I went to an "Interfaith Choir Festival" last Sunday evening. It was an event arranged by the Interfaith Councils of several Orange County chapters to promote harmony and mutual understanding between different religious groups. It was held in a Mormon church (right across the Lakeview Senior Center in Irvine), with choirs and representatives from Catholic, Protestant, Jew, Muslim, Sikh, Buddhist, Zoroastrian, etc. Besides the traditional hymns from Catholic and Protestant groups, I heard for the first time live soul-style gospel singing by a black group, and a Jewish choir worshipping in Psalms. The Irvine Chinese Chorus, the only non-religious group invited, sang a couple of Chinese folk/love songs too.
In between singing, each religion/sect's representative went on the platform to give a short speech about their religion's beliefs, as well as some inspirational sayings. "Righteousness is the highest Virtue, it leads to enlightened happiness, this Radiant happiness comes to the person, who is Righteous for the sake of Righteousness alone, and not for any reward or fear of punishment", says the Zoroastrian Scripture. "One day of life is more valuable than all the treasures of the universe. You still have many years ahead of you, and moreover, you have found faith. If you live even one
day longer...how precious life is! So together we will offer a prayer of appreciation", says a Buddhist Scripture. Or "Truth is higher. Higher still is truthful living", says the Sikh Scripture.
I wish I had time to study all these different religions. It seems they all try to reach the same goal, as they say, just with different approaches. But, maybe that's where it matters. All religions may point to the same abstract truth: be good, be selfless, be loving, etc. But how do you achieve that? It seems to me Christianity is the one that gives most straightforward answer and effective way to achieve that: Jesus is the truth, be like him. Simple as that, with evidences you can't deny.
Enough of my monologue. This Saturday our men's group meeting will take a little different venue, going outdoor for a hike with the Saddleback Beginner's Hike group to the Riley Wilderness Park in Coto De Caza, if you will. Please see the following information. You can bring your family along if you like, and we can all walk and talk and enjoy a sunny, beautiful day in the wild!
Saturday, November 17, 2007
Saturday, November 3, 2007
halloween salute
Wednesday, the Halloween, kids' fun day, is coming. Stories and controversies abound about this day's origin and meaning and whether Christians should celebrate it or not, etc. But one thing historical and surely worth celebrating by all (or at least Protestant) Christians about this day, is that this is the day, exactly 490 years ago, the Protestant Reformation, the movement that split Christendom into Catholic and Protestant camps 'till this day, all got started.
On October 31, 1517, Martin Luther, a German priest/theologian, posted his famous 95 theses on the door of a church in Wittenberg, a little town in today's eastern Germany, to display his objection to the "indulgences" the Church was selling. An indulgence was a printed permit or coupon with monetary value of personal confession of sin. The idea was sinners could buy indulgences to release them from divine punishment, or "As soon as the coin in the coffer rings, the soul from purgatory springs," went the commercial jingle of the day. The Church used such "fund raisers" to collect revenues to help rebuilding St. Peter's basilica in Rome, or as political payback by some local bishops to Rome for their clergical assignments.
On October 31, 1517, Martin Luther, a German priest/theologian, posted his famous 95 theses on the door of a church in Wittenberg, a little town in today's eastern Germany, to display his objection to the "indulgences" the Church was selling. An indulgence was a printed permit or coupon with monetary value of personal confession of sin. The idea was sinners could buy indulgences to release them from divine punishment, or "As soon as the coin in the coffer rings, the soul from purgatory springs," went the commercial jingle of the day. The Church used such "fund raisers" to collect revenues to help rebuilding St. Peter's basilica in Rome, or as political payback by some local bishops to Rome for their clergical assignments.
Though Luther's intention was to dispute and argue the subject within the Church, copies of these theses got spread quickly throughout Europe (making the controversy one of the first in history to be fanned by the printing press) and unleashed a reform movement that would eventually effect all political and social structures of the Western world.
Besides objection to the indulgences, Martin Luther had many other theological differences with the Roman Church of the day. His studies of the Bible, especially the epistles of St. Paul, had led him to the conclusion that Christ was the sole mediator between God and man and that forgiveness of sin and salvation are effected by God's Grace alone and are received by faith alone on the part of man. This point of view turned him against scholastic theology, which had emphasized man's role in his own salvation, and against many church practices that emphasized justification by good works.
