Love like fire

Place me like a seal over your heart,    
    like a seal on your arm;
for love is as strong as death,    
    its jealousy unyielding as the grave.
It burns like blazing fire 
    like a mighty flame.

(Song of Songs 8:6)

“Like a Weaned Child is My Soul”

“Weaned from what? Self sufficiency, self will, self seeking. From creatures and the things of the world—not; indeed, as to their use, but as to any dependence upon them for his happiness and portion…Yet this experience is no easy attainment. The very form of expression — “I have behaved and quieted myself”, reminds us of some risings which were with difficulty subdued. There is a difference here between Christ and Christians. In him the exercise of grace encountered no adverse principles; but in them it meets with constant opposition. The flesh lusteth against the spirit, and when we would do good evil is present with us; hence the warfare within.

So it is with “the child that is weaned.” The task to the mother is trying and troublesome. The infant cries, and seems to sob out his heart. He thinks it very hard in her, and knows not what she means by her seeming cruelty, and the mother’s fondness renders all her firmness necessary to keep her at the process; and sometimes she also weeps at the importunity of his dear looks, and big tears, and stretched out hands. But it must be done, and therefore, though she pities, she perseveres; and after a while he is soothed and satisfied, forgets the breast, and no longer feels even a hankering after his former pleasure. But how is the weaning of the child accomplished? By embittering the member to his lips; by the removal of the object in the absence and concealment of the mother; by the substitution of other food; by the influence of time.

So it is with us. We love the world, and it deceives us. We depend on creatures, and they fail us, and pierce us through with many sorrows. We enter forbidden paths, and follow after our lovers; and our way is hedged up with thorns; and we then say, “Return unto thy rest, O my soul; and now, Lord, what wait I for? My hope is in thee.” The enjoyment of a greater good subdues the relish of a less. What are the indulgences of sin, or the dissipations of the world to one who is abundantly satisfied with the goodness of God’s house, and is made to drink of the river of his pleasures?”

William Jay [1769-1853], in “Evening Exercises for the Closet”

Blue jays, you fly by,

Pick me a branch, or silver lining,

Like the warm fabrics flapping against the wind,

Hung across lines and lines of sunshine.

Orange red rays, you flashed by,

Pick me your memory, or time,

Like your mother's warmth against the universe of darkness,

Breaking through my mind.

------

I put up the bunting, you coloured, and You hung up the skies.

-----------

Flying to heaven

Thought #1

During the flight to Taipei, when the plane makes a big turn to land, maybe due to turbulence, sometimes the plane will drop suddenly like a roller-coaster, fell low enough that a few female passengers gave out short, light screams. A few times the plane gave us the weightless feel. How did it really feel like, like a thrill to me,  but it felt like a great fear to my sis, and for some others in the plane, it felt a little closer to death.

So what would you do if it is really to the inevitable death, or to put it in another way, to the inevitable transformation to the realm of eternity. Do you remember your first flight experience, we've heard so much of the grandeur of flying, the unimaginably practical way of shooting above the clouds. And we finally experienced it. One day, we will get our first & only experience of this unimaginably practical way of transitioning through the realms, leaving our physical bodies, transcending to our eternal homes. How would it feel like, maybe like a thrill to some, or for some others, like a great fear. For most, it felt like death. But it is only an unexpected metamorphosis. This is life assured.

By the way, faith always land well.

Home

It's time to go home after 9 days of traveling in Taiwan. Such a colorful trip involving hiking mountain, passing through caves n risking rock fall; enjoying the train rides pass east coast beaches, rivers and towns; experiencing typhoon rain n winds in a mountainous area; talking n receiving hospitality from the locals, walking city streets n yumming night markets, watching cool night basketball matches with DJ music n live commentary; and finally, witnessing Jeremy Lin running across the street full of fans, attending to a press conference.

Home..

The Serenity Prayer

God grant me the serenity 
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.

Living one day at a time;
Enjoying one moment at a time;
Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace;
Taking, as He did, this sinful world
as it is, not as I would have it;
Trusting that He will make all things right
if I surrender to His will;
That I may be reasonably happy in this life
and supremely happy with Him
Forever in the next.
Amen

-Reinhold Niebuhr

Say

Step by step he goes
Down the valley of stairs
Sewing dots of memory & wishes
Sayings of old aunties & warm dishes

宇圓, 魚丸, 微笑
颱, 小尖叫, 打烊, 微笑

Has he heard
The saying of winds, like gentle fog
Hiking the mountains

A forgotten story remembered
Covering the piers

A tear has fallen in the rain
豪雨落淚了，累。

你聽到了嗎
悲情城市淒然淚下後之笑容

Beauty in brokenness,
Made new.

記憶九份..

Memories..