Jack's Pal

Love Letters

2022-03-18T15:50:00.010+11:00

Thoughts. Ideas. Words.

Close your eyes and picture them for a minute if you can, and ponder what they could possibly look like. And while you're at it, where they come from. Where do they come from?! Are they just concoction of our physical brains -since we have one up inside our skulls- that these ideas, thoughts, words gets generated and then finally -since we also have one- comes out through our mouths in speech, or typing of a keyboard onto the monitor screen in paragraphs readable, as in the case here, from which the personal you within are then identified and understood by other people?

Wait up, aren't we identified as a person by our physical attributes: how our face looks like, hair cut and color, how we are built physically, the color of our skin, etc.?

No answers required.

…

Though most can often easily identify another person by their outer appearance, the you inside knows that the real person inside of another is rarely recognized immediately. In fact, lengths are sometimes covered in order to conceal it perfect from public viewing on purpose.

Letters are of words and words are from the heart. If you choose them to be.

But it would be criminal not to originate them there from the start. It has to be.

Fascination towards written words is truly an admiration of the writer's soul.

When was the last time you received a love letter? I'm talking about the hand written ink on paper heart poured out kind. It's been a while right. Bring that back I say! Start writing those letters people!

W. S.

(Not So) Lost in Translation

2021-09-24T05:19:00.014+10:00

"Aww... you're very talented. You should make a blog or something."

That is the encouragement I will ever need. So ladies and gentlemen, this is what exactly I am doing here, putting it out there.

I am rather reserved in whether I should share a bit of context before I do, but we have been talking about learning languages, new ones or ones we have learned before but not really putting much effort to master (or at least being able to communicate casually with) it. And of those languages, a certain language came up and with it a light bulb popped up blinking.

You know how I enjoy movies and how fascinated I am by the scriptwriting that was done and how it came about to be shot into a movie. In my head I see these things in real life as we go. How, if it were a movie, will it be written and played out. And that was what I noticed then: how a scriptwriter would have written the scene. She wondered what scenes I am directing in my head, so in response I wrote it in movie script form (sort of).

S and R are casually discussing things.

(Casually stating)

Yes I tried learning French back then but I guess I haven’t had any interest so far to continue. And it’s hard.

(Innocently suggesting)

Perhaps you only need someone to learn and practice French with.

(Obviously stating)

Yeah right, perhaps.

(Started playfully but later with conviction in what he is suggesting)

The thing with French is, the more you practice, the more you build interest and eventually fall in love with.

(Startled, yet curiously anticipating what he really means)

How so?

(Fixing his eyes on hers, slowly drawing near while at times gazing at her lips and mouth as he softly explains)

See they say French is romantic. If so then I say let’s learn and practice French, you and I, all our lives, together.

(Realizing what he means and agreeing in her heart, also draws near as she softly whispers)

はい

They kissed and live happily ever after, with babies and all.

W. S.

Home sweet home

2021-04-22T15:18:00.003+10:00

In late September she visited my sleep
It could be a start of something deep
Dreams do often come to those who keep
on going and not only count their sheep

Cannot remember what it was and how
But she was there like spots on a cow
In a couple of days later her birthday
Just a couple more started my crown day

A bad way to go silent and disappear
Just when I was about to get to you dear
Instead my diet at times includes a pear
What three months it takes to come near

Well remembered though the day our eyes met
Flowered blouse colored brown it was not red
Seated in round table towards you my eyes led
Against you most beautiful no I would not bet

Whether that day you saw the thoughts in my head
Would like to know someday was I that easily read
Right now though all I want is for us in bed
Cuddled and blessed us both just happily wed
I will break with you all the days of my life
I will love you sweetie let me and be my wife

W. S.

San Fransisco

2021-02-26T03:38:00.008+11:00

Safe pain.

These days feels empty. Happy to see them happy. But I can't make sense of my own.

What's missing. Everything is here. All of my desires. These God given blessings. Suddenly becomes insatiable.

I fall in love with you a thousand times each day.

In your lifetime you will find and meet one person who will love you more than anybody you have ever known and will know. They will love you with every bit of energy and soul. They will sacrifice, surrender and give so much that it scares you. Someday you'll know who that is.

Sometimes people realize who it was.

Here is to hoping we haven't past the train. Here is to hoping we are given one more chance to make it. I love you, I want you. I need you, more than you know, more than I could comprehend, more than life itself most times.

Hurts when you're gone.

Tell me a time you want back so much. A time you want to repeat, feel, endure and change. That time for me is whenever you're not around. A time that is out of my league, out of my control. But the times I'm here, I want to spend with you, to know where you are, to love you, to care for you.

I can be crazy, but that's how I am without you. Crazy looking, crazing searching, dying slowly and empty.

I hate the feeling. It stings like a knife. Piercing through my veins. It's blinding like a ray of sun, when all I can feel is darkness.

I can't see, I feel numb.

I'm lost without you. When you're out of reach. At times when you're gone.

What other way?

What other way is there to profess my love?
I've gone on my knees and thanked the heavens above.
For you are my most precious and sacred treasure.
A man whose handsomeness knows no measure.

Your love is such an indescribable blessing.
It's rather wondrous and completely amazing.
Each day I share with you is a wonderful surprise.
I can spend an eternity just staring into your eyes.

For who could ever love me better.

Who could ever love me with a bun tied up, messy hair, crazy outfits.
Who can ever love me naked, bare skin, out of shape, out of order.
Who can ever look into my eyes, my soul so deep, knowing what's in my thoughts without a word being said.
Who can I count on to be on time, readily waiting for me at the flags on a heated seat.

Whose arms can I ever feel safe again, when wrapped around so tight, that I don't need anything or anyone else.
Who can be more cautious than careless me, sending tireless reminders, I have never felt so secure.
Whose presence can I ever be happier to see, to touch, to share, if not with you.

