Mario!

"If music be the food of love, play on ....."

--From Twelfth Night (I, i,1-3)

He's Greek and sings in Italian, Spanish, Greek, French and English, with a voice that is like that of an angel: it melts your heart and makes your spirit soar. And, unlike Pavarotti, he's young and looks like a movie star or male model. What else can I ask for? Mario Frangoulis, my hero of song.

In his first album Sometimes I Dream, he says, "Allow me to introduce you to my world. With humility and dignity, I offer you my dreams with love and colors from the Mediterranean world, the deep blue of the sea and sky, the warmth and the spirit of my ancestors and the rich heritage of my homeland, Greece.
A gift no longer in my hands, I give you Sometimes I Dream."

I first heard him sing the song Vincero, Perdero in a compilation of classic pop operas. I didn't know what the words meant but I loved listening to it over and over. Found out the meaning of the Italian lyrics online and hey, I'm learning Italian now. The boys and D got me his second CD Follow Your Heart for my birthday, as it was so obvious what I liked. They couldn't find the first, but I liked the second as much, especially the first song, Here's to the Heroes. I found the first CD in Singapore later, and now, I can listen to him in the car, in the house, from morning to night.

As Mario put it in his second CD, "For me, music is the greatest gift you can give to someone because music is life and life is love and honestly, I live for making good music." Well, long may he live to make good music for all the world to enjoy, and may he come to know too the Creator of Music, the One who gave him the gifts of voice and song, life and love.

Love is Stronger than Death

"In our time, as in every age, we need to see something which is stronger than death. Death has become powerful in our time, in individual human beings, in families, in nations and in mankind as a whole. Death has become powerful - that is to say that the End, the finite, and the limitations and decay of our being have become visible. For nearly a century this was concealed in Western civilization. We had become masters in our earthly household. Our control over nature and our social planning had widened the boundaries of our being; the affirmation of life had drowned out its negation which no longer dared make itself heard, and which fled into the hidden anxiety of our hearts, becoming fainter and fainter. We forgot that we are finite, and we forgot the abyss of nothingness surrounding us ... We kept the picture of death from our children and when here and there, in our neighbourhood and in the world, mortal convulsions and the End become visible, our security was not disturbed. For us these events were merely accidental and unavoidable, but they were not enough to tear off the lid which we had fastened down over the abyss of our being.

And suddenly the lid was torn off. The picture of Death appeared, unveiled, in a thousand forms. As in the late Middle Ages the figure of Death appeared in pictures and poetry, and the Dance of Death with every living being was painted and sung, so our generation - the generation of world wars, revolutions, and mass migrations - rediscovered the reality of death. We have seen millions die in wars, hundreds of thousands in revolutions, tens of thousands in persecutions and in systematic purges of minorities ...

But who can bear to look at this picture? Only he who can look at another picture behind and beyond it - the picture of Love. For love is stronger than death. For every death means parting, separation, isolation, opposition, and not participation. So it is, too, with the death of nations, the end of generations, and the atrophy of souls. Our souls become poor and disintegrate insofar as we want to be alone, insofar as we bemoan our misfortunes, nurse our despair and enjoy our bitterness, and yet turn coldly away from the physical and spiritual needs of others. Love overcomes separation and creates participation in which there is more than that which the individuals involved can bring to it. Love is the infinite which is given to the finite. Therefore we love in others, for we do not merely love others, but we love the Love that is in them and which is more than their or our love. In mutual assistance what is most important is not the alleviation of need but the actualization of love. Of course, there is no love which does not want to make the other's need its own. But there is also no love which does not spring from love and create love. Those who fight against death and disintegration through all kinds of relief agencies know this. Often very little external help is possible. And the gratitude of those who receive help is first and always gratitude for love and only afterwards gratitude for help. Love, not help, is stronger than death. But there is no love which does not become help. Where help is given without love, there new suffering grows from the help.

