Saturday, March 26, 2005

Via Dolorosa

Down the Via Dolorosa in Jerusalem that day
The soldiers tried to clear the narrow streets
But the crowds pressed in to see
The man condemned to die on Calvary

He was bleeding from a beating there were stripes open His back
And He wore a crown of thorns upon His head
And He bore with every step
The scorn of those who cried out for His death

Down the Via Dolorosa called the Way of Suffering
Like a lamb came the Messiah Christ the King
And He chose to walk that road out of His love
For you
For me
Down the Via Dolorosa all the way to Calvary

Por la Via Dolorosa triste dia en Jerusalem
Los sol da dosle abrian pa so a Jesus
Mas la gen tle a cer caba
Par a ver al que ila ba aquel La Cruz

Por la Via Dolorosa
Que esla Via Del Do Lor
Como ove ja vino Christo Rey Senor
Y fue el quien qui so ir por su a mor
Por ti Y
Por mi
La Via Dolorosa
Al Cal Var io a mor ir

The Blood that was shed
For the souls of all men
Made it's way to the heart
Of Jerusalem

Down the Via Dolorosa called the Way of Suffering
Like a lamb came the Messiah Christ the King
And He chose to walk that road out of His love
For you
For me
Down the Via Dolorosa all the way to Calvary

Monday, March 21, 2005

Vigiliae

Was reading Habakkuk 2:1 just the other day, and it was about keeping on our watch, to see what the Lord wants us to do or say; about how we have been appointed sentinels for our all those we know. And what he says rings true with what Pastor Ivan preached today.

In order to hear what God wants us to do, we have to be spiritually sensitive to His will. I mean, if we're not, it's quite possible that we won't hear what he has to say to us. After all, this isn't exactly a world without distractions...

If we keep our watch, we can be a blessing to those around us, since God knows how we should help others. Which is an advantage. If we don't, we miss the chance to help another needy person, or lose out on God's words. Just as an example as to how bad it could be to not maintain your vigil, any Roman legionary found asleep while on guard duty was beaten to death by his section mates... Guess you know now how important maintaining your watch is, both for others, as well as for your own immunity from the stick brigade....

Cheerio

Monday, March 14, 2005

Furor

Well, it's been kinda of a long week, since i last entered Duty last week. Been quite a while, cos I have been rather tied down with work and other stuffs. Like from Monday to Wednesday, I stayed back late at work cos my boys were going OT to prep for the LRI. (Logistics Readiness Inspection, for the uninitiated). And I must really say that although a lot of the work done was somewhat last minute, it was worth it, since the Staff Sergeant from the team said we were deinitely not going to get a D grading, which is the lowest possible grading. Kudos also to my Dy FM, Gerald, for helping with alot of the admin work, and being so focused, something i find very hard to do... Yup, without him, I can safely say we prob would have gotten a D.

Anyway, the Inspectorate came over on Wed, and checked and checked. We almost failed a portion, but just barely scraped through by the skin of our teeth (heh... army term which I picked up in BB).

Anyway, there wasn't much else that happened during working hours, 'cept that Monday stayed back late, Tuesday stayed back late, Wednesday stayed back late ( which was why i couldn't go over to Cheryl's place). Thursday had class in church with Yoko-sensei and gang, Friday went running and took care of the kiddies.

Saturday morning, went to meet Frankie, Father Chai and Josh for badminton in the morning. Couldn't get a spot at Gombak, so we went up to Woodlands, and managed to play for awhile. I must admit, that to call my playing atrocious, would be a gross understatement, but that is not something you need to know.

We headed over to church after that, to engage in martial conflict in Emily's Wild War Wet... Wasn't too bad. It ws a hot day, and I guess most of the youth had a great time running all over the field in a typical Youth Min game i.e. one that involves lots of waterbombs.

Then this was where my temper flared back up. One of the guys from one of the other teams came over to attack out HQ. Which is the object of the whole game, so that was pretty normal. However, as he ran off after using up his ammo, he saw our waterbombs on the floor, and purposely stepped on one. Then he looked up and saw me staring at him, before he ran away. Since I'm a rather phlegmatic sort of guy, I just let it slip.

