bobjots : redux

Psuche or ψυχή - pronounced as psoo-khay'

Definition

1. breath
   1. the breath of life
      1. the vital force which animates the body and shows itself in breathing
   2. of animals
2. of men
   1. life
   2. that in which there is life
      1. a living being, a living soul
3. the soul
   1. the seat of the feelings, desires, affections, aversions (our heart, soul etc.)
   2. the (human) soul in so far as it is constituted that by the right use of the aids offered it by God it can attain its highest end and secure eternal blessedness, the soul regarded as a moral being designed for everlasting life
   3. the soul as an essence which differs from the body and is not dissolved by death (distinguished from other parts of the body)

A friend mentioned this in reference to what I am after I recounted some of the weird emotional experiences that I've been going through of late.

Psuche? Maybe its time for another Selah.

An excerpt from the Order of Daily Prayer as adapted by Lutheran Zephyr from the forms of the Responsive Prayers in the various major Lutheran worship books :

Holy God, holy and mighty, holy and immortal,
have mercy and hear us.

Show us your mercy, O Lord,
and grant us your salvation.

Is this really the impression Christians give to others?

How to kick your gay son out of the house
It's every parents worse nightmare: having to choose between salvation or their son. You can't have both because the gayness will infect everyboy in your house and compromise the salvation of your entire household. Has some good tips.

Based on the content of the site, I am inclined to believe it is a satirical site targeted at the stereotypes of Christians. Nonetheless, its still a painful indictment.

For something of a slightly more different tack, see below :

First written by Kent Keith when he was just a 19 year old sophomore at Harvard College, I find it absolutely inspiring. Apparently, Mother Teresa had this written on the walls of one of the children's homes in Kolkatta as well. The Open House Interview programme of Sydney's Heart 103.2 radio station carried an interview with the author (MP3 here).

Kent was inspired when he was struggling with the concept of Good Friday and how so much evil was done on Jesus. He eventually figured out that it was not about what was done to Jesus but what Jesus did in return. Enjoy ...

The Paradoxical Commandments
by Dr. Kent M. Keith

People are illogical, unreasonable, and self-centered.
Love them anyway.

If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish ulterior motives.
Do good anyway.

This week is the 18th week after Pentecost in Ordinary time. The liturgical colour is green and the symbol is usually a representation of the 2 fishes and 5 loaves that Jesus fed the 5,000 with (ref: Matthew 14:13-21).

Maybe that's why I find this poignant :

The readings for this week according to the Revised Common Lectionary are :

This was published in The Star yesterday :

Suspended daily Makkal Osai back on Tuesday

KUALA LUMPUR: Tamil daily Makkal Osai, which was suspended for one month for publishing a picture of Jesus Christ holding a cigarette in one hand and a canned drink (which looked like beer) in the other, will hit the streets on Tuesday.

Its general manger S.M. Periasamy thanked the Government on the lifting of the suspension, and stressed editors would carefully monitor all future articles and photos relating to any religion before being published.

He said coincidentally Sept 25 was the 15th anniversary of the publication, and the newspaper hoped its readers would continue to support it, as the daily without fear and favour highlighted the plight of the Indian community.

I still hope to be able to do something about this, perhaps to raise some money for the staff affected by the closure as a token of support. Unfortunately, I've been unable to organise something along these lines. I'll try to work something out ASAP.

Gottesdienst is a German word that roughly translates to "God service". Historically churches which belong to the Lutheran tradition used a form of liturgy known as the Gottesdienst or Divine Service in English.

It has its roots from Martin Luther's revision of the Latin mass that was in use by the Western Church then and was published as the Deutsche Messe (download PDF'ed version here) or German Mass. Interestingly the Deutsche Messe was almost completely chanted, similiar to the contemporary Pre-Tridentine (pre Council of Trent that was held from 1545 to 1563) Latin mass, apart from the sermon.

