Conversation with my Grandson about Education

Hello little boy,

You look so grown up in your new school uniform and cute school bag. You are so happy that you are now allowed to follow your Jie Jie up the school bus to go to school. Was it only a year ago when you drag your bag following your Jie Jie to the school bus and were upset because they did not allow you on? You were too young then. Now you are big enough. Grampa is very proud and happy that you are starting your formal learning which is a small part of your life-long learning. Formal learning is what you do in school. Life-long learning should be part of who you are, little one.

You have learnt much since you were a little bundle of joy. Well not too little as you were a big baby but a bundle of joy nevertheless. You are still learning. Grampa and Por Por are very impressed by you as you demonstrates new skills every time we see you. You have a long journey ahead of you in your formal schooling – nursery, kindergarten, primary, secondary, junior college, and university. All these are essential if you are to be equipped to be literate and earn a degree for employment. Big people called this schooling an education.

Big people with big titles proudly tell you that this education will teach you not to think inside a box but outside it. Grampa is not impressed with them or their boxes. What Grampa wants for you is to be able to think without a box! Why should you be limited by other big people’s narrow thinking? What Grampa hopes that in these years in school you will develop critical thinking skills and to love learning. This will be more valuable that all the degrees and professional certificates that you earn along the way. The world you grow up into will be different from the world today. Your first degree may get you into your first job. Then you will have to retrain for your next one.

Little one, learn to think critically and love to learning new things, skills and challenges. People has always asked why Grampa and Por Por did not send your Mummy and Ah Yee to be educated in Singapore. Singapore has one of the best schooling system in the world. Grampa and Por Por believed that while in Malaysian school, your Mummy and Ah Yee can learn to think and grow with more freedom. They did not turn out too badly, you will agree. Grampa is very proud of your Mummy and Ah Yee. They have turned out to be very clever people, much cleverer than your Grampa.

Little one, Grampa is boring you with this talk about thinking inside or outside the box. The only box you are interested in is a small one in which you can put in and take your toys; or a bigger one in which you can climb into and pretend you are driving a car. That works too. Grow well in your schooling. Do not let them conform you to their mould, but be transformed in your mental development by good teachers and facilities. Grampa will be helping you as long as Grampa is able.


Dear God,
Thank you the opportunity for this little one to start school. May his education be holistic and may he develop and refine his thinking skills. May he develop a love of books and of learning. May his pursue of knowledge leads to wisdom. May his questing leads to You.
Amen


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Advent 2015 reflection

Waiting for the Light: Mastery Inactivity

Advent 2015 reflection

In clinical medicine, there is a very powerful treatment called mastery inactivity. An experienced clinician knows that there are times in the management of a patient with a serious medical condition that the best treatment is not to do anything but allow time for nature to take its course. This is the hardest treatment to prescribe because it involves the physician not doing anything. The default mode is to do something. Order some form of treatment. Perform some form of surgery. Our hearts are restless and we associate activity with progress. Not to act is a sign that we are negligent or indifferent.

This is also what happens when we are hit with some catastrophes in our lives. In such situation, we are full of an urgency to act. An urgency to do something to get us out of the situation. Anything at all, even though the action may not be beneficial or at times may cause harm. An alternative option is to sit idly by and ride out the storm. Judy Brown creates a scenario in which we are caught in a stormy sea and where inaction may be more beneficial than reactive action.

Trough

There is a trough in waves,

A low spot

Where horizon disappears

And only sky

And water

Are our company.

And there we lose our way

Unless

We rest, knowing the wave will bring us

To its crest again.

There we may drown

If we let fear

Hold us within its grip and shake us

Side to side,

And leave us flailing, torn, disoriented.

But if we rest there

In the trough,

Are silent,

Being with

The low part of the wave,

Keeping

Our energy and

Noticing the shape of things,

The flow,

Then time alone

Will bring us to another

Place

Where we can see

Horizon, see the land again,

Regain our sense

Of where

We are,

And where we need to swim.

