tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-51507362024-03-07T15:22:04.799+08:00Dominus Illuminatio MeaUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger127125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5150736.post-75565745472134231612011-01-01T23:14:00.000+08:002011-04-01T23:15:58.772+08:00Another year is dawningAnother year is dawning;Dear Father, let it beIn working or in waiting,Another year with Thee;Another year of progress,Another year of praise,Another year of provingThy presence all the days.Another year of mercies,Of faithfulness and grace,Another year of gladnessIn the shining of Thy face;Another year of leaningUpon Thy loving breast;Another year of trusting,Of quiet, happy rest.Another year ofUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5150736.post-53531594080651989262010-12-25T23:37:00.000+08:002011-01-04T23:38:47.067+08:00Mary's Songby Luci ShawBlue homespun and the bend of my breastkeep warm this small hot naked starfallen to my arms. (Rest ...you who have had so farto come.) Now nearness satisfiesthe body of God sweetly. Quiet he lieswhose vigour hurleda universe. He sleepswhose eyelids have not closed before.His breath (so slight it seemsno breath at all) once ruffled the dark deepsto sprout a world.Charmed by dove's Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5150736.post-77550877407408313572010-09-08T00:32:00.005+08:002012-10-07T22:49:33.697+08:00Bono and Jesus (Love Rescue Me)
Love rescue me
Come forth and speak to me
Raise me up and don't let me fall
No man is my enemy
My own hands imprison me
Love rescue me
Many strangers have I met
On the road to my regret
Many lost who seek to find themselves in me
They ask me to reveal
The very thoughts they would conceal
Love rescue me
And the sun in the sky
Makes a shadow of you and I
Stretching out as the sun sinks inUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5150736.post-14948185666149488612010-08-25T00:19:00.002+08:002012-10-07T22:53:19.974+08:00What is the Bible basically about?Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5150736.post-42201531098160932562010-08-06T00:56:00.013+08:002012-10-07T22:58:45.824+08:00The life that I have
The life that I have
Is all that I have
And the life that I have
Is yours
The love that I have
Of the life that I have
Is yours and yours and yours.
A sleep I shall have
A rest I shall have
Yet death will be but a pause
For the peace of my years
In the long green grass
Will be yours and yours and yours.
by Leo Marks
This poem started out life as part the Allied resistance in WWII, but has Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5150736.post-8599939827953474372010-08-01T00:14:00.017+08:002010-08-15T00:14:48.352+08:00Lost in translationAt the 5:30 mark -CNN host: Jay, you're a wealthy, single guy yet you still live at home with your mum. How come? Doesn't the bachelor life appeal to you? Having your own space?Jay Chou: I don't think I'll move out. My parents divorced when I was a kid, and I've made up my mind that even if I get married someday, I'll still live with my mum so that I can take care of her and keep her company. Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5150736.post-68756236578305332872010-07-29T23:52:00.002+08:002010-07-30T13:37:08.034+08:00A beautiful sadnessListening to Jay Chou, I can't help but wonder why so much of Chinese pop music consists of sentimental ballads about heartbreak, loss and regret. The compact beauty of the Chinese language, in which great depth of emotion is expressed in but a few words, seems to be uniquely suited for such lyrical lament. The end theme from the movie Curse of the Golden Flower, is a wonderful case in point. A Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5150736.post-34576352921351392652010-04-04T23:14:00.005+08:002010-04-04T23:32:09.230+08:00If Christ rose notIf it be all for nought, for nothingnessAt last, why does God make the world so fair?Why spill this golden splendour out acrossThe western hills, and light the silver landOf eve? Why give me eyes to see, and soulTo love so strong and deep? Then with a pangThis brightness stabs me through, and makes withinRebellious voice to cry against all death?Why set this hunger for eternityTo gnaw my heart Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5150736.post-35003480000408193482009-11-08T23:12:00.002+08:002010-03-08T23:43:32.418+08:00Leaf PeepingLeaf peeping is the art of being at the right place at the right time. To be there just as the perfect combination of sunny days and cool nights turns the leaves into the brightest shades crimson, orange and gold.It was a perfect day. The autumnal air was crisp and fresh. The sky was a deep, cloudless blue. The sun set the leaves ablaze.The sweetest thing in all my life has been the longing ...toUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5150736.post-17009509318805472932009-09-07T00:13:00.015+08:002010-07-30T02:48:35.311+08:00Lost and FoundWhen Billy is asked at The Royal Ballet School auditions how he feels when he dances, he says:I can't really explain it,I haven't got the wordsIt's a feeling that you can't controlI suppose it's like forgetting, losing who you areAnd at the same time something makes you whole...in self-giving, if anywhere, we touch a rhythm of all creation and of all being. For the Eternal Word gives Himself in Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5150736.post-10359466025542731092009-06-14T23:45:00.004+08:002010-07-30T02:48:44.912+08:00Ladysmith Black Mambazo - Amazing GraceThey sang mostly in their native Zulu language, and they danced the dances of their people. Their harmonies were so tight, you could not differentiate individual voices - it was as if only one person was singing, in a tone so rich and so pure that the concert hall was filled with perfect melody. They sang about hope amidst suffering, the beauty of their homeland, their people's struggle for Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5150736.post-44989174903224215642009-06-13T23:50:00.015+08:002009-06-21T14:36:57.157+08:00Drag Me to Hell?Though not a fan of horror movies (I avoid them almost entirely - the last horror movie I saw was the The Sixth Sense and I must confess that it scared me quite a bit), I was persuaded to go to a screening of Drag Me to Hell with the assurance that the movie had received rave reviews.The movie was full of well-executed thrills and scares, topped off with wacky humour and numerous "gross-out" Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5150736.post-5576223948221789042009-06-05T22:16:00.002+08:002009-06-21T01:34:23.152+08:00How Tim Keller Found ManhattanGreat article about the wonderful story of Tim Keller, Redeemer