rick's tweets

I am not a big fanatic of social networking sites--yes I have Facebook, LinkedIn accounts, but I rarely use them, only in response to people's "invites" or for some topical news. So when a few months ago Pastor Rick Warren encouraged people to follow him on the Twitter site (http://twitter.com/RickWarren), I signed it up with some doubt and curiosity, wondering why a pastor would think so highly of this latest cyber age fad if it indeed was one. Well, I heard Twitter's growth rate and popularity have dipped a bit lately, but am I glad I signed up and followed Pastor Rick's tweets ever since! The following are gathered from his tweets in the past few months to share with you:

Pastors should wash their own clothes, dishes and change diapers. You may be anointed but you're just human. Acts 14:15a

Thermometers copy the climate. Thermostats CHANGE it! What are you?

Jesus died for people, not principles. Pharisees care about keeping rules. Jesus cares about healing hurts. Luke 13:14-15

The myth "I can't say I'm humble" misunderstands humility. Humility is admitting I'm helpless without God. It's dependence!

People who shine from within don’t need the spotlight. Phil 2:15

When you die, you won't regret your unfulfilled dreams, just your unattempted ones. The 1st is reality; the 2nd is tragedy. Matt 9:29

Sinful inclinations AREN'T your identity! Don’t say “I’m an alcoholic (or whatever),” say “I'm a Believer who struggles with...”

Heresy-hunting lets you ignore the mess in your own life. God is more concerned about your hypocrisy than other's heresy.

For every book on serving, there's a 100 written on leading. Which have you read more of and what does that tell you? Matt 20:26

Fear-based evangelism lasts as long as the fear. You need Jesus not because you'll die tonight but because you must live tomorrow.

Some people are so open-minded their brains fall out. Prov.14:15 "Only fools believe everything they hear."

Anytime you teach about giving, the generous will smile, and the stingy will squirm. That’s what makes it fun!

Deeper levels of Fellowship: 1 Sharing together (shallowest). 2 Studying together. 3 Serving together. 4 Suffering together.

 .

You don't fully understand a thing 'til you can explain it in a simple way. Confusing people is easy. You must THINK to be simple!

You can give without loving, but you cannot love without giving. "God so loved the world that he GAVE his only son." Jn. 3:16

Advice of the First Consultant: "BUILD A TEAM! This is too much work for you, Moses. You can't do it by yourself." Exodus18:18

In every culture, profession and religion, the pros have always tried to lock out amateurs. It's why innovation happens at the fringe.

Some subgroups of Christians will be shocked when they see who is in heaven. "I have sheep that aren't of this fold"--Jesus

The greatest gift you can give someone is your time, because you'll never get it back. Your time is your life. You spell love "T.I.M.E."

Vision is NOT predicting the future. No one can. Vision is the ability to see opportunities around you NOW and jump on them!

Make the decision THEN solve the problems. "If you wait for perfect conditions you'll never get anything done." Eccl. 11:4

When Kennedy said "We're going to the moon" it was still impossible. Never confuse decision making with problem solving.

Your Life Purpose comes in three stages: 1 WHAT God wants you to do; 2 HOW & WHERE; 3 WHEN (timing). Delays between stages test your faith.

Humility isn't thinking less of yourself. It's thinking of yourself less. If you focus on others, you forget you.1 Cor. 10:24

Following Him when your heart is breaking is greater faith than praising Him when your heart is singing. Ps. 34:18

Billy Graham's counsel on false attacks: "Rick, if you wrestle with a pig, both of you will get dirty, but only one of you will like it." Pr. 26:4

My definition of success: Having those who know me best respect me most.

When a plane goes thru violent turbulence at 35,000 ft, you don’t bail out. You remain calm and trust the Pilot! Ps. 56:3

The source of a criticism doesn’t invalidate its truth. Even a broken clock is right twice a day. Discern and learn.  Prov.12:15

To insist on being “original or nothing” ensures you'll be both. Refusing to learn from models is pure and simple ego. Pr. 14:6

When I hear "I didn't get anything out of worship today" I say "Sorry but our worship wasn't done for you. It was for God." 1 Chr. 16:29

Doubts are meant to be doubted and beliefs meant to be believed. Don't get it backwards. Doubt your doubts! Believe your beliefs! Mk 9:24

"God ONLY expects me to be FAITHFUL" is a lie. He also expects you to be FRUITFUL! That proves TRUE discipleship. Jn 15:8

First Saddleback sermon on 4/4/1980: "We buy things we don't need, with money we don't have, to impress people we don't even like."

You can be a THINKER without ever DOING anything, but you'll burn out as a DOER if you don't schedule time to think. Ps. 77:12

Churches built on shaky foundations don't last. Build on The Word, not the world; on Truth, not trends; on Theology, not psychology.