Luther also condemned the vow of celibacy and, as a former monk, he married a former nun that he helped escape from a convent in 1525, when he was 42 and she was 26. By all accounts theirs was a happy marriage, with 6 children. One of their descendants was Paul von Hindenburg, President of Germany after World War I and before Nazi takeover.
Another great accomplishment by Luther is his translation of Bible from Latin to German language. He is not the first one to do such work, but is by far the greatest according to historians and literary scholars. The Luther Bible contributed to the emergence of the modern German language and is regarded as a landmark in German literature.
According to American Lutheran Publicity Bureau, these are Luther's most important theological insights:
(1) Humankind is entrapped in the ancient temptation to play God (Genesis 3:5), violating the first of all divine commandments, "You shall have no other gods."
(2) Liberation from this original sin comes through faith of at least two people ... one who tells another of Christ as the source of freedom from sin, and one who, so addressed, affirms faith in Christ alone.
(3) The Christian life is one in which, though we are sinners by nature, we are at the same time saints by God's grace and love.
(4) The Christian life is lived in two realms that belong equally to God ... church and society. This calls for Christian commitment to education, fair economic practices, and a life of mission to the ungodly.
Sounds pretty refreshing to me even today.
Happy Reformation Anniversary!
Besides objection to the indulgences, Martin Luther had many other theological differences with the Roman Church of the day. His studies of the Bible, especially the epistles of St. Paul, had led him to the conclusion that Christ was the sole mediator between God and man and that forgiveness of sin and salvation are effected by God's Grace alone and are received by faith alone on the part of man. This point of view turned him against scholastic theology, which had emphasized man's role in his own salvation, and against many church practices that emphasized justification by good works.
Luther also condemned the vow of celibacy and, as a former monk, he married a former nun that he helped escape from a convent in 1525, when he was 42 and she was 26. By all accounts theirs was a happy marriage, with 6 children. One of their descendants was Paul von Hindenburg, President of Germany after World War I and before Nazi takeover.
Another great accomplishment by Luther is his translation of Bible from Latin to German language. He is not the first one to do such work, but is by far the greatest according to historians and literary scholars. The Luther Bible contributed to the emergence of the modern German language and is regarded as a landmark in German literature.
According to American Lutheran Publicity Bureau, these are Luther's most important theological insights:
(1) Humankind is entrapped in the ancient temptation to play God (Genesis 3:5), violating the first of all divine commandments, "You shall have no other gods."
(2) Liberation from this original sin comes through faith of at least two people ... one who tells another of Christ as the source of freedom from sin, and one who, so addressed, affirms faith in Christ alone.
(3) The Christian life is one in which, though we are sinners by nature, we are at the same time saints by God's grace and love.
(4) The Christian life is lived in two realms that belong equally to God ... church and society. This calls for Christian commitment to education, fair economic practices, and a life of mission to the ungodly.
Sounds pretty refreshing to me even today.
Happy Reformation Anniversary!
Saturday, October 20, 2007
just do it
We all know enough of God's teachings to be saints, yet we all are not. It is so very hard to practice what we know is right when that "rubber hits the road" moment comes. Or is it? Here is a true story:
God's grace was powerfully displayed in the life of Corrie ten Boom, who had been imprisoned with her family by the Nazis for giving aid to Jews early in World War II. Her elderly father and beloved sister, Betsie, died as a result of the brutal treatment they received in prison. God sustained Corrie through her time in a concentration camp, and after the war she traveled throughout the world, testifying to God's love. Here is what she wrote about a remarkable encounter in Germany:
It was at a church service in Munich that I saw him, the former S.S. man who had stood guard at the shower room door in the processing center at Ravensbruck. He was the first of our actual jailers that I had seen since that time. And suddenly it was all there--the roomful of mocking men, the heaps of clothing, Betsie's pain-blanched face.
He came up to me as the church was emptying, beaming and bowing. "How grateful I am for your message, Fraulein," he said. "To think that, as you say, he has washed my sins away!"
His hand was thrust out to shake mine. And I, who had preached so often to the people in Bloemendall about the need to forgive, kept my hand at my side.
Even as the angry, vengeful thoughts boiled through me, I saw the sin of them. Jesus Christ had died for this man; was I going to ask for more? "Lord Jesus," I prayed, "forgive me and help me to forgive him."