It is love, human and divine, which overcomes death in nations and generations and in all the horror of our time. Help has become almost impossible in the face of the monstrous powers which we are experiencing. Death is given power over everything finite, especially in our period of history. But death is given no power over love. Love is stronger. It creates something new out of the destruction caused by death; it bears everything and overcomes everything. It is at work where the power of death is strongest, in war and persecution and homelessness and hunger and physical death itself. It is omnipresent and here and there, in the smallest and most hidden ways as in the greatest and most visible ones, it rescues life from death. It rescues each of us, for love is stronger than death."

- Paul Tillich

(From The New Being by Paul Tillich, 1955,
reprinted in God's Treasury of Virtues, An Inspirational Collection of Stories, Quotes, Hymns, Scriptures and Poetry)

Saint Patrick's Breastplate

"I arise today
Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity,
Through belief in the threeness,
Through confession of the oneness
Of the Creator of Creation

I arise today
Through the strength of Christ's birth with his baptism,
Through the strength of his crucifixion with his burial,
Through the strength of his descent for the judgment of
Doom

...


I arise today
Through God's strength to pilot me:
God's might to uphold me,
God's wisdom to guide me,
God's eye to look before me,
God's ear to hear me,
God's word to speak for me,
God's hand to guard me,
God's way to lie before me,
God's host to save me
From snares of devils,
From temptations of vices,
From everyone who shall wish me ill,
Afar and anear,
Alone and in multitude.

...


Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me,
Christ in me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ on my right, Christ on my left,
Christ when I lie down, Christ when I sit down, Christ
when I arise,
Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me,
Christ in every eye that sees me,
Christ in every ear that hears me.

I arise today
Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity,
Through belief in the threeness,
Through confession of the oneness
Of the Creator of Creation."

(Translated by Stokes, Strachan, Meyer, and found in Meyer's Selections from Ancient Irish Poetry and many anthologies, and in the book How the Irish Saved Civilisation - The Untold Story of Ireland's Heroic Role from the Fall of Rome to the Rise of Medieval Europe written by Thomas Cahill.)

Bless the LORD, O my soul

Bless the LORD, O my soul. O LORD my God, thou art very great; thou art clothed with honour and majesty.
Who coverest thyself with light as with a garment: who stretchest out the heavens like a curtain:
Who layeth the beams of his chambers in the waters: who maketh the clouds his chariot: who walketh upon the wings of the wind:
Who maketh his angels spirits; his ministers a flaming fire:
Who laid the foundations of the earth, that it should not be removed for ever. ...

O LORD, how manifold are thy works! In widom hast thou made them all: the earth is full of thy riches.
So is this great and wide sea, wherein are things creeping innumerable, both small and great beasts. ...

The glory of the LORD shall endure for ever: the LORD shall rejoice in his works.
He looketh on the earth, and it trembleth: he toucheth the hills, and they smoke.
I will sing unto the LORD as long as I live: I will sing praise to my God while I have my being.
My meditation of him shall be sweet: I will be glad in the LORD.

(Psalm 104: 1-5, 24-25, 31-34 - A Psalm of David)

Waiting for the Messiah

They are still waiting for the Messiah. I'm talking about the religious or observant Jews who diligently study the Torah (the five books of Moses or the first five books of the Christian bible) , the Prophets, the Writings (Psalms, Proverbs) and their oral traditions, commentaries and interpretations of the many Mosaic laws. For them, salvation is by living a life of religious duties and good deeds, of keeping the laws of G-d (as the name of God is too holy to be spelled out). Like the Muslims, they are concerned with questions on daily conduct like, can an observant Jew use a camera or play musical instruments on Shabbat (or the Sabbath, the day of rest)? But of course, the laws of the Jews and those of the Muslims are worlds apart, as the former have the incomparable 10 commandments.