To become like Jesus you must go thru all Jesus went thru: loneliness, fatigue, temptation, hurts. No shortcuts to maturity! Rom. 8:17

When morality is determined by popularity, depravity becomes normality and the death of that culture becomes an inevitability.

only god knows

Out of many things evangelical Christians say to non-believers when proselytizing, I suspect one that "pisses off" them most is the claim that those who don't believe shall not go to heaven but are doomed for life in hell.

"Who do these 'holier-than-thou' clowns think they are," they probably snap when turning their backs on these "Jesus freaks."

God only knows a true Christian is one who knows he's the lowest of the low, been to the abyss of his misery, therefore seeks refuge from the almighty at the end of his rope with utmost humility.

And not all self-professed "Christians" are guaranteed to go to heaven, anyway, says Jesus himself in the Bible. "Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evil-doers!'" (Matt. 7:22-23). He could not have put it any more blunt than this, could He?

So the real question to ask, if you want, is "who is a true follower of God?"

Only God knows.

For all that much postulation and theorizing done by the Predestinationist theologians, this is basically all they can come up with: Yes, some of us are pre-elected by God for salvation, and some are not, but we don't really know which ones are which--God alone holds the ultimate authority and knowledge to this. Really, it's not our place to even ask such question--just like the pot has no right to question the potter why it was made a particular way (Rom. 9:21).

Once for some unexpected reason I was talking about "everlasting life after death" in a social occasion (God knows I am not the proselytizing type) to some people, and one guy interjected, with honest curiosity, "I don't think I ever want an everlasting life, really. I just live my life one honest day at a time, work hard, do the best I can, and when I die, I die." I had to explain, then, "I am not looking forward to an everlasting life after death per se either.. but since the day I realized I have a spiritual life in me that's everlasting in nature, I made up my mind to cultivate it, and when I die, it just disengages from my earthly body and continues its journey into eternity.. It's like a higher standard I set for myself to pursue even while I am on earth."

Some who know me might know I have a strong mystic bend in my Christian belief. Indeed I have explored and read some books on Christian and Eastern mysticisms and practiced "contemplative prayer" for years. But lest some of my Christian friends should worry I go astray 😄 I'll echo what is concluded by an Irish Jesuit who went all the way to Japan to study and practice Zen Buddhism there for 50 years and analyzes and compares each and every elements of these two religions and explains them with perfect sense, and yet at the end he admits there is still one thing he cannot explain or compromise his Christian faith with. It is "the feeling of being loved by God," the sense of His presence even when he is in the depth of his Zen meditation. "For Zen Masters, sentiments of love for God, even for a God who is my deepest being and my truest self, are a species of illusion or makyo (魔鏡).. yet I regard these sentiments as--yes, imperfect and inadequate to express the reality, but nevertheless as true and valid and valuable religious experiences," said the Jesuit.

Christ is the reality behind these "religious experiences" that I believe in.

* 莊子與惠子游於濠梁之上。莊子曰：「鯈魚出游從容，是魚之樂也。」惠子曰︰「子非魚，安知魚之樂？」莊子曰：「子非我，安知我不知魚之樂？」惠子曰「我非子，固不知子矣；子固非魚也，子之不知魚之樂，全矣！」莊子曰：「請循其本。子曰『汝安知魚樂』云者，既已知吾知之而問我。我知之濠上也。」

I know it right here.

-- 《莊子‧秋水》篇  

paradoxical commandments

“The Paradoxical Commandments" were written by Kent M. Keith in 1968 as part of a booklet for student leaders:

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

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

3.      If you are successful, you win false friends and true enemies.  Succeed anyway.

4.      The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow.  Do good anyway.

5.      Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable.  Be honest and frank anyway.

6.      The biggest men and women with the biggest ideas can be shot down by the smallest men and women with the smallest minds.  Think big anyway.

7.      People favor underdogs but follow only top dogs.  Fight for a few underdogs anyway.

8.      What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight.  Build anyway.

9.      People really need help but may attack you if you do help them.  Help people anyway.

10.  Give the world the best you have and you'll get kicked in the teeth.  Give the world the best you have anyway.

The version found written on the wall in Mother Teresa's home for children in Calcutta:

People are often unreasonable, irrational, and self-centered.  Forgive them anyway.

           

If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives.  Be kind anyway.

           
If you are successful, you will win some unfaithful friends and some genuine enemies.  Succeed anyway.

If you are honest and sincere people may deceive you.  Be honest and sincere anyway.

What you spend years creating, others could destroy overnight.  Create anyway.

If you find serenity and happiness, some may be jealous.  Be happy anyway.

The good you do today, will often be forgotten.  Do good anyway.

Give the best you have, and it will never be enough.  Give your best anyway.

In the final analysis, it is between you and God.  It was never between you and them anyway.

someday we'll get there

This is the story of two elderly people living in a Florida mobile home park. He was a widower and she a widow. They had known one another for a number of years.

