Life is Short. Pray Hard!

Urgensi!!!

2008-11-07T01:52:00.000-08:00

Bulan ini, aku mendapat giliran berbelanja untuk komunitas. Maka Rabu kemarin, aku dan Yan pergi berbelanja ke Carrefour Cempaka Mas. Kami berangkat naik Transjakarta dan pulang dengan taksi karena belanjaan yang amat banyak. Untuk menuju ke arah Senen, taksi harus berputar dulu agak jauh. Jalanan macet sekali. Waktu itu sekitar jam setengah lima sore. Di suatu perempatan, karena jalanan yang amat macet itu, kami harus berhenti agak lama. Tempat itu ternyata merupakan tempat mangkalnya anak jalanan dan banci-banci. Tiba-tiba satu anak jalanan mendekati taksi kami dan mulai meminta uang.

“Oom, gopek Oom.”

Aku hanya diam. Aku sebenarnya ingin memberikan sedikit uang, entah seribu atau limangelem misalnya. Sempat juga terlintas untuk memberikan salah satu snack yang kami beli tadi. Tapi, itu di bagasi belakang. Sementara itu, si anak terus merengek di kaca mobil sampingku. ratus, tapi ini bukan uangku. Ini uang komunitas. Selain itu, aku takut kalau-kalau ada banci yang justru menyerbu ke taksi kami. Lagipula, siapa yang menjamin kalau uang yang kuberikan digunakan untuk makan, bukan untuk

“Oom, gopek Oom. Ah, Oom pelit. Pelit!”

Seorang banci lewat, menggoyang-goyang alat musiknya yang terbuat dari susunan tutup botol. Aku menolak memberi juga, dan banci itu hanya mengumpat,”K****l”, lalu pergi. Bagiku, menghadapi sikap-sikap seperti banci ini lebih mudah. Tak diberi lalu pergi. Tapi, anak ini, bagaimana aku harus bersikap. Dan, ia terus saja merengek di balik kaca. Aku hanya menatapnya tak berdaya. Aku tak tahu juga harus berbuat apa.

Oh, begini kejamkah hidup? Aku dibuat tak berdaya menghadapi kemiskinan dan kenyataan, tapi juga tawaran berbuat baik. Tawaran itu datang kini dan di sini. Tapi aku melewatkan kesempatan itu. Orang macam apa aku ini, membuat terlalu banyak alasan hanya untuk menghindarkan diri dari sikap menerima tawaran itu. Akankah nanti aku dianggap sebagai orang yang tidak mau memperhatikan Tuhan karena tidak memperhatikan yang terkecil di antaraku???

MAGiS 08: Pratice Makes Magis

2008-10-09T11:38:00.000-07:00

From 8th to 9th of July 2008, I got the chance to accompany the participants of MAGiS 08 Jakarta on their recollection. They are from three nationalities: Germany, Taiwan, and Indonesia. Before those days, they had had an experiment by living among the marginalized in Ciliwung and Bantar Gebang, Jakarta. Upon the experiment, they were to make a reflection, in which I was asked to accompany them. I wasn’t there when they had their live-in and I haven’t been in those places too. From their sharing of experiences, however, I could imagine the lives of those people of Ciliwung and Bantar Gebang. I believe it was a great experience for them to get the chance to live with those people, to taste their bitter life and to sense the difficulties and hardness they face. Some of the participants were really shocked to find out that there are such lives in Indonesia, something they don’t find in Germany and Taiwan. In many cases, however, this kind of shock is important to help us realize our surroundings, especially regarding the life of the poor.

For the recollection, together with Br. Mario, I gave them some points from the Gospel and some questions to help them digest their experience in the light of the Gospel so that the will of God might be found. It was really edifying to listen to their sharing and reflection. With any respect, I am impressed that they went into the depth of their experience, in spite of the fact that they are young students, with all their concerns and interests. Some of the insights they got did touch me. For example, the phrase “Practice makes magis” which is a parody of an advertising line “Practice makes perfect”. These phrases attract me for it is concise and eye-catching yet very deeply meaningful. Another example is a reflection that for one of the group, the magis circle is the place where they most easily find God. That’s a wow. Never thought so before. Indeed, God is present in the companions, friends, not just in the poor.