The Sea Accepts All Rivers, Judy Brown

This is what I called mastery inactivity. It takes knowledge and wisdom to discern when to act and when not to act. It requires mastery over our emotions as the default mode is to do something. It also requires faith. The sailor in the storm has faith based on her knowledge of the waves. We need to have faith that our catastrophes will blow over, that we need to remain calm in the eye of the storm. And we need to have faith in Him who is able to calm the storm and walk on water.

There are an ebb and flow in the rhythm of our lives; a time to act and a time to cease from action; a time to do and a time to rest; and a time to stress and a time to distress.  That is the only way to ride a storm. This is what Advent is all about. It is a time of inaction, rest and reflection. It is a flashback to more than two thousand years ago when the whole of creation kept still and held its collective breath, and waited for the Light. We live in a broken world, at the bottom of the cesspool, in the trough of pain and suffering. Let us wait together. Wait for a glimpse of the sky. Wait for the Light and then lean into it.

Soli Deo Gloria

12 November 2015

Trough: The Sea accepts All Rivers

There is a trough in waves,

A low spot

Where horizon disappears

And only sky

And water

Are our company.

And there we lose our way

Unless

We rest, knowing the wave will bring us

To its crest again.

There we may drown

If we let fear

Hold us within its grip and shake us

Side to side,

And leave us flailing, torn, disoriented.

But if we rest there

In the trough,

Are silent,

Being with

The low part of the wave,

Keeping

Our energy and

Noticing the shape of things,

The flow,

Then time alone

Will bring us to another

Place

Where we can see

Horizon, see the land again,

Regain our sense

Of where

We are,

And where we need to swim.

The Sea Accepts All Rivers, Judy Brown

more quotations may be found here on Kairos Spiritual Formation Quotes 

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An Empty Mind

An Empty sort of mind is valuable for finding pearls and tails and things because it can see what's in front of it. An Overstuffed mind is unable to. While the Clear mind listens to a bird singing, the Stuffed-Full-of-Knowledge-and-Cleverness mind wonders what kind of bird is singing. The more Stuffed Up it is, the less it can hear through its own ears and see through its own eyes. Knowledge and Cleverness tend to concern themselves with the wrong sorts of things, and a mind confused by Knowledge, Cleverness, and Abstract Ideas tends to go chasing off after things that don't matter, or that don't even exist, instead of seeing, appreciating and making use of what is in front of it…

Let’s consider Emptiness in general for a moment. What is it about a Taoist landscape painting that seems so refreshing to so many different kinds of people? The Emptiness, the space that's not filled in. What is it about fresh snow, clean air, pure water? Or good music? As Claude Debussy expressed it, "Music is the space between the notes." ...

Like silence after noise, or cool, clear water on a hot, stuffy day. Emptiness cleans out the messy mind and charges up the batteries of spiritual energy. Many people are afraid of Emptiness, however, because it reminds them of Loneliness. Everything has to be filled in, it seems—appointment books, hillsides, vacant lots—but when all the spaces are filled in, the Loneliness really begins.

The Tao of Pooh by Benjamin Hoffbegins.

more quotations may be found here on Kairos Spiritual Formation Quotes page

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Creation is Continuous

Creation, we are taught, is not an act that happened once upon a time, once and forever. The act of bringing the world into existence is a continuous process. God called the world into being, and that call goes on. There is this present moment because God is present. Every instant is an act of creation. A moment is not a terminal but a flash, a signal of Beginning. Time is perpetual innovation, a synonym for continuous creation. Time is God's gift to the world of space.... We cannot solve the problem of time through the conquest of space, through either pyramids or fame. We can only solve the problem of time through the sanctification of time. To men alone time is elusive; to men with God time is eternity in disguise. Creation is the language of God, Time is His song, and things of space the consonants in the song. To sanctify time is to sing the vowels in unison with Him. This is the task of humans: to conquer space and sanctify time.... Eternity utters a day.