I lived in the world of the Hasidic American Jews for a few days as I read Chaim Potok's My Name is Asher Lev and its sequel The Gift of Asher Lev in quick succession. A master story teller, like an artist, Potok draws you into that world as he paints with words the story of the conflict of a boy then a man born with the gift of art in a culture that frowns upon the profession, traditions and craft of a painter, the idea of making images being inimical to the second commandment according to their strict interpretation. Drawing nudes? Unacceptable! Painting the scene of ultimate suffering and sacrifice, the crucifixion? Anathema. Especially when they believe that it was that man on the cross who has brought them so much persecution and pain from his followers, the Christians. It is sad but true that many misguided deluded people have done that in the name of Christ through history and even now, blaming the Jews for killing Jesus.

But according to the Bible, Jesus voluntarily laid down his life for all mankind. Indeed He declared many times before the cross that He had come purposely to die to bear our sins so that all man may be reconciled with God (Mark 10:45; John 10:11,17,18). So it was not the Jews nor the Romans who are guilty of crucifying the Son of God, but it was everyone of us who had ever sinned. As He hung on the cross, He prayed for those who were participating and watching His execution: Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing (Luke 23:34). His first believers, disciples and witnesses to His resurrection were His own countrymen and people, the Jews who then spread His good news of pardon from sin and eternal life to the rest of the world, the Gentiles.

The Messiah has come as promised in the Torah, the Prophets and the Writings, but, sadly, the majority of His people did not recognise or receive Him. As John the Apostle and one of the original 12 disciples wrote: He was in the world, and though the world was made through Him, the world did not recognise Him. He came to that which was His own, but His own did not receive Him. (John 1:10,11)

Why? Why did they not recognise Him? Perhaps because He was not what they had expected, a king powerful and glorious overcoming evil and his enemies and inaugurating a reign of peace and prosperity as an earthly king would. But as Jesus had told Pilate, His kingdom is not of this world. (John 18:36) And He never promised a new world after His first coming, only after His second. "In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." (John16:33)

The question is: Are you still waiting, hoping, and longing for a Messiah, the Promised One, the Chosen One, a Saviour, one who will make all the difference in the world to your life? Or do you know that He has come and He is here indeed and you can trust in Him and follow His way? It is the difference between light and darkness, day and night, death and life, despair and hope.

The sad thing is that the Jews read only the their scriptures, which they do assiduously, but they refuse to look into the New Testament, especially the Gospels. The sequel, the fulfilment, the culmination, is already here, but they are still stuck in the first part of the story, the promise, and still yearning and hoping. He has come and He is already here: He has died and He has risen again and He lives for evermore!

The woman (at Jacob's well) said to Jesus, "I know that Messiah (called Christ) is coming. When He comes, He will explain everything to us." Then Jesus declared, "I who speak to you am He." (John 4:25,26)

Serva sum

Qui voluerit inter vos primus esse, erit vester servus. Matt 20:27 (He that will be first among you shall be your servant.)
... just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many. Matt20:28

Qui maior est vestrum, erit minister vester. Matt23:11 (He that is greatest among you shall be your servant.)
... For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted. Matt23:12

Latin and the Bible... aahh... food for my mind, soul and spirit.

In principio - Verbum: In the beginning - the Word.

Learning Latin is not easy, but extremely rewarding. It has a logical and systematic structure and grammar. And it opens up a world of thought and meaning behind many words and expressions because English was much influenced by Latin. It is used liberally in law, science, literature.

Eg. the legal dictum: nemo dat quod non habet means no one gives what he does not have. It is used in the law of transfer of title and property to show that if one is not the legal owner of a property, he cannot transfer its title to another. So a purchaser of a car or house from a thief or fraudulent party gains no title and the title remains with the true owner. The purchaser's remedy would be to sue the seller, if of course he can find him and if not, he bears the loss.

How about common phrases like semper fidelis, status quo, in toto, homo sapiens, mea culpa, modus operandi, alma mater, magnum opus, post mortem, carpe diem, alter ego, anno Domini, et tu Brute, et cetera, ad infinitum, ad nauseum?

