A note from the future

My dear friend Adelaine wrote a post on her blog that nourished my parched imagination and set in motion a mental exercise in nostalgia.

Here's the big idea: If I could go back in time (and space) to slip myself a note from the future, what would I tell myself?

What does someone like me has to say to "himself minus 10 or 20 years", having lived a wonderful life many out there can't even remotely hope to have? What rues or regrets could I possibly have in my life that warrant a rewrite of my story at large?

If I ever get a chance to thwart time and space (I'm pretty sure I've just offended Einstein mid-sentence), I don't think I ever want to give the minutest detail of the future away to me in the past. Contrary to what I first thought it would do, doing so would not give me an upper hand in life—whatever I thought was important enough to justify a second attempt (which, as a good Sci-Fi flick would have it, was to happen at the exact anchor point in spacetime when and where "it" first presented itself).

Part of a well lived life consist of learning life's tough lessons the hard way. To slip myself a note from the future is like telling a school kid all the answers to the finals before he even learned any of it in class. To say the least it wouldn't have made any sense to him. And then there's the butterfly effect (no explanation of the term necessary thanks to Hollywood). What I would get after I make the round trip and pull the time machine over at the curb of Present Time will in fact be a lesser me. In both substance and quality. In the end I would have been better protected from the brutalities of life—and at the same time been made a dimwit in the truest sense of the word.

So there, one of the biggest Sci-Fi aspirations of mankind deciphered. Don't bother cracking the codes of the spacetime continuum, folks. I've figured it out and it's not worth the hassle.

Although I wouldn't mind meeting myself incognito ten or twenty years back just for the kicks. Or conduct history's first double-blinded, conscious, out-of-body experiment on oneself. Just to find out if I've really been the product of my own good opinion of myself.

A challenge to Rick Warren

Challenging Rick Warren... is it possible? So I asked myself.

The pastor from Saddleback Church, California tweeted today saying Tweet! Tweet! (not exactly, follow link to read). Though I would just as soon pass over his tweet amidst a rapid stream of tweets I follow in a day, something about what he said has to be challenged.

But I want to say something here about the guy before I unpack my challenge. I'm a fan of Rick Warren. I benefited from his book The Purpose Driven Life and I believe God is using this man mightily to advance His kingdom. For those who aren't familiar with this guy, he's the man who delivered invocation at Barack Obama's inauguration. So I just want to say that I respect this man and what he aims to achieve as my brother in Christ.

Having said that here's the challenge to Rick Warren. More than 27,000 people were following his Twitter feed as he said in one of his tweets, "Everytime u hold ur tongue when attacked or misrepresented your spiritual power grows. Humility gives u authority."

I could almost see the folks who nodded along with Rick's statement. My brothers and sisters in Christ who buy into this seemingly harmless piece of advice. But of course, they would say, that's what Jesus himself would have done! How do I know? Look, Rick gave the evidence in Matthew 27:12: When [Jesus] was accused by the chief priests and the elders, he gave no answer.

I get a shiver down my spine whenever a verse is plucked from the Bible and emblazoned with a be-all and end-all finality. The attitude that slaps the slogan "thus saith the Lord so nothing more needs to be said about it" on top of every Bible verse taken out of context to support our own agenda or misreading of the Bible.

However I don't believe that's what's in this man's heart. Still Rick holds Matthew 27:12 as one of the examples for Christians to keep their silence when, as he put it, "attacked or misrepresented". Let's say we give Rick the benefit of the doubt. What happens then when another verse from the Gospels is quoted where Jesus did speak out when he was attacked or misrepresented? Like the time when the Pharisees accused Jesus of breaking the law of the Sabbath in the beginning of Luke 6, or the time when Jesus answered those who tried to trap him by what he said in Mark 12:13-17?

In light of these and many other verses in the Bible that demonstrate the exact opposite of what Rick teaches, would you think Jesus himself was misrepresented when Rick say "Everytime u hold ur tongue when attacked or misrepresented your spiritual power grows" and tag Jesus' signature on the dotted line?

There's literally more to a Bible verse than being read in isolation. And it's called context. Ripped off of its context, I could make any Bible verse say whatever I want it to mean!

You read the paragraph, not just the verse. You take stock of the relevant material above and below. Since the context frames the verse and gives it specific meaning, you let it tell you what's going on (Stand To Reason). Things would clear up if only Rick Warren starts his reading of Matthew 27 at the very beginning... from verse 1 where it says: Early in the morning, all the chief priests and the elders of the people came to the decision to put Jesus to death.