I tried to smile, I struggled to raise my hand. I could not. I felt nothing, not the slightest spark of warmth or charity. And so again I breathed a silent prayer. "Jesus, I cannot forgive him. Give me Your forgiveness."
As I took his hand the most incredible thing happened. From my shoulder along my arm and through my hand a current seemed to pass from me to him, while into my heart sprang a love for this stranger that almost overwhelmed me.
So I discovered that it is not on our forgiveness any more than on our goodness that the world's healing hinges, but on him. When he tells us to love our enemies, he gives, along with the command, the love itself.
What I found most exciting in the above story is, we are God's instrument, literally. An instrument in the literal sense is a lifeless medium that conducts the will of its handler to the aimed recipient, and its job is done. Often times we are confused and stagnated by our own wills and emotions on whether we should or would, like or want, to do this or that--a
whirlwind in our own little tea-cup mind, we forget the big picture and that we are not really the one in charge.
But then the magic comes when we summon ourselves and go out and do His will, all these virtual whirlwind are
replaced by substance and confirmation, and this lifeless instrument suddenly becomes a very alive part of the body of Christ!
Look forward to meeting you fellow parts/instruments Saturday,
PS, I plan to experiment my BBQ rotisserie with whatever chunk of meat appropriate I can find at Costco this Saturday. Be brave and bring an empty stomach with you when you come. First come first serve.
God's grace was powerfully displayed in the life of Corrie ten Boom, who had been imprisoned with her family by the Nazis for giving aid to Jews early in World War II. Her elderly father and beloved sister, Betsie, died as a result of the brutal treatment they received in prison. God sustained Corrie through her time in a concentration camp, and after the war she traveled throughout the world, testifying to God's love. Here is what she wrote about a remarkable encounter in Germany:
It was at a church service in Munich that I saw him, the former S.S. man who had stood guard at the shower room door in the processing center at Ravensbruck. He was the first of our actual jailers that I had seen since that time. And suddenly it was all there--the roomful of mocking men, the heaps of clothing, Betsie's pain-blanched face.
He came up to me as the church was emptying, beaming and bowing. "How grateful I am for your message, Fraulein," he said. "To think that, as you say, he has washed my sins away!"
His hand was thrust out to shake mine. And I, who had preached so often to the people in Bloemendall about the need to forgive, kept my hand at my side.
Even as the angry, vengeful thoughts boiled through me, I saw the sin of them. Jesus Christ had died for this man; was I going to ask for more? "Lord Jesus," I prayed, "forgive me and help me to forgive him."
I tried to smile, I struggled to raise my hand. I could not. I felt nothing, not the slightest spark of warmth or charity. And so again I breathed a silent prayer. "Jesus, I cannot forgive him. Give me Your forgiveness."
As I took his hand the most incredible thing happened. From my shoulder along my arm and through my hand a current seemed to pass from me to him, while into my heart sprang a love for this stranger that almost overwhelmed me.
So I discovered that it is not on our forgiveness any more than on our goodness that the world's healing hinges, but on him. When he tells us to love our enemies, he gives, along with the command, the love itself.
What I found most exciting in the above story is, we are God's instrument, literally. An instrument in the literal sense is a lifeless medium that conducts the will of its handler to the aimed recipient, and its job is done. Often times we are confused and stagnated by our own wills and emotions on whether we should or would, like or want, to do this or that--a
whirlwind in our own little tea-cup mind, we forget the big picture and that we are not really the one in charge.
But then the magic comes when we summon ourselves and go out and do His will, all these virtual whirlwind are
replaced by substance and confirmation, and this lifeless instrument suddenly becomes a very alive part of the body of Christ!
Look forward to meeting you fellow parts/instruments Saturday,
PS, I plan to experiment my BBQ rotisserie with whatever chunk of meat appropriate I can find at Costco this Saturday. Be brave and bring an empty stomach with you when you come. First come first serve.
Saturday, October 6, 2007
walk the valley
Here is a daily devotional I read the other day:
We have all experienced times of exaltation on the mountain, when we have seen things from God's perspective and have wanted to stay there. But God will never allow us to stay there. The true test of our spiritual life is in exhibiting the power to descend from the mountain. If we only have the power to go up, something is wrong. It is a wonderful thing to be on the mountain with God, but a person only gets there so that he may later go down and lift up the demon-possessed people in the valley (see Mark 9:14-18).
