Dreaming of Lhasa

 

There is no other place for me that is as enigmatic as this Tibetan city of Lhasa. Surely it's on the top of my list of "to-see" places before i die. Someday....

More Sands Under my Feet

Photo barrowed from www.fusionview.com


What if Albert Camus got it right that our existence is nothing but like that of dried peas in the pan, whiling away time and waiting for the next moment to be moved to another pan? Or maybe just as that old man whose repetitive act is our own Sisyphean task? Isn’t that scary? It kind of scares me at times, especially when I look at the great suburban America and its inhabitants, including me, easily get lost to the daily cycle of work- sleep- work, in denial that the daily thrusting of our lives into the world in pursuit of the elusive happiness is nothing but an illusion for everything that exist in this present reality are all temporal in their state. Storing treasures that has no eternal value at all yet we base our entire life and decisions upon this foundation that we deem is on solid rock. But if we were honest enough, we know that there are more sands under our feet than rock.

Awash in Mysteries

“God does not die on the day when we cease to believe in a personal deity, but we die on the day when our lives cease to be illuminated by the steady radiance, renewed daily wonder, the source of which is beyond all reason.”Dag Hammerskjold

Not too long ago, my wife and I spent a day in a small island called Apo Island in the province of Dumaguete in the southern part of the Philippines. This is a diver’s paradise, a sanctuary for hundreds of species of tropical fishes and live corals and it is not as commercialized and crowded as that of the world-famous Boracay where we had just spent four days prior to our trip in this small island. On this particular day, there were only a handful of Caucasians in their diving suits and few locals working as their guide. Since we are not certified divers yet, we made use of what we have: snorkels. And snorkeling we did. Just a couple of feet from the shore, not even waist deep, my bewildered eyes, accustomed to city lights and bright building of Shanghai, were bedazzled by the different colors, almost kaleidoscopic, of soft and hard corals with crown fishes hovering over them. With bread on my hand, hundreds if not thousands of these sea creatures swooshed in like hornets and the lump of bread was gone in second. Looking further down the ocean bed, hidden under the rocks, crevices and corals are big fishes, stationary, as if frozen not by fear but equal amazement of the stranger in their sights.


A few more laps further from the shore, trying to brush off my nagging fear of the depth, I joined my wife who was under water but her head cocked up as if she was staring at a mural. Following her pointing finger, I soon realized that we were witnessing, not a curtain, but almost a wall of colored fishes, blue, yellow, orange, but mostly orange, unmoving, but dangles like a drape in the slightest move of the wind and as if on cue, darted in all directions like a dispersed rioters when we tried to go closer.


A short captivating moment, I feel like I had just witness something otherworldly that I would never recapture again in this lifetime. I couldn’t help but to play the scene in my mind again and again, hoping to pull the images as vividly as I could, the deep blue backdrop of the sea when all the fishes darted away is like a giant slab of ice on a summer day, inviting but eerie. It was such a magnificent view, what with the butterfly, wrasses, damsels, blue tangs and snappers, all looking curios to the momentary disruption of their world.


It was a truly breathtaking experience that could not be forgotten in years to come but would somehow reminds me that from time to time we seek experience that will put as in awe, stops as short, and as my theologian friend would put it “moments that grab you and won’t let you go; encounters that alter your perspective and experience of reality”. In effect, all of life is a search for some sort of contact with that who is mysterious and beyond our human experiences. Our desires, our wants, even in the seemingly instinctual needs that drive us, we sense that behind this is the search for the awesome, for that which is mysterious. We search for that which would lift us out of the drudgery of our existence, not as an escape from dealing with the now-ness of the moment, but rather, as a reminder of who we really are- where we are going, and what we will be. To welcome such moments is to keep in touch with the Absolute Reality. It centers us. It inspires us. When we catch a glimpse of that which is truly awesome and wonderful, we are changed, transformed.