These thoughts are in my mind, gesturing signs of countless blessings to love and be loved by you.
These memories I keep of you will haunt me, forcing me to give in to your warmth, with immeasurable admiration, respect and commitment.
I want nothing more than your love and faithfulness. I see us growing as individuals, in love.

Baby, I miss you.

S. F.

Some Ghibli movie comments

2021-02-02T03:36:00.006+11:00

Prior to 2021, I have never watched a single Ghibli Studio movie. Yeah, quite amazing. Come January 2021, fueled by curiosity and the suggestions of a few friends, I started watching some. And since I was asked how it was, I shared my comments/reviews/notes of the movies to my friends. Of which I am now sharing with you.

I am aware that reviews can be harsh to die-hard fans but I can assure you I mean no disrespect. In fact, nothing but respect to Hayao Miyazaki for his genius imagination. These are just the comments I made after I watched the movies, nothing more, nothing less. Braved myself to put a rating on each movie. Let's see if you agree.

So here it goes...

My Neighbor Totoro

Beautiful cinematography to take us along on the mystical experience of two sisters in the green Japanese country side as their father brought them to move. Not much happening afterwards as the sisters explore their new environment. No conflict nor build up, just a giant mystical friend with an umbrella helping the sisters to see their mom in the hospital. At least the mom can "see" them as well. (3 / 5)

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Spirited Away

Immediately you are drawn into the curious suspense of entering another world. Full of fantasy and symbolism, a daughter must find a way to bring her parents back to the real world and rescue them from becoming gluttonous pigs forever under the spell of an old bath house owner granny. Guess anything goes in a world of fantasy. (3.5 / 5)

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Castle in the Sky

As the title suggests, apparently it’s too high in the sky for our liking. Yes it’s imaginative, an advanced lost city with a castle full of treasure floating in the clouds, being sought for by the army and pirates for obvious reasons... Robots. Well, no. Treasures of gold, of course. But there just happens to be robots. A desperate story with no emotion, the castle stays in the sky. For earth’s sake. For good. (2.5 / 5)

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The Wind Rises

A nice effort to tell a story of how intertwining dreams and passion can lead to destiny. Be it a brief wonderful rainbow-decorated spring or to a fleeing lasting wind-blown grief. You cannot help but feel for Jiro as he lives on with the notion that the same has risen both his success and sorrow. Notably a nice soundtrack. (4 / 5)

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Grave of the Fireflies

Mixed feelings with this one. On one hand and in many parts, a heart felt, artistically made film to picture the grim realities of World War II Japan, the devastating result that follows, and the philosophical reminder for generations, now and to come, of how the twinkling lights of skyscraper Japan today are built upon the sacrifices of fireflies of the past. And yet, on the other, this particular sad story hinges on, to an extent, a family fall out that could have been easily resolved, and would have probably changed the outcome of it. Still, understandably can cause some tears to shed. Mine were kept. Was that close though. (4.5 / 5)

W. S.

Far from home

2020-08-12T03:00:00.019+10:00

A man stopped his wandering in the middle of the day, forced to think and... after a long paused -of not even visiting back the initial thought that started this, realized now he's in a decent hotel with a distinct setting that puts a Mac available to use in the lobby, far from home on a cool rainy night in a big city dubbed as the capital of the east, having had his tasty dinner just trying to pour out some of his thoughts here.

..and after years of putting this thought off, he finally opened it up and started to type again.

Home for many in general is a place, a physical place, an address. It usually takes many years in the bag when one finally moves away from defining it as a place to a person/s. Love ones, parents, partners, lovers. You can live anywhere in the world and call it home as long as "home" is with you. So the trick is then to carefully entitled a person/s with that comfy place of a word. Who can be worthy and is honored enough to be one's home?

Who will you call home? Who will you always go back to? Is he/she right now near or far?

Always take home with you, they say,
wherever you go that you are never out of place.

For the lucky few who has found home, and gets to keep and take wherever you go.

Will you be home?

W. S.

---

If you haven't, do hear this: Gamper & Dadoni - Far From Home

Perfect Two - Secrets (Mash-Up)

2020-05-28T20:24:00.003+10:00

Windchills Spring · WS - Perfect Two - Secrets (Mash - Up)

You can be the peanut butter to my jelly

I can be the butterflies you feel in your belly

I can be the captain you can be my first mate

You can be the chills that I feel on our first date

I can be the hero and you can be my sidekick

You can be the tear that I cry if we ever split

You can be the rain from the cloud when it's storming

You can be the sun when it shines in the morning

I don't know if I could ever be

without you cause girl you complete me

and in time I know that we'll both see

that we're all we need

Cause you're the apple to my pie

You're the straw to my berry

You're the smoke to my high

and you're the one I wanna marry

Cause you're the one for me, for me

and I'm the one for you, for you

you take the both of us, we're the perfect two

we're the perfect two, we're the perfect two

baby me and you, we're the perfect two

So tell me what you want to hear

something that will light those ears

Sick of all the insincere

so I'm gonna give all my secrets away

This time,

don't need another perfect lie

don't care if critics jump in line

I'm gonna give all my secrets away...

yay, yay, yay, yay...

-----

Did a mash-up of the cute song Perfect Two by Auburn and Secrets by One Republic, one of the most powerful songs there is.

For Sarah.

