ear…
'And He said unto them, Come ye yourselves apart into a desert place, and rest a while….'
Mark 6:31
In about a week's time, I am off for a few days from work, but thankfully not from the better half, and while it is a break from the kids, not too sure if one can count the Pearl of the Orient, or maybe more aptly translated from its Cantonese intonation, " the Fragrant Harbour" to be a restful place.
Seems like lately, Hong Kong has become a regular March pilgrimage for me and the wife, the past 3 years. The desert is in the mind, for while HK is great for desserts, one is never far from the madding crowd. I love HK, the dynamism, the food, the antiques, but I love my wife even more and she loves the nice shops in Central, especially when the discounts fall faster than the rate of writeoffs in the subprime markets.
'The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures, He leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul, He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake…'
Psalm 23:1-3
The waters hugging the edge of the Esplanade in Singapore used to behave more like a real inlet from the sea in the past. Some of us of older vintage will remember there were real waves albeit not of the 6-storey category( but who knows, maybe it might be in the future). But it was definitely better than the present limpid to almost still waters, I am less familiar with Victoria Harbour in HK, but I do remember taking the Star Ferry twenty years back and a few more times since then, and there was a little bit more body of water to cross than now. Reclamation might not have eradicated the fragrance or more like pungency of this depository of men's profligate ways, but it sure make the sea crossing less interesting.
'Be still, and know that I am God.'
Psalm 46:10
The quiet times we spend with God in solitude and prayer, will strengthen and restore our souls. And help us sense His care(Daily Bread Feb 27th, 2009 Friday). Indeed, in the midst of our once hectic days, snatching that few moments not of respite but rather time with God, has always been refreshing and allowed a recharging of our very being. But it is more than a power nap or a cigarette or coffee break that many might take. Time with God helps us to allow Him to realign our focus to Him, for the imperfect us in an even more imperfect world constantly ensure that we will veer off course from the path that our Lord Jesus Christ has walked.
'…..for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves'
Isaiah 28:15
Is the name "Fragrant Harbour" a misnomer. Have to ask my friends(in this email) who are on the ground in HK. My memory is a little short now, but who isn't, for no one wants to remember the daily incarcerations in the financial markets. Or has my perception been impacted by my own memories of the once distinctively pungent smell of the Singapore River, where one whiff will be more intoxicating than two full glasses of the famous alcoholic concoction, "Singapore Sling"
I love the subject "Marketing" back in my Varsity days. Philip Kotler was the guru of marketing textbooks and I used to feel this lightness and thrill, whenever I read about some of the great theories and marketing strategies from nowhere but the very best of the land of the free and bastion of consumerism. So it was like coming to Nirvana for me when on my first trip to the States back in 1990, even in my semi-comatose state, who will not after a long 32 hours journey and on top of it a US$132 taxi trip down from one end of Connecticut to the other, small state it might be, but still quite a mouthful compared to HK and Singapore,
Flat on the bed in the hotel room at the Hyatt, I was conscious sufficiently to be awaken long enough to take advantage of some great offers on American television. Seems like either the Americans are truly generous or really trusting to send some great stuff free on trial, no money upfront to anyone with an address, even in a hotel room.
Guess that fitful 19 years back, I was in the midst of witnessing the birth of the same attitude that was to lead us all to today's troubles when anyone with an ID in USA could get an house to use as an ATM machine.
But despite all the present pain, has the world truly move out of their web of falsehood and deceit? Or are the present perpetrators of our present woes still living in the woefully misconceived notion that
'…because ye have said, We have made a convenant with death and with hell are we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us: for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves…'
Isaiah 28:15
The past one year has shown that there are no safe harbours, at least man-made. The investment world, at least for a significant number, seems to think that the credit of the US government is the best of what is available, notwithstanding that one is effectively lending to a government that is printing monies faster than one can write. The North Koreans must be envious, for it was reported, if the news is to be believed, that they were printing the best quality US dollars in the market. But guess if you can get plenty of the genuine stuff from the US Federal Authority, why go for counterfeits.
'…...For we are the temple of the Living God. As God has said, "I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God and they will be My people…."
2 Corinthians 6:16
If truly the Spirit of God resides in us who believed, then there is really no room for shades of grey in our lives. Harbours are natural meeting points for a confluence of cultures, atttitudes and characters, of different grades of uprightness to seediness. If the latter is more prevalent, than it becomes a pirates nest, at least in the movies. Each and everyone of us can be that temple upon which the Spirit of God resides. In the finite human understanding, how is it possible that God can be everywhere? Rather than ponder upon the inponderable, would it not be better to ensure that the very troubled world looks upon us as one with this countenance of inner peace and joy, that can only come from the grace of God?
'Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart. And such trust have we through Christ to Godward. Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves, but our sufficiency is of God.'
2 Corinthians 3:2-6
Much as I do take some comfort that my rate of productivity in literally churning out realms of bits and bytes in my journey with God these past few years, is not due to sheer superhuman effort, but possible only by the leading of the Spirit, and while I sometimes in my weakness worry about its efficacy, God will move us, if we are prepared to be moved.
For whatsover things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we though patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope….
Romans 15:4-5
I am like a little floating dock, warts and all, not a permanent harbour, a platform where the Lord uses me to sent forth His Words, like a beacon in the dark. But I cannot reel you in nor fill the void in your lives by the words that poured forth from me. Only the Lord our God can and may He use my hands to pen the direction to the only true safe harbour, Himself.
'Love worketh no ill to his neighbour, therefore love is the fulfilling of the law. And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep, for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed…'
Romans 13:10-11
Dark clouds we might have been in the past year plus. But just like the intense rain and louder than loud thunder of the past week, the storm is far from over. It is not too late to seek shelter in the only safe harbour, the Lord our God. Love is that compass that will bring you into the presence of God, for God is love. And is not it wonderful for our hearts and our very soul, to be able to savour the sweet aroma of the very presence of God in our lives, in all weather?
Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and everyone that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love…'
1 John 4:7-8
And what you are reading today and in my past journeys is the sharing of that sweet, sweet fragrance of the love and grace of God in my life, something you will experience as well, if you only just believe.
For the carnal men, it is easier to believe in the continued deceit of men, but it is no illusion that one will never be able to appease that inner desire in all of us for that peace and joy, a desire that God has placed in all of us. And the reality is, to continue to ignore the guiding light sent forth by the Lord our God is to ensure that like the ships of old, furthur grief on the increasingly treacherous rocks of life will be an inescapable fate, much as some will choose to differ with?
'But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is the root of all evil, which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows…'
1 Timothy 6:9-11
God Blesses
Eng Hieang
(4 Mar 2009)
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