Her Birthday

Today was a really good day.

After class in the morning I took AEK out for a birthday lunch. We went to the Samosa Garden on Kingsway .. so yummy! I think that's one of my favourite restaurants in Vancouver!

Afterwards we we went to my apartment and had a nap. Napping after a huge meal is sooooo good!

She liked my birthday presents too, which is a good thing! I gave her a LA Dodgers t-shirt, a bar of aroma-soap (grape), and a birthday card. She seemed thrilled .. which is good. I like buying things for her, but I'm not always sure if she'll like what I pick.

In the evening I went to church, for the last night of Christianity Explored. I had a good six weeks, and made some good friends. We decided that after my Greek final exams on August 12th (still soooo far away), we'd go out and reconnect as a group, over a nice meal.

I came home and now I'm exahausted. I'm gonna go to bed now, and sleep until 3am. Then I'm gonna get up and study. Tomorrow's my first Greek exam. One week's almost done. Six more to go.

The Word

Classical Koine Greek:

ΙΩΑΝΝΗΝ 1:1-2
'Εν áρχη 'ην 'o λογος,
καί 'o λογος 'nς πpος τον Θεον,
καί Θεον 'ης 'o λογος.
Ο'υτος 'ην ‘ev áρχη πpος τον Θεον.

Literal English Translation:

JOHN 1:1-2
In beginning was the word,
and the word was with the God,
and the Word was a God.
This was in beginning with the God.

Modern English Translation (English Standard Version):

John 1:1-2
In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God,
and the Word was God.
He was in the beginning with God.
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Here is an example of the importance and difficulty of biblical translation and interpretation. The translation of John 1:1-2 from classical Greek to modern English has a few interesting points.

* and the word was a God (original) --> and the Word was God (modern)
* This was in the beginning with God (original) --> He was in the beginning with God (modern)

The implication of this slight difference in interpretation results in two views: one is that Christ is the Son of God, a created word of God, not divine; the other, that Christ is the Son of God, the uncreated Word, co-equal and co-divine with God the Father.

Orthodox historical Christianity teaches the second view.

Given this slight difference, I could get nervous and wonder whether Scripture as we have it is trustworthy. How do I know that the translation is correct? Were the translators trustworthy?

To me, this slight difference in interpretation from the ancient to the current is an example of how we cannot separate ourselves from our spiritual forefathers, at least as far as orthodoxy is concerned. In addition to my firm belief that the Holy Spirit is presently at work in illuminating our minds when we read Scripture, I also stand on the firm ground of church history and tradition, thanks to the apostles, the early church fathers, and the subsequent believers, who faithfully interpreted and passed on the faith from generation to generation.

I find this to be a beautiful display of God's sovereignty. His Holy Spirit has been present all the way, leading, guiding his church in truth. At the same time, God entrusted his people to pass on the faith, using teachers, parents, and preachers. As the people of God, we get the privilege of being a part of the story that God is unfolding in civilization.

We have been given Truth, and in addition to sharing it with the world, we faithfully pass it on to the next generation, ever vigilant, ever-guarding the integrity of its contents. In this way, we are connected to all generations past, and to all generations future, to all of God's people, at all times – creation to consummation, and in all places – from here to the ends of the earth.

Glory - δοχα - be to God!

Finally .. A Clean Place!!!

I should have friends over more often, because that's about the only time I'm motivated enough to clean up my apartment:

Couch:



Kitchen Table:

Greek Geek

Starting tomorrow at 7:30am, I will begin a new course: New Testament Greek.

My classes are Mon-Thur, 8am-12:30pm. There will be quizzes every single day (Mon-Wed), and an exam each week (Thur), for the next 7 weeks. In addition, I will be studying between 2 and 3 hours every day: 2 hours of grammar, and 1 hour of vocabulary.

I will learn one year's worth of Greek in 7 weeks. By the end of the 7 week-period, I will know 80% of the vocabulary of the New Testament.

Oh yeah, and before I forget, I'm still working part time, 12 hours a week: Monday afternoons, and all day Fridays.

Last year at this time, I went through the same process, learning Biblical Hebrew. In retrospect, I realize today that I was closer to a mental breakdown by the end of the course last year than I knew at the time.