We are inclined to think that everything that happens is to be turned into useful teaching. In actual fact, it is to be turned into something even better than teaching, namely, character. The mountaintop is not meant to teach us anything, it is meant to make us something. There is a terrible trap in always asking, "What's the use of this experience?" We can never measure spiritual matters in that way. The moments on the mountaintop are rare moments, and they are meant for something in God's purpose.
Speaking for myself, I don't think I ever get that "mountain top" experience, have deep valley dropped a couple times, but then the rest, or most of my spiritual life, as far as I am aware of, are just plain walking ("on roads less travelled", I am tempted to add, but then that will sound so audacious, so unlike me :) So, my favorite phrases from the above, are "We are made for the valley and the ordinary things of life, and that is where we have to prove our stamina and strength", and "We are inclined to think that everything that happens is to be turned into useful teaching. In actual fact, it is to be turned into something even better than teaching, namely, character."
We have all experienced times of exaltation on the mountain, when we have seen things from God's perspective and have wanted to stay there. But God will never allow us to stay there. The true test of our spiritual life is in exhibiting the power to descend from the mountain. If we only have the power to go up, something is wrong. It is a wonderful thing to be on the mountain with God, but a person only gets there so that he may later go down and lift up the demon-possessed people in the valley (see Mark 9:14-18).
We are not made for the mountains, for sunrises, or for the other beautiful attractions in life- those are simply intended to be moments of inspiration. We are made for the valley and the ordinary things of life, and that is where we have to prove our stamina and strength. Yet our spiritual selfishness always wants repeated moments on the mountain. We feel that we could talk and live like perfect angels, if we could only stay on the mountaintop. Those times of exaltation are exceptional and they have their meaning in our life with God, but we must beware to prevent our spiritual selfishness from wanting to make them the only time.
We are inclined to think that everything that happens is to be turned into useful teaching. In actual fact, it is to be turned into something even better than teaching, namely, character. The mountaintop is not meant to teach us anything, it is meant to make us something. There is a terrible trap in always asking, "What's the use of this experience?" We can never measure spiritual matters in that way. The moments on the mountaintop are rare moments, and they are meant for something in God's purpose.
Speaking for myself, I don't think I ever get that "mountain top" experience, have deep valley dropped a couple times, but then the rest, or most of my spiritual life, as far as I am aware of, are just plain walking ("on roads less travelled", I am tempted to add, but then that will sound so audacious, so unlike me :) So, my favorite phrases from the above, are "We are made for the valley and the ordinary things of life, and that is where we have to prove our stamina and strength", and "We are inclined to think that everything that happens is to be turned into useful teaching. In actual fact, it is to be turned into something even better than teaching, namely, character."
Would like to hear about your mountain top/valley experiences, or your favorite take on the above, if you would like to share.
Saturday, September 15, 2007
ip tv, train, mother teresa
Has any of you seen IPTV in action yet? I haven't, until a little more than a week ago, when I volunteered to help man the booth for GoodTV at a revival conference at Costa Mesa Hilton one Saturday afternoon. GoodTV had struck a deal with KyLin TV to be part of their offering, so at the show they are demonstrating GoodTV program live through KyLin's IPTV. What they had is just a plain DSL broadband (with upstream 384K, downstream 1M, they said) from the hotel, connected to a setup box provided by KyLin, then to a regular TV monitor. The picture quality is pretty good, the movement very smooth, just like a real TV program playing. I was impressed.
KyLin is offering a special for GoodTV to promote, ie, for $9.99/month, the customer can get 31 channels, including GoodTV. For people who want to watch lots of Chinese channels and GoodTV, that's a good deal. One lady wanted to
sign up for her Mom who lives in Barstow, where they don't have much TV broadcast, even just for the GoodTV channel alone. She thinks it's worth it.
By the way, do you know who started KyLin TV, an IPTV service network targeting all Chinese around the world and has tens of thousands of customers already? William Wang, the founder/CEO of Computer Associates, the number 2 software company just next to Microsoft back in the old days. They said he's a Catholic and that may have something to do with his network carrying GoodTV channel for free. But I doubt that's the reason. I think GoodTV not charging KyLin for their content is reason enough for them to carry it for free in return, not to mention the Christian audience GoodTV
could bring them.
