I Watched 'I am Sam' for Christmas

I thought I should do something for Christmas. My families and friends were far away. Even the neighbor guy I hung out with was gone visiting his aunt. But I still thought I should do something. I watched a movie. I watched I am Sam.

She told me about it. She told me about someone telling someone else how he (or she) was “the color red of her life.” I wanted to watch it to know what it meant. A love movie could be nice – I supposed – each and every time I could learn something new and insightful. The movie I am Sam was insightful indeed! However, though it was full of love, humors, and excitements, it was not, by any means, what I was expecting.

I am spoiling it: the movie is about a retarded father trying to get back his daughter, and he does it splendidly. There were many things going on in my head as I was watching it, thoughts about relationships between parents and children, about the beautiful diversity of companionships, about different values in Life and how one chooses which to pursuit. I am Sam is a surprisingly meaningful movie and I can make this post a long and boring discussion about the richness of it. Or, I can talk about retarded people.

To say it simple, retarded people have problems with mental development and their intellectual level can only reach that of a young child. They are everywhere, and to tell the truth, I never feel too comfortable being around them. They tend to disturb people around at an ultra-high level, and in the worst case I have experienced, they treated my friend Renae badly while she was trying to help them. I have wondered at times why people try so hard to help them while they aren’t really that treasurable. I can live with inherent unproductiveness, but I cannot easily forgive ignorant cruelty.

The movie gives me a different experience. The miserable beings in there present us with series of touching moments. How Sam raised his daughter Lucy to become a strong and smart girl, how Sam’s handicapped friends helped him to buy Lucy her new shoes, and how he had the famous lawyer Rita Harrison to help with bringing Lucy back are most incredible among others, and watching them would easily bring one into tears. The disabled were able to perform the miracles.   

Only by following through the whole story of one retarded father may I see the unimaginable. Sam and his handicapped friends show me their genuine love for other people, their extraordinary efforts to carry on responsibilities, and their utmost appreciations toward any tiny goodness of life. 

As awesome as Sam is, we can’t deny the fact that he and his friends keep acting weird and screwing things up. Someone who only glimpses at I am Sam for 10 seconds can really say, “Oh my, these guys are nothing but nuts!” But then again, is this “clumsiness” really such a bad thing? We all know someone who tries too hard and messes things up – we do too! Maybe that’s why retarded people mess up all the time: they always try their absolute best to make things work, consistently, persistently. To learn to love them patiently and courageously helps us to love better our children, our elderly loved ones, and ourselves.

To tell, retarded people are quite lovable – to the point that they may as well be listed among God’s favorites. They never twist any comprehensible truth. They try to do the right things and to enjoy their lives – and they try real hard. Don’t they have some of the best virtues that God has ever created? Isn’t there always something in them that we can observe and wholeheartedly admire? Aren’t they simply some other people that are different? We are all different. And from now on, I will restrain myself from using the word “retarded” inappropriately.     

So on one night I watched I am Sam. What a wonderful movie! It was a good time. It was a good cry. It was a good Christmas cry.

How to Prepare an Awesome Meal Within Five Minutes

I mentioned this before in a Vietnamese post: I hate cooking, and my cooking knowledge is painfully inadequate. However, as a guy who has to live by himself for quite a long time, I have to constantly come up with new stuffs to eat. What I am sharing is one of my favorites: it’s simple, fast, tasty, and… healthy (kind of!). Prepare to meet DK’s CRAZILY AWESOME SANDWICH!!!

Ingredients: 

- 1 loaf of mid-size French bread (I just love French bread!)

- 3 slices of turkey breast (choose the ones that aren’t too thin so they won’t fall apart later on)

- 1 egg

- 2 teaspoons of cooking oil

- Some hungry attitude

- An apple

Step 1: 

- Heat the oil on a frying pan, then fry the turkey slices in 30 seconds. Gotta fry them quick because they are sensitive beings. As you can see in the picture, they are a bit burned because I was… busy taking pictures.