With the context in view, we now understand the real reason why Jesus was silent on this occasion. He must have known that the chief priests and the elders already had their minds made up to kill him. Doesn't that make much more sense now? In fact that also coincides with what Jesus taught his disciples earlier when he said: Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and then turn and tear you to pieces (Matthew 7:6). Obviously Jesus thought it unwise to defend himself when attacked by a bunch of goons who weren't seeking to listen to the truth in the first place!

Therefore I believe Rick Warren was seriously mistaken when he paints an inaccurate picture of humility. The Bible urges us to speak out for the truth whenever there is a willing audience:

But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander (1 Peter 3:15-16).

Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone (Colossians 4:5-6).

There is no reason for followers of Christ to carry on a sort of victim mentality tradition whenever persecution enters the picture of evangelism. I understand where Rick Warren is coming from. He is teaching humility but he only painted half of the picture. Unlike Rick's encouragement to hold your tongue everytime so your spiritual juice overflows, it takes true spiritual discernment to know when to respond and when to be quiet. And Jesus is the best teacher to learn that from.

Here's your take-home message: Never read a Bible verse. At least read a paragraph.

Says who #10

"Some want to live within the sound of church or chapel bell; I want to run a rescue shop within a yard of hell."

- Charles Studd, English cricketer and Christian missionary

"Our Friendship", by Maycol and TS

Our friendship is like a book I read.
I hear of you but I cannot see you.
I see you in photos and only read about the things you tell me
But I cannot see you.


Our friendship is like the sun above me.
It lights up my world and warms my heart.
When it sets on me
It is because I ask the sun to send my love to your sunrise.

"Pepi's Dress"

Pepi lost his favorite coat,
In which he kept his secret.
He took his apprentice by the throat
And almost blocked his gullet.

"¿Dónde está mi chaqueta?" Pepi shouted,
Not ready to loosen his hold.
For his virtue Pepi deeply doubted,
And he feared the coat had been sold.

"Perdóneme, profesor," came the weak reply,
"On my mother's grave an oath I pay,
And to you I dare not lie,
But your missus gave it away!"

So Pepi ran to the marketplace
With half a head and all seriousness.
He sought till he was red in the face
And couldn't find his beloved dress.

Then came a beggar with one glass eye
Asking Pepi to buy him a cena,
And Pepi noticed under his tattered bow tie
The velvety fabric of his chaqueta!

"¡Ay, caramba!" Pepi roared,
"¿Donde tu encontró esto?"
And the coat he at once restored
Without spending a single peso!

"No-man wants it, no-man loses -
En los desperdicios de un hombre rico.
A poor man gathers if he chooses,
And I should've hidden it under my pillow!"

For earlier today when Pepi was away
His wife had opened his bottom drawer.
She found in said coat a huge dossier
Of shameless letters from a whore!

On the courage to act

In the span of a normal week we find enough opportunities to be brave. But more often than not we do not step up to the plate and live out the courage that we believe is hidden in us. The things that we know to be right are the hardest to perform because we believe they are the exact same things that would bring about our downfall if we fail the test.

The moment we look out from our threshold of choice into the largely uncaring world, what we care about suddenly takes on a bright significance and trembles us to the bones. We know we are about to take a stand, to walk onstage, into the spotlight and say the line that would proclaim who we are to the onlookers of our life's drama, if unconcerned. Suddenly death doesn't seem like a bad alternative. But since the mention of death in this case is really just a melodramatic whinge with no real relevance, we withdraw to fight another day.

But then order is not yet restored by our failure to act. If this is something we genuinely care about, the pressure would only escalate until we head-on deal with it. Now here comes the question: How do you know if you are prepared for the bravest moments of your life?

You can't. So I was told. No one knows if they are brave until they have been brave. "Act first to deserve the good opinion of yourself." There is no secret in being brave, you just do it despite your fear, doubt, worry, reservations and all that. Act, and then you can tell yourself if you're brave.

Lyrics that stick #5

"Standin at the door of the Pink Flamingo
Cryin in the rain
It was a kind of so-so love and I'm gonna make sure it doesn't happen again
You and I had to be the standing joke of the year
You were a run-around, a lost and found and not for me I feel

Take your hands off me
I don't belong to you, you see
And take a look in my face for the last time
I never knew you, you never knew me
Say hello, goodbye
Say hello and wave goodbye..."


("Say Hello, Wave Goodbye" by David Gray)