Their reflections revive in my mind the experience of the live-ins I had before: among the villagers in Boro, Yogyakarta, with the construction workers in Palembang, with the earthquake victims in Yogyakarta, with a fisherman family in Navotas, Manila Bay, and with the indigenous in Mindanao. I feel once more the feeling I had, and recall the tremendous experience I had.

For me, the poor teaches me to be generous and to leave everything to God. It’s true that God is the only one they have. It is in that sense that I recognize the face of God in the poor. This chance of accompanying the participants of Jakarta MAGiS 08 experiment helps me to treasure more such experiences.

This is the first time for me to give a recollection. And, I’m happy to be given chance to share what I have, as someone who had a similar experiment before. I am happy too to be together with the youths from many countries, who show a zeal and eagerness to give meaning to their lives. They are men and women searching for meaning.

The Art of Choosing

2008-08-19T09:37:00.000-07:00

A short reflection on the movie The Dark Knight

Dark Knight teaches me what the very meaning of choosing really is. Life, as a series of choices, forces us to choose one choice among many choices. Then, one choice will lead us to another choices, one of which we have to pick once again. Choosing is, in fact, not as easy as flipping a coin and then look at what comes up, like what Harvey Dent does. Rather, it is an art of defining which choice that will do greater good, and picking it.

Through the whole story, we will see scenes of choosing done by those involved in the story: James Gordon, Harvey Dent, Batman, Joker, etc. James Gordon chooses to pretend that he is dead in order to set a trap on Joker and capture him. Dent chooses to purport himself as the Batman and be captured so that the people of Gotham will be pacified. Batman, in the end of the story chooses to the Dark Knight, a hero needed by Gotham, yet always chased. Joker, as we know, chooses to be a terror for Gotham, the evildoer and enemy. One interesting scene is when the prisoners and the people of Gotham are on boats, each group in one boat. Both groups are given choices, to blow the other boat or be blown. In the end, both choose not to blow each other. They throw the trigger away.

When we choose, we’d better be fully detached. Otherwise, our choices will be bias or even corrupted. We won’t be able to make a fair and unbiased choice. This is what happens to Joker and Harvey Dent. Joker is a person having very traumatic experience. His father was cruel to him and his mother. This painful experience forms him to be a cruel, tough, and evil guy. His choice to be the Joker, enemy of Gotham, is surely affected by his painful past. Harvey has a different story. He is onced the hero of Gotham, the White Knight. He captured many bandits in only a short time. He also put himself in Batman’s place, to be captured for the sake of Gotham’s people. He has a unique habit. When offering choices, he will flip a coin. He always wins because it is a counterfeited coin that has same sides. In this case, we could say Harvey always has a clear and discerned choice. These all change, however, after the burning set by Joker that take the life of his girlfriend, Rachel Dawes. He blames Gordon and Batman, for not saving her life. He turned to be an enemy. Coincidentally, one side of his coins is burned in that accident too. He will have to gamble, then, each time he gives choices. When Dent is not detached from that painful experience, he cannot choose with clear mind. This is actually what Joker plans for Harvey: even the best man in Gotham can fall into his side once his choice is affected by pain and sorrow.

We do have two faces, as what happens to Harvey after the burning. One is the face of evil, one of virtue. We have to choose one

Be Yourself

2008-08-02T07:19:00.000-07:00

(Reflection on the movie Kungfu Panda)

God works in each of us through our personal context, along with our perfections and defects. That is what the story of Po in the movie Kungfu Panda tells me. Po’s fat body and his hobby to eat a lot, at first seemed to be defects for him, have been means for him to be a Dragon Warrior, a Kungfu expert, and to defeat the ferocious Tai Lung. Master Shifu, Po’s teacher realizes that he can’t teach Po in the he teaches his Students, The Furious Five (Tigress, Viper, Mantis, Crane, and Monkey). Shifu, therefore, teaches Po Kungfu through what interest him most: food and anything related to it. After finishing his training, the Dragon Scroll is given to him. And, a new warrior is born: Po, The Dragon Warrior. The process of becoming a Dragon Warrior itself is rather simple. The secret is that there’s no secret. You just have to believe that you are special. Let yourself to be you. This reminds me of what St. John Berchmans once said: “Do ordinary things with extraordinary zeal”. It is with that belief that Po defeats the ferocious Tai Lung, who is after the Dragon Scroll too.