- Take the turkey out and put them on a plate.

Step 2:

- Crack the egg and toss it in with love. The heat and the oil which are already there will cook the egg in a couple minutes. Too long? It’s because I like it well-cooked.

- Put the egg on the same plate as the turkey so that they can tell each other “whatssup?!”

Step 3:

- Split the bread and toast them with the remaining oil. The bread will soon get warmer and have some slightly crispy feature.

Step 4:

- Put the goodness together in a gentle manner.

Step 5:

- Add an apple on the side. Congratulations! You now can enjoy the meal of a champion!!! : )

Giấc Mơ Turquoise Của Tôi

Mỗi giấc mơ là một cuộc hành trình mà sẽ rơi vào quên lãng. Hằng đêm ta mơ, ta cảm nhận điều gì, ta đang tìm kiếm điều gì? 

Hành trình mà chúng tôi đã trải qua cũng thế, ngắn ngủi, phức tạp, mà chóng vánh. Đó là một cuộc phiêu lưu mà ta dễ dàng tìm thấy trong những câu chuyện cổ tích, những bộ phim, hay trong những game fantasy lấp lánh. Đó là cuộc phiêu lưu trẻ con và vơ vẩn, nhưng không kém phần quan trọng và thiêng liêng, như cách một đứa trẻ trông về một tương lai hoa lệ, hay một người lớn tìm về một tuổi thơ diệu kì. Trong một cuộc hành trình như thế, thì chuyện chúng tôi đã trải qua những gì, đi đến những đâu, khi nào, đã không cần được nhắc đến. Mọi thứ đều đã rất hoàn hảo, tuyệt vời và vì thế cũng đã trôi qua đi. Vì dù sao đây cũng chỉ là một giấc mơ, mà giấc mơ thì rồi cũng sẽ rơi váo quên lãng.   

Có ít nhất ba thành viên trong nhóm của chúng tôi. Ngoài tôi ra tôi chỉ còn nhớ mang máng một thằng con trai nào đó, và em. Em là tất cả những gì khả ái, trong sáng, và ngọt ngào mà người ta có thể cảm nhận được. Sự hiện diện của em làm cho cái thế giới mờ ảo đáng nghi ngờ này trở nên thật rực rỡ, và một giấc mơ ngơ ngẩn nhạt toẹt trở thành một cuộc phiêu lưu đáng nhớ.

Tiếc rằng em chẳng phải là của tôi. Em và gã trai kia là những nhân vật chính của câu chuyện, quan trọng và đáng chú ý. Còn tôi chỉ là một thành viên trong đoàn, lầm lũi bước cùng những thành viên khác. Chẳng biết vai trò của tôi là gì, hay thậm chí tôi đã làm gì. Chỉ biết là tôi bỗng kiếm được một chiếc vòng và đeo nó lên tay tôi. Chiếc vòng mỏng manh và rườm rà như món quà dành cho con gái. Có ba viên đá màu xanh ngọc được nối vào như một sự tình cờ, chẳng để làm sao, hay vì lý do gì.

Có một điều mà mọi người trong đoàn đều biết, rằng đến một lúc nào đó em sẽ phải ra đi. Chẳng ai có thể nói gì, làm gì về điều đó, mà chúng tôi phải chấp nhận nó như một sự thật đáng buồn và không thể tránh. Mọi người buồn vì ai cũng sẽ nhớ ánh mắt và nụ cười tươi tắn của em. Thế giới này buồn vì vắng em mọi thứ sẽ trở nên ảm đạm và vô tình hơn. Tôi buồn vì tôi yêu em, thầm lặng, nhưng vô cùng.

Em đến bên tôi và khẽ nói, anh biết là em sẽ phải ra đi mà! Tôi biết. Ánh mắt em chợt hướng về chiếc vòng trên tay tôi. Cho em xem nào. Chiếc vòng này màu xanh, đẹp quá. Có vẻ như từ khi đeo nó, nó đã hút dần năng lượng và thể chất trong anh, và giờ đây khi rời khỏi nó, sự diện diện của anh trở thành một điều gì đó thiếu sót, không hoàn thiện.