My risk a beauty

2019-01-05T13:50:00.003+11:00

Remember sugar for dinner was sweet
The sweetest, a reminder for you to eat
How you sang nobody said it was easy
When it is meant to be read it is funny

Have seen you but never have met you
Absence noticed presence sought true

Fell for you for the most random kind act
The kindest for a while and that's the fact

Good mornings and nights were all we did
From Cuba is hard to keep the feelings hid
You made a race even to be the first to say
I still rue we missed Ralph to this very day

Hands and hair so soft to hold and smell
Beauty in all green I remember so well
Your graceful hair cut made me the best
A miss you too from you I am so blessed

Notice from your red profile anticipated
Where you are I am always appreciated
But from exactly that things got so crazy
Message you have read was not from me

How words so meaningful became a joke
Sad to witness a fragile start easily broke
The truest of feelings made to seem a lie
The harshest injustice to a man such as I

My risk a beauty a so far sad story
If only you stayed I am yours truly
Always hate going through what ifs
Needing the chance to explain this

Would any explanation though be enough
To make clear this complication so rough
Would nevertheless still given the chance
You and I deserve at least another glance

If anything from today know that I love you
If anything from tonight do know I miss you
Would have made my year to see you tonight
The question remains though will I be alright

W. S.

You Are

2018-11-10T17:38:00.000+11:00

From my mother’s womb you have known me
Knitted every strain of cells in my body
Gave me the heart for the man I am to be
You are there from the start for me to see

The woman you have blessed me to call mother
She has in her heart for us to know thee
The only one important for us to come together
Every early morning circled-around to praise thee

So from my youth I have heard thee
All the wondrous things you have done
In the scriptures as it is written down
Also the life stories I hear of the family

Growing up and maturing has never been easy
A lot of things I wish I could have done differently
So sorry for all the choices I made unwisely
But I’m grateful to see and feel you in everything
Never ever letting me go, your faithfulness unchanging

No doubt it is you and always you
Who has been there for me for sure
Now as a man wanting to know more
Guide me always to come to you
That I may be with you forever more
For truly from forever to forever, You Are

W. S.

How wide the divide

2016-01-29T00:00:00.003+11:00

My mother-in-law is ninety-five years old. She has lived through several wars and numerous other cataclysmic events in her life. Nothing has her more perplexed, shocked, and almost emotionally stunned as the culture wars that have been waged and have changed our world. I see her sitting in church when I am visiting her, obviously wondering why all of her past memories have been lost in the present format of worship. She is not at home either in the world or in her church and eagerly awaits the day when she can be in the City of God, her eternal home.

What has changed? How did we get here? As Nietzsche would say, “Is there any up or down left? Who gave us a sponge to wipe away the horizon? Will lanterns have to be lit in the morning hours? What sacred games will we need to invent?” Yes, a century ago these times were imagined and they are now here. While the secular world has invented its secular games, many churches have invented their own “sacred” games.

The most daunting question for us today is how do we live as Christians in such times? The decision of the Supreme Court of the United States sent tremors around the globe and I have received scores of messages asking whether we, at RZIM, are going to say anything in response. What more is there to say? The spectrum of views that were immediately expressed said all there was to say. When the law passed, the first thought that came to my mind was Chesterton’s prophetic comment more than half a century ago: “For under the smooth legal surface of our society there are already moving very lawless things. We are always near the breaking-point when we care only for what is legal and nothing for what is lawful. Unless we have a moral principle about such delicate matters as marriage and murder, the whole world will become a welter of exceptions with no rules. There will be so many hard cases that everything will go soft.”

That breaking point is here.

After hours of pondering and praying, I would like to say something to my fellow believers and followers of the Lord Jesus Christ. Naturally, some who disagree with my views will probably be reading this as well so I have to expand the justification a bit. I am keenly aware that on this subject winning the approval of all is not only impossible but if done, would be at the risk of substance. I shall try to walk through this minefield.

As Christians, we often look outside of ourselves and wonder why the world is so different from us. We seldom pause and ask how the Church of today has become so different from what it was and so indifferent to the world around us. Liberalism is not just a political term. What has happened in our world was foreseen a few decades ago. Changes were underway then and we were taken by a storm from within. Culture at large moved unabashedly towards the mockery of the Christian worldview; Eastern religions were spared that, either because of the cowardice of the Western critic or simply to not be seen as attacking another ethnic group. But the Church is really where the titanic shifts in the culture started. As the liberal church swung to the extreme of religion without absolutes, the evangelical church flirted with emotionalism without intellect, while some of the mass distributors of spirituality peddled a cosmetic version of truth that was hollow and hairstyles became more important than what was going on in the head itself.

Of course, there are exceptions to these generalities. Some of the most thriving churches today are those that have a deep allegiance to the gospel message. I am honored to often be in their midst and I have hope because of them. But for now, let me just talk about how wide is the divide between secular society and the Church, and why it is.

There are three starting points that separate the historic Christian view from those who called for the legalizing of gay marriage that is now the law of the land, albeit by one vote.

One, we come from two different definitions of what it means to be human. For the Christian, life is in the soul. The body is the temporal home. George MacDonald said it well: “You do not ‘have’ a soul; you ‘are’ a soul, and ‘have’ a body.” For the one living with a secular worldview there is no such thing as the soul. To be sure, that is not true of all in that disposition. I know many who would not deny the essential spirituality of human life and will admit to a deep struggle between their attractions and their cautions. Strangely, there has also arisen a strained view that seeks to justify the marital bond between any two consenting adults as biblically permissible. I shall not wander into an apologetic countering that. But there are those within their own ranks who seriously challenge such distortion. Fine theologians have argued and demonstrated the cracks in their foundations.

For the most part, in secular terms NOW is all we have and NOW is the moment to enjoy whatever one pleases. A soul-less existence makes the body the sole means of fulfillment. When one starts that way, sexuality is a thing to be restricted only by parameters that are materially referenced. As the songwriter said, “In the dark it is easy to pretend that the truth is what it ought to be.” Touch becomes defined by feel and taste, nothing more than that. “I feel I enjoy it so please stay out of my way.”

The contrast here between the Christian worldview and the secular is a big one. For the Christian, not only is life in the soul, but the body, in Jesus’s words, is the temple of God. That is the highest locus of communion between a human being and God. For the one who recognizes no such thing as the sacred, the body is the playing field of life and pleasure sets the rules. This is a significant difference as a starting point.

