…… skipped a few cartoons here ……

View the rest of the cartoons here.

When our church culture becomes increasingly consumeristic, it is inevitable that everything that involves money (e.g. hiring a new staff, charging for a summer camp, fundraising for the third world…) feels like asking people to buy an iPhone app. The reason why people exhibit extreme stinginess and frugality is because of the low perceived value they attach to these things or judge what they can get out of it (i.e. always asking the question “Am I getting the worth of what I’m paying for?”)

Such consumerism will only lead to a cancerous death.

Rather, we should strive to cultivate in our churches extreme generosity — not only towards internal needs, but also and especially external needs in missions and aid. As Archbishop of Caterbury William Temple said: “The Church is the only society that exists for the benefit of those who are not its members.”

We can be and ought to be generous, because our Father in heaven is abundantly generous in the first place (Matt. 7:11).

“We are all the best person we know and, in general, tend to think we’re pretty unbiased as well. Illusory superiority can help us keep a healthy, optimistic attitude, but it can also prevent us from doing something great.

Recently Derek Sivers, founder and former president of CDBaby, posted about the benefits of assuming you’re below average. The suggestion is this: if you don’t assume you’re all that great you’ll be much more open to learning new things, asking more questions, and approaching situations with the sort of humility that leads to considering a good idea you may have otherwise thought to be stupid.”

Get Smarter by Realizing You’re Not That Great – Lifehacker

“Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.” (Phil. 2:3)

“Love is exhausting. It’s work to really love. Have you ever felt like, ‘I don’t have any more love to give’? Most people don’t understand that their physical condition has a strong impact on their relationships and their ability to love.”

“What happens to your relationships when you’re run down? Little issues become big problems when you’re tired. You’re more cranky, defensive, and critical when you’re physically low.”

Daily Hope (Aug 1, 2010): Keep loving others by maintaining physical health by Rick Warren

Related posts:

1. Faith Works, Love Labors, Hope Endures

“Fools have no interest in understanding;
    they only want to air their own opinions.”

– Proverbs 18:2, NLT

雖然以往在波士頓的 St. Paul’s Cathedral 和三藩市的 Grace Cathedral 都見過明陣 (Labyrinth)，但這次算是第一次行和親身體驗個中的感受。

有關明陣的介紹，這裡不會詳盡說明。請看這裡的簡介。

道風山基督教叢林：明陣

1. 本人發覺行得越近中心時，路徑會變得越短和越有壓逼感。若有其他人一起共用明陣時，會很容易行得很近，亦可能會有身體上的接觸。我也不其然地感到非常不自在，很想離開。感到最舒服的，反而是行在最外圍的路徑的時候。我體會到，若中心點代表三位一體上帝的親密團契，聖徒越親近上帝時也必然會越親近其他人。而這個經歷更使我領會到原來我是有點怕 intimacy 的。
2. 行了三份一，我站在樹旁停下來。乘涼之際，觀察一下別人的進程。不知為何，停下來便不想再起步。站在樹蔭下比繼續前往中心點的渴求更大。這有點像我讀神學的心路歷程，不少次跪下來想放棄也不想再上路。但這次的分別，是我不再只是抽象地在腦裡打轉，與那孤單無力感糾纏，而是很具體地用雙眼看見別人的同行 (co-pilgrimage)。有些人跟我一樣停了下來默想、有些人繼續行、有些行得快點、有些行得慢點。觀察了片刻，心裡頓然感到安慰，知道人人都像我一樣，是個 pilgrim。有停滯不前的，也有積極前進的。我頑固的心，被這個場面軟化了。心裡跟自己說一句：「不如繼續上路吧」，雙腳便開始行了。這經歷告訴我，原來一個有血有肉、能夠看得見、在信徒 proximity 內的群體，是何等的重要呢！Spiritual pilgrimage 重要，physical pilgrimage 也一樣重要。
3. 我一直對明陣這玩兒都有保留的地方，可能因為我曾在兩個極其 liberal 的聖公會處見到，再加上它的來源不明，不知會否有些 pagan 的影子。不過，我都抱著一個開放的態度去認識、學習和嘗試，要親身經歷了才敢下結論。我得出來的結論是，明陣的確是一個非常好的靈修默想工具。它所涉及的層面，包括時間 (temporal)、空間 (spatial)、以及全人的身心靈。未行之前也不能估計到行完之後有那麼深刻的感受。若有機會，我也想在我後花園弄個小明陣玩呢！

呢集《睇理點睇》講到原來煮好一碗公仔麵，都可以幫助人守安息。

清楚自己所長，專注做好一樣東西，是可以帶來生活所需的平衡和安息的空間。

但我天生性格好奇，乜都識啲，周身刀，卻冇把利，點算？

「徹徹底底的跌低，然後─徹徹底底的的爬起來。迫令自己走到非常無力這一步，其實只能責怪自己。『往往對成敗 得失的過分重視』，『對所謂完美的執著』，『永遠對自己的嚴苛和千挑萬剔』，『過分看重別人對自己的看法』，『過分努力成為別人眼中卓越的自己』，都一步 步危險地把我推擠到『徹底失去自己』。更哀傷的是，我已嚴重失去快樂的本質。」

