Thursday, March 31, 2005

Haircut

Got a haircut today. When I arrived at home afterwards, I looked in the mirror and was happy.

I remember when I was younger I used to look in the mirror after a haircut and hate myself. But as I get older, I find I'm happier and more comfortable with who I am.

Not sure if it's maturity or wisdom or if I'm just getting used to my wretchedness.

Sunday, March 27, 2005

Easter Sunday

Hallelujah!

Hallelujah, for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth.

The kingdom of this world
is become the kingdom of our Lord
and of his Christ;
and he shall reign for ever and ever.

King of Kings, and Lord of Lords.
Hallelujah!

---

Halleluja! Denn der allmächtige Gott hat das Reich eingenommen.

Es sind die Reiche der Welt
Unsers Herrn und seines Christus worden,
Und er wird regieren
Von Ewigkeit zu Ewigkeit.

Ein König aller Könige,
Und ein Herr aller Herrn.

Halleluja.

Georg Friedrich Händel, 1685 – 1759
Messiah, 1742

Saturday, March 26, 2005

Holy Saturday

Rest Sweetly .. Sweetly Rest

We bow our heads in tears and sorrow.
Hearts cry to Thee, O Saviour blest.
Rest Thou sweetly, sweetly rest.
Death that holds Thee in its keeping,
When its bonds are loosed by Thee,
Shall become a welcome portal,
Leading man to life immortal
Where he shall Thy glory,
he shall Thy glory see.
Saviour blest, slumber on Thy Father’s breast.

We bow our heads in tears and sorrow.
Hearts cry to Thee, O Saviour blest.
Rest Thou sweetly, sweetly rest.

---

Wir setzen uns mit Tränen nieder
Und rufen dir im Grabe zu:
Ruhe sanfte, sanfte ruh!
Ruht, ihr ausgesognen Glieder!
Euer Grab und Leichenstein
Soll dem ängstlichen Gewissen
Ein bequemes Ruhekissen
Und der Seelen Ruhstatt sein.
Höchst vergnügt schlummern da die Augen ein.

Wir setzen uns mit Tränen nieder
Und rufen dir im Grabe zu:
Ruhe sanfte, sanfte ruh!

Johnann Sebastian Bach, 1685 - 1750
St. Matthews Passion, 1727

Friday, March 25, 2005

Good Friday

Litany

Man of sorrows, wrapt in grief,
bow thine ear to our relief;
thou for us the path hast trod
of the righteous wrath of God;
thou the cup of fire has drained
till its light alone remained.
Lamb of love! We look to thee:
hear our mournful litany.

By the garden, fraught with woe;
whither thou full oft wouldst go;
by thine agony of prayer
In the desolation there;
by the dire and deep distress
of that mystery fathomless;
Lord, our tears in mercy see:
hearken to our litany.

By the chalice brimming o’er
with disgrace and torment sore;
by those lips which fain would pray
that it might but pass away;
by the heart which drank it dry,
lest a rebel race should die;
by thy pity, Lord, our plea:
hear our solemn litany.

Man of sorrows! Let thy grief
purchase for us our relief;
Lord of mercy! Bow thine ear,
slow to anger, swift to hear;
by the cross’s royal road
lead us to the throwne of God,
there for aye to sing to thee
heaven’s triumphant litany.


Joseph Parry, 1841 - 1903

Maundy Thursday

Mystery

Now, my tongue, the mystery telling,
of the glorious body sing,
and the blood, all price excelling,
which the nation's Lord and King,
once on earth among us dwelling,
shed for this world's ransoming.

That last night, at supper lying
with the twelve, his chosen band,
Jesus with the law complying
keeps the feast its rites demand;
then, more precious food supplying,
gives himself with his own hand.

Word made flesh, by word he maketh
very bread his flesh to be;
man in wine Christ's blood partaketh:
and if senses fail to see,
faith alone the true heart waketh
to behold the mystery.

Therefore we, before him bending,
this great sacrament revere;
faith her aid to sight is lending;
though unseen, the Lord is near;
ancient types and shadows ending,
Christ our paschal Lamb is here.

Glory let us give, and blessing,
to the Father and the Son;
honour, thanks and praise addressing
while eternal ages run,
and the Spriti's power confessing,
who from both with both is one.

St. Thomas Aquinas, 13th Century
translated by Edward Caswall, 1814-1878 and the compilers
Paris, 1881

Wednesday, March 23, 2005

How Embarrassing...

Today is a special day for two reasons: it's my dad's birthday, and it's my parent's wedding anniversary.

How embarrassing .. I don't even know how old my father is turning, and for how many years my parents have been married. I need to make more effort to stay connected to my family.

Happy birthday dad .. God willing, many more to come! Happy anniversary mom & dad .. thanks for showing us what commitment looks like.

Tuesday, March 22, 2005

Modern Hope(lessness)

In tonight's theology class, we talked about Christian hope, or the lack of it in the chuch. Ever wonder why we lack confidence in the message of hope we have? Here are some thoughts:

* Individualism - faith used to be communal, or at least it encouraged community-building. Not anymore .. it's all about me now. After all .. being communal implies I have to make myself vulnerable & we wouldn't want that now would we....