Two, the Christian believes in absolutes. For the secular person, moral relativism is the only absolute. No one ever really says what something is relative to, but the implication here is that there is no boundary for behavior. Even the economic destruction of those with whom they disagree can become the water-boarding and the slow kill of the secular armory. For the relativist, no decision is determined by a transcendent definition of life, and where there are no absolutes, there had dare not be any prohibition by anyone else. The banner of the atheistic society in England during Christmas two years ago said it all: “There probably is no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life.” Relativism is the open door to fun, absolutes the closed door that destroys fun. That is the way it is seen.

Three, the defender of sexual freedom sees a parallel between what is seen as anti-gay prejudice today and racial prejudice as it was practiced at its lowest point decades ago. Here, a word game has entered the vocabulary. Relativist convictions are supposedly prejudice-free, while absolute convictions are branded as phobias. Any stigma can lick a good dogma, it is said. With that verbal deconstruction of a worldview, all questioning of sexual freedom is castigated as a phobia. Quite amazing that atheists are not called “theophobes” or that those against Christians are not called “christophobes.” Pejoratively, the counter positions have been appended with phobias till we may have a whole new polyphobic dictionary.

But that is the lesser problem. I contend that equating race with sexuality is actually a false premise and an unfortunate analogy. In the matter of race it simply doesn’t matter how I feel about it; my ethnicity transcends my preferences or inclinations. In the Hindi language there is a mildly mocking expression to describe one who acts different to his or her essence in race: “Desi murghi pardesi chal” … “this is a local bird with a foreign walk.” As was recently established, a person may feel like one race, associate primarily with that race and think like that race, but that doesn’t change who she really is. Why is this analogy unfortunate? Because it moves the debate from what is right to what are one’s rights. Ironically, the political party now most aligned with arguing for rights was once the same party that argued against the emancipation of slaves because of the slave-owners’ “rights.” In that case, those rights were overruled by what was right. Interesting that a new word wasn’t coined then to describe those who made moral arguments against the slave-owners’ rights as “slaveophobes.” Thankfully, essential human worth and moral reason trumped existential and pragmatic preferences and by God’s grace, what was right was deemed to be right and the slave was freed.

There are absolutes. To the Christian, every person is made in the image of God and is loved by God. He sent his Son for the whole world, not just for those of a particular race or sexual proclivity. Sex is a sacred trust with deliberate boundaries. It is at once one of the greatest gifts and one of the greatest struggles. The 5000-year-old struggle in the Middle East has its roots in polygamy when two half-brothers shared a father but not the same mother.

The violation of race is a violation of the sacred and for the Christian, the violation of sex is seen the same way. The secularist does not see the latter as a violation where there is consent, but this is simply not so for the Christian. Desacralization is an emptying of essential purpose and meaning and leads to the loss of essential purpose in life itself. This is why it is vacuous to say that if two people love each other they may express it in any way they choose. Love is not defined in a way that is self-referencing. It ultimately hangs on the peg of God’s love and how He defines love.

But here a caution is critical. All violation of the sacred, not just sex, is ultimately in need of God’s grace and forgiveness. That is the Christian view. That is why the good news is that God’s gift of salvation and redemption is offered to all. That is why what is right has to win the day over what we may see as rights. As hard as this may seem to some, it is the only hope to avoid the misuse of reason for other attractions. Can we not, on the same argument presently used—adult consent—someday justify a multitude of proclivities? Even more, what is to keep Sharia Law from being brought into the culture to respect the rights of a particular group only to have it one day used by extremists to overrule our present laws? After all, extremists have ways of dictating for all. Isn’t that what we witness time and again? This is not a slippery slope. This is an irrational, runaway train driven in the name of rights and tendentious reasoning. It can happen. I suspect it will happen. The cultural plausibility can shift. Not everything that is fatal is immediate.

With these three chasms, the heart sinks and exclaims, how wide is the divide!

This, then, brings me as a follower of Jesus Christ to the three most important bridges between all of us, regardless of our views on this issue. The gay community rightly cries out for identity and intimacy. These are, after all, the longings of the mind and heart of every human being, regardless of our position on this issue. This is where the gospel enters as the only way to bring us together. Indeed, the first bridge of the gospel is that my identity is found in Jesus Christ because of whom I must tame my passions. My identity dictates my behavior. Before I committed my life to Jesus Christ, my identity within my culture was dictated by the status of my family: who my father was, how I did in school, what my grades were, how much money I had access to. All these were and are systemically woven into my culture. I had no choice. This is how I was viewed. Take a look at the matrimonial section in India’s newspaper today. Color, caste, education, wealth, beauty all are repeatedly mentioned as parents seek what they consider the best partners for their children. It’s so clearly discriminatory. When my sister married a Hindu convert to Jesus Christ, the challenge for his parents was huge. But amazingly, their understanding of what Jesus Christ had done for their son changed everything. This is the only bridge I know of that can change the human heart.

It is because of this relationship that we change our behavior from what attracts us to what we act upon. This connection is crucial. If I know what it is to be a man, I know how sexual attraction works. Over time you learn that giving in simply does not bring lasting happiness or purpose. It is only in the keeping of the body as the temple that the sacred is upheld and the grace of God brings conviction and restraint. The Bible says we are not to place our offerings on every altar. One psychologist describes indulgence as “short term fleeting relationships with long term bitter disappointments.” This is true of all behavior and of all sexual expression that runs afoul of God’s design. He has built this law into the human fabric. Deep inside we know this. Temporal allurements are ultimately unfulfilling without a spiritual bonding and binding. It is the eternal that must guide the temporal.