So much has been happening lately; such as the recent expose by KeADILan's Anwar Ibrahim on the alleged judge-fixing attempt by senior lawyer V.K. Lingam who was implicated in the Ayer Molek case (see video clip from Malaysiakini embedded below) and the painful discovery that the body of the girl found abandoned yesterday was most probably the missing Nurin Jazlin.

Last week also saw a severe crackdown on a group of Bangladeshi workers who were having a hunger strike at the Bangladeshi High Commission. They have been subject to very dehumanising treatment by their traffickers .. I mean outsourcers and it was these same outsourcers that were used to eventually keep them in line in this incident.

Then again, I have not been able to write about these matters. I guess I am way too overwhelmed by events. Anyway, here's the video clip. I hope being away for the next few days to celebrate my youngest daughter's full moon would help me get back into the groove.

Are you a blogger? Do you wear your faith on your sleeve? Do you identify with or belong to a congregation that subscribes or derives her beliefs on the Christian faith from the formulations of the Augsburg Confession and the other credal documents contained within the Book of Concord? In short, are you a Lutheran blogger? If you are, stand up and be counted.

I made a little 120 x 120 button that you can see on the right navigation bar of my blog. As you can see, it isn't linked to anything yet (although I might be linking it to the Lutheran Blog Directory later). In this age and time, when we Christians tend to focus on individualism, it might be a good idea to have an occasional reminder as to what keeps us together.

You can put it up on your blog and link it to this entry temporarily by putting up this code snippet :

<a href="http://www.bobjots.org/2007/09/lutherans_who_blog.php" target="_blank"><img src="your_server_location/lutheran_bloggers.png" border="0" alt="Lutherans Who Blog"></a>

I'd appreciate it if you could save a copy of the image on your own server (hover your mouse button over the image and right click, the select Save Image As) rather than link the image directly from this server. I'd also appreciate if you could drop a comment here or contact me if you have put it up so that I can get in touch with you if I set up a directory or blogroll.

And it's not just any Hokkien but the unique variant that for a long time was the lingua franca of Penang. It is also widely spoken in northern Perak, Kedah, Perlis and even across the Straits of Malacca in Medan (with some minor variations).

Interestingly, this particular variant with its unique intonation and vocabulary (a mixture of Hokkien, English and Malay terms) was also the default variant of Hokkien used in the town of Teluk Intan in Lower Perak, at least when I was growing up there. The way its spoken back there nowadays tend to be much more heavily accented with a Cantonese intonation. I supposed its because the earliest migrant labour brought in by the British when they built the town in 1883 were Chinese coolies from Penang.

.. featuring Bob Carlisle, Jars of Clay, Michael Card, Michael W Smith, Petra & White Heart (and maybe a few more) .. check out some of the older pre-1985 Petra vids with Greg X. Volz on the lead vocals ..

you've been warned! :)

First, there was the oversleeping .. and the rush out .. and then the car sputters .. and then you don't have your phone!!

I ended up missing the OHMSI event which I heard was pretty good and I am now not a happy camper.

Having another mullet moment, so here goes ..

I always thought it seemed kinda weird why Robin Hood was refered to as being from Nottingham. I thought he was from Loxley. Turns out it actually said the hooded man.

And here's another one some might find familiar :

I know some of us could use a dose of this right now (via the Henri Nouwen Society) :

Remaining Faithful

Many people live with the unconscious or conscious expectation that eventually things will get better; wars, hunger, poverty, oppression, and exploitation will vanish; and all people will live in harmony. Their lives and work are motivated by that expectation. When this does not happen in their lifetimes, they are often disillusioned and experience themselves as failures.

But Jesus doesn't support such an optimistic outlook. He foresees not only the destruction of his beloved city Jerusalem but also a world full of cruelty, violence, and conflict. For Jesus there is no happy ending in this world. The challenge of Jesus is not to solve all the world's problems before the end of time but to remain faithful at any cost.