Now, one evening there was a community supper in the big activity center. These two were at the same table, across from one another. As the meal went on, he made a few admiring glances at her and finally gathered up his courage to ask her, "Will you marry me?"

After about six seconds of 'careful consideration,' she answered. "Yes, Yes, I will."

The meal ended and with a few more pleasant exchanges, they went to their respective places. Next morning, he was troubled. Did she say 'yes' or did she say 'no'? He couldn't remember. Try as he would, he just could not recall. Not even a faint memory.

With trepidation, he went to the telephone and called her. First, he explained to her that he didn't remember as well as he used to. Then he reviewed the lovely evening past. As he gained a little more courage, he then inquired of her, "When I asked if you would marry me, did you say 'Yes' or did you say 'No'?"

He was delighted to hear her say, "Why, I said, 'Yes, yes I will' and I meant it with all my heart." Then she continued, "And I am so glad that you called, because I couldn't remember who had asked me."

the other 9/11

September 11, 2001 undoubtedly was a historical day for the world and the US in particular. What happened that day and its aftermath effects were tragic and mostly negative, you may say. That same date, in a different year, however, registered another history breaking event that carried quite a different tone for the world. The following is abridged from an LA Times article I read a couple weeks ago (http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-meyer13-2009sep13,0,6751343.story):

Twenty years ago, on Sept. 11, 1989, the plug was pulled on the bathtub of Soviet empire.

At the stroke of midnight, tiny communist Hungary threw open the gates to freedom and the West. Tens of thousands of people surged across the suddenly unguarded border. It was the straw that broke the Soviet camel’s back, that started a chain of events leading to the fall of the Berlin Wall on November 9, 1989, and eventually the end of the Cold War.

How did all this get started?

The date was Aug. 19. The place: Sopron, a sleepy provincial town in western Hungary. In Moscow, Mikhail Gorbachev was at work, shaking up the old Soviet sphere. In Poland, the famous trade union known as Solidarity faced off against its communist masters.

In Hungary, a new generation of reform-minded communists had taken charge. Almost overnight, they wrote a US-style constitution and began speaking openly of a free press, free markets and free elections. Emboldened, a small group of local Sopron activists decided to celebrate the new spirit. Their modest aim: put up some tents, hire a brass band and let the beer and good vibes flow. One of the organizers came up with an especially inspired idea -- to briefly open a gate through the barbed-wire frontier to Austria, allowing people to casually stroll back and forth across the border for the first time in four decades. They called it the Pan-European Picnic.

Because anything involving the border was a matter of extreme sensitivity, their request for a permit came to the attention of Hungary's young prime minister, Miklos Nemeth, the man behind so many of the Gorbachev-like changes taking place. Immediately, a light bulb went off in his head.

Every summer, tourists from East Germany descended on Hungary, where the mixture of Marxist industrial planning with a measure of free enterprise provided things such as nice restaurants, ample food, good wine for the East German vacationers to enjoy. A mutual treaty obliged the Hungarians to ensure that East Germans did not escape to the West, though.

Earlier in 1989, however, before the seasonal onslaught of East German tourists, Nemeth had very publicly ordered the electricity in the barbed-wire border with the West turned off. Border guards began ceremoniously cutting down large swathes of the barrier -- filmed by Western TV crews summoned for the occasion. Nemeth intended this as a clear message to Hungary's East German guests: Look folks, he declared in effect, a hole in the Iron Curtain. There's nothing to prevent you from "escaping" through it to freedom.

Nemeth hoped to unleash a flood. He believed that a mass escape of East Germans from Hungary would pose an existential threat to the regime of Erich Honecker, the dictatorial boss of East Germany. He also believed that if Honecker fell, it would bring down the Berlin Wall -- and with it the entire communist bloc. Amid the chaos, he could realize his true goal. Hungary too would gain its freedom.

The problem was, Hungary's East Germans didn't seem to be getting the message. Despite Nemeth's televised border-snipping, only a handful had mustered up the courage to cross the border. And so he seized on the Pan-European Picnic.

As the day of the picnic approached, Nemeth and his team put their secret plan into action -- in cooperation with the West German intelligence service. Fliers began appearing in camps where East Germans were staying, emblazoned with the iconic image of a dove soaring in flight across the barbed-wire frontier. Come one, come all, they read. Eat, drink and be merry. Snip a piece of the Iron Curtain as a souvenir. But be careful not to stray. The border is unguarded. Why, you might just stumble into Austria and no one would notice!

Behind the scenes, buses were arranged to transport would-be escapees. Hungarian border guards were ordered to withdraw. As this new D-day dawned, the official organizers expected a few hundred people. Imagine their shock when the same scene played and replayed throughout the afternoon. Buses would arrive. East German tourists would get off, blink in confusion at the bizarre spectacle -- then dash toward the open border gate to Austria.