「……我擁有其他人沒有的東西，心靈卻很空虛，生命中有一處黑色，很空蕩，當很多負面思想湧現，慾望卻大到幾多都覺得未夠，我對生命不切實際的追求，長期希望的優秀卓越，令到自己的壓力很大、很辛苦，這是極之錯的價值觀，認為只有錢可以給予安全感，愈無自信就要靠這些東西去包裝，不停希望得到萬千寵愛。上帝將那處黑暗填補，從那時才看到自己的渺小，令我學懂了謙卑，懂得看世界看別人，人與人之間相處變得容易，拉近了距離（那種無力及恐懼，是來自寂寞嗎？）不是寂寞，而是絕望，寂寞很容易解決，但絕望很黑暗，我每天起來都像有道牆在眼前，無論怎樣都打不破，這樣維持了一段長時間，拍完《長恨歌》後，我絕望到交自己給上帝，miracle就發生。這個經歷很好，因為上帝衡量過每個人，知道我承受得到，（你是鄭秀文，什麼都擁有過，賺的錢足以令你沒有生活負擔，才可以這樣豁達。）每個人的case不同，我也認識很多壯健而無權無勢的人，他們活得自在，不會為不夠別人優秀而自卑，聽到很感動，因為他們不是活在別人的目光中，而是活在神的眼裏，好美麗。」

Sammi 感謝這場憂鬱，覺得絕對「值得」，對於苦難有新的體會，經歷令她有個美好的重生。

賠償片商200萬 鄭秀文自揭抑鬱症經歷 － 明周第2146期封面故事

患上抑鬱症期間，鄭秀文關閉自己在家中三年多，與世隔絕，不願說話，也不願與人接觸。但當她獨自面對那「無人能觸及的荒漠」時，卻畫上近百幅 (本人認為) 很有深度的畫。

也許，creativity 跟 suffering 真的是有關連的。

若然人生跌進了憂鬱的低谷，也是值得的，因為那正是上帝拆毀重建的開始。

誰能漫天風雪學抬頭　面向最崎嶇山丘
沿路鼻酸可否伸手牽你手
如若學謙卑再學回頭　是你說我可得救
可我相信未必可白頭

前路直通天國別回頭　越過最崎嶇山丘
這天願將身心交託於你手
誰曾在伊甸裡面迷途　在這天十指緊扣
心意歸向你　服從愛你　就有歸家的福氣
等到審判那珍貴日期

望著別人在嘆氣　聽到天使頌讚美

True humility is to be able to look deeply into one’s own soul, be aware of one’s hidden and apparent sins, be honest about it, be willing to confess and apologize to others, and know when it’s time to say “stop” and retreat. Moreover, he blessed his church that God may make it better than ever during his leave, fully trusting that God is the one who sustains the church, not him. Now that’s true humility.

Related posts:

1. Conan exits with humility, grace, and truth

I think the problem lies in that we only believe in “justification by grace through faith alone”, but when it comes to sanctification, it easily falls back to works, using our will power, determination, and striving efforts. I suspect there is something wrong with our view of sanctification, feeling so remote from the grace that initiates our faith. And then I found this article written by a Lutheran theologian on “Sanctification by grace alone”.

“Lutherans recognize that Christians as sinners are never immune to the Law’s moral demands and its threats against sin, but in the strictest sense these warnings do not belong to Christian sanctification, the life believers live in Christ and in which Christ lives in them. In Roman Catholic and some Protestant systems, the Gospel brings the good news of salvation in Jesus Christ, but is replaced by the Law which sets down directives for Christian life and warns and threatens the Christian as Christian. Law, and not the Gospel, becomes God’s last and real word for the believer. So Christianity deteriorates into an implicit and eventually coarse legalism and abject moralism.”

Sanctification: By Grace Alone
By Rev. Dr. David P. Scaer
Professor of Systematic Theology at Concordia Theological Seminary

We are not only “justified by grace through faith alone”, but we are also “sanctified by grace through faith alone“. Both processes are the work of the Triune God in us, as it is said in Hebrews 12:1-2: “And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.” God grants us faith and perfects our faith. The “Holy” Spirit is the one who “sanctifies” us. Let us never think for a moment that it is up to us to walk the remainder of the Christian path after we are saved. God’s grace sustains us from the beginning till the end.

Related posts:

1. Grace and Service
2. Conan exits with humility, grace, and truth
3. What Jesus Demands From The World

Although there were times when I wanted to give up, there is always this gentle affirmation from God that kept me going forward. I always keep worrying about my abilities, my weaknesses, and my worthiness, but God keeps telling me: “It’s not about you, it’s about Me. Just come follow Me.” I hope I can live up to this calling that when I get ordained, following Him daily into servanthood.

“If you look at nature and the way things grow, they grow in silence. You look at the trees and the flowers, and even at human beings, they grow in silence. A vocation is very similar. A relationship with God is very similar. And it grows in silence, in an environment where one’s inner ears are opened to hear God who only speaks in silence.” (@5:22)