- 1 -
Happy Easter!! =)
The Easter Vigil that I attended lasted for 5 hours. In this church, the people were immersed in the water for the baptism. The most interesting thing is to see the young kids looked so excited (to be baptized and to get wet) =P Also, it's so nice to see that there were some families that were baptized together.
- 2 -
I want to change the content of this blog a bit to be more into reflections, or mini-essays. The thing is I would love to go back to writing my diary so I need to consciously stop writing some things that are too personal here in this blog. I noticed that sometimes there are things that I would not like to post on facebook because it may be too negative, yet I posted them in this blog because I thought, there were fewer people who read my blog, but I still want people to read my mind about this topic. However, I think it's not wise to do so as sometimes it can be quite impulsive. I personally don't like when people complain on facebook or twitter too often, so I won't do it on my blog too (I hope!!)
- 3 -
During the retreat, I found this interesting book:
I just started reading a few pages of that book. Actually the same content has been mentioned a bit here and there, for example, in St. Francis de Sales "Introduction to Devout Life", yet I think this book is very useful for me because the whole book is just about this topic, so I can just find what I need immediately at any moment.
- 4 -
Last Monday I went down to a senior activity centre to facilitate a focus group among elderly. I suddenly have this thought, "Have you ever imagined yourself as an elderly?" "What kind of elderly will you be?" I mean, we are healthy now, we can walk here and there, call our friends and meet up in a shopping mall. However, there will be a point when perhaps, our legs are not that strong. Perhaps, some of our friends pass away already. Or perhaps, we are the ones who are sick and need to be taken care of.
I guess it's a good reminder for me. Even though people talk so much about active aging, I guess it's good to remind myself that my self-esteem shouldn't depend on what I do or what I can or cannot do. It's also a good reminder for myself, that next time, even though I may not be able to run around anymore, I can sanctify my sickness and my pain.
- 5 -
I also happened to get to know a friend of a friend who has a degeneration disease, the one that is portrayed in the Japanese drama "1 litre of tears". It was the first time for me meeting this friend, and initially I thought he had walking difficulties. When we all had dinner, I noticed the carabiner hang on his water bottle. It was a real carabiner that people use to climb. So I said, wowww how come you use real carabiner? Then he said, he used to go climbing, before he got the disease.
So I changed the topic after that.
I am not close to this friend, but one thing I wish I could be is, to just be a normal friend for him, just like my friends treat him with affection, with care, and not with a pity. I guess it is very important to pray and be there for our friends, because we need to admit that it's tough to accept an incurable illness. We may not be able to understand their feeling, yet we believe that God allows things to happen for a reason. And we need to help our friend to embrace this cross.
- 6 -
After doing more research on the topic of modesty, I realize I'm more freaked out when I walk at Orchard Road or in NUS campus. The popular type of shorts out there is really 'scary'. And I really can't understand why people wear cloth that reveals undergarment. I mean, there is a reason why undergarment called 'under-garment' right?
The most scary part is...it is deemed normal to wear these clothes.
Perhaps I should do a simple research. Pick all 'normal' clothes, do a survey among young adults and teenagers and ask them if they would love their daughters to wear those clothes. (not only 'do not mind', but to agree with enthusiasm)
- 7 -
In today's scrapbooking session, one of the girls wrote "I love my siblings".
I think this is very touching =) Even though when we asked, "What are the things that you think difficult to do?", they would answer "Being patient with the irritating siblings", these girls do love their siblings. Hahaha.
More quick takes at Jen's blog!!
