Pain

We all experience physical pain.

My foot and my wife's chest.

We cannot ignore pain. It screams at us.

We need to learn how to handle pain wisely.

What is the pain telling us?

Jesus also suffered the agony of pain.

"No pain, no palm;

no thorns, no throne;

no gall, no glory;

no cross, no crown."

~ William Penn (1644-1718) English Quaker & political activist

Eat and Grow Slim!

This is the latest findings!

Don't now go and rush out to indulge, it is not this type of break fast!

But this kind!

Before you get your hopes too high, a word of caution!

The research is funded by The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) funded the study, with support from General Mills, the cereal manufacturer.

A bout of gout?

For the whole of last week, my right heel/ankle gave me a sharp pain each time I walk. It was a sudden onset. I did not see a doctor and there were quite a few possible reasons. Gout was the top reason offered.

But my pain does not fit the symptoms completely as it was only painful at certain angle. Nor was there any swelling! So I doubt it was gout!

So I became like Quasimodo, hobbling about! No not quite as ugly but hobbled I did! Nor did I develop a hump back!

A reminder from God that we cannot simply rush about doing things 100% all out without adequate rest? So it was enforced slowing down for the week and now I have more or less recovered 80%. Less pain lah as I walk, and able to walk a bit faster, albeit hobbling a bit still.

Vulnerable

Sometimes we delude ourselves. People who lives in a first world infrastructure like USA often forget they are just as vulnerable as the rest of us. What is worse is that there is a false sense of security in technology. The false expectations that with everything that money can buy, any disaster can be averted or even when hit will be overcame quickly.

The rest of the world thought so too. That's why so little help is offered and whatever help initially offered was 'politely' turned down by President Bush. I think he would have laughed at the pittance of international offer to almighty USA. Little did he know the extent of devastation.

The lesson of Katrina is that we cannot take anything for granted. We are all equally vulnerable.

But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same?
Matthew 5:44-46 (English Standard Version)

Equality

Rich first world country or Poor third world country
when natural disaster strikes, there is no difference.

Disaster does not differentiate between the rich, the poor,
the white, yellow, brown or black.

Here is equality.

Hurricane, Tsunami, Eartquake, Firestorm
Modernity cannot prevent it from happening

"And what about the eighteen men who died when the Tower of Siloam fell on them? Were they the worst sinners in Jerusalem? No, and I tell you again that unless you repent, you will also perish."(New Living Translation, Luke 13: 4,5)

Independence Day

If My people, who are called by My name, shall humble themselves, pray, seek, crave, and require of necessity My face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven, forgive their sin, and heal their land.

2 Chronicles 7:14 (Amplified Bible)

Prayers for our nation.
Let Your healing begin

Fun

Fun means different thing to different people

For some its eating
ice cream, hawkers snacks, gourmet delight
or just simply eating

another is reading
books, magazines, blogs or newspapers

not forgetting chatting, online, on phone or face to face
and computer games....

yet another listening to music
whilst another playing an instrument or singing

painting or writing or photography

some have a game of football or team sports
or simply watching it
some wanna sweat for fun

getting wet on water, in water or underwater

or traveling within or out of the country

or watching a show, be it opera, movie, or TV
it can be a humorous sit com, tear jerkers soap, slap stick, drama, documentary, educational or cartoon or even news

getting together with family and friends can be great fun too

some fun can be destructive
like narcotics or excessive alcohol or irresponsible sex

so what is fun?
you choose
make it a healthy choice

Rest

One can rest by doing something different from the routine or rest by just doing nothing, like sleep!

So for the workaholics in order to rest they must do something else different, enjoyable and relaxing.

For those energetic types who simply cannot sit still

they can sit down and watch TV or sit down on a bicycle in the gym!

For those whose mind simply must work all the time, they can rest it by reading a good book!

So what is your rest?

For me its coming to Jesus!

28Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy-laden and overburdened, and I will cause you to rest. [I will [a]ease and relieve and [b]refresh [c]your souls.] Matthew 11:28 (Amplified Bible)

28"Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you'll recover your life. I'll show you how to take a real rest. (The Message)

Time

Time flies when one is having fun or under a deadline to complete a project. I wonder whether Einstein ever had pressure or such fun that time for him flew relatively! And then he discovered the relativity of time...
For me time just flew this last week. It was not fun but pressure of a deadline! So what's new?

With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.

2 Peter 3:8

Youth

30 youths into 100sf?
Thats what they did in our living room hanging out and having fun ! Ice cream galore, char kuey tiau, watan hor-fun, fried chicken, chempedak, fried rice, fried dumplings, cheese omelet, stuff they all eat, and in that order as well!
Guitars and piano were jamming it up, drumsticks was banging away on tables and chairs (cannot fit a drum set in that place lah) and some managed to play some chess and checker games with the cacophony of noise! It was fun, and for me tiring. Must be getting old!
But I would rather they hang out and have fun at home than at some places and with people we do not know! It was good to see them enjoying themselves. Ah youth, the world is your oyster!