Presbyterian Church and New York City. It's not hard to see why Dr Keller and Redeemer's ministry has grown so quickly and touched so many, myself included.The Kellers stick to a few rules. They never talk about politics. Tim always preaches with a non-Christian audience in mind, not merely avoiding offense, but exploring the text toUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5150736.post-72831557637903050292009-06-04T23:43:00.007+08:002010-07-30T03:02:29.113+08:00The Ultimate Boyband SongUndoubtedly the gold standard by which all boyband songs are measured, and the template according to which all such songs are written. Performed by Oxford's very own "boyband", the all-male a cappella group, Out of the Blue.Declaration of my feelings for youElaboration of those feelingsDescription of how long those feelings have existedBelief that no one else could feel the same as IReminiscence Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5150736.post-51250694666650944852009-05-29T23:55:00.008+08:002010-07-30T03:04:25.246+08:00Of fragrant harbours and homesicknessI recently went to Hong Kong for a short break and was taken on a whirlwind tour of the city (courtesy of some wonderfully hospitable friends). I have not been to Hong Kong since I was a child, so in a way, I was discovering the city for the first time. My local friends assure me that plenty has changed since I last visited and from what I can remember from my previous visits, they are entirely Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5150736.post-12114618985243272602009-05-28T22:44:00.001+08:002010-03-07T23:23:41.876+08:00Hong KongUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5150736.post-23913217762541732322009-04-10T23:03:00.008+08:002010-07-30T03:06:46.245+08:00Good Friday: This Is Love
This is love
Hanging on a tree
For all the world to see
Holy sacrifice
This is love
Dying in my place
Bearing my disgrace
Giving me new life
This is love, perfect love
Like I have never known
Father God, in your righteousness
To think You would claim me as Your own
This is love
This is love
Reaching for me first
When I was at my worst
On a lonely road
This is love
My sin as black as night
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5150736.post-92140457890758242082009-03-29T21:59:00.016+08:002009-04-11T23:36:52.448+08:00The Winter's TaleThe Winter's Tale is said to be one of Shakespeare's final plays. Perhaps that might explain why it defies categorisation – it is most accurately described as a "tragi-comedy". One could very well imagine a playwright at the height of his powers doing what he does best, writing both high comedy and high tragedy into the very same play. It is a tale of two kingdoms – Sicily and Bohemia – and it isUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5150736.post-48101795793543543092009-03-20T00:00:00.004+08:002009-04-11T22:51:27.346+08:00CheatersWe were talking about how keen we both were to watch The Bridge Project's The Winter's Tale.- Do you like Shakespeare?- I like Ethan Hawke.- But he's an adulterer! He cheated on Uma Thurman and their two kids!- You don't know what happened, what it was like to be in his shoes. Maybe he had his reasons. You can't judge.I mumbled something about penance and repentance, but this kept stewing in my Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5150736.post-49493226793144235012009-03-08T22:49:00.011+08:002012-10-07T23:01:55.604+08:00When I look at the stars
According to the New York Times, there are two projects underway to allow New Yorkers to get a good look at the night sky. With the current levels of light pollution, most people never have the chance to see the night sky in its full glory.
Indeed, a study published in 2001 in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society in London calculated that more than two-thirds of people in the Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5150736.post-65692101111477568732009-03-06T23:20:00.008+08:002009-03-25T22:40:04.055+08:00He's just not that into youThe movie was passably pleasant but what really surprised me was that it was actually based on a book which had earlier been published in 2004. Both writers had been involved with Sex and the City, one as a writer and the other as a consultant. I actually remember this line from the series. In one of the episodes, go-getter career woman Miranda has a relational revelation one fine day, when she Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5150736.post-33100595442492888942009-02-15T00:02:00.009+08:002009-03-25T00:16:12.159+08:00The Curious Case of Benjamin ButtonMuch of the film's romantic and philosophical posture hinges on Benjamin and Daisy getting together at the right time, and they do so in an entirely satisfying way; by the time of consummation, with Brad Pitt now in full physical glory and Blanchett at her womanly peak, they - and the audience - are more than ready for it. But their passion is all the more pointedly ephemeral due to the Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5150736.post-51861162724412485262009-01-02T23:48:00.008+08:002009-01-15T22:59:45.442+08:00The PunchlineI heard a really good wedding speech today. Of all the groom speeches that I've heard so far (and I've heard quite a few), this was the first one that started with a personal admission of weakness. The speech went something like this."I can't love you as much as you deserve to be loved," he said to his bride.Cue a collective "Awww..." from the guests."Hang on," said the groom, "this is not the Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5150736.post-75396645977382403532009-01-01T22:27:00.008+08:002010-07-30T02:51:17.720+08:00This much I know is true2009. Exactly a year ago, who would've thought that 2008 would've turned out the way that it did? Who knows what 2009 will bring? Fireworks light up a hundred skies as people usher in the new year with hope and no small amount of trepidation. It can't get any worse than this, can it? There can't be any more catastrophic global upheavals on the way, right? Do we know anything for sure, anymore?TheUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5150736.post-12199211080451958562008-12-25T23:10:00.015+08:002012-10-07T23:04:06.650+08:00He came with Love
First Coming
by Madeleine L'Engle
He did not wait till the world was ready,
till men and nations were at peace.
He came when the Heavens were unsteady,
and prisoners cried out for release.
He did not wait for the perfect time.
He came when the need was deep and great.
He dined with sinners in all their grime,
turned water into wine. He did not wait
till hearts were pure. In joy he came
to a Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0