Hmmmmmmm. Maybe I need to give my head a shake. Or maybe I'm just a geek.

The End Of An Era

Yesterday was the end of an era. Well, maybe I slightly overstated it, but it sounded powerful anyways..

But in a way, it was the end of an era, because we said goodbye to our fearless community group leader, SJ. For the past year, she has led our cross-cultural community group at Regent College. Throughout the year, we met every Tuesday after chapel, and ate lunch together, shared about our past joys and sorrows, our present struggles, and our future aspirations. It was such a blessing to get to know our group.

As I got to know SJ, I've noticed a real passion in her heart, to serve the poor in Latin America (Bolivia, to be specific). She has over the past few years learned Spanish, in preparation of her move down south.

Last month she was invited to go to El Salvador, to work with a church there doing community development. She will be there for approximately one year of training, after which she hopes to move on to Bolivia.

So yesterday we had a potluck, in celebration of God's faithfulness to SJ. We had great food, great conversation, and we invited her to share with us some thoughts one last time, before she leaves next week.

Below are some pictures of our community group members.

From Left to Right: CM (Bolivia), SJ (USA), & DN (Bolivia):


ML (USA), IYB (Korea), & ET (USA):


AEK (USA), TS (Canada), & RE (USA):


Missing from our group are: KH (USA), GC (Germany), & HH (Canada).

I look forward to next year's community group.

Plant Revival

Over the past few years I've noticed that I enjoy growing plants. I get a deep satisfaction - actually, joy - by watching plants grow.

I began with one plant, in early 2002:



To this day, it's my favourite plant (even though I have no idea what kind of a plant it is). Now I have a total of 4, all of which are doing very well.

Last week I took one of AEK's plants, and I'm going to try and revive it. AEK has many gifts, but apparently taking good care of plants is not one of them. She says it has nothing to do with her gifts, and everything to do with the lack of sunlight, and the cold temperature in her room. Yeah right .. I don't buy it. She just doesn't want to admit I'm better at taking care of plants than she is, that's all. :-)

Here's the plant I'm going to try and revive:

Things That Gave Me Joy Today

Here are the things I did today that gave me much joy!

* Woke up and didn't have to go to work!
* Made myself a wonderful French-press coffee
* Spinach salad, with almond nuts, raisins, and a honey/mustard dressing
* Transplanted a plant from one pot to another
* Discussed my research on Spirituality of Resting with my friend JE while lying on the hammock .. nice!
* Hiked the Grouse Grind in the pouring rain
* Drank a chai tea
* Ate pumpkin pie

I just noticed that much of what gave me joy has to do with food. Maybe the title for today's journal entry should be "Food That Gave Me Joy Today"

Cutting Vegetables

Today I learned that when cooking, it's always best to make sure that all the vegetables are cut in similar sizes. That way, they all take approximately the same amount of time to cook.

Makes so much sense. Never thought about that before.

A Wasted Day

Today was one of those days that sneaks up on you every now and then - the kind of day where all kinds of unexpected things come up. Sometimes these unexpected things are good, sometimes bad. Today they were good.

I'd taken the day off work to work on my research paper (due next week Friday), but these plans went down the drain very quickly.

For starters, I got up really late, around 10am, because I was really tired from being out late last night (AEK & I went to see a concert - Rilo Kylie). I set up a mate, and began doing research.

Shortly into my research, my friend SC called. I was so excited to hear from her. She just got back from a 5 week trip to Europe .. it's always such a delight to hear from her. She's such a positive person, it draws me in like a magnet. Talking to her always lifts my spirit .. she always brings a smile to my face.

Not a minute after getting off the phone with her, my friend SL called, and asked if I wanted to go to Al-Watan for a Pakistani lunch. How could I say no? After all, this little hole-in-the-wall on Fraser and 43rd serves the best Pak-food in the city!! Our good buddy JW also came along, and we had a blast together. The three of us go there about once a month, and we always have such a riot together.

Anyways, by the time I got home from lunch it was 3pm. I studied feverishly for 3 hours, before I got ready to go out for the evening.