Of course, Latin is still used in the Vatican city by the Roman Catholic Church. When recently, the new Pope was elected, the phrase was Habemus Papam! (We have a Pope.)

This is the Lord's Prayer in Latin:

Pater noster qui es in caelis, sanctificetur nomen tuum:
adveniat regnum tuum:
fiat voluntas tua sicut in caelo et in terra.
Panem nostrum cotidianum da nobis hodie:
et dimitte nobis debita nostra, sicut et nos dimittimus debitoribus nostris:
et ne nos inducas in temptationem:
set libera nos a malo.

Lingua latina est pulchra. Intellegis?

sms n john milton

Last night, as I was turning in tired and weary still after a busy Friday cooking for the care group and the long evening, I received an sms from Jennifer, at 10.45 p.m. It said: "1 who idles fr day 2 day is a consumer of life, 1 who is active n useful is a creator of life. Good nite."

This morning, before we went to church, I sent her this: "John Milton's On His Blindness: ...
'They also serve who only stand and wait.' Be still and know that I am GOD ... Ps 46:10 Good morning and Happy Sunday!

She replied: Tq.

It so happened that I had been reading poetry and had come across this poem by Milton who is best known as the Puritan author of the epic poem Paradise Lost which was, as I learnt to my surprise, apparently written at the time when he had become completely blind.

On His Blindness

When I consider how my light is spent,
Ere half my days, in this dark world and wide,
And that one talent which is death to hide
Lodged with me useless, though my soul more bent
To serve therewith my Maker, and present
My true account, lest he returning chide,
"Doth God exact day-labour, light denied?"
I fondly ask. But Patience, to prevent
That murmur, soon replies: "God doth not need
Either man's work or his own gifts; who best
Bear his mild yoke, they serve him best. His state
Is kingly: thousands at his bidding speed,
And post o'er land and ocean without rest;
They also serve who only stand and wait."

About Schmidt

We showed the movie "About Schmidt" at the home fellowship last night. It is about a 66 year old man (acted by Jack Nicholson, brilliantly as usual) retiring after a lifetime of working as an insurance actuary in the same company and facing the meaninglessness of his very existence. The excellent script brought to the screen the reality of aging, death, broken relationships, and amidst it all, the humour and pathos of ordinary lives of ordinary people very much like ourselves, the viewers.

Everyone of the dozen of us were quiet and sober at the end of the show. One young man in his 20's kept saying, "It's so sad, it's so sad." Well, it is sad, as Moses put it in Psalm 90:

"For all our days are passed away in thy wrath: we spend our years as a tale that is told. The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labour and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away."

What more if life is lived without God? In the words of the Preacher who wrote the book of Ecclesiastes,

"Truly the light is sweet, and a pleasant thing it is for the eyes to behold the sun; But if a man live many years, and rejoice in them all; yet let him remember the days of darkness; for they shall be many. All that cometh is vanity. ... Vanity of vanities, saith the preacher; all is vanity. ...
Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep His commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil." Ecclesiastes 11:7-8; 12:8,13-14

A Series of Unfortunate Events

The day after D's dad's funeral, D having taken the day off, we went to KLCC and caught the movie "Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events". Certainly the right movie to lift up the spirit, we thought, as we considered our lives in comparison with those of the 3 unfortunate orphan protagonists, the Baudelaire siblings. It was quite well-made, to our pleasant surprise, with Jim Carrey playing the villain Count Olaf in his various personas or disguises to the hilt. It is based on the first 3 of Snicket's books of the same title. He's planning to write 13 in all (every book containing 13 chapters) and is up to Book the Eleventh. I had only read the first, called "The Bad Beginning". I had thought it a witty and easy read though unremittingly pessimistic, and I took the author's advice to stop reading the rest of the sad vicissitudes, the word here meaning "the sudden or unexpected changes or shifts often encountered in one's life, activities, or surroundings" in the lives of Violet, Klaus and Sunny Baudelaire.

