Psalms 1

1 Blessed is the man
who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked
or stand in the way of sinners
or sit in the seat of mockers.
2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD,
and on his law he meditates day and night.

3 He is like a tree planted by streams of water,
which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither.
Whatever he does prospers.

4 Not so the wicked!
They are like chaff
that the wind blows away.

5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.

6 For the LORD watches over the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked will perish.

Money!

It’s late and I can’t sleep so I’ve decided to blog my time away…

I just came back from a trip to NY, Washington, Boston, and Montreal with Benita's family. It was definitely a lot of fun. I finally met Benita’s father which wasn’t as awkward as I thought it might be. We saw Hairspray and Les Mis in New York and ate a whole lot of seafood. But what I really keep thinking about when I look back is how “money” didn’t define my experience there.

That comment might seem kind of weird and out of leftfield but it stems from the fact that I used to go on a lot of similar trips with my own family. My family isn’t the richest nor is it the poorest but we don’t usually have much spare money to go on extravagant trips. We always, and I mean always, had lots and lots of fun. However, I think in the back of my mind I’ve always thought that being rich would make our trips that much better. No restrictions on where we could go and what we could do.

Beni’s family is pretty well off and I felt bad because they paid for everything. We spent a lot of money on expensive food, watching Broadway shows, and staying at nice hotels. But the time that I spent with them was almost exactly like going with my own family. The extra money they spent didn’t define the experience. What I remember isn’t how good the food was or even the Broadway shows. It was the struggles to walk through Time Square in pouring rain, getting lost everywhere, laughing at each other, and drinking very very salty onion soup. =p

No amount of money would have made any of my trips different; whether more or less, money did not define my experience. It should not define who I am. It’s only a luxury that is nice to have.

I have a lot to learn.

Time Magazine

I read an article in Time Magazine the other day about Albert Einstein and his concept of God and religion.

This was the quote that I felt most appealing. The "problem" he's talking about is our understanding of God.

"the problem involved is too vast for our limited minds. We are in the position of a little child entering a huge library filled with books in mnay languages. The child knows someone must have written those books. It does not know how. It does not understand the languages in which they are written. The child dimly suspects a mysterious order in the arrangement of the books but doesn't know what it is. That, it seems to me, is the attitude of even the most intellgient human being toward God. We see the universe marvelously arranged and obeying certain laws but only dimly understand these laws." - Albert Einstein

the first shall be last, and the last shall be first

What a paradox this statement is...

I went to Freedomize for the first time last night (pretty cool, really good speaker, boring music...haha). The speaker was talking about our constant desires to be the best...to be the greatest amongst our peers. I've always struggled with this - always wanting to be bigger, stronger, richer, wiser - maybe it's because of my upbringing...the pressures from family...the pressure from being brought up in a rich Chinese cultured church. The speaker talks about how our world is trapped in a constant rat race towards the top. People climbing over each other and doing everything poassible just to pump their chest a little bit and look down on others for an instant. Whats worse is that this culture is so strong that not even the church walls could hold it back. "Who will be the greatest in heaven?" the disciples asked, thinking in their heads "Is it me? Is it me?". I'm at a point in my life where at times I care more about money and worldly success than being satisfied with the person that God has created me to be. And that is pretty sad.

"I'd rather be last and happy than first and lost"
Is this a statement that describes your life?

HELLOOOooooo

So I've decided to start posting again because 1. I have too much time on my hands... and 2. I have too much time on my hands. I stole the banner above from a sermon powerpoint...haha...i love the lego people!

I feel like i don't think enough about Christianity unless I have a place to write things down so this blog will be my attempt.