My First Messiah Concert

beautiful beyond words.

even IF there wasn't a single audience that turned up tonight, it was still well worth it - all for the audience of One. Who are we mere human creatures to offer our applauses and compliments, when in fact, all that truly matters, is the joy and approval of One?

you're never struggling alone...

"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows. If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer. And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort. "

-2 Corinthians 1:3-7

Crystal Mountain

Blue Mountain's overrated. Or perhaps a little amateur like me just doesn't know how to appreciate one of the most prized and valued beans, dare i say, worldwide. But of course, passing judgment based on just that one/two cuppa is like closing a case prematurely.

i found solace in "Tea & Co." today. It's by far the best, non-chained, cafe in Hirosaki. One that I can truly say I'm satisfied with. Since Blue Mountain doesn't rank very high in my humble preferences, Crystal Mountain sounded tempting. Or perhaps, having encountered it for the very first time is in itself tantalizing enough.

This Cuban beauty's smoothness took me by surprise. The pleasant after-taste is not unlike that of the Colombian beans. It makes you want to make sure you're making a good spread over your taste palate.

I've always enjoyed doing work accompanied by a good cuppa. Perhaps the long deprivation of real coffee amplified the pleasure and joy of this cuppa - it demanded my full attention while delivering its promises.

A good cuppa brings peace, calmness and ease into one's heart.

culture shock

i have always associated "shock" with something really vigorous, like maybe an electric shock (u know, the vigorous shaking perhaps only seen in cartoons). so when culture shock was first suggested to me recently, the idea received an instantaneous nonchalant dismissal.

but somewhere in my mind surfaced the whole list and description of culture shock symptoms - things to look out for in our mentees (Otago International Mentor Programme training) as they make transitions to a new environment.

it's not the shock i had in mind. without the visible vigorous effects of an electric shock, often unrecognized and dismissed.

if u ask me, it's like longer-term extended pms.

perspectives

often in a foreign environment, where one's closest friends and family's thousands of miles away; when one's quite sure one's made for the tropical weather and wondering what one's doing living in a snow globe... there's a tendency for things to get blown out of proportion in one's little pessimistic mind.

as i sat glazy-eyed in class today, watching the snow outside being blown, almost in a rude fashion, by the violent wind, i was kinda expecting the next moment to be one of chaos. like how u pick up a snow-globe and start to give it a vigorous shake.

i've been losing little things here and there. but the blow was bigger when i dropped my beannie. in my dismay i imagined my ears following suit.

in times like this, i tell myself: it must be pms. and it's not the end of the world.

From Loneliness to Solitude

As the theologian Paul Tillich said, "Our language has widely sensed the two sides of being alone. It has created the word 'loneliness' to express the pain of being alone, and it has created the word 'solitude' to express the glory of being alone."

(quoted from Jenny Schroedel in http://www.boundless.org/2005/articles/a0001611.cfm)

My training from loneliness to solitude had perhaps begun in Dunedin, even before I was aware of it. In the process, I've learnt that, the answer to one's loneliness is often not the company of another. In fact, I don't think even when there are two lonely people existing in the same place, at the same time, that their answer to their loneliness is each other.

AoHako KGK Camp

Psalm 51:12 (NLT)

"Restore to me again the joy of your salvation, and make me willing to obey you."