One day at a time ..

One day at a time, Sweet Jesus
I'm only human, I'm just a man
help me believe in what I could be
and all that I am, show me the stairway
I have to climb, Lord for my sake
teach me to take one day at a time.

One day at a time, sweet Jesus.
That's all I'm asking from you
just give me the strength to do everyday
what I have to do.

Yesterday's gone sweet Jesus,
and tomorrow may never be mine.
Lord help me today, show me the way
One day at a time.

Do you remember when you walked among men?
well, Jesus you know if you're looking below
it is worse now than then
cheating and stealing, violence and crime,
so for my sake, teach me to take
one day at a time.

One day at a time, sweet Jesus
that's all I'm asking from you
just give me the strength to do
everyday what I have to do.

Yesterday's gone sweet Jesus
and tomorrow may never be mine
Lord help me today show me the way
one day at a time.

Note: finally.. after fighting one day at a time.. *ugh* .. the final draft is done save for a few numbers on a silly table .. gonna submit it to Dr.T in 12 minutes time.

Thank You Lord! You're the one who made it all possible...

Talk vs. Work

"I would not trouble myself to set your opinions all right
from this moment, henceforth, and for ever.
... I do not think it is worth any man's labour;

but if I could stir up a single soul,
instead of talking about the meaning even of the greatest things,
to go and do the smallest duty,

I should say that is the kind of duty for which Christ spent Himself.

If you read His life wisely you will see that His constant effort is
to turn a man's thought back to himself,
and make him do a thing,

and not talk about it. "

-- George MacDonald, Faith: the Proof of the Unseen, Sermon, June 1882

From the same sermon:

"I assert that faith is simply the greatest work that man can do. Taking it in its simplest, original development, it is the highest effort of the whole human intellect, imagination, will, in the highest direction. Never does the human nature put forth itself in such power, with such effort, with such energy as to have faith in God. I say it is the highest, and sometimes the most difficult, work that a man can do."

"What is your first thought in the morning? Is it 'God is life'? or is it 'How am I to order my day's work?' Is it 'God is very rich and I am His child and He will see to me'? or is it 'How on earth shall I get through this that lies before me?' Are you afraid? Are the cares of this world troublesome to you? (If yes) Well, you have not got on much. "

".. You have been very careful reading your Bible and going to church, and this thing and that thing that you think belongs to religion; but have you been doing the thing Christ told you?"

"God grant us all faith enough to carry on from point to point till the faith shall vanish into light, and we have never to think about faith more, nor to think about Church more, nor the Bible more, nor prayer more, but our whole being shall be a delighted consciousness of the presence of God and His Christ."

A World Away

I've been walking down this long road simply taking in the view
I've wandered down some wrong roads hit a dead end or two
Before I even take a step I've gotta learn to forget
I don't know 'bout you, what life has brought you through
But we'll keep walking on, headed home, and see what He will do

   We're a world away from where we started
   No more looking behind
   We can make it if we just hold on
   Keep the faith 'cause love's on our side

I point my heart in His direction before I even take a step
I've to learned to follow my affections, walk away from foolish pride
When I think of where we started, look to the end
See the distance is less now than when we began
And It's now I see, I need you right here with me
And we'll keep walking on, head home, if we just believe

   We're a world away from where we started
   No more looking behind
   We can make it if we just hold on
   Keep the faith 'cause love's on our side

We're a world away but we're not there yet
There's a whole lot of road up ahead
I want to ride every single mile with you

We're a world away No more yesterdays, we're a world away
The One who has made a way for you and me
Is the same One who's seen us do everything wrong
But He can make it all right

If we believe it's true
If we say what we say
And do what we do
And hold on to Him

He's gonna see us through.

-- Avalon

Comments: I'm a world away from the time I began my MSc in January 2002. I'm not there yet. I just gotta keep holding on to Him.

"but those who hope in the LORD
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint. "
-- Isaiah 40:31

May God bless you

May God bless you with discomfort
at easy answers, half truths, and superficial relationships,
so that you may live deep within your heart.

May God bless you with anger
at injustice, oppression, and exploitation of people,
so that you may work for justice, freedom and peace.

May God bless you with tears to shed
for those who suffer from pain, rejection, starvation and war,
so that you may reach out your hand to comfort them and to turn their pain into joy.

May God bless you with enough foolishness
to believe that you can make a difference in this world,
so that you can do what others claim cannot be done.

-- A Fransiscan Blessing

Comments: discomfort, anger, tears, and foolishness aren't really what one would claim as one's blessings; but they really can be blessings.