Again, I didn't even plan to go out at all, but SL invited us out for dinner, and since I spend so little time with him and his wife P, and since they just bought a new place in Burnaby, I decided to accept their offer to go there for dinner and see their new place.

Dinner was excellent - steak bbq, roasted potatoes and vegetables. R and CG, and JW where also there, and we had an excellent time reminiscing about the good ol' times at TWU. We finished the evening with a cup of coffee. I remember when S and I were roommates, he'd always make great coffees. Tonight was no exception.

Upon my return home AEK called, and we spoke on the phone for a few minutes.

Now it's time to go to bed.

In one sense, today was a wasted day. I certainly feel wasted - tired. But if I had to live today over again, I wouldn't change a single thing. Sometimes the best thing that can happen is for all our plans to go wrong. I may not have 'achieved' much today in terms of getting schoolwork done, but I did something much more important: spend time with valued friends.

Money

Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about money, and more specifically, how to handle it responsibly.

Almost two years ago I sold my house in New Westminster and reinvested the money in mutual funds and GIC’s. The money invested in mutual funds has done very well, whereas the GIC’s, well, I might as well have kept the money lying under my mattress. All in all, the money has grown, and I’m thankful for that.

For various reasons I’m thinking of changing the direction of my investments, and have begun looking at alternatives.

Interestingly, my friend JW called me today, and asked if I’d be interested in buying an apartment/townhouse together with him. We had a good meeting over lunch, and discussed various options and concerns.

Overall, I’m encouraged by this development. It addresses the concerns that I have about my present investments, and offers what seems to be a very positive alternative. Over the next few weeks and months I’ll be praying for direction, seeking which way is the best way forward.

Painting On The Wall

I went to a friend's place this morning. We get together every two or three weeks to have breakfast, drink mate, and pray. But more than that, getting together is also a way of keeping our friendship real. We lay our joys and sorrows out on the table, talk about them, laugh about them, complain about them, and pray about them.

One of the consistent themes we talk about when we get together is .. well .. women (where there's boys, there's talk about women).

He's been seeing a lot of his ex-girlfriend lately, and the thought has crossed his mind to get back together with her. He humms and haws about it .. weighing the pros and the cons, the goods and the bads, the pluses and the minuses, but in the end, there's one simple thing that settles the issue for him: she has a painting on her apartment wall that he detests.

He describes it as a painting in which two people are quite intimate; not a rude kind of intimacy, but it's explicit enough to make him uncomfortable. He's thought about asking her to take it down, but hasn't done it because he feels that this might be asking a little too much. Oh and yeah, the fact that she painted it, would just add insult to injury.

He likes many things about her, but he can't accept her artistic taste. That's what it comes down to. That's the clincher that makes it clear to him that he does not want to be with her.

This sparked quite the conversation, because I've been thinking lots too over the past few weeks about relationships: How do they work? What attracts men and women? What turns us off? What about compatibility: Is there such thing as compatibility, or is it just social-scientific nonsensical talk?

Here's my story:

I've had the privilege of getting to know AEK over the past few months. She's been so good to and for me. She's kind, thoughtful, and caring. She's gracious, accepting me as I am, and she constantly compliments me. We spend a lot of time together, we talk on the phone, we email, and we chat online. We get along, we have a lot in common, we have a similar sense of humour, and my gosh, we're both tri-cultural! She's attractive, smart, slim, and godly.

Yet somehow, I can't accept the paintings on her wall. For whatever reason, I hesitate, doubt, and waffle. A part of me rejects her.

I don't know what to do. We've been together for over four months now, and we said to each other when we met that we'd give it a go for six months. After that, we get serious or go our own way.

My soul is burdened, because I have to come to grips with the same issue my friend's dealing with.

On the one hand, I feel like a complete idiot for having doubts. I have never met anyone so committed to me. By all accounts I'd be a fool to let her go. Are the paintings on her wall an excuse for me to let another chance go by? Am I so self-sufficient that I have decided I'd rather be alone than deal with someone's imperfections? Am I so self-consumed?

