really singing their hearts out there. I personally did not know the songs they were singing but I liked the atmosphere created. Everyone really praised God (not to mention, those leading were experienced and they were great). They had this 'talk' of sorts by a guy on the topic on The Tongue: The Steering Wheel of Our Life. I think his name is Dominic. He was an old CJCian, Josephian and Michaelian. Plus, he was in CJC Catholic Activities wing in Student Council. I guess the parallels he had with both Mat and myself made us more receptive to what he was trying to say I guess. It might seem like a boring topic but I can vouch that it really isn't. It is completely related to our life, especially so for those of us in school. I won't go into much details but... I thought of a few things during the talk:
1. He tells us that we shouldn't gossip, slander others...
and even gives lots of relevant quotes from the bible (omg seriously pro), but hadn't really touched on how we can do it. Seriously, it isn't an easy task to do what is right. Then it occured to me... Love your neighbour as you would yourself. That made a lot of sense. If I truly love my neighbour and I am able to empathise or truly understand what the people around me are going through plus I try to be sensitive to others, I will therefore automatically be more careful of the things I say. So the basis on how not to hurt others is to truly love them and God our Father. Bearing in mind that our neighbours include the people we might dislike, the people who are outcasts, the people who might not be our friends and who might even be our 'enemy'.
2. I really admire those in Amplify. They carry out this session thing (Full P&W and input) one every week. All of them are working adults with families too. Yet they are able to find the time to bring God to others. Those in Cornerstone at least will know what I mean. It is already so hard to plan a very short worship session. Plus... our sessions are rather short too. Yet, we are already constantly saying that we have no time to plan and so on. We have the time to go out and have fun but no time for God. No time to seriously plan for a session. It seems that I am questioning how sincere I am so very often this year. We are barely able to bring God into our very own lives. The people involved in amplify are bringing God into the lives of everyone around them. We should aim to be like them, in a sense that they are doing what God asks all of us to do. To be light for the world and salt of the earth. They are proclaiming his precious Word. Something that most of us neglect to even try doing.
3. And then I thought... How many people who have attended this session would actually do the same. As in to spread God's Word. Not only by word of mouth but by their very actions. Who will actually live life the way God wants us to? The path to rightgeousness is not an easy one but we have God by our side always. It just seems like we're alone because we never try to slow down to see the signs God leaves for us. The message that God has shared with us via the people in Amplify ministry should be shared with everyone around us. We have attended the session for our spiritual growth. We learn and it is our duty to spread this Good News to those who would otherwise not hear it. Shouldn't we not care for our Brothers and Sisters in Christ? Our neighbours?
4. After the session, I proceeded to go home. I wasn't sure what bus to take, thank God Matthias was quite familiar with the place. He told me what bus to take (phew). I knew that I was supposed to take bus 136 to Cardiff but as the bus stopped at Serangoon Garden Circus Interchange, I had this weird urge to get off the bus. And I did. It was a beautiful night and only then did I truly appreciate the nice breeze that was blowing. I stopped to take in some fresh air and I proceeded the relatively long walk home. I really enjoyed that time I had alone. Well... to be truthful, I wasn't alone. I felf God's presence. Not really sensed, but knew. The knowledge that God was and will always be with me comforted me greatly and uplifted my innermost being, my spirit. I never felt so alive as I walked back home with the cool soft breeze blowing, seemingly guiding and directing me along. I was listening to Praise and Worship songs on my iPod. I praised God for everything that he is to me. i praised God for all the things he has blessed me with. I praised God for everything he had done for me. How could I ever repay him for all the things he'd done? I thanked God for my family who has always been there for me everytime and everysept of the way. I thanked God for friends like Mat and Qinrui who have always been there to guide me and to comfort me. Perhaps God works through the people around me to help me as I travel journey through life, then I sincerely do hope that he too will use me to serve those around me. That I may be a person of Christ, to be light for others. And then... I reached home... more awake, more alert and more alive than ever before. A bit hungry... but satisfied.
Now here I am, typing what I've just typed in the hope that at least one part of what i've typed will have struck anyone who does read this post.
Serious... Long Walks are Nice.
God Bless.
James Joshua
wrote at 8:29 AM
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