-Abraham Joshua Heschel, The Sabbath

more quotations may be found here on Kairos Spiritual Formation Quotes page

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Holiness in Time

The meaning of the Sabbath is to celebrate time rather than space. Six days a week we live under the tyranny of things of space; on the Sabbath we try to become attuned to holiness in time. It is a day on which we are called upon to share in what is eternal in time, to turn from the results of creation to the mystery of creation; from the world of creation to the creation of the world.

-Abraham Joshua Heschel, The Sabbath

more quotations may be found here on Kairos Spiritual Formation Quotes page

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Play Needs No Purpose

Play needs no purpose. That is why play can go on and on as long as players find it meaningful. After all, we do not dance in order to get somewhere. We dance around and around. A piece of music doesn't come to an end when its purpose is accomplished. It has no purpose, strictly speaking. It is the playful unfolding of a meaning that is there in each of its movements, in every theme, every passage: celebration of meaning. Pachelbel's Canon is one of the magnificent superfluities of life. Every time I listen to it, I realize anew that some of the most superfluous things are the most important for us because they give meaning to our human life. We need this kind of experience to correct our worldview. Too easily are we inclined to imagine that God created this world for a purpose. We are so caught up in purpose that we would feel more comfortable if God shared our preoccupation with work. But God plays. The birds in a single tree are sufficient proof that God did not set out with a divine no-nonsense attitude to make a creature that would perfectly achieve the purpose of a bird. The purpose of a bird. What could that purpose be I wonder? There are titmice, juncos, and chickadees; woodpeckers, gold finches, starlings and crows. The only bird never created is the no-nonsense bird. As we open our eyes and hearts to God's creation, we quickly perceive that God is playful, a God of leisure.

Gratefulness, the Heart of Prayer by Brother David Steindl-Rast

more quotations may be found here on Kairos Spiritual Formation Quotes page

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Reflection on the Academy for Spiritual Formation (Singapore) 2015

The first Academy for Spiritual Formation (Singapore) which is associated with Upper Room Ministries in the United States was held in Majodi Centre in Johor Bahru, Malaysia from 12-15 October 2015. This is the first time it is held outside the US. About 20 academies are organised in the States annually and I have always wanted to attend one. It is a wish fulfilled when I (a Malaysian) was invited by the Singaporean organisers to attend this inaugural academy. So it was with great anticipation that I went to the academy and when I checked into the centre and take note of the decorations and the programme, I felt I have ‘come home’! I have been interested in spiritual formation for more than thirty years and to come into a community of liked minded people is such a blessing.

The program of the academy was designed to follow the rhythm of worship and life. Every day, it starts with morning prayer, food (breakfast), lecture/talk, silence and solitude/personal quiet reflection, group sharing, food (lunch), some free time, lecture/talk, silence and solitude/personal reflection time, Eucharist, food (dinner), covenant (small group) sharing, night prayer, and then the great silence/no talking until the next morning at morning prayer. This is a good rhythm but it took me almost three days before I can enter it. I struggled at Morning Prayer because I am used to have my coffee the first thing after I wake up. It was really a struggle in my decaffeinated state to worship! I must confess that I spent most of the reflection and free time sleeping for the first two days. I was so exhausted and I believe many of the participants were too. While this is a good rhythm for the academy which is in an artificial organised set up, I do not think it is workable in our daily lives. Most of us live lives of organized chaos; mine is anyway. Mainly I wake up and pray that the day will be good and collapse at night, thanking God that I survived the day. It does not approximate the medieval monastic rule of life this rhythm is patterned after.