At first Po doesn’t think his fat body (with his sluggish movement, of course) would be useful. It turns out, however, to be God’s grace. All people have their defects, of course, but only few are grateful for those defects or even consider them as a grace. You just have to work on them and find out by yourself. Besides, you need trust and belief. It is when Shifu put trust on Po that he begins to look up and see himself in a different way. He was convinced about his destiny as the Dragon Warrior by putting trust on Shifu as his master. Finally, Po has to believe in his own capability of being a Dragon Warrior.

Po, once wanted to be one of the Furious Four, has become greater than them. Yet, he is not someone else. He’s still the same Po, who won’t reject any offer of steamed rice bread or a bowl of noodles. Just be you.

God works on every person, in his WAY, that is Gods way and that person’s way.

(St. Ignatius of Loyola)

Siapa Yesuit?

2008-07-27T22:16:00.000-07:00

May

2008-06-19T09:01:00.000-07:00

Ten years ago, on May 19^th 1998, a tragedy happened in Jakarta. It was later known as Tragedy of May 1998. Its tenth year commemoration, which is this year, is marked by the release of a movie “May” directed by Viva West. Last Wednesday, I got the chance to watch the movie along with some friends of mine.

The movie depicts the story of an Indonesian Chinese girl struggling with her efforts to forget at first but then reconcile with her experience around the tragedy. Because of the tragedy, she has to be separated from her mother, boyfriend and her hometown, Jakarta. It has been ten years that she tries to repress all feelings and memories related to the tragedy. She is almost there to establish a new life by becoming a café singer in Malaysia. However, one by one, persons around her past life appear and remind her of the tragedy. First, appears the one who helped her after the tragedy and brought her to Malaysia. He is raising her son, whom she feels suspicious at that the boy is the result of the tragedy (raping?). Follows the appearance of Antares, his former boyfriend, whom she blamed for her experiencing the tragedy. He was late to fetch her on the day of the tragedy, for he had to make a documentary about the situation then. In other scenes, May’s mother, forced to leave her house and town and now settled in Malaysia being a waitress in a food vendor, meet again with Gandang, to whom she had sold the certificates of her house and other belongings. Later on, he pay back the house and give it back to her in the same condition as she left it. The flashback to the past begins. It becomes clearer how those fragments come together to make up the whole story.

As May comes to be involved once again with her past, she finds out some new things about the tragedy. It turned out that the boy she gave birth is actually her son with Antares. Antares himself comes to her to confess all his faults and asks her once again to live with him. It is his LOVE to her that smoothens her heart and helps her to get reconciled with her past to accept what have happened and start a new life with a new hope for the future. In the end, May’s mother and May live happily with Antares and their son in their old house.

Despite this “so sweet” ending, which I think far from the reality, this movie is so worth watching. Many won’t agree that the stories of the victims of the tragedy end as sweet and happy as this movie does for it is not that easy to deal with such a painful and sorrowful past. For some, it might be a trauma. This movie can help, however, to see the tragedy from the victim’s point of view and get more clear pictures about it. They won’t be complete, but upon watching it, we will be triggered to find out more information and data so that we get more and more comprehensive view about the tragedy.

2008-05-13T09:19:00.001-07:00

Akhirnya, setelah lama mengidam-idamkan untuk dapat pergi ke Muara Angke, hari ini hal itu kesampaian. Bersama dengan Ferdi, Okta, Lesnanto, Nardo, Adri, dan Thomas, aku pergi ke sana, bermaksud melihat kegiatan yang dilakukan di sana. Begitu menghirup udara asin dan amis Angke, aku langsung teringat Navotas. Memang tak jauh beda. Hanya saja, mungkin orang-orang di Navotas lebih miskin daripada di tempat ini. Segera kami menuju ke sebuah madrasah kecil di samping masjid, tempat diadakannya kegiatan belajar bersama. Aku diperkenalkan dengan seorang pendamping anak-anak di sana. Awalnya, kami hanya melihat-lihat, sambil bermain dan bercanda dengan anak-anak yang menunggu giliran kelas mereka. Adri yang membawa kacang membagikan kacangnya.