Talking about another first, I just made my first ever trip on a train today since I got to this country 25 years ago. There is an Internet Telephony tradeshow at LA convention center I planned to go. Instead of driving like I always do, I thought, why not take a train this time? So I checked the schedule and took the MetroLink train at Irvine Station at Barranca, all the way to the Union Station at downtown LA, then took the MetroRail Red Line subway for 3 stops, then transferred to the Blue Line light rail for one stop, and here I am a couple of blocks from the LA convention center. I took the same route back in the afternoon, in reverse order, without problem. The train is nice and clean, punctual and smooth. Though it took a little more time altogether than driving, with all the stops and transfers, but you get to read and work with computer on the train if you want (some seats have table on it), without the hassle of driving. The round trip ticket price is $16, including all the transfers. If you drive, the round trip is at least 100 miles long, using 20 miles/gallon, you need to spend 5 gallons of gas. For $3.00/gallon, you need to spend $15 on gas alone. Add the parking ($12 at the Convention Center), you can see the economic sense of taking train vs driving already. Besides, you get to find your fellow citizens--the Latino passenger and the black custodian I asked questions from--are kind.
There is a new book that created quite a stir lately--Time Magazine did a cover story on it and Newsweek had a long article about it in its Religion Section. It is a book about some previously undisclosed letters Mother Teresa wrote that describe the "silence, emptiness" she feels in her over 50 year journey of faith with God. It's quite shocking for ordinary people to hear such sincere yet deeply painful testimonies from a well-known saint that the world had all come to love and admire. To the anti-religion or the atheists, however, this gives them a God-send opportunity to bash all religions and the Catholic church in particular, such as the Newsweek article did, written by an atheist and author of a recent best seller "God Is Not Great." You can almost feel him gloating in the article. But the Time Magazine's cover story is more objective and accurate, in my opinion. It not only tries to explain it from the secular points of view, but also from the theological, faith-based angle, which gives you even more admiration and understanding of Mother Teresa and her faith in the unseen God under duress. If you are interested, here is the whole story by Time Magazine:
http://www.kendallharmon.net/
Look forward to seeing you guys this Saturday: same time--8:30 AM, same place-my home yard.
KyLin is offering a special for GoodTV to promote, ie, for $9.99/month, the customer can get 31 channels, including GoodTV. For people who want to watch lots of Chinese channels and GoodTV, that's a good deal. One lady wanted to
sign up for her Mom who lives in Barstow, where they don't have much TV broadcast, even just for the GoodTV channel alone. She thinks it's worth it.
By the way, do you know who started KyLin TV, an IPTV service network targeting all Chinese around the world and has tens of thousands of customers already? William Wang, the founder/CEO of Computer Associates, the number 2 software company just next to Microsoft back in the old days. They said he's a Catholic and that may have something to do with his network carrying GoodTV channel for free. But I doubt that's the reason. I think GoodTV not charging KyLin for their content is reason enough for them to carry it for free in return, not to mention the Christian audience GoodTV
could bring them.
Talking about another first, I just made my first ever trip on a train today since I got to this country 25 years ago. There is an Internet Telephony tradeshow at LA convention center I planned to go. Instead of driving like I always do, I thought, why not take a train this time? So I checked the schedule and took the MetroLink train at Irvine Station at Barranca, all the way to the Union Station at downtown LA, then took the MetroRail Red Line subway for 3 stops, then transferred to the Blue Line light rail for one stop, and here I am a couple of blocks from the LA convention center. I took the same route back in the afternoon, in reverse order, without problem. The train is nice and clean, punctual and smooth. Though it took a little more time altogether than driving, with all the stops and transfers, but you get to read and work with computer on the train if you want (some seats have table on it), without the hassle of driving. The round trip ticket price is $16, including all the transfers. If you drive, the round trip is at least 100 miles long, using 20 miles/gallon, you need to spend 5 gallons of gas. For $3.00/gallon, you need to spend $15 on gas alone. Add the parking ($12 at the Convention Center), you can see the economic sense of taking train vs driving already. Besides, you get to find your fellow citizens--the Latino passenger and the black custodian I asked questions from--are kind.