Laughter

Proverbs 17:22

A cheerful disposition is good for your health;

gloom and doom leave you bone-tired.

(The Message)

A merry heart doeth good like a medicine:

but a broken spirit drieth the bones.

(King James)

Nothing beats a jolly good laughter.

The good Word says so! Try it.

Exercise

Strange it may sound, exercise helps me to get rid of lethargy and stress induced tiredness. Sweating it out gives me an outlet for all my pent up emotions. It allows me to breathe out, exhale the staleness and then take back in a renewed energy level. God made us in a wonderful way, and our physical well being is related to our emotional health. If we exercise regularly, there are plenty of physical and mental benefits.

Scriptures also say it is good too, as a complement to spiritual discipline. "Workouts in the gymnasium are useful, but a disciplined life in God is far more so, making you fit both today and
forever."
(emphasis mine, taken from 1 Tim 4: 8 The Message)



Go on get up from your computers and have a walk and some exercise! It is good.

Not a walk to the fridge ok?

Anger

Anger is an expression or an outlet for stress. We get angry when things get wrong or we feel it is unfair. Anger is a built in justice system which God put into each of us for good. If we think there is no need for justice, we will just let things go as it is. We would not get angry. It is good to express anger at injustice. Otherwise our silence condones it. There are benefits for anger.

But anger is destructive if vented on the wrong people. It is often that we express anger on those whom we love because we cannot get angry at our superiors or at thngs beyond our control. So aim you anger on the devil or wrong doings not on flesh and blood. For we are not at war with flesh and blood.

Causeless, excessive, or protracted anger is sinful (Mt 5:22, Col. 3:8). The Bible warns "do not let the sun go down on your anger" (Eph. 4:26), that is, do not let feelings of anger last so long as to become sinful.

In other words don't get guilty or depressive for being angry. Have a good reason for being angry. But we are also warned not to let our anger be uncontrolled.

Think about God's mercy when angry. I find it worth remembering.

Lethargy

One side effect of coming out of a high stress situation is lethargy. Imagine an object under high pressure for a long time, like a fish that lives at the bottom of the ocean is suddenly taken up to the surface. It will simply explode! So learning to de-stress slowly is important, otherwise the emotions can be explosive.

Victory or success after stressful situation has to be handled carefully. Elijah, victorious over baal became depressive. So handle stress with care and know yourself and your limitations. But most of all get to rest in God. Even the medic say so.

Stress

Stress makes people do many out of character things. Stress is not harmful unless you allow stress to dilapidate you! Stress is meant to build up response and reflex for overcoming a situation. If we can handle stress well, we can be extremely productive.

So how to handle stress well?

For me, being conscious of the ever presence of Jesus, help me to remain cool calm and collected.

Apart from that, laugh at yourself and the circumstances. Look at the difficult situation and laugh about it. Have a good guffaw even though you may seem mad! Laugh out loud, don't just snicker!

Are you stressed? Take the very scientific stress test here

Dog Tired?

Tiredness from hard work is different from tiredness from working hard!
Hard physical work takes out the physical energy and burns up the calories and builds up muscles. This is good for those who work in the office who needed exercise. It makes one ache with tiredness. It will soon go away. Working hard is different! It takes the physical, mental and emotional energy out of you. It is tiring in a different way. It makes one feel dog-tired! It will not go away unless one learn to rest.

Tiredness is good for us. It will test a person's resolve and ability. It enables a person to learn about oneself and enables a person to improve.

Hard work and working hard does not kill us. It is the inability to handle stress and a weak heart due to lack of exercise or bad diet that kills. Knowing how to de-stress and finding energy is the way to overcome demanding situations. Things we can change and manage we do. Things beyond our ability or control we just let go. Admit our limitations and find alternate solutions. Circumstances beyond our control such as natural phenomenon, we simply accept and move on.

Such was my month! Challenging and satisfying after everything is done and completed. It helps to be able to rely on a very close personal friend. Thank you Jesus! Thank you for being there for me.

What is Sin?

I read another blog which listed the seven deadly sins and freddie (whom i have never chat with before) started an interesting conversation.... i don't think the conversation has ended but this shows that we all can discuss issues in a civil manner

Living With High Oil Price

Hot Days Ahead

Following the kneejerk decision of the cabinet to raise the temperature a bit in all government offices, does this means foul moods and worse services from civil servants serving the public?

Can't the government be more visionary in implementing better energy policies that are also renewable and more environmental friendly rather than be dependent on the ever costly oil?

Hazy Daze

Jeff Ooi again came up trumps with the latest news and this time its the haze. With the authourity blacking out news, this is top public interest information material for Malaysians' heath.

But I don't think we can point the fingers at Sumatra this time looking at the latest haze map! Is the Peninsular burning?