* Control - that's right .. it's all about control, thanks to Francis Bacon and his "inductive" method of science.

* Rationalism - science substitutes mystery.

* Reason - liberal theology throws out the mysterious, while conservatives embrace "evidentialism".

* Factualism - we all want "objective factual truth". Where can we get it? According to Renee Decartes, the only starting place of knowledge is .. guess who: me (see individualism).

* Rejection of tradition - the future is always better than the present, and definitely better than the past. The result? A rootless faith. Maybe sola scriptura (Scripture alone) wasn't such a good idea after all..

* Practical atheism - it's tempting to live as though God doesn't exist. This is because we treat God as the "absentee landlord" who created the world and then sat back to watch it unfold, and besides, we seem to be doing fine with our own ideals of freedom, equality, and fraternity. Or are we..?

Yep .. modernism sure has a stranglehold on our beloved church. Solution? I have some thoughts (we talked about that too) .. but that'll be for another day. For starters though, we'll say that something along the lines of what Walter Brueggemann calls hope from the Nullpunkt (Ground Zero) is needed. God is not the victim of unforseen circumstances. Israel always reached out to God in her worst time of crisis, and this is exactly when prophets were raised, uttering words of hope (and warnings). I wonder if God will rescue the church at a time when she has no one left to turn to but him.

I hope the church in the West reaches this place soon .. very soon.

Monday, March 21, 2005

Palm Sunday

The next day the large crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, crying out, 'Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!'
John 12:12-13

Today was Palm Sunday. What a lovely evening service we had at our church.

It started with a reading from John 12:12-19, Jesus' entry into Jerusalem. Afterwards, we sang a few upbeat songs of worship: "You are the Sovereign I AM", "We are Conquerors", and "Hail the Lamb", before "All Glory, Praise, and Honour" slowed down the tempo.

Next we read John 19:1-16, followed by Neil's sermon: A Place of Destiny. He reminded us that Christ's destiny was the cross, and indeed, the cross is what gives each of us destiny and purpose.

Afterwards we had a stirring time of prayer and reflection. David read from Isaiah 53, "by His stripes we are healed," and Anna prayed: "Father, thank you for the Passion of your dear Son Jesus Christ".

The atmosphere became somber, and we entered into a time of reflection of our Lord's suffering. "O the deep deep love of Jesus", "I will Sing your Praises", and "Here I am to Worship" were profoundly meaningful songs, followed by the beautiful hymn, "When I Survey the Wondrous Cross".

David blessed parishioners with Philippians 2: Christ "humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross". The Lights dimmed, and the cross at the back of the church shone brightly. My heart became heavy.

A Youth Ensamble sang Agnus Dei in the Postlude:

O Lamb of God, that takest away the sin of the world, have mercy upon us. O Lamb of God, that takest away the sin of the world: grant us thy peace.

The service ended in silence. Holy Week has begun.

Saturday, March 19, 2005

Outside The Box

About a month ago I ate breakfast at the Cafe Marseilles (Cornwall Ave, Kitsilano) with my friend Rudy. We were lamenting the fact that U2 tickets were so expensive.

He'd just bought two tickets to their concert at almost $200 a pop, but was realizing that as much as he loves the band - they're after all the biggest band in the world - he could not justify buying tickets at such a high price. He decided right there & then that he was going to sell the tickets at a profit, since they were in such high demand.

I laid into him, asking him how he could justify selling these tickets for a profit, given that we'd just finished lamenting how expensive these tickets were. A discussion about "ethics in the free market" ensued, and I didn't make too much more of it afterwards, until a few weeks ago when I met up with him again and he told me that he'd decided to raffle off the tickets, and give all the proceeds to Hope International. In addition, he was going to include in the donations the money he spent on the tickets.

Amazing! I'm humbled by the fact that even though I had a "holier than thou" attitude throughout this discussion, something good still came of it. Not only is someone going to go to the concert at an amazingly low price (raffle tickets are $5 each), but as he said it: "some kid in Africa will get to drink clean water because of the money we raise in the raffle".

Kudos to Rudy for thinking outside the box. To find out more info, or better yet, to buy tickets .. check out the following link:
http://www3.telus.net/public/youtwo/

Disorder

I can't wait for this semester to be over. My apartment's a mess .. there are clothes, books, receipts (why do I even keep them?!?), bank statements, & "sale" coupons lying all over the place. I can't even eat on my table anymore! It's getting to me, & I've gotta do something about it.

I think I'll dedicate the last two weeks of April to spring-cleaning: getting rid of old clothes, cd's, & books, cleaning the apartment, & then, yes, only then, will I allow myself to enjoy my lovely hammock again.

Friday, March 18, 2005

A Difficult Week

It's been a difficult week, for several reasons, but there's one overwhelming reason that is on my mind tonight.

Stanley J. Grenz, professor of theology at Carey Theological College, and frequent professor at Regent College, passed away on the morning of March 12, 2005 of a massive brain hemorrhage.