Fewer than 700 East Germans left that day, but it was enough. In the days after the Pan-European Picnic, what had been a fearful trickle quickly became a flood. As for Nemeth, he was proved a prophet. Within weeks, Honecker was ousted in a Politburo putsch. Within three months, the Berlin Wall fell. East Germany collapsed, revolution swept Eastern Europe and the Soviet empire was no more.

neighbors

My next door neighbor of 21 years just disappeared out of thin air.

Starting a few months ago, I commented to my wife one day that I haven't seen a shadow of our nice fellow neighbor Kent (Mr. Chubby, as my wife likes to nick-name him) or his wife around their backyard or house front for quite a while. She said she noticed the same and felt strange too. Maybe they are on a long vacation, we thought. But then another month passed, and there was still no signs of Mr. & Mrs. C. in or around their house. So one day I walked up my backyard slope and took a peek at their backyard. What I saw surprised me: the swimming pool was totally drained, and some weeds were coming out around the yard. The next day I walked up to their front door, the front yard lawn was pretty much browned out, which up to that moment I thought was because they were conserving water usage like everyone else here, maybe more extreme than others, per the water district's instruction, but then when I peeked into their front window after ringing the door bell and no one answered, I was surprised again, the room was all empty, all furniture were gone, only the curtains were left hanging. Mr & Mrs. C were indeed gone.

Looking back, for all those 21 years, all I know about Mr. C was he used to work for McDonnell Douglas, the big defense company that later got merged with Boeing, before he retired from the job and moved into this house, and started running a chemical storage monitoring business of his own. He invited me once into his house, showing the nice stone floor, living room cabinets that he built himself. He took care of his yard meticulously and once suggested (and I did) use the same gardener he used who was much more expensive but did a fine job for him (not for me though, in my opinion, so I fired him later). We also used the same pool service man for quite a few years. I also remember once he commented the smell of the barbeque we had at our backyard party was very tempting, so the next day I barbequed some for him and handed it over the backyard fence to him and his wife and they were flattered..

Other than that, it was just occasional hellos and waves and smiles when we happened to see each other while picking up mails or pulling our cars in or out of the driveways, the standard friendly but superficial howdys of suburban USA.

Still, it feels sad to see (or not see) a neighbor of 21 years disappear without a trace like this. To think, how many people have I lived next door to for over 21 years in my life? Not too many. In a way it feels like a part of my personal history was taken away all of a sudden.

Then I think of my other neighbors: The one across the street right opposite to our house. They have been here as long as we did, as the original home owners of this housing tract, for 23 years. What do I know about them? Even less than I know about Mr. & Mrs. C. For one thing, I don't even know their names. All I know is they have 3 kids that were all born after we moved here and now they are all grown up. And the other next door neighbor, they are probably the 3rd or 4th owner of the house, a middle-aged couple, that I once heard the husband is a school principal and I actually bought a book from him when they had a garage sale a couple years ago, with very little exchange of words, though.

So I told my wife it's time we got to know our neighbors better: Let's invite them over for a little backyard barbeque, say, over the Labor Day weekend? She used to drag her feet on proposals like this, due to her discomfort or unfounded fear of socializing with Caucasian people in pure English environment, but this time she agreed.

So I went over to my neighbors to give out the invitation. You should see the look of their face when I knocked on their door and they appeared. They all looked puzzled at first, as if wondering if they had done something wrong that I came over to report and discuss with. Once they heard my intention, though, they all relaxed and gladly accepted my invitation and asked if they need to bring anything.. I got their first names and phone numbers and even stepped into their houses for the first time.

     

On Sunday evening they appeared on time. Though I told them no need to bring anything, the couple next door, Joel and Paula, brought a small vase of roses picked from their own rose garden which I can see from my backyard every day. The couple across the street, Kent and Kathy, didn't come with their kids as we would like them to--the two boys were at a camp and the teen-age daughter had her own holiday plan. They toured a little of our living room and then went outside to the yard where I was finishing up my cooking at the barbeque island and sat and chatted with each other at the patio. We then ate--my wife prepared some salad (I didn't know she can make good tasty salad as she can cook good Chinese) and chow-mein and I barbequed some pre-marinated beef short ribs we bought at a Korean supermarket--and chatted under the beautiful pre-dusk sky. It turns out Joel is an elementary school principal in a neighboring city, and Kathy teaches at an elementary school just nearby our neighborhood, and Paula (Joel's wife, a retired educator herself) knew Kathy already through work but probably never gets to know each other socially like today. Kent, who me and my wife suspect is Kathy's new husband, used to work for Nortel but is now out of work, and is considering changing career path to culinary and gardening where his true passions lie..