As a Brigader (one is never an ex Brigader), this still remains a well remembered motto which makes more sense as one grows older :

Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil;

.. Hebrews 6:19 (AV)

I mean denial .. ok .. so that's pretty lame. How many text messages did you get asking you to tune in to BBC New's Hard Talk to catch our Foreign Minister, Syed Hamid Albar, being grilled .. I mean interviewed .. about ethnic relations in Malaysia? The blurb on BBC's site reads :

Malaysia has just marked fifty years of independence, and there's much to celebrate.

Living standards have improved immeasurably over the past five decades, illiteracy has been virtually eradicated and the economy is doing well.

But do Indian and Chinese Malaysians have as much to celebrate as the Malay population?

Sarah Montague talks to Dato Seri Syed Hamid Albar about whether the law giving preferential treatment to Malay and other indigenous groups is now outdated.

I thought he came across as being quite belligerent and defensive at the same time but the most recurring element seems to be denial and accusing the interviewer of ignorance.

If you haven't watched it yet, you can do so here.

The editorial cartoon above was published in the Malay language fortnightly magazine published in Singapore, Kenchana, in its November 1, 1947 edition. The cartoon was illustrated by Naz Anchaz (HT: Fahmi). It was probably used illustrate the hottest news of that time, the 1947 Hartal that occured on October 20, 1947.

Amateur film maker, Fahmi Reza, premiered his debut work today at the Central Market. It is a bilingual (BM-English) short film entitled "Sepuluh Tahun Sebelum Merdeka" (Ten Years Before Merdeka) which features never before seen interviews and rare archival footages of the 1947 Hartal. He also has compiled a collection of his research and archival materials in this blog.

Have a look at the trailer here :

So what exactly was the 1947 Hartal and what brought it about?

Apparently that's my eschatology according to the "What's Your Eschatology" quiz (HT : Sivin). I think Sivin probably felt drawn to do this quiz as we had our final discussion group session on the book "Gracious Christianity", last Wednesday that focused on, you guessed it, eschatology (or the future).

Jürgen Moltmann is a German theologian and Professor Emeritus of Systematic Theology at the University of Tübingen, Germany. He is most noted as a proponent of his "theology of hope" and for his incorporation of insights from liberation theology and ecology into mainstream trinitarian theology.

The "theology of hope" proposed by Moltmann can best be described as a belief that God's promise to act in the future is more important than the fact that he has acted in the past. What is implied by this focus on the future, however, is not withdrawal from the world in the hope that a better world will somehow evolve, but active participation in the world in order to aid in the coming of that better world.

Anyway, my results are as follows:

See smoke coming out from charger .. pull charger out of laptop pronto .. fling smoking charger out of window .. see charger do its own imitation of a meteorite .. "I love the smell of napalm in the morning" .. oh wait, that's just burning plastic .. keep fingers crossed .. take laptop to HP dealership for diagnosis .. hope hard disk isn't incinerated .. everything works .. mouth ye olde Prayer of Thanksgiving :

O Lord my Savior and my Master,

I, Thine unprofitable servant, with fear and trembling give thanks unto Thy loving goodness for all Thy benefits which Thou hast poured so abundantly upon me, Thy servant.

I fall down in adoration before Thee and offer Thee, O god, my praises; with fervour I cry to Thee: O God, deliver me henceforth from all adversities and mercifully fulfill in me such of my desires as may be expedient for me.

Hear me, I entreat Thee, and have mercy, for Thou art the Hope of all the ends of the earth, and unto Thee, with the Father, and the Holy Spirit, be ascribed glory, now and ever, and unto ages of ages.

Amen

I'm back in action :)

Would you believe it that I actually only began to start learning the Apostles' Creed after listening to this song (mullet alert again). I have always loved John Schlitt's vocal performance but I had no idea he was so goofy in music videos! :

This just came in my mailbox from the Henri Nouwen Society:

Holding Our Ground

In a world so full of social and political turmoil and immense human suffering, people of faith will often be ridiculed because of their so-called ineffectiveness. Many will say: "If you believe that there is a loving God, let your God do something about this mess!" Some will simply declare religion irrelevant, while others will consider it an obstacle to the creation of a new and better world.