Ketika anak-anak kelas IV masuk, kami diajak masuk serta untuk memperkenalkan diri dan mengadakan permainan. Adri langsung beraksi. Kami bermain bersama dan bergembira. Usai permainan, aku keluar. Di luar, aku menyapa anak-anak lain yang berada di beranda masjid. Kami segera menjadi akrab dan mulai bermain. Kegembiraan bermain bersama anak-anak kecil ini mengingatkanku pada anak-anak Musmos di Cubao. I missed them. Spontanitas yang ditunjukkan anak-anak Angke ini, serta keterbukaan mereka menerima kami yang bukan apa-apa mereka, yang adalah orang asing bagi mereka, sangat menyentuhku. Memang aku tidak dapat memberikan apa-apa, karena justru mereka yang memberiku semangat dan kegembiraan.

Sent from Yahoo! Mail.
A Smarter Email.

Animal Farm: the Failure of Communism

2007-03-31T08:14:00.000-07:00

(a short impression)

Unlike The Great Gatsby, Animal Farm is really interesting reading for me. When I read it, I could not even put it down until I realized that I had finished it in two days. I was curious about what was going to happen with Napoleon, Snowball, Squealer, Boxer, and the Animal Farm itself. The writer is really a genius. He made me get stuck to the story and absorbed by it. This satirical novel is really well-written, and directly pointed into the target. The symbols used in it make me reflect and think a lot about communism and its failure.

Throughout the whole novel, I can see that Animal Farm symbolizes the USSR (Russia). And the names of the figures there also refer to real persons in history related to the Russian Revolution. This novel shows the irony of communism, which really has a great and positive purpose, which is to provide prosperity to the people. However, the idea turns bad when it results in dictatorship and authoritarianism.

The writing of Animal Farm is very fluent and beautiful. George Orwell arranges the events in the story almost as in real history. Therefore, I could follow the flow of the story well and imagine the setting. He described everything vividly, so that I could even believe in everything in the novel that seems impossible. For example, when it is said that Snowball fights Jones so bravely, the readers will easily believe it, while it is almost impossible for a pig to even think like those in the Animal Farm. The words used in the novel are rather simple and understandable, unlike what Fitzgerald used in his novel, The Great Gatsby. Still, there are some political terms that are used to emphasize the context and satirical meaning.

It is said in the introduction that the novel can be categorized as a fairy tale because of the tragedy it contains. The tragedy is that the dream of communism and equalitarianism among the animals never comes true. While reading, I became very angry with Napoleon and his ‘men’, and at the same time support the efforts of Snowball. I was hoping that Snowball would come back to power or the suffering animals would come up with a rebellion so that they can take over the power and live happily in Animal Farm, as Old Major had dreamed. However, the story ends without any explanation about the end of the Animal Farm. But, I can conclude that it ends terribly: the animals suffer under the dictatorship of Napoleon, which is eventually not different from human beings.

The idea of Communism is in fact a great and perfect idea for the best society, because it is based on the sharing of everything. There are no personal belongings. If we look back to the history of the Church, the early Church actually practiced this way of life. All the believers were together and had everything in common. Their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. (Act 1:44-45). They were happy with this way of life. I think this kind of farm (society) is what the Old Major dreams about. Everyone works, eats, shares in the same proportion. No one steals, no one corrupts, no one is jealous of each other. In Animal Farm, however, because of lust and greed in some people, this idea becomes a boomerang for them. The failure of the idea of communism is on the human factor (or in the novel, animal factor). The idea itself is flawless, but those who are trusted to carry out this idea are so selfish and lustful. After gaining some power, they want more and more. First, they want freedom from Jones, and they get it. Even in the early days after the revolution, this lust is already obvious through the loss of the milk. Then, Snowball and Napoleon began to spread their influence toward the animals to gain some more power. Napoleon grabs the ‘education’ of some young puppies so that his power is supported also by the physical strength of his personal bodyguards. It continues until eventually the pigs become undistinguished from human beings.

The saying “All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others” summarizes the story of this novel. At first, it was “All animal are equal”. At first, there is a glorious desire of a perfect and prosperous farm. Eventually, there are some animals who suffer from the hardship of work, while some enjoy the power they have by drinking, playing cards, and whipping others to work harder.

Who knows? Who cares?