We went inside for dessert after the meal and continued our conversation in the dining room. We talked about parental care (Joel is from Chico, a Northern California town where his 91-year-old Dad is still living in his own farm), children's education (Kathy's two boys are both computer wizards but are going to local community college and have to pay their own tuition unless they meet the grade standard Kathy sets, her 3rd kid Melanie is turning out to be a mature young woman and is considering going to medical school after high school; Joel & Paula have two grown-up sons, one is managing a restaurant business in San Francisco and the other pursuing an art career in LA), our jobs ("What's the biggest headache for an elementary school principal," I asked Joel, "The parents," he said, with a grin), and our missing neighbors (yes, everyone notices their disappearance, and according to Kathy who heard it from another neighbor, Mr. C used his house to finance a new business venture in Hawaii that went south, and as a result lost their house; they were too embarrassed to let everyone else know when they moved).

They left around 8:30. It was a pleasant little 3 hour "getting-to-know-you" party with our neighbors after living here for 23 years, finally. But better late than never, as they say. And now my wife says we should invite Kathy's 3 nice kids to dinner someday..

computers

What are computers?

Computers are like women because... 
No one but the Creator understands their internal logic.

The native language they use to communicate with other computers is incomprehensible to everyone else.

Even your smallest mistakes are stored in long-term memory for later retrieval.

As soon as you make a commitment to one, you find yourself spending half your paycheck on accessories for it.

You do the same thing for years, and suddenly it's wrong.
.
.
.

Computers are like men because... 
They are supposed to help you solve problems, but half the time they are the problem.

They have a lot of data but are still clueless.

As soon as you commit to one, you realize that, if you had waited a little longer you could have had a better model.

They hear what you say, but not what you mean.

real real

Joel Stein is one satirical writer whose columns appeared on the LA Times until the newspaper's recent cutback, and now he writes for TIME magazine on occasion. One recent column there was about his experience as a one-off comedian at Saddleback Church's Improv Program: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1910981,00.html

As typical with his style of writing, he uses his sharp tongue and quick wit to make cynical comments and poke fun at his subject of ridicule, which, in this instance, is the simpleton evangelical Christians whose lack of real-world knowledge and sophistication makes them seem gullible, unfun, and borderline dumb.

I once heard someone say that it takes a simple mind to believe in Christianity, and that's probably why America as a country has the highest percentage of Christian population among the industrialized nations, for Americans are mostly simple minded people.

Yep, that's why the much secularized Europeans and some high-brow intellectuals look down on the religious prudes here with sneers because they think they know better than the latter about the real world out there.  

Do they?

Here is what A. W. Tozer (1897-1963) has to say on the subject of what is really real and what is not in his book "The Pursuit of God":

There are those who love to poke fun at the plain man's idea of reality. They are the idealists who spin endless proofs that nothing is real outside of the mind. They are the relativists who like to show that there are no fixed points in the universe from which we can measure anything. They smile down upon us from their lofty intellectual peaks and settle us to their own satisfaction by fastening upon us the reproachful term 'absolutist.'  The Christian is not put out of countenance by this show of contempt. He can smile right back at them, for he knows that there is only One who is Absolute, that is God. But he knows also that the Absolute One has made this world for man's uses, and, while there is nothing fixed or real in the last meaning of the words (the meaning as applied to God), for every purpose of human life we are permitted to act as if there were. And every man does act thus except the mentally sick. These unfortunates also have trouble with reality, but they are consistent; they insist upon living in accordance with their ideas of things. They are honest, and it is their very honesty that constitutes them a social problem.

The idealists and relativists are not mentally sick. They prove their soundness by living their lives according to the very notions of reality which they in theory repudiate and by counting upon the very fixed points which they prove are not there. They could earn a lot more respect for their notions if they were willing to live by them; but this they are careful not to do. Their ideas are brain-deep, not life-deep. Wherever life touches them they repudiate their theories and live like other men.

The sincere plain man knows that the world is real. He finds it here when he wakes to consciousness, and he knows that he did not think it into being. It was here waiting for him when he came, and he knows that when he prepares to leave this earthly scene it will be here still to bid him good-bye as he departs. By the deep wisdom of life he is wiser than a thousand men who doubt.

He hears the sounds of nature and the cries of human joy and pain. These he knows are real. He lies down on the cool earth at night and has no fear that it will prove illusory or fail him while he sleeps. In the morning the firm ground will be under him, the blue sky above him and the rocks and trees around him as when he closed his eyes the night before. So he lives and rejoices in a world of reality.

I think it all comes down to that tree-of-knowledge vs tree-of-life analogy, Mr. know-it-all vs the down-to-earther, the forever-seeker vs the stickler, the prideful vs the grateful, that live within everyone of us every day.

May the latter overcome the former day by day.

"If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the only probable explanation is that I was made for another world." -- C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity 

kid writings

We grew up hearing our teachers/parents lamenting about our ever decreasing language proficiency (especially the written one) level, and now we say the same thing about our next generation. The following are some fun examples from Chinese class teachers in Taiwan that demonstrate the "miserable" state of their students' Chinese writing..