I never had a class with Stan, but I heard him speak a couple of times over the past few years. In fact, in November of last year I met him personally when he gave a lecture on "Rediscovering the Triune God: The Trinity in Contemporary Theology". Before the lecture began I introduced myself to him, and asked him a few questions about the topic for the evening. He was warm, friendly, and approachable.

After the lecture finished, I purchased one (of the 25!) books he's published: "Theology for the Community of God." As I left the bookstore, I noticed him standing in front of the book table. I approached him, got out a pen, and asked if he could sign the book. He smiled, took the book, and wrote: "May God continue to energize your life and witness. Stan Grenz."

Today he is in a better place. A place where there is no suffering. But today we mourn as the people of God. A great man of God is no longer with us. We pray for comfort for his wife, his children, and his colleagues.

Stanley J. Grenz (1950 - 2005).

Below are some links that indicate the impact Stan had on those who knew him:

Brian McLaren's Reflections
Regent College Student Tributes
Regent College Eulogy for Stan
Regent College Bookstore Blog

Tuesday, March 15, 2005

Fútbol

This past weekend I sent out an email to a few friends of mine, asking them if they want to go to the greatest (sporting) event on earth: the World Cup of Fußball next year in Germany. To my delight, 3 have replied so far, all of them very keen on going. Heck, one of them is even planning to bring his wife! Good work...!!!

How did he find a woman interested in going to the World Cup anyways? Well .. that's a question to tackle on another day. But a good question indeed...

Following USA 1994, France 1998, & Japan/Korea 2002, Deutschland 2006 will hopefully be the 4th consecutive Copa Mundial I'll attend. This will keep alive my dream to attend every World Cup for the rest of my life.

Saturday, March 12, 2005

Timmy's

My friend told me last week that her favourite comfort food was Sapporo Ichiban soup .. that Japanese brand famous for their simple tv commercials.

Sapporo Ichiban Soup

Ever since she shared this w/ me, I've been wondering about what my comfort food is: German Rollkuchen? Sopa paraguaya? Hmmm. Identity crisis.

Then, this afternoon, it came to me: Timmy's chilly in a bread bowl: what more can a man ask for on a Friday nite? Add in a coffee & a doughnut & you've got a comfort meal!

So tonight I went to Timmy's for dinner (but I didn't have coffee b/c I gave it up for lent). Yep, I know myself better tonight than I did last night.

Timmy's

Wednesday, March 09, 2005

History of Cub

Don't worry .. this is not my life history. But I thought I'd fill you in on why I'm calling myself 'cub'. It goes back to my university days @ TWU (www.twu.ca). Back then, I was given two nicknames by my soccer team: cougar & cub.

The first one I was given b/c @ the time I liked John Cougar Mellencamp. Remember "Cherry Bomb", "Born in a Small Town"? Ahhhhhh.....those were the 80's. Anyways, one of the guys on my soccer team started calling me cougar .. & it just kinda took off from there.

Now onto the second one. In the early 90's an indie band named "Cub" came onto the scene in Vancouver. I even managed to find a little info about them, even though as far as I know the band is now defunct: http://www.canoe.ca/IndieBands/band1051.html. Regardless, they played an "upbeat style of sweet pop music" (as per website above).

The problem was that most of my friends, except one loyal buddy, hated the band, b/c the music was too poppy, and the talent of the band was .. well .. questionable. Basically, their cd's were good, but live performances 'lacked a little', shall we say. (Their drummer was especially talent-challenged. Keeping a steady, constant rhythm was tricky for her, and this posed a problem b/c most of their songs had the same poppy beat. I think eventually she was fired and replaced by someone else who if I remember correctly wasn't much better).

My friends couldn't understand why I liked the band .. they were dumbfounded .. bewildered. And it was in that milleu that one of my buddies, "Goose", started calling me cub. Well .. & the rest is history. Cougar was replaced by Cub, which is fine w/ me, b/c I like cubs much better than cougars, and furthermore, if I had to choose b/w Cub & the Backstreet Boys, Debbie Gibson, or Frankie Goes to Hollywood, I'd choose CUB everytime.

Peace.
cub

Tuesday, March 08, 2005

An Online Diary?

Kinda scary .. writing my thoughts for everyone to see. But I've seen how some friends of mine post their lives online for the world to see, and I'm still friends with them even after all the dirt I've uncovered in their lives. Hopefully they'll still accept me after they find out how muddy my life is!

Come to think of it .. we all have a dark side to us, right? The question is, are we humble enough to share it with those closest to us? I have a feeling that it will be a cathartic process. At least for me......

But there'll be plenty of opps to share the positives too. Indeed, lots of positive things are happening .. and I am excited to share them also.

So .. who is this blog (diary) for? Well .. primarily my family and friends, especially those who don't live close to me. It seems to me that this is the best way to keep everyone in the loop as to the goings on in my life. But .. in the end, seeing that an online blog is open and accessible to all, I welcome bloggers & cyber-surfers to take in my life too (you must be really bored!!!)

Sharing my thoughts in this way is exciting, but the aim here is a two-way conversation. I invite you to post your comments, opinions, and feedback too. That way I can find out what you're up to also.

OK .. enough for one day.

Peace.
cub