Or, on the other hand, am I just prolonging a relationship that is eternally doomed. Perhaps the writing on the wall is clear, but I'm just refusing to read it. Maybe the painting's like a big sign that reads "Do not Enter", and I just can't read it.

At this point, I don't know.

Lord Jesus Christ, have Mercy!

Stella

Had a great discussion with my friend DL tonight over a beer. I don't like beer that much, but if I do, I always drink Stella. It's a fine Belgian beer.

It's light, crisp, and goes down smooth.

Incidentally, 'Stella' means star in Latin.

Schedule

* For Week of 6.6 – 6.12 '05

Monday
Work
Haircut
Grocery Shopping / Dinner
Read: Dawn (Sabbath Keeping)

Tuesday
Work
(Mom comes over?)
Grouse Grind
Dinner
AEK?

Wednesday
Off Work?
Read: Dawn (Sabbath Keeping)
Lunch: Samosa Garden w/ AEK?
Prepare for Christianity Explored (CE)
CE

Thursday
Work
Dinner
Beer w/ DL

Friday
Work AM?
Read: Dawn (Sabbath Keeping)
OPEN

Saturday
Take Notes: Marva Dawn (Sabbath Keeping), Abraham Heschel (Sabbath), Thomas Merton (Contemplative Prayer), Henri Nouwen (Clowning in Rome)
Grouse Grind
AEK?

Sunday
Rest
Church

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* Anything that appears on this schedule is subject to change at a moment's notice, without any warning whatsoever. Only the following things are etched 'in stone': sleep, eat, work, & schoolwork.

Shadowlands

“Pain and suffering is God’s megaphone to us, letting us know that all is not well.”

That was one of the opening lines of Shadowlands, a play about the life of C.S. Lewis, arguably the greatest mind of the 20th century.

The dialog continues (paraphrased): ‘We like to live life as though we are self-sufficient and independent; as though we don’t need God. To live life like that is to live in a world of shadows: a non-existent, unreal world, a world of dreams and illusions. Pain and suffering serve to remind us that we are absolutely dependent on God for our very breath, our very being. It reminds us that there is something, no, someone bigger than us, from whom all good things flow. It reminds us that we are helpless in this world, and we are in need of God’s salvation’.

I saw the movie Shadowlands a few years ago, and now having seen the play, it struck me how intense and passionate Lewis was as an intellectual. It also struck me how he struggled with intimacy.

He was so involved in the intellectual world as a professor, lecturer, writer, and speaker, that he had no opportunity to meet women (in the 1950's there were few women in the world of intellectualism for him to interact and get to know). In fact, according to the play, he didn’t really know how to interact with women at all. He was a klotz (block).

AEK mentioned that the religious imagery he draws of us living in the shadowlands, was certainly applicable to him in terms of his interaction with women. He lived in an unreal world of academics, where intimate friendship and intimacy with women was difficult, almost impossible.

He desired intimacy. He wanted to love and be loved. Yet, he didn't think he needed help.

It took a very special woman, under amazing circumstances, to draw him out of the shadows and into reality. After developing a friendship for over a year, she became extremely sick. In fact, doctors only gave her a few weeks to live. It was under these extremely difficult circumstances that she drew Lewis out of the shadows of academics, and into the real world of love, pain, and suffering.

He married her on her deathbed. Shortly thereafter she passed on.

A Grief Observed is perhaps his shortest book, but it’s the most passionate, the most gut-wrenching, and the most gripping. In it, he deals with the hurt and grief he is drawn into, when he loses the person dearest to him, the person he loves.

Indeed, we are helpless without the love of God. Only if we acknowledge and embrace God’s love for us, can we acknowledge and embrace one another. Only then can we step out of the shadows and into the real world.

Pessimism

I can't stand pessimism.

Spending time with pessimists drives me crazy. It stresses me out.

They always notice the few clouds in an otherwise perfectly clear sky. Even on a warm sunny day they dread tomorrow, because it could be cloudy, or worse yet, rainy.

It seems so much more 'productive' to smile and look at the positives in life. I find that the more I smile, the more others smile. The more others smile, the more I smile.

Granted. We can't always be smiling. Sometimes life doesn't permit genuine smiles. But pessimism just seems like such a backward approach to life.