The second bridge the gospel brings is intimacy. We all long for touch. This is true even in the most senior years of one’s life. I have talked to people working in homes for the aged and they have remarked on how much the elderly miss a physical touch and embrace. This is how we are made. Carrying that concept into sexuality, consummation is the all-embracing act of intimacy. Being as consummate as it is it demands exclusivity, otherwise it is rendered profane and common place. Experience tells us this repeatedly. Cultures that totally desacralize sexuality are non-existent. Even the polygamous guard the numbers. Even the unclad have boundaries. There are laws that govern against rapacious acts.

The biblical description of marriage is for one man and one woman in sacred commitment. So profound is this union that the relationship of God to the Church bears that comparison. He is the bridegroom; the Church is the bride.

Is this so abstract that it doesn’t come down to where we are in our individual yearning for intimacy? Not in the least. According to the gospel, God offers us his indwelling presence where spirit touches spirit and the deepest, truest intimacy results. I am fully aware that to one who has never tasted intimacy with God this seems absurd. But it is here that I think we as Christians need to awaken to the unpleasant reality that we have not taught and proclaimed God’s Word faithfully and demonstrated true holiness.

How can my mind be transformed so that intellectually I understand perspectives and counter-perspectives? How do I so embrace God’s truth that it transforms my heart and my inclinations, or at least gives me the ability to control my inclinations? I have a colleague who confessed to having same sex-attractions. He went on to say that on a given day he thought and thought about the Christian message and finally and wholeheartedly surrendered himself to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. In his words, he “sensed a presence of being overcome from the top of my head to the soles of my feet…I have tasted a glimpse of heaven; why would I stoop to what is below?” Are there days of struggle for him? Is there a certainty of his new affections in Christ? “Yes,” he says to both questions. I have a huge respect for him and his sacrifice.

For the Christian, the question is this: How do I so walk with God that ALL my affections are brought under Jesus’s Lordship, whether my inclinations be same-sex or opposite sex or any other struggle? How may I love those with whom I disagree on these serious matters? The bridges will always be the identity and intimacy offered in the heart commitment to the Savior, first lived out then lovingly taught.

Also, for the Christian we must remember that we cannot make this realm the eternal order. Our earthly cities are not what eternity alone will bring. Augustine’s two most memorable masterpieces are his Confessionsand his City of God. As he lay dying in his home city, barbarians were already scaling the walls of Rome. Even as many churches were being destroyed, the main ones he had planted withstood the carnage. Incredibly, even though his mortal frame was breaking down, people continued coming to him so that he could pray for them. That is a glorious picture. His body was meeting its end. But his soul was not. He had confessed his need for his Savior and he looked to a city whose builder and maker was God. All earthly cities will at some time crumble and fall, as will our mortal bodies. Our eternal place of abiding is in God’s presence, no longer merely in a counter culture but in a place prepared for us. Augustine’s life enfleshed all those truths.

The third and final bridge of the gospel is that of community: the love of God working through us as a Church where worship brings together all our inclinations, surrendered to God’s sacred call for all of us. That is worked out in love and grace. Our worship will have to have theological integrity, not just in form but in substance; worship that is not just moments of exhilaration but is co-extensive with life itself and sermons that are not merely heard but are also seen. The outreach of love will then be embodied and not be mere talk. The Church must not be a fortress guarded by a constabulary but a home where the Father ever awaits the return of each of us who is in the far country.

For those who follow Jesus Christ, our message to the world must be clear. God transforms the heart and mind and we become his children and his ambassadors. Let us so live that we will never be accused of hate or indifference. But let us also know that compromising the truth is a serious blunder and ends up celebrating that which is not in the will of our Father. This is a painful tension for a believer. To be seen as rejecting a belief or a behavior is not the same as rejecting the person. But God helps us to carry that burden.

By contrast, when Truth is lived out in love and grace, it will always make the faith attractive and even the one who opposes us will recognize the fearful symmetry of a conviction for the sacred that will swim against the tide and a commitment to the person that will find a bridge of hope. We must so live the gospel that men and women will call upon God’s name and make this body his home until we reach our Eternal City bought with the precious sacrifice of Jesus Christ. His body was broken for us so that ours might be mended for Him.

By: Ravi Zacharias

The Japanese House - Teeth

2015-12-28T16:29:00.002+11:00

I’m still burned and my blood creeps
I’m the sun-flooded mouth and I cannot speak
I’m the scars upon your knees
I’m the scrapes of iron your skin breathes
I could be anything

And it was so brief
A kick in the teeth
Oil and powdered lungs
Because i know how to breathe
And it was so brief
I want more time for luck
And then I go again

You're the movements in my sleep
You are the words I couldn't keep
I saw the fumes and watched them seep
Into the wounds you bear to bleed
I could lose everything

3T, Tokyo Tower Taxi

And it was so brief
A kick in the teeth
Oil and powdered lungs
Because i know how to breathe
And it was so brief
I want more time for luck
And then I go again

You love
When I saw you

Matt Corby - Resolution

2015-01-27T19:31:00.002+11:00

I'm giving up, this whole lie is on me
Call it out like a family
Instead I bide my time, get a ride
Until the rubber leaves the road

You said don't lie so I made the truth
Seemed like a lie to even you
Control your fear, it's clear
That you did not know where you're going to

So don't you worry
You'll be my resolution
Characters of no illusion
You'll be my resolution

One month down and it's in sight
Oh I'm guaranteed to lose my mind
It's dangerous to speak and sigh
You might know what I'm trying to hide

So from the cradle to quarter age
Oh I bought the book but didn't flip the page
Oh readiness is near we steer
As far away from the coming of days

So don't you worry
You'll be my resolution
Characters of no illusion
You will be my resolution
Characters of no illusion
You'll be my resolution

Turn around put it down and see
That this is really the place to be
I'm not you, nor you me
But were both moving steady

Matt Corby (photo from Communion Music)

The Misunderstood Gift

2014-12-15T18:59:00.001+11:00

It's been a while since my last post so, hello! :) And also for being away so long, I hope this post will be a see-again gift to you. I do believe it will, I am blessed by the message I just have to share with the hope that it will also bless you the same. And I know it's really too early but let me just wish you a merry Christmas!