Salam Ramadhan dan selamat berpuasa kepada semua rakan-rakan dan pengunjung-pengunjung blog ini yang beragama Islam. Semoga bulan ini menguatkan tekad semua untuk memperjuangkan yang mulia dan yang diberkati.

Umat Kristian juga boleh mengambil kesempatan bulan Ramadhan ini untuk menyelami amalan puasa yang sebenarnya tidak janggal didalam amalan rohani kami. Puasa ini dapat dihayati dengan pelbagai bentuk. Kitab Yesaya didalam Alkitab memberikan kita salah satu gambaran tentang puasa yang sejati yang dikehendaki Tuhan:

I had some time late Tuesday afternoon and happened to be in the same neighbourhood where Sivin was. He happened to be at the office of the Trinity Annual Conference (TRAC) of the Methodist Church in Malaysia so we arranged to meet up nearby to have a quick drink and a chat.

I had my car parked in front of a little first storey store called Glory to God which advertised in a promotional bunting items like Sacred Art and devotionals. The window display had a few large sized statues and images of Jesus and the Virgin Mary. Being curious, I decided to saunter up there to have a look.

Yes .. I promise .. this will be the last one tonight (HT : Nik Nazmi) ...

V : .. There are of course those who do not want us to speak. I suspect even now, orders are being shouted into telephones, and men with guns will soon be on their way. Why? Because while the truncheon may be used in lieu of conversation, words will always retain their power. Words offer the means to meaning, and for those who will listen, the enunciation of truth. And the truth is, there is something terribly wrong with this country, isn’t there? Cruelty and injustice, intolerance and oppression ..

- V for Vendetta

But for those of you who can still do something, please, show these people that of all the rights they try to take from us, our right to life is the one straw that breaks the camel's back. They've taken our money, they've taken our liberty, don't let them take our lives. If they want to say that the Jalur Gemilang is more important than a gunshot wound, fine. If they want to talk about 'riots', and deny us a proper inquiry, fine.

But make 'em pay for it. Vote for change.

- Locus Standi

I saw this devotional in yesterday's Upper Room Daily Reflections - it was a good reminder and a wake up call to me.

A Foolish People
- September 10, 2007

Monday's Reflections

WE TAKE OTHERS to task for small mistakes, and overlook greater ones in ourselves. We are quick enough to feel and brood over the things we suffer from others, but we think nothing of how much others suffer from us. If we would weigh our own deeds fully and rightly, we would find little cause to pass severe judgment on others.

Thomas à Kempis
A Pattern for Life

This is gonna be a bit off-genre for this blog but I guess its good to show that I do have a life and am actually a human being (and also a proud father of two girls). :)

I was humming this tune in the car on my way home after a yumchar session with Alvin and Kia Meng but could only remember the first line and the last two lines - which was fortunate as a Google search gave me only 2 results of which only 1 was relevant. Mummy-O posted this post in April of this year with the lyrics of the song :

Oriental Hearts & Mind Institute (OHMSI) was set up in 2004 with the goal to create frameworks for dialogue and engagement where followers of Jesus Christ and members of society become relevant and significant in the public spaces of national life. But, is the Bride of Christ in Malaysia ready for this task of public space engagement? Can Christians be political without getting involved in party politics? What is the role of Christians on public issues and the related public policy dialogue?

Are we an Islamic State? Can we evolve a Bangsa Malaysia? Who will fight corruption and for integrity? Whose responsibility is it to ensure the application of universal values, ethics and morality in the public spaces of life in Malaysia? In the light of many challenges facing Malaysia, what is our role as Christians in Malaysia to continue to be the salt and light of the Gospel on these issues and concerns?