There is a new book that created quite a stir lately--Time Magazine did a cover story on it and Newsweek had a long article about it in its Religion Section. It is a book about some previously undisclosed letters Mother Teresa wrote that describe the "silence, emptiness" she feels in her over 50 year journey of faith with God. It's quite shocking for ordinary people to hear such sincere yet deeply painful testimonies from a well-known saint that the world had all come to love and admire. To the anti-religion or the atheists, however, this gives them a God-send opportunity to bash all religions and the Catholic church in particular, such as the Newsweek article did, written by an atheist and author of a recent best seller "God Is Not Great." You can almost feel him gloating in the article. But the Time Magazine's cover story is more objective and accurate, in my opinion. It not only tries to explain it from the secular points of view, but also from the theological, faith-based angle, which gives you even more admiration and understanding of Mother Teresa and her faith in the unseen God under duress. If you are interested, here is the whole story by Time Magazine:
http://www.kendallharmon.net/
Look forward to seeing you guys this Saturday: same time--8:30 AM, same place-my home yard.
Saturday, September 1, 2007
big heart
"All you are thinking about is yourself!"-- these are angry words thrown at me when I was parting with a former business partner of mine. I was flabbergasted to hear him say so, because I thought I had done so much for him and for the partnership, and if anything, I thought he was the one who had been thinking all about himself. Still, these words kept bothering me long after. Have I been thinking all about myself all the time? Am I a selfish person? I keep asking myself. If not, why do these words bother me so much? Over time, I kind of admit I probably am a selfish person, thinking
too much about myself too much of the time. And I don't like that.
Then the other day I met with a guy with whom I went to the same Chinese church a long while back. We were kind of close, and after lunch and some exchanges, he started to complain to me about not being fed spiritually enough in another church he's been attending for over 3 years then left, and that the pastor there never seemed to care about his presence or not. "Not a single phone call from him after I left, after all those 3 long years." he lamented. What a whiner, I thought to myself, not being very Christian like, I admit. But why do you only think about what you need from the pastor, why not think that the pastor may need you too? Eventually, I told him what I thought, in a nice way, of course. I told him my personal experience is "when I went out and tried to help others, I myself got helped," "It's easy to criticize and think bad of others, when you only live in your own virtual world." I was surprised I felt that way and said those words. I heard such complaints from him before, but I didn't have such strong feelings then.
Pastor Rick Warren did a grand review of his ministry last Sunday, as some of you had heard already. As always, his plain talking and genuine passion touched me. "Why do we want to keep growing," he asked. "Because we love Jesus", he said. If it's up to himself, he said he would just build a 300 member congregation and stop there because that's the size he likes best to minister and can get good salary and then retire and play golf twice a week. But this is not about himself, it's God's ministry he is doing.
Pastor Rick is Pastor Rick because he's great Pastor Rick. But I think what makes him so great is he always has such a big heart for God's business. I pray I have that same heart all the time.
too much about myself too much of the time. And I don't like that.
Then the other day I met with a guy with whom I went to the same Chinese church a long while back. We were kind of close, and after lunch and some exchanges, he started to complain to me about not being fed spiritually enough in another church he's been attending for over 3 years then left, and that the pastor there never seemed to care about his presence or not. "Not a single phone call from him after I left, after all those 3 long years." he lamented. What a whiner, I thought to myself, not being very Christian like, I admit. But why do you only think about what you need from the pastor, why not think that the pastor may need you too? Eventually, I told him what I thought, in a nice way, of course. I told him my personal experience is "when I went out and tried to help others, I myself got helped," "It's easy to criticize and think bad of others, when you only live in your own virtual world." I was surprised I felt that way and said those words. I heard such complaints from him before, but I didn't have such strong feelings then.
Pastor Rick Warren did a grand review of his ministry last Sunday, as some of you had heard already. As always, his plain talking and genuine passion touched me. "Why do we want to keep growing," he asked. "Because we love Jesus", he said. If it's up to himself, he said he would just build a 300 member congregation and stop there because that's the size he likes best to minister and can get good salary and then retire and play golf twice a week. But this is not about himself, it's God's ministry he is doing.
Pastor Rick is Pastor Rick because he's great Pastor Rick. But I think what makes him so great is he always has such a big heart for God's business. I pray I have that same heart all the time.