CAZZETTE - Sleepless ft. The High

2014-07-08T13:59:00.001+10:00

It kills my heart to see
Your eyes are no longer on me
It's critical to me
You stop messing with me

It kills my heart to know
You don't think this love could grow
Cause anywhere you'd go
You know I would follow

You kissed my heart you know
Like no one ever did before
And I heard you moved on
Yeah I heard you moved on

I can't get no sleep, sleep, sleep, sleep

Prismatic

2014-02-18T00:29:00.002+11:00

How to start is in a way problematic
Yes relationship of two is enigmatic
Being different is the characteristic
of individuals being made so specific

Personal experiences historic
Stories of life-lived so dramatic
With past relationships ironic
Makes a thousand-piece mosaic
Scattered all messy and chaotic
Until altogether being artistic
Finding each other so aesthetic
A blessing worthy being angelic
Inspiring, no use in being egoistic

Why sometimes I could be idiotic
Green sandals wrapped in plastic
Only to be forgotten in metallic
Sent you photos to be apologetic
You are as forgiving so seraphic

Climb up to see crater so scenic
On horses could be more majestic
Refreshed senses so naturalistic
Whoever made that is a puristic

Woke up to realize I am allergic
If not alarmed, already systemic
Didn't wake you to get pharmaceutic
Rather you asleep so silent a music

Left a note could now be a relic
Would you also keep it so iconic?

During breakfast we seem identic
Casually attired and also poetic
Brought to attention now a topic
By your sister being so analytic
From day one she said us synchronic

I wonder why you're so magnetic
Instant crush for you is automatic
Like how French duo sounds robotic
It is known tiring to be dialectic
Though we tried harder using logic
When contradictions are diametric
We end up broken again it's ironic

The certainty of time I find horrific
I don't see why we cannot be romantic
See I have known much to be Prisnatic
Let us now know more and be prismatic

W. S.

Life loves to love you

2014-01-08T20:33:00.000+11:00

The sun is longed for in dark twirls of storms
A grand mountain, in low depths of valleys
Can't be said though, that bright light is gone
Or high peak has well lost its chill breeze

For the warmth of sunshine will still always be
Only if the you inside let the eyes clearly see
Being down erases not what you've achieved
No, don't let your true heart ever be deceived

Lucky are you to have sought deep into life
The secret that life itself loves to love you
With strong true believe the dying will revive
Realize, you can give back life some love too

W. S.

Mikky Ekko - Kids (Oliver Nelson Remix)

2013-11-29T19:07:00.000+11:00

Oh, I'm going to let the future in, the future in,
and take it on, make it on my own.
Oh, into the fire we go again, we go again,
we shake it off, before we get too old.

Sweet harmony, send us out with nowhere to go
Sweet harmony, secret's out but what do I know

Kids, kids,
Kids are gonna do what they want
Kids, kids,
Kids are gonna do what they want

Bottling sun in an hourglass, upside down but don't look back
Over and over
Taking on the wind cause we never learn, start a fire just to watch it burn
Over and over

Sweet harmony, send us out with nowhere to go
Sweet harmony, secret's out but what do I know

Kids, kids,
Kids are gonna do what they want
Kids, kids,
Kids are gonna do what they want

Sweet harmony, kids are gonna do what they want
Sweet harmony, kids are gonna do what they want

We know the words but it's not enough, not enough
Cause no one heard, remember we're just kids

Kids, kids,
Kids are gonna do what they want
Kids, kids,
Kids are gonna do what they want

(We have the fire now, as the last light's burning out)

Sweet harmony, kids are gonna do what they want
Sweet harmony, kids are gonna do what they want

Mikky Ekko (photo from Interview Magazine)

-----

The Shins - Simple Song

2013-06-03T20:19:00.000+10:00

Well this is just a simple song,
to say what you done
I told you about all those fears,
and away they did run
You sure must be strong
And you feel like an ocean made warm by the sun

When I was just nine years old,
I swear that I dreamt
Your face on a football field,
and a kiss that I kept
Under my vest
Apart from everything, but the heart in my chest

I know that things can really get rough, when you go it alone
Don’t go thinking you gotta be tough, and play like a stone
Could be there’s nothing else in our lives, so critical
As this little home!

My life in an upturned boat,
marooned on a cliff
You brought me a great big flood,
and you gave me a lift
Girl oh what a gift
You tell me with your tongue,
And your breath was in my lungs, and you float over the rift

I know that things can really get rough, when you go it alone
Don’t go thinking you gotta be tough, and play like a stone
Could be there’s nothing else in our lives, so critical
As this little home!

Well this will be a simple song,
to say what you done
I told you about all those fears,
and away they did run
You sure must be strong
And you feel like an ocean being warmed by the sun

Remember walking a mile to your house, a glow in the dark
I made a fumblin’ play for your heart, and the act struck a spark
You wore a charm on a chain that I stole, especial for you
Love’s such a delicate thing that we do, with nothing to prove
Which I never knew

Jessica Dobson (photo from Frequency)

James Mercer (photo by Bill Ebbesen)

Tarakan Wash Tank

2013-03-25T23:15:00.003+11:00

Tarakan Wash Tank

Another trip, another dip into the depths of Indonesia's rich history. From precolonial era as early in the 4th century with the hardly known Indianized kingdom of Kutai Martadipura in East Kalimantan to the more recent -not also really well known- era of struggle to reform in Reformasi in the late 90's, Indonesia's vast history is as mystical and intriguing as The Lord of the Rings trilogy, the French Revolution, and Harvey Specter's mind all combined in one savory banana split sundae. How to really work that one out is rather out of the mood at the moment, so let me just say that's just how it is.