第一位國中國文 老師的告白我是個國中的國文老師，生平最痛苦的事情就是改作文!!

字醜就算了，還會自己學倉頡創字!!
創字就算了，還會用自己奇怪的邏輯寫句子!!
每次都改到哭笑不得 ........

========================================================

１、元旦時，我們全家一起到歷史博物館參觀「冰馬桶」…

（兵馬俑）

２、早上起床整裡「遺容」後，我們到學校集合，搭車前往墾丁畢業旅行。

〈儀容〉

３、昨晚左眼皮跳個不停，當時就覺得那是「胸罩」，果然今天皮夾被扒走了！（凶兆）

４、報上說重金屬污染過的牡蠣，可「治」癌…

（致癌）

 5 、逛完花市後，我花錢買下「賤男」，準備帶回家過年。
(劍蘭)

  6 、我認為自己是個品學兼「憂」的好學生…（優）

========================================================

這次出的作文題目是：美食與我
我非常沾沾自喜，相當期待這麼生活化又簡單的題目，
一定能讓他們發揮的淋漓盡致，
可以減輕我每次改作文到快往生的噩運！

沒想到我錯了！！！
這些天兵天將們每個都是未來的棟樑？？？

節錄一些下來：

1.我最喜歡吃的食物是生魚片，唯一美中不足的是，他總是沒煮熟。

2.我最喜歡吃的美食是青菜，青菜中最喜歡吃的美食是白菜，為什麼喜歡吃白菜呢？因為他是青菜的一種

3.我最喜歡吃外婆煮的菜，裡面包含了很多愛心，但是萬一外婆死了我就吃不到了，所以我要趁外婆還活著的時候，叫他每天煮三餐給我吃。

4.我最喜歡吃那種在外面跑的雞肉

5.媽媽很厲害，他下廚以後，可以把一顆蛋變成一顆荷包蛋

6.我最喜歡吃媽媽煮的菜，跟外面賣的差的可遠呢！

7.世界上美食很多，其中我最喜歡吃的外國料理是台南擔仔麵

 

換小學老師了：

1。題目：其中

小朋友寫：我的其中一只左腳受傷了。

2。題目：陸陸續續

小朋友寫：下班了，爸爸陸陸續續的回家了。

3。題目：又又

小朋友寫：我的媽媽又矮又高又胖又瘦。

4。題目：欣欣向榮

小朋友寫：欣欣向榮榮告白。

5。題目：天真

小朋友寫：今天真熱。

6。題目：果然

小朋友寫：昨天我吃水果 , 然後喝涼水。

7。題目：先……再……，例題：先吃飯，再冼澡。

小朋友寫：先生，再見！

8。題目：況且

小朋友寫：一列火車經過，況且況且況且況且況且況.....

Don't you love these creative kids !:)