Why Ohh-9 is an Exciting Year for Me

This is kind of late and without a feeling of nostalgia over the has-been of 2008, which still puts me in a state of bewilderment of how history unfolds within this grand metanarrative of God’s story , I continue to look forward to another exciting journey through 20-Ohhh-9. I hold on to that HOPE that although at times things will not always go as planned and however excruciatingly painful the sting of life’s realities hit me, it will always be abated by the truth of God’s unceasing love, grace, forgiveness and restoration.

But where else can you best find such love, grace, and forgiveness than in a local church or a community of believers. I mean if you’re lucky to find a church that values grace over legalism, authenticity over elaborate program. Well, we have our home church now and we are excited to grow and serve in this community of believers.
This is a church that resonates with grace:

Since we moved here in Scottsdale last summer, we have been jumping from one church to another, looking for a church that somehow exudes a sense of community. There have been churches we visited that have strong pulpit ministry, huge buildings, and enormous membership but somehow we are more drawn to that feeling that you belong to a church. Surely we were blessed with the sermons and all but seating in the church every Sunday, wearing your evangelical smile, then say your hi-hello-I’m fine-thank you- bye- bye just doesn’t work for me and my wife. I guess we are not just cut for that kind of church and I know some people thrive on that kind of set up. But not us. Close to Christmas we received a mail from McDowell Mountain Church, a sort of Christmas program invitation, and went on to check their website. The first thing that caught my interest was their small group ministry (community).

So what’s the big deal for us to have this sense of community? I am more convince than ever that we are at the beginning of a new era how the Church can creatively use community-building endeavor to enliven the Body of Christ and extend to those who have yet to begin a relationship with the Lord. Imperative to this is the equipping members to become connected with the un-churched in a particular area that can accelerate a sense of life-giving community with God and others. When it’s happening, you see people saved, healed, delivered, and restored (Isaiah 61:1-2). Lives are being transformed because the power of the Gospel is penetrating and rooting itself in the soil of human hearts as a result of the Acts 2 dynamic of the Church coming alive through small groups. And this is basically what we are experiencing at McDowell. We are connected to fellow sojourners who in their own God-given ability spur us to move forward, to look up, and to reach out. Just like what Matt, the pastor, exhorts us last Sunday “Live a life of Grace”!

Still Nostalgic

Me in DC

 

I was too way early for Obama's historic inaguration so i thought of just walking around the National Mall.

More of Silverton

An hour bus ride up to Silverton from Durango and another three hours train ride back down is an exhilirating experience. The fact that it is isolated or rather nestled 12,5000 feet in the Rockies, gives me a taste of what it would be like going to the Swiss Alps or in some remote villages in Vienna that i only see in outdated calendars in my own outdated town. Serene.Tranquil. A sense of history. What with the 1800's bordellos and brightly-colored Victorian houses. Did i mention the oldest train in the world still in operation?

Falling for Fall

 

I know, I know, this is so dangerously gay.

Oh Eight trip

This was last October, the first snow of the year in Durango, Colorado. We were holed up in the Double Tree hotel for a month and what else to do other than enjoy what mother nature could offer. She didn't disappoint though. Durango is a wanderer's paradise especially in summer when the railroad going up to Silverton is open. Of course Silverton is another awesome destination. The three hour train ride from downtown Durango is nothing short of spectacular. Enjoy the pictures...i don't have enough words to describe the beauty of this place.

 

Coco

 

Hmmm...it's been like an eternity since the last time i updated this blog. Ol' 2008 was definitely crazy. Moved to Scottsdale, a short stint in Maryland and other east Coast cities, a month in snowy Colorado were just some of the highlights of our Oh Eight. Not to mention adopting this lovely Schnauzer/Labrador mix doggy i named Coco.

When i got Coco from the shelter last December, he was all bones but amazingly energetic and intelligent. He is just 3 months old but a really big puppy. That's from his lab gene for sure.It did not take long for us to potty and crate train him. In less than a month, he can do basic tricks such as roll over, hand shake, playing dead, and what not hehehe. Maybe someday he'll learn to do the laundry and dishes.