This reminds me of one of the findings in my thesis: the scheduling policy that performs worst in normal situations turns out to be one that performs best under extreme conditions. This reminds me of semiconductors too. They suck as conductors at room temperature but they become awesome conductors at high temperatures. This reminds me of idiot savants too! (seen Rain Man yet ?). These are people who suffers from autism that has extraordinary skills in certain domains in spite of cognitive deficiencies in most others. This reminds me of Asperger's syndrome and the geniuses of silicon valley, and of Winston Churchill and his lifelong struggle with depression.

I guess the world is just full of interesting designs where one's weakness in a situation is actually a source of strength in another situation.

So morale of the story: observe your weaknesses carefully. God didn't create you with them just for fun. they may just be your hidden strengths.

Overcoming

From Christianity Today.

Sue Thomas has been deaf since she was 18 months old. But that didn't stop her from living a life full of excitement and adventure. She was a figure skating state champion at age 7 and later became an accomplished pianist, even though she could only feel the vibrations of the music. She earned a political science degree in college, despite being labeled "special" as a student in public schools. Then there was this little gig she had as a special assistant for the FBI. Her fearless work as an undercover surveillance expert—aided by her extraordinary ability to read lips—has inspired a prime-time TV series — Sue Thomas: F.B.Eye.

Quotes:

"With God's help, there is absolutely nothing in my life I can't do."

"I feel that the series reinforces in a powerful way that there is a God who created us all for a very special purpose."


Comments: Reminds me of Helen Keller.

Some Keller quotes:

"I thank God for my handicaps for, through them, I have found myself, my work, and my God."

"Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved."

"Be of good cheer. Do not think of today's failures, but of the success that may come tomorrow. You have set yourselves a difficult task, but you will succeed if you persevere; and you will find a joy in overcoming obstacles."

"I seldom think about my limitations, and they never make me sad. Perhaps there is just a touch of yearning at times; but it is vague, like a breeze among flowers."

"I am only one, but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something; And because I cannot do everything I will not refuse to do the something that I can do."

"When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has opened for us."

"True happiness...is not attained through self-gratification, but through fidelity to a worthy purpose."

"Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is a daring adventure or nothing at all."

At times ...

there are moments
where everything is set
for you to rise. the stage
is prep'ed. the script
is written. the Director
has said 'ACTION!'. and
all that separates you
and paradise is just
a few steps...

steps that take
everything that's
left. steps that take
everything that's
meaningful. steps that take
everything you're not
willing to let go

at times..
there are moments
where everything is set
for you to rise. and all
that's left is
you letting go.

--;@

I Don't Wanna Go

You changed my world
When You came to me.
You drove a passion,
In my soul down deep,
Lord, to follow You in everything.

    I don't want to go somewhere
    If I know that You're not there,
    'Cause I know that me without You is a lie.
    And I don't want to walk that road,
    Be a million miles from home,
    Cause my heart needs to be where You are.
    So I don't want to go.

-- Avalon

Hello God

I called tonight -
To talk a little while...
I need a friend who'll listen
To my anxiety and my trial.

You see, I can't quite make it
Through a day just on my own...
I need your love to guide me,
So I'll never feel alone.

I want to ask you please to keep
My family safe and sound.
Come and fill their lives with confidence
For whatever fate they're bound.

Give me faith, dear God, to face
Each hour throughout the day,
And not to worry over things
I can't change in any way.

I thank you God for being home
And listening to my call,
For giving me such good advice
When I stumble and fall.

Your number, God, is the only one
That answers every time.
I never get a busy signal,
Never had to pay a dime.

So thank you, God, for listening
To my troubles and my sorrow.
Good night, God, I love You too,
And I'll call again tomorrow!

- - From the Just a Minute Little Book of Star Shine Moments

Knowledge and Wisdom

I've been reading Bertrand Russel's essay "Knowledge and Wisdom" lately, and I found several interesting points worthy of discussion.


".. the pursuit of knowledge may become harmful unless it is combined with wisdom; and wisdom in the sense of comprehensive vision is not necessarily present in specialists in the pursuit of knowledge. Comprehensiveness alone, however, is not enough to constitute wisdom. There must be, also, a certain awareness of the ends of human life."

"Perhaps one could stretch the comprehensiveness that contitutes wisdom to include not only intellect but also feeling. It is by no means uncommon to find men whose knowledge is wide but whose feelings are narrow. Such men lack what I call wisdom."