* 有一位女子，開出的徵友條件有兩點
1.要帥
2.要有車 電腦去幫她搜尋的結果~~~~~~~
~
~
~~~~~~~~~~~~象棋 　　

greatest love of all

One evening at a small group gathering, a mother shared with us that she was giving advice to her two college age sons, that one key personality trait to look for when seeking their future soulmate should be "unselfishness," and one of her kids responded, "but Mom, that would be very difficult..".. "Do you know, we are taught to be selfish in this society."

That's quite a profound statement from a quite young man. I was impressed. 

It's easy to say that we live in the most self-gratifying, narcissistic society in human history--just look at all the "you deserve it" ads, be it a new car, a vacation, or a tasty food.. you'd wonder how we constantly battle this commercial-industrial beast that keeps luring us to go out and consume things it makes "for our own good.."

Rather than calling people "selfish," I'll say people are "self-conscious," or "self-centered" by nature. This explains why we feel shy, get embarrassed, or here's an interesting psycho analysis piece I once heard: "In a social gathering where everyone is new, you nervously think everyone else is watching what you say or do, but the truth of the matter is everyone else is all so concerned about what others think of them that the only person who really cares about what you say or do is yourself."  

In that light, people are actually cute exactly because they are so self-centered.

Another observation:

We all like to be complimented, yet we all dare not--or nobody in their right mind would--compliment ourselves. The compliments have to come from others, and they'd better be genuine, otherwise we won't be real happy either.

It seems after so much touted "self-esteem" education, we still long for every bit of recognition and appreciation from our fellow men and women.

Truth be told, by the same nature that we are made to be selfish, we are also made to need one another--for the need of getting appreciation from others, and the need of sharing what we have with others--to make us feel more complete. I remember the documentary movie "Into the Wild" where the young, idealistic lone man traveled all over the country searching for true living but ended up losing his life tragically in the Alaskan wild, wrote down on his notebook the final truth he realized: "Happiness real only when shared." 

Now I can vaguely remember, when I was little, the thought of living all by myself scared me to death--what a sad, lonely state that would be. I also remember I was disturbed when I first saw the sentence "everybody feels lonely sometimes," because it sounded so sad to me. 

But now I don't have those feelings any more--not only can I live and work by myself well, I can even say, as many others do, that I enjoy my time alone quite much.

Sign of maturity, maybe. But, deep down inside, I still wonder if this is a learned temperament molded by the strictures of the environments I went through life with. 

I also recall this saying: "One needs to find his true self first, so he can then voluntarily give it up, and work for the greater good."

I agree with that, except I think sometimes it's really hard to separate the process of finding one's true self from the process of working for the greater good. As a matter of fact, I am almost positive that one needs to have that greater good identified first before he can go out and  find his true little self.

Years ago there was a popular song titled "The Greatest Love of All." The lyrics talks about searching for a hero/role model since childhood but couldn't find one, until finally she realizes she has to depend on herself alone and, "The greatest love of all.. is easy to achieve.. Learning to love yourself, it is the greatest love of all." This is in line with the mainstream mottoes "You are the greatest,"  "You can be anything you want to be," so prevalent in our society they sound like commercial sound bites. Not that such motivational jingles are totally wrong per se, but I just wonder one day when the kids find out that deep down they are not that great, that they just cannot always be what they want to be, no matter how hard they try, do they have a fallback plan? i.e., do they have something bigger than themselves they can admit their limitations to and draw new strength from?

I think that young man mentioned at the beginning of this writing could have.

city run

The city I live in, Laguna Hills, holds a yearly half-marathon and 5K run event on Memorial Day weekend over the past 10 years. I thought about participating in it a few times but never did. I finally did it this year: On the Sunday before the Memorial Monday, I went to the Laguna Hills Mall, where at the center court they had stands set up for the event's last minute registration. I filled out the application, paid the fee ($28), got the packet (a T-shirt, the "bib" and the electronic tag, some flyers and coupons), and went home.

The next morning, I woke up early and drove to Laguna Hills Mall, where the run was scheduled to start at 7:30 AM. It was a little before 7 AM, but plenty of cars and a crowd were gathering already at the mall's parking lot and the street nearby where the run would start, in a festive mood. Since this was my first time here (for the life of me, the only other time I had participated in an event like this was a few years back in Taipei city when I happened to be there and they happened to have a multi-national company sponsored half-marathon and 3K event with the city), I checked if my bib was pinned at the right place (it should be at the front side of the shirt, not the back), and if I were wearing the tracking tag correctly (circled underneath the shoe lace) like everyone else. Then I joined the crowd, waited behind the start line while stretching my limbs a bit for warm-up. I got my bib number at 2595, and I saw some people wearing 3-digit bib numbers, so I guessed there must be a couple thousand people registered for this event. As for the crowd's makeup, it's quite a toss-up: men and women, young and old, teens in team, kids with parents, boys with girl friends, mothers with babies in strollers.. athletic looking and weight challenged.. a lively sample of people of all kinds living here. (Not many Asians, though).

Then the time came, and after a short speech and a Memorial Day observance, the march started. Because of the crowd size, the start line stretched about 100 yards long, and I was at about the latter third of it. It was slow moving in the beginning, but pretty soon it spanned out, and everyone had plenty of room to move about (the thing I remember most about the Taipei run was the crowd was so dense from beginning till end I had no way of maneuvering during the whole run).