2007-03-06T08:36:00.000-08:00

(a short reflection on movie Nobody Knows/Dare mo Shiranai)

The Movie, Nobody Knows, depict the life of two boys and two girls of one mother and different fathers who are abandoned by their mother and have to live by themselves. Anak depicts the life of two sisters and one brother, whose mother leaves them to work abroad as a domestic helper. Unlike the children in Nobody Knows, these children are are cared for by their uncle and aunt. Watching these movies, I was moved and almost cried, especially as I realized that this situation still happens in our world today.

The title of the movie is Nobody Knows. It suggests that few people or even no one wants to know and care about these abandoned children. In certain sense, this is true. In this selfish and individualistic world, fewer people want to care about their unfortunate fellows. They tend to think about themselves first before thinking of others.

What does it mean to be Jesuit in this era? It means to pay attention more to those who are in need. And I think, since the number of abandoned children is getting more and more, they are one of those who are most in need. In Nobody Knows, first of all, they need money to support them economically. This is their first and primary need. However, we cannot help them in this problem. We cannot give them money, no matter how big their need is. We can help them through the rich people who we can approach to ask them to help these abandoned children. Secondly, they need comfort. They are children lacking parental love. They may also have some psychological problem caused by their being abandoned by their parents. In this kind of problem, we can and must help them.

Indeed, we are called also to do service for them. If there is no one who wants to help them, then it is then it is our vocation as Jesuits to help them because they are most in need. One example of this is when Fr. Pedro Arrupe founded JRS. He saw at that time that refugees are those who are in most need. They needed an organization totake care of them, economically and psychologically. To be sharp in intuition and analysis like Fr. Arrupe is what we need as a Jesuit. We have to be able to read the signd of the time in order to see those who are in most need. Therefore, an ability to reflect on recent situation in the world is highly needed.

What I can do now as Jesuit in formation is to train my self to reflect upon my circumstances and find out who are my fellows who are most in need. I can’t do a lot in helping those abandoned children, but I can give comfort to the children in my apostolate. I can also be compassionate with some poor people who often come to this house. I might not be able to help a lot, but I can train myself to be in sympathy and compassion with them.

IHS

2007-02-25T06:18:00.000-08:00

My own picture. I made it with Corel Draw 10 and Adobe Photoshop 6.o. Not perfect yet, but I'm gonna use it for my blog template. The inspiration comes from a monogram in the door of Building D chapel of Arrupe International Residence.

The Great Gatsby

2007-02-15T14:55:00.000-08:00

When I read The Great Gatsby for the first time, I had a hard time to understand it. Therefore, I read only the first two chapters and stopped reading. I didn’t have any idea about what I had read at all. For me, it’s not interesting as well. And up to then, I wasn’t able to understand or appreciate it. But, then Fr. Bill explained the cultural background of The Great Gatsby, the symbols used by the writer, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and some initial chapters. I became more interested on it and on later reading, I was able to understand and appreciate it.

When I was getting interested in this novel, I really got the spirit to read and read this novel. Sometimes, I still find some difficulties in understanding what the writer wanted to say, but I also found that Fitzgerald is really a great writer. He used many symbols in The Great Gatsby, such as Daisy’s voice, which is described as an identification with money. He is able to express many ideas only in single short sentences. He knows how to use words effectively, yet efficiently.

The ending of the novel is not the same as I expected, for I was guessing that the novel would end happily. I’d prefer it ends like this: Daisy divorces Tom and marries Gatsby; Tom marries Myrtle; Nick marries Jordan, and they live happily ever after. But it doesn’t. Myrtle and Gatsby die, Jordan goes with another man, Tom and Daisy move out from Long Island and live their life which is artificially happy, and Nick continues his lonely life. Maybe Fitzgerald believes the American Dream or the pursuit of happiness never comes true, especially for those from the high economy class, even for him. Therefore, he makes it also never to come true for these people. What comes to them is a superficial and artificial happiness, and fun at the parties, a luxurious life and such.

The Great Gatsby reflects the culture in the United States at the time when the novel was written. Jay Gatsby represents the new rich group. He comes from the low economy class, but all of a sudden he becomes The Great Gatsby, rich and prosperous, proud and famous, and chasing Daisy, the only woman he wants. Daisy and Tom, Nick and Jordan Baker are also from the high economy class. They all together pursue the so-called American Dream, which never comes true for them. What eventually happens is that their lives are ruined by the American Dream itself. They live an empty and shallow life, so that nothing fulfills their happiness. Their prosperity, wealth and richness cannot buy happiness for them.