The morning, Eucharist, and evening prayers are actually one-hour long worship services. And it is highly liturgical. I was told it was ecumenical. The worship leaders, homilies and liturgies were excellent. I enjoy attending liturgical services in traditional liturgical churches. These churches have long traditions. Attending and participating the liturgies in this academy feels strange to me as I do not sense any church traditions behind it. It is like attending the service of independent churches but with more words. Some of the actions had me mystified, like pouring water out of a jar into a bowl, until it was explained to me (I was told it is like baptism but why at the beginning of the service, I wonder). The introduction of some Asian hymns in an attempt at contextualization was good as many of the hymns in the Upper Room hymnal are new to me. The daily theme of return, rest, renewal and re-engage was meaningful to me as a movement of entering and leaving. The daily decorations of the altars were beautiful and a credit to the creativity of the Singapore team. The addition of a labyrinth, and a prayer room were excellent facilities I make use of frequently after I have rested and moved into the flow of worship and silence.

The small group discussion at the end of a day was wonderful and helpful. I am so glad to make the acquaintance of my covenant group members; to feel their warm acceptance, to share and pray with and for one another. We are now good friends and even have a Whatapps group. May we continue to edify one another.

The academy speaker was Majorie Thompson who took both the morning and afternoon sessions. I understand that in the States, there will be two speakers; one for the morning and the other for the afternoon sessions. I have no reservations about Majorie taking all the sessions. I have been looking forward to meeting her ever since I read her book Soul Feast: An Invitation to the Christian Spiritual Life in 1995. I am so glad she has autographed for me her new 2014 second edition which I bought especially for this purpose. I regret I did not bring and offer to her my books on spiritual formation: Till We are Fully Formed, Spiritual Formation on the Run and Tales from the Monastery. Not too sure she will read them anyway. I find Majorie a gracious lady, soft-spoken and very open about her struggles; a wounded healer. The theme was Sabbath. There was a lot about Sabbath which she shared that I am still processing. New insights came when she shared about her Sabbath from ministry during her time of mourning after the death of her husband, and also about being Sabbath for one another (Sabbath sanctuary). The theologian in me is still trying to come to terms with them. I especially enjoyed her sharing about Henri Nouwen whom she had worked with.

These four days are wonderful days of dwelling in a spiritual safe place to rest and renew. It feeds the scholar and the mystic in me. There are elements here that appeals to these aspects of me. There are some confusion amongst some participants whether this is a conference or a retreat. Some expected more teaching and are mystified by the contemplative aspects. Other expect a retreat and long for more periods of silence of solitude. I find there is a wonderful balance here.

I summarise what I have learnt as that Sabbath is the intentional synchronizing of our natural rhythm in homecoming to stop-rest and renewal in a space-time container with God in our daily life. I am reminded that Sabbath is essential and I need to intentionally make space for it in my busy weekly schedule. What is wonderful is that I have a beautiful encounter with God in the academy. It did not happen at any specific spot like during my walk in the labyrinth or prayer time. It is a general sense of His presence, healing and refreshing me. He affirms and confirms the direction I try to serve Him. And that is exactly all I needed. Amen.

Soli Deo Gloria

19 October 2015


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The Academy for Spiritual Formation (Singapore) - Re-engage

The final day for the academy was Re-engage. We are to return to our Sabbath. In it we find rest and renewal. However, we are not to remain in the Sabbath no matter how blissful that is. We are to engage the other six days with the resurrection power.

The Academy for Spiritual Formation (Singapore) - Renew

The theme on the third day is Renew. Sabbath is a time for renewal. With adequate rest, we are able to renew our souls. Much of our spiritual life is unseen. Because it is unseen, the 'tyranny of the urgent' often crowd out time needed to renew and nurture our spiritual life.

The Academy for Spiritual Formation (Singapore) - Rest

The theme for the second day was rest. The participants find it appropriate as many were physically, emotionally and spiritually exhausted. We all know the value of rest. Unfortunately the demands of our vocation and the needs of others take up much of our time and energy. Sabbath is a reminder that the rhythm of life include rest. Without rest, we are all headed to burn out.