Was it one shot (Malaysiakini), two shots (NST) or four (The Star)? Was the cop who fired the weapon protecting himself or was he protecting women and children (The Star)? Was he attacked with rocks (Utusan Malaysia) or was he attacked with wooden rods (The Star)? Even the Terengganu cops are confused as to what happened, and so they keep changing their story almost on a daily basis.

There are some who have mentioned that we are not allowing the police to investigate this matter and are instigating a trial by media. Perhaps it might help to stop and think who started the media offensive in the first place? And who actually owns the media? There are those who are also quick to claim a conspiracy theory by the Opposition - which I concede may be plausible. Then again, who actually has the wherewithal, resources and propaganda machine to be in a better position to hatch a conspiracy? Who's story has been more inconsistent and fraught with misinformation?

Just last week, the Minister of Finance (cum Prime Minister cum Minister of Internal Security) proudly announced that we've managed to reduce our budget deficit by 0.1% (from 3.2% in 2007 to 3.1%) for the year 2008. This isn't a bad thing, of course. 0.1% is still 0.1%.

Of course, this still doesn't change the painful fact that this will be the 11th consecutive deficit budget that we've unveiled; which means we still need to borrow the money from somewhere .. maybe China will "help" us out again). And loans do have to paid off. Guess who's gonna bear the tax burden to pay off those loans? The corporate sector with their steadily decreasing tax obligations?

The Auditor-General's Report for 2006 has been released with some unsurprising but still extremely disturbing revelations, which might help explain why our budget has been in the read for the last 10 years and will continue to be next year. The Deputy Prime Minister wants the political Opposition and civil society to respect the law. I suggest he does a bit more respecting on his own as well (see Malaysiakini).

I can understand that a lot of people, especially Malays, are very angry with the authorities for allowing the incident last Saturday to escalate into what it finally became. I too am incensed by the brazen attitude and indiscriminate violence used in the incident, possibly through the use of agent provocateurs (as Malaysiakini reports. Unfortunately, a lot of the reaction to this incident, especially in the Malay language websites and blogs like Tranungkite, KL Pos and Detik Daily are very disturbing.

There has been comparison drawn between the police and FRU's response to the protest by pig farmers in Melaka and the Batu Buruk incident in Terengganu with comments like the one below being pretty common:

Para pemakan rasuah memang berani membantai orang2 melayu yg beragama Islam, tapi bila berhadapan dgn bukan melayu dan B**i2 serta Khinzir telur simpan dalam2

The bribetakers are brave when hitting Muslim Malays but when confronted with non-Malays and pigs, they lose their balls

I initially started writing this around 12 hours ago but having been up since Saturday for one reason or another (including trying to get updated regarding this development), my body finally rebelled and I fell asleep in front of my computer. Now that quite a few hours have passed, the mainstream media seemed to have picked up the story, with their inevitable spin to it. The focus seem to be to perpetuate the myth that KeADILan is synonymous with violence; an old and weary tale that has been spun and respun since 1999.

Perhaps some context might be helpful here - BERSIH (Coalition for Free & Fair Elections)is a coalition of opposition political parties and non-government organisations which campaigns for free and fair elections and has been organising a series of forums to raise awareness on this issue nationwide. Last Saturday, a forum scheduled to be held in Batu Buruk near Kuala Terengganu was violently broken up by the police. Despite police claims that the event was held without a permit, organisers insist that an application for a permit had been submitted and the Information Chief of KeADILan, Tian Chua, has gone on record to say that it was the police who revoked the permit in the last minute, allegedly due to political pressure from Umno.

I got some disturbing information via SMS while I was out last night. I was informed that a civil society event organised by BERSIH (Coalition for Free & Fair Elections) was brutally broken up by the authorities using the Federal Reserve Unit (FRU) of the Royal Malaysian Police. This event was held in Pantai Batu Buruk in Terengganu.

Malaysiakini quotes the Opposition MPs in a report entitled; Opposition unimpressed with Budget; whereas the state news agency Bernama quotes the same, albeit with much less details, but entitles their report; Opposition Welcomes 2008 Budget. So who's applying the spin here?