An error has been found on your life!

2007-02-12T19:10:00.000-08:00

Indifference, Simplicity and Perseverance

2007-02-12T18:58:00.000-08:00

(a short reflection on movie Beijing Bicycle)

"Beijing Bicycle" depicts the lives of two young men, Guei and Jian who both come from the low economic class. Guei is a simple man coming from countryside, rube and is uneducated, while Jian is an educated one, a man of modern times and up to date. But, both are poor and consider a bicycle as a precious thing to have. Therefore, when the bicycle, which both of them consider as theirs, gets lost, they try every attempt to regain it.

Indeed, the bicycle is only a means to gain the main aim. It’s like all creation in the face of the earth which is created to support us to gain the aim we are created, that is, to glorify our Creator. For Guei, the bicycle is a means to earn money for his life. So, we can say it’s his life. Without it, he can’t earn money and can’t live. For Jian, the bicycle is a symbol of his status. He needs it in order to be accepted by his friends and to approach a girl in his school, Xiao. Both use it for different aim. It’s good that Jian realizes that the bike is merely a means. He eventually gives up the girl he fancies when she goes with another man. He gives the bike to Guei who is still clinging to the bike as the most precious thing he has. He forgets that the bike is only a means to earn money. There are many other ways and means to live and to earn money. In other words, Jian is more indifferent than Guei. In some ways, I like the characteristic of Jian for his indifference to let the bicycle go and not to cling on it any more. In other ways, I like also Guei for his simplicity in life.

As I reflect on this movie, I find that I have to be like Jian in the way that he is indifferent and aware that there are many ways, not only a bicycle, to gain his aim. Indifference is important in my life as a Jesuit because it makes me detached from everything, which are only means for pursuing the end. As result, I can focus on the main purpose, and not to be distracted by the means. Like Jian is indifferent, I must be able to distinguish what means are for and what the main purpose is.

From Guei, one thinks of emulating is his simplicity. Being simple keeps him in a way that he remains protected from the culture of the city. I think it’s important for me to be simple for Jesuits are supposed to available to be sent everywhere. Hence, I must be able to adjust myself to the culture of the place where I am sent. But, not all aspects of culture are good to adopt. Usually, there are some parts that must be avoided. To avoid it and not to be drowned by the stream of the culture, I must be simple. By this, I mean I must be able to keep my own culture and try not to be uprooted from my own culture. Another thing I learn from Guei is his perseverance. He is so confident that he is sure to find his lost bicycle. And he tries his best to find it. His persistence led him to find his bike. He is really a persevering person. Day and night, he looks for his lost bike. I reflected on this and learnt that he is so eager to find his bike because he loves it and treasures it. Therefore, to persevere in something I must love and treasure it beforehand.

Finding God in All Things and Spiritualism

2007-02-08T16:16:00.000-08:00

Last night, I was listening to the radio. There was a girl telling a story about her and her boyfriend that they are in conflict. However, this girl said that God must have arranged all for her and her boyfriend. So, she would just let it go and happen as God’s will. It seems good to think of God in that kind of situation. But, is it really good to always identify everything with the will of God? Can God really be found in everything?

Finding God in all things is a good thing to do. There is, however, a danger to fall into spiritualism. So, what is the difference? When you try to identify everything you experienced with God or spiritual things, you fall into spiritualism. The Pharisees in Jesus era was one example of those who fall into it. They almost always criticized whatever Jesus and his disciples did and connected it with the Ten Commandments or The Torah. In this country, the Philippines, the chance for someone to fall into spiritualism much bigger because every day and every time, people here are nourished with spiritual things. They are so spiritual that almost all things are associated with the plan of God. The danger of it is that we may forget that we are given freedom to choose. God’s will is not always absolute. If we are so absorbed to the spiritualism, we will always think that everything is planned well by God and there is nothing to do with our will. In fact, God’s will and our freedom have 100% in the accomplishment of whatever we do and in whatever happens to us.

Now, what does it mean to find God in all things? It means to separate and distinguish human experiences with the divine one. In the divine experiences or experience of God, we will find God. That is Finding God in all things. We can’t say that all experiences we have are divine experiences. Therefore, to avoid falling into spiritualism, we should be able to distinguish human experiences and divine one.

Word Puzzle Generator

2007-02-08T16:11:00.000-08:00

Click on the image to generate your own word puzzle!