Right after we left the mall, we ran inside the city of Laguna Woods, the gated retirement community where youngsters like me are not allowed to enter, except today, and they even had amicable residents lining up on the curb cheering us on, and water stands where they handed you the water and you drank and then threw the cups away, just like the professionals did on TV. I took a few looks at the community, feeling pleasure and ease in the morning cool, and checked out a few of my fellow runners as I passed them by. I noticed many, especially the younger ones, were wearing their iPod earphones, probably the same way they did with their regular jogging. I also saw one woman running with a cell phone on a holster, must be quite serious about keeping in touch with people while on the run.

We came out of Laguna Woods after traversing a few blocks there and got back on the Laguna Hills city street Paseo de Valencia, where the police had cordoned it off so no cars could be on it except we runners. It came to my mind that I drive my car on this road almost daily, but this is the first time ever I had my feet solidly on the asphalt ground. That feels great.

From here on, we were working on our last one K of the run (an official stood at the checkpoint and announced the elapsed time to every passing runner). Now here we had a little uphill slope to overcome, which again in car you wouldn't feel a thing, but on feet the law of gravity did pull a drag on you. No big deal, I told myself, I exercise on my treadmill everyday with the maximum grade setting, just hang in there and it will pass in no time.

And in no time it did pass, and now I was trotting downhill, and I could see the end clearly, right at the corner of Valencia and Alicia Pkwy, where I just needed to turn right and then into the entrance of the community center where the run would end. Up till now, I had not thought about running for a ranking--all I wanted was to have some fun doing this--but now I recalled I seemed to have passed quite a few runners along the way, and as I looked up, I could see there were only about 50 people ahead of me.. so, who knew, maybe I'd got some chance of getting some good ranking (they pick the top 3 runners of each age group for awards) out of this. So I began to guard my place, tried passing a few more runners when I could.. Whoa, right before I turned the corner, a tall white guy sped past me.. A few seconds later, a young woman with her stroller whizzed right by me too.. Admirable last minute sprinters, I said to myself.. Seconds later, I turned into the community center entrance, and I saw a big timer panel flashing 27 minute something. I had made it!

There were a few booths and stands at the end line reception area, most touting sports related products and services. I was a bit exhausted, so I spared no time there and took the shuttle back to the mall, found my car, and drove home. It was not even past 9 AM, my wife was still sleeping. I took a shower, had my coffee, and felt never better before!

********************************************************************************************************

A few after-words:

* I got the run's result a couple days later from the event's web site (see attached). It turns out there were a total of 1028 people participating in the run, and I was ranked 298th over all, 202th among all male runners, and 17th in my age group (50-54 years old). The number one runner finished with 15:43, (and I with 27:46), and there are many others in the below 20 minutes range. These "professional grade" runners probably zipped through the race long before I even had a chance to see their backs. Talk about "short-sightedness," those 50 or so people I saw in front of me before the finish line were only those a couple minutes ahead of me!

* I felt so great about the run I joined another 5K run within the same week, this time the Saddleback Community 5K Run sponsored by Saddleback Church, on Saturday. It was a much smaller crowd (about 200 runners, by my estimate), but as fun, or even more so, than the Laguna Hills': It had better after-the-run hosting--more free refreshments: cookies, yogurt, fruits, juice, coffee, and a gift raffle, and this time I did win a 3rd place award within my age group (pictures attached), due to the smaller participant pool!

Come join the fun next year!

dogs

Why Dogs Are Man's Best Friends:

Dogs love it when your friends come over.
Dogs don't care if you use their shampoo.
Dogs think you sing great.
Dogs don't expect you to call when you are running late.
The later you are, the more excited dogs are to see you.
Dogs will forgive you for playing with other dogs.
Dogs don't notice if you call them by another dog's name.
Dogs are excited by rough play.
Dogs understand that farts are funny.
Dogs can appreciate excessive body hair.
Anyone can get a good-looking dog.
If a dog is gorgeous, other dogs don't hate it.
Dogs like it when you leave lots of things on the floor.
Dogs never need to examine the relationship.
A dog's parents never visit.
Dogs love long car trips.
Dogs understand that instincts are better than asking for directions.
Dogs like beer.
Dogs don't cry.
Dogs don't hate their bodies.
Dogs don't shop.
No dog ever bought a Kenny G album.
Dogs never criticize.
Dogs agree that sometimes you have to raise your voice to get your point across.
Dogs never expect gifts.
Dogs don't worry about germs.
Dogs don't want to know about every other dog you ever had.
Dogs like to do their snooping outside as opposed to in your wallet, desk, and the back of your sock drawer.
Dogs don't let magazine articles guide their lives.
Dogs would rather have you buy them a hamburger dinner than a lobster one.
You never have to wait for a dog. They're ready to go 24 hours a day.
Dogs have no use for flowers, cards, or jewelry.
Dogs don't borrow your shirts.
Dogs never want foot-rubs.
Dogs enjoy heavy petting in public.
Dogs find you amusing when you're drunk.

I like that "Dogs think you sing great." :)
What's your favorite?

***************************************************************************************************
This email serves as a reminder of a bi-weekly (1st and 3rd Saturdays of the month) men's group fellowship meeting, which usually takes place at my home in Laguna Hills. However, this Saturday we'll have a minor change of venue: Instead of meeting at my home, we will go out to a motel in Anaheim, serving breakfast to the people in need there, along with some Saddleback Church members. Please feel free to join us if your heart desires and schedule permits:  

Time: 8:30-11:30 AM
Place: Evergreen Royalle Motel, 1919 E Center St, Anaheim, CA 92805

You can find the map for the motel here:

http://www.google.com/calendar/event?action=VIEW&eid=cWF1OTU0cTdkc3RzOGluOXBuOXZlazhvNWcgZHNsaWFvODg4QGNveC5uZXQ&tok=MjUjaXJ2aW5lLm91dHJlYWNoQGdtYWlsLmNvbWViNGU4ZDg1Yjc5NzAzMDViYjRhYzRkODA1NDJmYWY2ZjFhNWM4MDE&ctz=America%2FLos_Angeles&hl=en