However, recently I had the chance to visit the island-city of Tarakan in North Kalimantan, which was once the stage of more than one battle in the Pacific War. It was here on January 11, 1942, a day after the Empire of Japan declared war on the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Japan first attacked the Dutch colonized Indonesia and went on further to successfully set its conquering foot on this beautiful archipelago. The significance of Tarakan is definite in the eyes of the Japanese -and of the Dutch before them- for one reason: oil. So significant, the secure of Tarakan oilfields are Japan's main early objectives in the Pacific War. Of course, specifically in Japan's Asia campaign, the capture of the island of Tarakan is just what logically comes next in line after successful raids towards the US navy base in Pearl Harbor and then Luzon Island in the Philippines.

Tarakan Mangrove Conservation

Honestly, I didn't know much about Tarakan prior to my visit to this -as it turns out- historic island other than that it's oil rich and there's a branch office here in the city. But you know me, I like to do a little walk through Google (like any of you), but clearly just a little bit this time that I pretty much missed the history aspect of the city. But a little history about the locally famous Tarakan Wash Tank is that it was bombed by the Japanese during its raid to occupy Tarakan from the Dutch. At least that's what's popular among the locals. It goes on to add that because of its steel strength, the 20.506 barrel wash tank survived with only a humongous noticeable dent on top.

Another version of the story is that the Dutch tried to destroy this wash tank and every oil installations for that matter, built by the Bataafsche Petroleum Maatschappij, after learning that the mighty Japanese fleet was on its way to attack Tarakan. All this self destruction is none other than to prevent the Japanese to take full advantage of the already available oil installations if Tarakan were to fall. Either way, pretty amazing huh.

So yeah, I went to see the famous Wash Tank, this huge war souvenir from World War II in Tarakan, originally used to wash the oil of the bulk solids and water, separating the oil and water. And yet, despite all that howling history behind it, the thoughts that came to mind as I stood there in front and in awe of the magnificent historic war site was how easily you have jumped in, cleansed yourself clean, and moved on.

Oh history, how do you always get me?

W. S.

Let me in

2013-03-08T14:10:00.000+11:00

There's this parallel world in monochrome aligned to our memories and dreams, muted with only facial expression (or lack of), examining to keep in touch with our very selves, silently gazing as to despairing scream, let me in... or let me go.

Les Misérables - One Day More

2013-02-12T19:22:00.001+11:00

Samantha Barks as Éponine

JEAN VALJEAN
One day more,
Another day, another destiny,
This never ending road to Calvary;
These men who seem to know my crime
Will surely come a second time,
One day more...

MARIUS PONTMERCY
I did not live until today,
How can I live when we are parted?

JEAN VALJEAN
One day more...

MARIUS PONTMERCY & COSETTE
Tomorrow you'll be worlds away,
And yet with you, my world has started.

ÉPONINE
One more day all on my own

MARIUS PONTMERCY & COSETTE
Will we ever meet again?

ÉPONINE
One more day with him not caring

MARIUS PONTMERCY & COSETTE
I was born to be with you.

ÉPONINE
What a life I might have known

MARIUS PONTMERCY & COSETTE
And I swear I will be true!

ÉPONINE
But he never saw me there...

ÉNJOLRAS
One more day before the storm!

MARIUS PONTMERCY
Do I follow where she goes?

ÉNJOLRAS
At the barricades of Freedom!

MARIUS PONTMERCY
Shall I join my brothers there?

ÉNJOLRAS
When our ranks begin to form,

MARIUS PONTMERCY
Do I stay or do I dare?

ÉNJOLRAS
Will you take your place with me?

ALL
The time is now
The day is here

JEAN VALJEAN
One day more!

JAVERT
One day more to revolution,
We will nip it in the bud!
We'll be ready for these schoolboys,
They will wet themselves with blood!

JEAN VALJEAN
One day more!

THÉNARDIER
Watch'm run amuck,

Mme. THÉNARDIER
Catch'm as they fall,

M. & Mme. THÉNARDIER
Never know your luck
When there's a free-for-all,

THÉNARDIER
Here's a little dip

Mme. THÉNARDIER
There a little touch,

M. & Mme. THÉNARDIER
Most of them are goners
So they won't miss much!

REBEL STUDENTS
One day to a new beginning
Raise the flag of freedom high!
Every man will be a king
Every man will be a king
There's a new world for the winning
There's a new world to be won
Do you hear the people sing?

MARIUS PONTMERCY
My place is here,
I fight with you!

JEAN VALJEAN
One day more!

MARIUS PONTMERCY & COSETTE
I did not live until today...
Tomorrow you'll be worlds away
And yet with you my world has started

ÉPONINE
One more day all on my own...

JAVERT
We will join these people's heroes
We will follow where they go
We will learn their little secrets,
We will know the things they know.

JEAN VALJEAN
One day more!

M. & Mme. THÉNARDIER
Watch 'em run amuck
Catch 'em as they fall
Never know your luck
When there's a free-for-all

JAVERT
One more day to revolution
We will nip it in the bud
We'll be ready for these schoolboys

JEAN VALJEAN
Tomorrow we'll be far away,
Tomorrow is the judgement day

ALL
Tomorrow we'll discover
What our God in Heaven has in store!
One more dawn
One more day
One day more!

Reflecting Sunday

2013-01-14T00:40:00.002+11:00

It started ok, a harmless idea. A rather perfect chance to get away from what I had guessed would normally be (and wrongly was so) an ordinary lazy Saturday. So when an invitation was put on my desk in the form of a hand-held fan a week ago, I said to myself, heck why not. Immediately I browsed for a fairly priced mean to get me there, and being early in nature, I successfully did.

Knowing everything was set, I had a relaxed approach to the week. Everything was going according to plan, all I had to do was work the week away with all the many bits of preparations for a series of events for the coming weeks. And for that, I appreciate the tireless effort of the guys in my section. You guys roll!