Well, the movie piqued (meaning to provoke or arouse) my curiosity, since I had only read the first book and the movie had unfortunately included events which were apparently from the later books. Fortunately for me, Ethan has the whole series in his room so I started taking Book the Second, then the Third, then the Fourth and so on, till now I'm at Book the Tenth, all in less than 2 months. As I said, they're easy reads, though unremittingly gloomy in outlook.

So what kept me going on? It's the play and fun with words, the definitions and explanations of words, phrases, expressions, which, mind you, are not always correct. Everything is tongue-in- cheek and deadpan (which means "impassively matter-of-fact, as in style, behavior, or expression).

But also, it's the fact that the writer has very cleverly and sneakily leaked clues and some answers in each book making the reader go on to the next book to find more clues and a few answers only. And I have a weakness for mysteries, especially murder mysteries. Hopefully, the whole mystery of why the children's parents and so many other people were killed, and who really are the VDF will be finally revealed, although it would be too farfetched to hope that the children and their triplet friends will live happily ever after.

Widows

My mother-in-law is 76 and can only speak in her mother tongue, the Chinese dialect of Hainanese, with a smattering of some of the other dialects like Hokkien and Cantonese. She had never gone to school in her younger days and after marriage in her early 20's, for over 50 years, she depended on her husband who was fluent in the Chinese, English and Malay languages to interpret for her: every sermon or speech in church, every movie or news on the tv, the newspapers or magazines he read. He tried to teach her some Mandarin, but she didn't seem to have the gift for languages. Or maybe she didn't try too hard. After all, he was always there, explaining things and answering questions. And she was kept busy in the kitchen cooking all his favourite dishes, besides those of her children and grandchildren.

Now that he is gone, she wants to learn to read the Bible in Chinese. And this is thanks to Aunt Mei, her younger sister who had also lost her husband to liver cancer some 10 years ago. Aunt Mei used to work in a bank and now retired with 3 grown children and 3 grandchildren, she spends her time with one or other of them or at home in Penang, but all the time, praying, praising, singing and talking about the Lord wherever she is. She is with her sister now for 2 or 3 weeks, doing all that and encouraging her to learn to read and speak Mandarin, to depend on the Lord. As she says in her broken English, "I tell my sister, I am alone but I am not alone. God is always with me."

Then there is Malliga, whose husband John died in July last year. Malliga had never worked outside the home: from her mother's house, she went to live with John and continued to cook and clean and serve her husband and then an adopted daughter. She can read and write English and Tamil, and is supported by her family and her church, the Tamil Methodist Church in Ipoh. She can cook the best dhall, chicken curry and thosai in the whole country, and whenever we visit, as we did last Thursday, we get to eat all that finger-lickin' great Indian food, followed by the best steaming hot teh tarik. She also sews and earns a little from sewing curtains and clothes.

The house is quiet without John's loud boisterous voice calling her for this and that, from the moment he wakes till he sleeps. 14 year old Nisha goes to school and then for tuition for every subject ("Tuition is my hobby, " she says), and at home, it's homework all the time. That's the life of a typical Malaysian student. Thankfully, she has her cousins and church youth fellowship to keep her weekends and holidays full. And she has a mother who, like the wife of noble character of Proverbs 31, is clothed with strength and dignity, and can laugh at the days to come, who watches over her and does not eat the bread of idleness.

Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised. (Proverbs 31:30)

Borders in KL

Yesterday was the opening of the long awaited biggest bookstore in Malaysia, Borders in the Berjaya Times Square in KL. We went, of course, after having been told the news by a friend (also a book lover) on the phone... we don't usually buy the daily newspapers.