Comments: These two statements remind me of the "Education and Discipline" essay Russel also wrote. There he mentions that the purpose of education is civilization, and education in its effort to build the human civilization depends on the teaching of two things: "conception of the ends of life", and "psychological dynamics, i.e. of the laws of mental change." Russel is basically saying that a knowledgeable man is not necessarily also a wise one, unless he understands the life's various roads and ends - how his actions, thoughts, and words may influence and affect the lives of others around him, and unless he understands the laws of mental change, the psychology of people, of himself and everyone else.

So now we know what a wise person is supposed to exhibit. Three questions at hand are: can these things be taught?, if yes, to what degree?, and what are being done at present to teach them?

I don't have the answer to the first question, but I do believe wisdom must be taught at any degree, and that it should be the main focus of education. In my humble opinion, it is very unfortunate that the education sytems of which I am aware do not specifically advocate the teaching of the conception of the ends of life nor the psychological dynamics of people. Most of the information I have obtained regarding the two are obtained either from personal experience or from extra-curricular reading materials.

Some of those who believe these components can be taught, argue that their teaching lie in the realms of higher education, and not that of basic or primary education that spans from elementary school to the junior college levels. Some argue that for most countries, and especially developing countries, the return on investment for basic and primary education is higher than that of higher education. This brings us to a gravely worrying question over the influence of economics over the education system itself.

There is no denying that privately owned educational institutions are responsible to their financers for the use of the funds invested in the institution. However, it is of great concern if these institutions are more profit oriented than education oriented; they would be in the business of investing mostly in basic and primary level type of educations that delivers more specialized knowledge, because these reap more profits, than in the business of instilling the teachings required to develop mature and wise people that would contribute to civilization.

Others argue that the teaching of the two components lie in the realms of family and social education, that is such information are what part and parcel of what parents teach their children, of what elders teach their youngs, or the least these are information that one naturally obtains from one's social circles. In my humble opinion, leaving the future of civilization to the hands of familes and peers of every eager youth is not only somewhat nondeterministic, it's also not very reassuring. I feel if educational systems can provide the guidance required, then they should provide them.

Now that we have addressed what and why, the next logical question is how?

Unfortunately, that is another that I cannot answer at present.

--

"It (wisdom) is needed in the choice of ends to be pursued and in emancipation from personal prejudice. Even an end which it would be noble to pursue if it were attainable may be pursued unwisely if it is inherently impossible of achievement. .. the essence of wisdom is emancipation .. from the tyranny of the here and now... It is this approach towards impartiality that constitutes growth in wisdom."

"Hatred of evil is itself a kind of bondage to evil. The way out is through understanding, not through hate. I am not advocating non-resistance. But I am saying that resistance, if it is to be effective in preventing the spread of evil, should be combined with the greatest degree of understanding and the smallest degree of force that is compatible with the survival of the good things that we wish to preserve."


Comments: In other words, Russel is saying that wisdom increases as we think more about, and therefore understand, others, and be impartial in our opinion of our surroundings. Again, the key to this is the two components mentioned earlier: the understanding of the ends of life and psychological dynamics of people around us.

He also added that in being impartial, we must not hate. This reminds me a lot of the Christian teaching of turning the other cheek, i.e. "But I tell you, Do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also." (Matthew 5:39). Though Russel is an agnostic, there's no denying the influence Christianity has on his views.

--

" .. I think that this teaching should have a larger intellectual element than has been customary in what has been thought of as moral instruction. I think that the disastrous results of hatred and narrow-mindedness to those who feel them can be pointed out incidentally in the course of giving knowledge."

"With every increase of knowledge and skill, wisdom becomes more necessary, for every such increase augments our capacity of realizing our purposes, and therefore augments our capacity for evil, if our purposes are unwise. The world needs wisdom as it has never needed it before; and if knowledge continues to increase, the world will need wisdom in the future even more than it does now."

Comments:

How true. With the Internet and global mass media, information has never been so freely available and accessible. Unfortunately, with the mass increase of availablity, also comes the increase of difficulty in ascertaining quality.

It is of even greater misfortune that not all information providers are driven by noteworthy motives. Considering the vested interests of information providers, whether it is economics, political, or even personal, it is very reasonable to assume that most information available to us everyday have a certain degree of falsehood even from the moment it is conceived.

From an education standpoint, this is alarming since this implies that it is a whole lot easier for young minds to be manipulated into believing these false truths; With the bombardment of multitudes of false information and the absence of foundations of the teachings of wisdom, it is very likely that young and inexperienced minds would cave in. Seen from this pespective, the role of education and its efforts to teach wisdom has never been greater.