I have been crucified with Christ and yet I am alive; Yet it is no longer I, but Christ living in me. – Gal 2:20 I have always prayed to have a great capacity to love. But I never realized that a great capacity to love also means a great capacity to suffer. For loving others is a painful business! From as early as I can remember, I’ve always seemed to have a passion to reach out and try helping others I […]
No one can hurt you if you are determined to do what is right; and blessed are you if you have to suffer for being upright. Have no dread of them; have no fear. Simply proclaim the Lord Christ holy in your hearts, and always have your answer ready for people who ask you the reason for the hope that you have. – 1 Peter 3: 13-15 It is difficult to understand how actions and words from a clear conscience and caring […]
Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are the meek: for they shall posses the land. Blessed are they who mourn: for they shall be comforted. Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after justice: for they shall have their fill. Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy. Blessed are the clean of heart: for they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God. Blessed […]
I never expected the day to come when I could sit face to face with my entire family and talk to them about such personal anxieties so comfortably. The entire family. Not just one member, or two members, or three. Seriously, when it comes to family, the whole is so much more than the sum of its parts. There’s a synergy there, a hopeful and healing power, when all of us come together in prayer and faith… and love. :) This family […]
More of Thomas Merton’s words went straight into my heart. In a few short paragraphs (quoted below), he describes the ever-repeating story of my life – worshiping my false self via creatures. Indeed, when I reflect upon it, I have so many egocentric compulsions. Fantasies about being proven right, of being praised and appreciated, of being needed and wanted, of being cherished and missed… And even though I consciously try to act contrary to such self-serving fantasies, they remain. Unheeded perhaps, but […]
For the first time in my life, I was able to share something deep and personal with you. So many firsts this year, Daddy. Please keep opening your heart to God, to me, to us! I could never begin to tell you how much difference your love makes in my life. I’ve missed you very much, for so very long. I hope we can keep going on this journey together!
I’m continually surprised at the timeliness of the things I pick up to read. It has happened several times with Nouwen. Now, it is Thomas Merton. The following is an excerpt from a chapter of New Seeds of Contemplation. The chapter I got it from is titled Things in Their Identity. ************** Our vocation is not simply to be, but to work together with God in the creation of our own life, our own identity, our own destiny. We are free beings […]
Hi. My name is Ann Yeong. I’m 28 years old. And… I don’t know what the heck I’m doing. :) Ok, so that was a bit of an exaggeration. But it’s so darned true that I don’t have it all together. And it seems that most of the time I’m so busy denying that I don’t have it all together that even when I’m explicitly trying to figure things out, I still get surprised by how much I’ve repressed. For quite a […]
Well, no wonder I can’t make sense of much of the academic articles out there! :P
Now that was an ingenious parody of the famous soliloquy from Hamlet. If you’re not familiar with the original, look no further! The original soliloquy from Shakespeare’s Hamlet: To be, or not to be–that is the question: Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune Or to take arms against a sea of troubles And by opposing end them. To die, to sleep– No more–and by a sleep to say we end The heartache, and […]