"Mom, can we go crazy now?," Elliot asked, as we approached the entrance with heightening anticipation and excitement. The boys and I could hardly contain ourselves: two floors of shelves and shelves of unwrapped books nicely arranged with wide aisles and occasional benches and sofas for readers. There were also sections for music and movies, CD's and DVD's, Starbucks and another cafe and decorative items and knick-knacks. The prices seem to be about the same or higher than the other bookshops, except for the bargain buys that are displayed on tables in the open areas.

David joined us later from the office and we bought 2 cookbooks and a historical novel by Umberto Eco, all from the bargain buys. After a quick dinner, I drove back to the church for my line dancing class while the guys stayed back to browse some more and then to catch the movie "Robots" at the IMAX theatre.

"Is KL joining the civilised world at last?" David asked. I hope so, I hope people take care of the books and not mistreat them. I did see one book pushed into the shelf with its cover jutting out and had to put it back properly. It's sad. Kinokuniya in KLCC started out with unwrapped books but now every book there is tightly wrapped with plastic. There may be one open for browsing or you'll have to ask the staff to unwrap one for you to check it.

History Alive

I love history and now I get to learn it all over or mostly, for the first time, with the boys. We're doing Roman history and reading the excellent Augustus Ceasar's World by Genevieve Foster as well as the Story of the Word - History for the Classical Child by Susan Wise Bauer. We read aloud Shakespeare's Julius Ceasar and it's true I enjoy it more than the boys.

Besides that, we have the historical fiction readers which make history come to life by transporting you back to long ago far away times and places, populated with real people like ourselves, young and old: books like Mara, Daughter of the Nile and The Golden Goblet by Eloise Jarvis McGraw, Hittite Warrior and God King by Joanne Williamson, etc...

I just read about Cicero, Rome's foremost orator, writer and senator, who was killed by the Triumvirate who took over after the assassination of Julius Ceasar. He had once said about death, "When the time comes, I shall withdraw from life, not as one leaves home, but as from a temporary lodging place. On that brightest of all days, when I depart from the confusion of this world, I shall set out, I believe, for a far-off divine gathering of spirits...
But, if I am mistaken, in that I believe men's souls to be immortal, I am glad to be mistaken...
And all my life I shall continue to believe it..."

This was said before December 7, 43 B.C., the day of Cicero's death. B.C. - before Christ, before the Word became flesh and revealed God in full.

Number our days

So... it's been almost 6 months since I last posted. I thought I'd never write again... sigh.... Life is happening too fast for me! But... I can't just stop writing after that last entry... as if after Bush wins, everything's A-okay now.

D's dad went to be with the Lord on March 20, almost 9 months to the day after he was diagnosed with the liver cancer. By God's mercy, he had special times with family and old friends who came from far and near to visit and renew old ties, and he had time especially to encourage his faithful, constant wife, telling her that he did not want to eat anymore because he was going to have a feast in heaven. He said he saw the gates of heaven and his brother, who had passed on recently of the same disease, waiting for him. Throughout the 9 months and at the end, he did not suffer much pain, amazingly. His youngest daughter, May Lyn, was with him at his last moments, having just come back from Australia where she's doing postgraduate studies since February.

As it is written in Revelation 15: "Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them."

Hundreds of thousands upon thousands have died in the earthquake and tsunami on the day after Christmas last, and thousands more in the earthquake on the day after Easter.

Daily, more die of bomb blasts everywhere and in Malaysia, of gruesome traffic accidents and some rape-murders.

Death... we hear of it, see it happen to others, but try not to think of it happening to us, as it will one day. Yes, as it is appointed unto men once to die...

I will pray the words of Moses in Psalm 90:

"So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.
Return, O LORD, how long? and let it repent thee concerning thy servants.
O satisfy us early with thy mercy; that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.
Make us glad according to the days wherein thou hast afflicted us, and the years wherein we have seen evil.
Let thy work appear unto thy servants, and thy glory unto their children.
And let the beauty of the LORD our God be upon us: and establish thou the work of our hands upon us; yea, the work of our hands establish thou it."