Anyhow, Saturday came, and all I can say is that I'm grateful. I'm well and alive to see the drizzly morning, which somehow has always been my kind of weather. I don't know how, but it probably has something to do with the story my mom always tell people concerning the circumstance of my birth into this beautiful planet earth. Yes, my mom does that sometimes, telling specific stories of how she gave birth to each of her four children.

"It was raining all night", mother would always say when it comes to my story, "...and I've been in the hospital since the afternoon." She'd been ok with the pregnancy and all, it's her second time round expecting a child so no big problem. But the weather being like that with thunder rolling occasionally frequent made it kinda restless for her to sleep the night away but it's alright. My mom is an amazing strong awesome person and I know for a fact that something tedious like a long thunderous rain outside her window won't even be enough to falter the purpose of giving birth to an equally awesome person (or so I try to be).

Mother would go on to continue her story saying that only in the early hours of morn that the heavy rain from the night before would finally begin to give in and ease out becoming a gentle drizzle. She said it's as if the weather was preparing the day for something special. And as it turned out, it was. Cause not long after that, I came to exist in this world, that drizzly Friday morning, becoming my mom's world as she would say, leaving me always breathless every time I remember her story.

...

W. S.

New Gods - On Your Side

2013-01-06T02:00:00.001+11:00

My dear friend I understand where you coming from
Sometimes I feel the same way
But in time you may find no matter where you run
You know further but the pain stays

Now you're most like a ghost when you come around
See you slipping out the back door
If you can't tell your friends then you might as well
Sometimes anger is the fastest cure

I'm on your side don't try to hide away from me
Reach out and give me your hand to hold on to
Not everything you love will fall into the sea
Whatever comes we'll walk along the road with you

In the street late at night alone and left behind
To look through other people's window
Can you hear me calling, calling out
To come inside before the wind blows

I'm on your side don't try to hide away from me
Reach out and give me your hand to hold on to
Not everything you love will fall into the sea
Whatever comes we'll walk along the road with you

I'm on your side these eyes are tired and long to see
Your face again so come my friend and help me through
Not everything you love will fall into the sea
Whatever comes we'll walk along the road with you

-----
I'm not sure the lyrics are entirely correct so I'm open for suggestions cause I've only listened to it yesterday.

Picture taken from theripevideo YouTube channel.

-----
Updated, 21 Jan 2013, after corrections by the awesome Richard Bradbeer, bassist of New Gods. Thank you man! An email from you made the day!
Safe to say the lyrics are entirely correct now ;)

Scriptwriting

2012-12-20T21:01:00.001+11:00

If this picture here was taken from a particular scene of a blockbuster movie, frozen, as the leading actor turns back, reaching out, hoping for his dear sweetheart to take his hand so he won't have to take that long journey back home alone defeated, gazing her deep as to say I need you and I can't do this without you, come with me..., in one slow continuous motion while big city lights light up the night from its otherwise cold stillness to help set the stage for this grand finale of fate; how would you write such drama into a script so that it is inspiring enough for a director to shoot a scene with at least the same dramatic intensity as the scriptwriter/author has envisioned? Scriptwriting/screenwriting is the art of doing just that, taking an original story and making it stronger visually for it to be shot into a movie/tv/whatever.

That's one of the main points I got from attending Prof. Richard Krevolin's class "Scriptwriting - Hollywood Style" at @america on Saturday. That day, which was the second part of the class, The Screenwriting Professor gave just enough reasons for me to regret missing part one the week before. He made the effort to keep the class lively with light humor, casually encouraging participation and successfully doing so that the impression made was he's pretty fly for a professor. I was even tempted to volunteer and did play an acting role on stage from one of the scripts sent in by participants last week! Not really something I would normally do, haha, but it's ok.

A movie needs movement, a catch phrase I caught the professor saying to sum up in my opinion what's needed to write a good script. It needs to visually describe where a character is at and where it is going to, from a deep-shit problem to the state where it is finally flushed away. Let's say of course after safely going through a series of beyond die hard, non stop, over the roof thrills of fights and gun shots, if you're writing an action movie. But pretty much the same with any other kind. The main idea to keep in mind is how to convey the message (of the story) without really saying it, but rather to visually show it (visual story telling).

To follow up on that main idea, what's also important is to visually tell the story in the most interesting way. You're telling a story, visually, to an audience who can be very impatient most of the time. You'll know it's not interesting when you can't really see the importance in spending an additional hour just to know where the story goes when the first half an hour of the story telling is just dull. Keep the audience interested in knowing how the story goes and how it eventually ends.

In general, there are three main acts of a story: Act one, the introduction of a problem. Act two, trying to solve the problem. Act three, the problem finally solved (or not). The order of the acts can vary depends on the artistic taste of the screenwriter or director (or even producer). You might have seen movies that actually starts with the ending scenes (the problem solved) then moves to show how it all started (problem introduction) then the suspense scenes of an adventure (trying to solve the problem). And even ones that jumps back and forth between scenes that intertwines to form a storyline. Whatever it is, the key here is to make the audience think the problem is important, and care enough for it to be solved. Ask yourself this, do you care about the story?

Finally, the professor gives these tips on how to be a good scriptwriter:
1. Glue yourself to a chair and write.
2. Share your work with people who writes and get constructive feedbacks.
3. Keep writing.
4. Watch more movies.

Oh, there's also an app you should go and check out: final draft. It'll make your scriptwriting a whole lot easier.

W. S.

"I don't know"

2012-12-14T14:22:00.001+11:00

That my readers, believe it or not -and I'm putting it here for record- is the title of my first song. Yes, I'm writing songs now, and when it's done and ready and I'm happy with it, I'll definitely share it here with you.

But in the meantime, I don't know... I just don't know.