Flood

2007-02-08T16:08:00.000-08:00

Another flood engulfs Jakarta once more. This one is not the one of the yearly cycle but of the five-year cycle. Therefore, this year’s flood is much bigger than recent years’. It’s comparable to the on happened in 2002, five years ago. In the time of flood like this, all people are the same; they suffer the same hardship. At least, ten died and thousands of people are in the refugee, trapped in the flood, and not sure when they will be able to go to their homes. A question arises: Where is God in this situation? Is he watching the suffering of His creation? Or is He sleeping?

It’s really pathetic to see weak and poor people suffering. However, knowing that many people are helping each other and giving hand for the need of others gives me a distinctive happiness. Then, I found that there is God. God is in the hearts of people willing to help their unlucky fellows and neighbors, in their probity and magnanimity and in the love poured to those in suffering. There, God is present. He is the compassionate and helping God. He is NOT Sleeping. God is at hand.

Banjir

2007-02-08T16:00:00.000-08:00

Banjir melanda Jakarta lagi. Kali ini bukan yang siklus satu tahunan tapi yang lima tahunan. Akibatnya, banjir kali ini lebih besar dari tahun-tahun sebelumnya, dapat dibandingkan dengan yang terjadi pada tahun 2002, lima tahun yang lalu. Saat banjir seperti ini, semua menjadi sama, sama-sama menderita. Paling tidak sudah ada 10 yang meninggal, sedangkan ribuan orang terjebak banjir, mengungsi dan belum yakin kapan dapat kembali ke rumah mereka yang masih terendam banjir. Pertanyaan yang lalu muncul adalah di manakah Tuhan. Apakah dia hanya melihat saja penderitaan makhluk-makhluk ciptaan-Nya ini? Tidurkah Dia?

Melihat penderitaan orang-orang kecil memang menyedihkan. Namun, mengetahui bahwa ada banyak orang yang saling membantu dan mengulurkan tangan mereka untuk memberi bantuan kepada sesame mereka meski hanya semampunya sungguh membahagiakan. Dan, lalu kutemukan bahwa di sinilah Tuhan, dalam diri orang-orang yang rela membantu sesama mereka, dalam ketulusan hati dan kebesaran jiwa setiap orang berkehendak baik yang tergerak hatinya melihat sesamanya menderita dan dalam cinta kasih yang tercurah bagi mereka yang menderita. Di situlah Tuhan hadir, Tuhan yang pehuh belas kasihan dan bersolidaritas. Dia TIDAK tidur. Tuhan dekat di antara kita.

Life-giving

2007-02-04T22:08:00.000-08:00

(a short reflection on movie To Live)

The movie, To Live, depicts the life of a family in China in the 1940’s until 1960’s. At that time, the life there was very hard and this movie tries to present that kind of hardship. It shows how they struggle in order to live, how bitter it is for the parents, Fugui and Jiazhen, to witness their children’s deaths, and how happiness and sadness fill their life in turn. The movie ends when Fugui and Jiazhen, their son-in-law, Erxi, and their grandson eating together in happiness, after the father and the grandson have just finished put some young chicks into a box that used to be their puppet box.

In many cases, people die in order to give life to others, and some live because of the death of others. In this movie, it is very obvious that sometime, people have to die to give life to others. Many people died in a civil war, that Fugui and his friend, Chunseng are involved in. Those people died in order to give life to their people. Fugui and Chunseng are saved because other soldiers are killed. The death of Youqing, the son of the family, somehow also gives life to others. He always tries to defend his sister from some naughty kids. His death is considered ‘an offering’ (or sacrifice?) to Communism and Chairman Mao. Communal life suggested by the communism demands a lot of people’s lives. Fengxia, the daughter of the family, dies after she gives birth to her first son. And, in the middle of the movie, Chunseng gives him an amount of money since he knows that he is going to die.