Saturday, August 18, 2007
lasik surgery
I was "out of commission" for the past couple of days--couldn't read, couldn't work on computer, not even talking on the phone, as instructed by my Lasik eye doctor. This was my second Lasik surgery. I did my original one more than 1 year ago, to correct my nearsightedess. All went fine except it didn't really cure my nearsightedness 100%. They said it's because I was one of those high prescription patients and such result is normal. What I found is this insufficient curing of my myopia actually cured my presbyopia perfectly--I can read and work on computer without moving my head away from the object or wearing reading glasses. Long story short, at the end, I decided to have a "mono-vision" surgery again, one that will leave my right eye untouched, and operate only on my left eye so it can be truly 20/20 for distance vision. That's what I did yesterday.
It's second time around for me, so nothing is really new or scary, except while I was waiting outside of the operation room, I found they have a TV screen hanging above the surgery bed that showed the close-up of the whole surgery process that I could see from where I sat, so I got a free tour of what happened exactly to the patient before me: I saw how the eye's cornea flap got flipped over and tugged away, then the laser gun moved in, "da da da", applying the cutting, then the flap got moved back and "pasted" with a small brush... The whole process took less than 5 minutes. When I went in, the same process happened to me as I could tell, and I smelled the burn when the laser gun blasted on my cornea.
One thing they have you do before the surgery, is to sign a long document explaining that Lasik is not the only way to correct your eyesight and like any operation, it carries a certain risk of failure and you are aware of that, etc... This was probably the most scary part of the operation.
We all treasure our physical well being greatly, as I was signing the paper, I thought. We all want our body to be functioning 100%, if possible, not to mention not wanting any major injuries or the ultimate death to come to us. Yet we all know and learn from the bible and other teachings that this body is only temporary thing, we should not cling on to it too much... Yet we seem to like to cling on to it quite much.. How do we explain it?
One reason I guess is we do get to enjoy certain pleasures, not only physically, but emotionally and spiritually, through this body, that instinctively teaches us that in order to keep these pleasures, or to have them again, we need to keep this body we have. Or maybe it's just because we don't know there is any other way (medium) that we can have these pleasures. The religiously correct answer to this, then, is one day we won't need this body baggage or any medium to enjoy the eternal joy with the Lord any more.
Back on earth and back to now. We'll have our bi-weekly men's group gathering at my home again this Saturday morning. Come on over if you can. Instead of 9 AM, I'd like to move it a notch early, say 8:30 AM, this way we can enjoy cooler air in the morning and finish it earlier (say 10:30) so we all can go home and go about doing our weekend business if need to.
It's second time around for me, so nothing is really new or scary, except while I was waiting outside of the operation room, I found they have a TV screen hanging above the surgery bed that showed the close-up of the whole surgery process that I could see from where I sat, so I got a free tour of what happened exactly to the patient before me: I saw how the eye's cornea flap got flipped over and tugged away, then the laser gun moved in, "da da da", applying the cutting, then the flap got moved back and "pasted" with a small brush... The whole process took less than 5 minutes. When I went in, the same process happened to me as I could tell, and I smelled the burn when the laser gun blasted on my cornea.
One thing they have you do before the surgery, is to sign a long document explaining that Lasik is not the only way to correct your eyesight and like any operation, it carries a certain risk of failure and you are aware of that, etc... This was probably the most scary part of the operation.
We all treasure our physical well being greatly, as I was signing the paper, I thought. We all want our body to be functioning 100%, if possible, not to mention not wanting any major injuries or the ultimate death to come to us. Yet we all know and learn from the bible and other teachings that this body is only temporary thing, we should not cling on to it too much... Yet we seem to like to cling on to it quite much.. How do we explain it?
One reason I guess is we do get to enjoy certain pleasures, not only physically, but emotionally and spiritually, through this body, that instinctively teaches us that in order to keep these pleasures, or to have them again, we need to keep this body we have. Or maybe it's just because we don't know there is any other way (medium) that we can have these pleasures. The religiously correct answer to this, then, is one day we won't need this body baggage or any medium to enjoy the eternal joy with the Lord any more.
Back on earth and back to now. We'll have our bi-weekly men's group gathering at my home again this Saturday morning. Come on over if you can. Instead of 9 AM, I'd like to move it a notch early, say 8:30 AM, this way we can enjoy cooler air in the morning and finish it earlier (say 10:30) so we all can go home and go about doing our weekend business if need to.