Then a while later, he came back again. This time, he threw his waterbombs, then promptly grabbed two of ours. Angela of course saw it, and told him in a firm voice that those were our waterbombs. By that point of time, he had already thrown one at one of our team mates. Angela then continued, and told him to return the waterbomb.He obliged by hurling it back at us. Of course the bomb exploded, what with such good waterbomb manufacturers in my group... Anyway, that totally pissed me off. It wasn't that red blinding rage that came over, more of a sort of cold calculation that he needed to be taught a lesson. So as he ran away, I broke into a run after him, and hammered one waterbomb right into his back. He shouted back, "Pain lah! What, you think you playing basketball ah?" (I had jumped and thrown, sort of like in handball? Ya.) So anyway, I just ignored him, and walked away. Sort of like telling him, "Don't screw around with me."

Anyway, the point of the whole narrative above is not about the punk. It was about me, losing my cool, and taking matters into my own hand. The punk needed to be taught a lesson, I shouldn't have given it to him like that. I mean, I could have just grabbed him and made a scene, like what my father does sometimes, really embarassess the heck out of the target. Or something like that. The violence I exhibited would not have been edifiying to anybody, God the least of all. I mean, what if the guy was a prebeliever or something? One more soul lost due to a rash action on my part. Once again, letting my temper go unchecked could have had a really bad consequence.

Also, I realized that after I entered the army, it's easier to become angry. Like today, almost lost my temper, this time on a friend. He's a great guy, knowledgable in God's Word, and he can be really encouraging when you need encouragement. Unfortunately, this time, I almost broke my frinedship with him. (Spiritual attack perhaps? He had just shared with me some stuff that was really edifying.) Anyway, what happened was that I was sitting with him, and two other friends. One of these other friends is the kind that is fun to make fun of. So anyway, I was teasing her, then she hit me, and then you know, we just started to 'ka chiao' each other, then I flicked my finger at her, and she complained loudly, as she usually does. :) Then the guy told me, I shouldn't hit a girl, which is normal. Then of course, in my whiny voice, I complained that she started it. I mean, this sort of bantering goes on in Youth all the time, so it was still a normal situation. However, the guy continued, saying that even so, I still shouldn't hit a girl. And he was serious about it. Like as if I did something really bad. I mean, come on man, it's not like I was abusing her or anything. Then we entered into a sort of theological debate, 'cept that I was always wrong.

Of course, apart from the fact that I don't like losing in a debate, he had blown the whole situation totally out of proportion. So by that time, I was in that cold fury mode again. And I guess Sulwyn realized I was not exactly in a happy mood, and she pulled me away with a really lame excuse, but for which I am still deeply grateful.

Anyway, I think my temper is going to be another major problem in the future. I mean, if you read some of my older posts, you will realize that some of them are also dealing with anger management. Which is gonna be hard, since in the army, we were trained to be aggressive. Must've unlocked the hot-headed part of me. And I realize that I am getting angry alot easier. Used to be that I was a really laid-back guy. Dunno if it's good or bad. If it goes overboard, it would hardly be a good testimony to Christ, now would it?

Cheerio

Monday, March 07, 2005

Duty

Well, yes, here I am again, doing duty on a lovely Sunday... It really is quite a bummer, especially since I'll much rather prefer to go to church then to sit in the Ops room doing nothing... It doesn't help either, That I've managed to read my new Chinese comics as fast as I usually read my English novels, i.e. I had finished reading Slamdunk Books 12-15 by about 1700 hrs today... Such a bother...

Oh well, it could have been a whole lot worse. Just that my lack of reading materials is making me a bit grumpy...

Went to church on Friday and Saturday already... I guess I made a name for myself as a professional paper-plane-folder... And it appears that I'm finally old enough that the kiddie's parents tell them to "Say thank you to uncle"... I mean... kao eh, I'm only 20 leh...

Saturday got to play bass for Yachad, who managed to pull duty for the contact time. But the duty is not quite as sian as the one I'm doing now. It was actually quite enjoyable, and I actually looked forward to it. I've got another 3 more camp duties though. Is bad in that it's 3 more. It's good in that after those 3, I ORD!!!!! Muahahahaha.... I'm going bonkers already...

Yeah, well, so anyway, had a great time of worship, just singing and praising... It was awesome man...

One thing about the band is that since my bro had to pull out cos A levels, I've had to cover his bass position. As a result, my bass has improved, but I think my acoustic is totally gone... haha... oh bother...

Anyway, poor Jiehuai is out at the SAFTI demolitions range today... yep... Ximin, if you're reading this, go and practice your maths. Yongling, if you're reading this, go and eat your dinner. And Jess, if you're reading this, remember to think positive.

Anyone else reading this? Heavens, you people must really be bored...

Cheerio