For me, as a Christian, life-giving is not a new idea. Jesus himself is our model and example of person who gives his life for the life of all people. He gives his life so that human beings can live. He gave up his divinity and became human so that men can become divine. In my life as a Jesuit, life-giving is also not a new idea. Self-giving and life-giving, as an integral unity, can’t be separated from each other. What must we do to give ourselves and our lives? We must help and love others, and sometimes we must be ‘dead’ for others life. It means that to help others, we must be willing not to be popular or well known but merely o do for God’s sake. It’s supposed to make other people feel happy and helped. That’s one factor that keeps our life lively and meaningful. As a Jesuit, I find that by making people happy, by helping people, and by being ‘dead’ for others, I can endure my life as a Jesuit better. I can stand and enjoy my life, I am happy with it because I make others people happy. Giving life, being self giving and sharing have become my way of life and these support my life as a Jesuit.

The Glass Menagerie

2007-02-03T03:36:00.000-08:00

Glass Menagerie, a play by Tennessee Williams. It is a beautiful and meaningful play. It depicts the life of Wingfield family in Missouri. Amanda Wingfield, a widowed mother, lives with her two children, Tom and Laura. I will not tell the story of the play. Instead, I’ll tell my interpretation and reflection.

Amanda is a single parent after being left by her husband. She has to take care of her two children. She wants happiness for her family, especially for her daughter, Laura. However, she realizes that she may not be able to give happiness to her family for her joblessness and age. Therefore, she always recalls her sweet past memories when she was still young and charming, and many gentlemen callers would come and visit her. Eventually, her expectation doesn’t come true for her daughter’s gentleman caller is actually engaged to another woman. Besides, Tom leaves the family to follow his father’s step. These all fade the mother’s hope.

Tom Wingfield, a warehouse worker, is the younger children of Wingfield family. He is quite a selfish man. He wants a happiness, but mostly only for himself. Only after his mother asked him to do a favor to his sister, does he take an effort to make his sister happy seriously. He invites his work mate in the ware house to come and meet Laura. However, after her mother blames him for the fact that this man is engaged to another woman, Tom leaves the family and follows his father’s step. His habit to go to the movies is also a proof of his selfish characteristic and attempt to escape from his bitter reality. His pursuing of happiness is only for himself.

Laura is a crippled and shy woman. She has her own world, with her glass miniatures and a gramophone. Her glass menagerie also symbolizes her fragility and vulnerability. Her being cripple and her shyness are the vulnerable parts of her. symbolized by the breaking of her glass menagerie, however, all these vulnerability are broken by the coming of Jim O’Connor, Tom’s friend in the ware house and the person whom she admire in her high school for his voice. She is happy being loved and cared by Jim. She becomes normal like an ordinary woman which is symbolized by the breaking of the horn of her unicorn glass statue making it same as other horse statues. But, eventually, she becomes even more vulnerable after knowing that Jim is engaged.

As I reflect on the play, I find these three main figures symbolize human beings. Everyone has desire to be happy, just like Amanda does. Usually, however, not being abele to achieve it, people tend to look behind their past, recalling the past sweet memories and live in it. Tom represents human lust and selfishness. He wants happiness too, but mostly only for himself. We can’t deny that in everyone, there is an egoism leading to the pursuing of selfish happiness. While Laura’s characteristic symbolize defects, lacking of self confidence and imperfections everyone has. To be a happy person, one needs not only a desire or willing, but one has to also overcome one’s selfishness and defects.

Sloganizer

2007-01-31T04:16:00.000-08:00

Play Life, start living.
Heal the world with Life.
Have a break, have a Life.
Life is my passion.
Life - be ready.
Create your own slogan with sloganizer!

Contemplative in Action

2007-01-29T18:45:00.000-08:00

"Rabbi, are you meditating or sleeping?" a Rabbi was asked by one of his disciple.

"I prefer that people think I am sleeping while I am meditating, think I am working while I am sleeping and think I am meditating while I am working."

Sand in Your Hand

2007-01-29T18:34:00.000-08:00

Love is like sand in your hand. The more you try to grasp it and posses it, the more you will lose it. Squeeze and you will spill it. But, hold it loosely and it will remain there.

In love and any kind of relationship, the more you try to grasp it tightly and possesively, the more you'll lose it and spill it. So, hold it loosely with respect and freedom for the other person, and your love and relationship will remain intact.

Tombstone

2007-01-26T19:44:00.000-08:00

Wanna die? Get your own tombstone here!

Online Planetarium

2007-01-26T19:41:00.000-08:00

Click on the image to see the night sky in your screen!

David Lanham Portofolio

2007-01-26T19:38:00.000-08:00

Click on the image to view beautiful arts by David Lanham!