Saturday, August 4, 2007
shy particles
Here is something from an interesting article I just read and would like to share with you:
You probably all know something about quantum physics, the one that says, basically, when in sub-atomic world, the act of observing affects the behavior of the observed. Therefore one can only describe the where-about of a sub-atomic particle in terms of probability, no longer a definitude.
This is interesting enough, and has been proven by many experiments, but here is another even interesting thing scientists found lately with other experiments:
In these experiments they try to observe particles of light (photons) flying toward a screen, one at a time. The screen has two slits. If each photon goes through one slit, they form two bright spots on Venetian blinds beyond the screen. If each photon somehow goes through both slits, however, they form black-and-white stripes when they land on the blinds. Physicists have long known that if a device observes the slits, no zebra pattern forms; it's as if quantum phenomena are too shy to display their magic--one particle going through two slit--when watched.
Now, scientists put detectors on the far side of the blinds. If the blinds are open and the detectors peek at the slits, photons fly through only one slit and no zebra stripes form. If the blinds are closed so the detectors cannot see the slits, photons fly through both and form the stripes. Here's the twist: if the blinds open only after photons have passed the slits but before they reach the blinds, the stripes fail to form even though the photons have seemingly done what they must to form stripes--namely, fly through two slits, as they always do when unobserved. The act of observing alters what the photons did earlier, somehow changing things so they passed through one slit and not two.
There seem to be "many histories" a photon could have, then, such as passing through one slit or two. Or "something that happens now is affected by something that happens in the future", says physicist Jeff Tollaksen of George Mason University. "It suggests that the universe has a destiny--a destiny that is out there and coming back to us from the future".
Amazing, isn't it? Does this also ring a bell, or bring back that image of "a supertrain, shuttling between the past, the present, and the future, all at the same time, whenever we do the communion together," as said in the little book "The Meal Jesus Gave Us" by N. T. Wright that we read a while back ago, Ed, Dave, and Ken?
Back to the present, or the pretty near future, this coming Saturday, the 1st week of the month, date for our men's group meeting. Feel free to come over and have quality fellowship time together 9 AM at my home, like we did last time, if you can. Let me know if you are coming, so I can have my fancy, programmable coffee maker brew 10, 9, 8, 7..., or just one cup of coffee for you and myself.
You probably all know something about quantum physics, the one that says, basically, when in sub-atomic world, the act of observing affects the behavior of the observed. Therefore one can only describe the where-about of a sub-atomic particle in terms of probability, no longer a definitude.
This is interesting enough, and has been proven by many experiments, but here is another even interesting thing scientists found lately with other experiments:
In these experiments they try to observe particles of light (photons) flying toward a screen, one at a time. The screen has two slits. If each photon goes through one slit, they form two bright spots on Venetian blinds beyond the screen. If each photon somehow goes through both slits, however, they form black-and-white stripes when they land on the blinds. Physicists have long known that if a device observes the slits, no zebra pattern forms; it's as if quantum phenomena are too shy to display their magic--one particle going through two slit--when watched.
Now, scientists put detectors on the far side of the blinds. If the blinds are open and the detectors peek at the slits, photons fly through only one slit and no zebra stripes form. If the blinds are closed so the detectors cannot see the slits, photons fly through both and form the stripes. Here's the twist: if the blinds open only after photons have passed the slits but before they reach the blinds, the stripes fail to form even though the photons have seemingly done what they must to form stripes--namely, fly through two slits, as they always do when unobserved. The act of observing alters what the photons did earlier, somehow changing things so they passed through one slit and not two.
There seem to be "many histories" a photon could have, then, such as passing through one slit or two. Or "something that happens now is affected by something that happens in the future", says physicist Jeff Tollaksen of George Mason University. "It suggests that the universe has a destiny--a destiny that is out there and coming back to us from the future".
Amazing, isn't it? Does this also ring a bell, or bring back that image of "a supertrain, shuttling between the past, the present, and the future, all at the same time, whenever we do the communion together," as said in the little book "The Meal Jesus Gave Us" by N. T. Wright that we read a while back ago, Ed, Dave, and Ken?
Back to the present, or the pretty near future, this coming Saturday, the 1st week of the month, date for our men's group meeting. Feel free to come over and have quality fellowship time together 9 AM at my home, like we did last time, if you can. Let me know if you are coming, so I can have my fancy, programmable coffee maker brew 10, 9, 8, 7..., or just one cup of coffee for you and myself.
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