Nhìn những đường vân của chiếc vòng vẫn còn hằn rõ trên cổ tay, tôi nói, em nói nói đúng. Và rồi tôi chợt nhận ra một điều quá đỗi hiển nhiên: màu xanh thấp thoáng của những viên ngọc trên chiếc vòng, chẳng khác nào màu sắc trên trang phục của em, cả trên lớp sơn móng tay nhỏ bé của em. Rằng khi em sẽ rời khỏi nơi đây, tôi sẽ nhìn vào chiếc vòng ấy và không khỏi nhớ về em.

Em nắm chặt chiếc vòng và nhìn tôi thổn thức. Hãy cho em mang chiếc vòng này theo nhé? Để em có thể thực sự rời khỏi nơi này. Để anh sẽ không phải vì em mà tổn thương mãi. Bởi vì, em yêu anh!

Tôi ngỡ ngàng ngước lên nhìn em. Không thể nào!... Tôi vừa thốt lên thì hình bóng em đã vội phai mờ. Tôi còn chưa kịp đưa tay ra để nắm giữ một điều chi nhỏ bé, để thấy những ký ức, những tình cảm về em đang dần bôi xóa đi, nhanh chóng, phũ phàng.

Tôi tỉnh giấc và vội nhìn vào cổ tay tôi giờ đã không còn tí vết hằn nào. Hoàn toàn không thể nhớ được dáng dấp và khuôn mặt em, cả sự dịu dàng trong sáng đã làm tôi đau lòng. Giọt nước mắt tôi tuôn rơi, khóc cho em, cho một thế giới đã tan biến vì em, và cho một phần trong tôi đã mãi ra đi không cách chi quay lại.

Triviality, My Triviality

 

The time of the year when my birthday comes by visit is drawing near. People make wishes on their birthdays, and it’s a beautiful thing. Though this year there is no cake, no card, no friend, can I sing myself Happy Birthday and make some wishes too? 

I wish to be around my beloved friends and stop being just “some guy who would occasionally show up”. I wish to no longer be missed out, misunderstood, or mistakenly opinioned.

I wish to be around families, to be welcomed and to be spoiled, to be actually considered as important and irreplaceable, not alienated. I wish to be home.

I wish to be loved, cared, comforted, and respected.

Too much of wishful thinking, isn’t it? How can I be around my friends, if they are all scattered in Vietnam, Montana, Missouri, and California since I am freaking nomadic? Will I ever be able to get myself a “home”? And will I ever be a good man?  

Ok, that’s it for unhappy thoughts. I should never self-ask too much: there ain’t a “someone” to answer the questions for me. Besides, everything in this world is into place and there eternally is a plan. I am to leave my trivial thoughts behind and move forward.

It’s ok. Everything will be just fine. And someday, I will be alone no longer : )

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Tôi 20 (Vietnamese)

...And then, I changed

And So I am Thankful

Someone has said, “Foolish men think of the Past, wise men think of the Present, and evil men think of the Future.” Whether a person is wise or evil, then, only Time can tell. It’s not that I am implying anything – I don’t necessarily agree with the quote even. Let me allow myself to be foolish a bit and think of the Past today so that I can be thankful. It’s Thanksgiving after all.

I am thankful that I used to be able to enjoy some family time during holidays. I still remember those Thanksgivings when I could expect some good turkey, sweet potatoes, and green beans. Best food ever: full of love, joy, and tastiness.

I am thankful that I used to have a person to love and to be loved. Isn’t Love the most precious thing, for me to have someone to be waited for, some place to fall back to when all else wrongs, some hope to lean on to when the future is clouded with vast chaos?

And I am thankful for every other good thing that used to happen in the Past. Joyous time when hanging out with friends, self-fulfilling occasions when important things accomplished, and peaceful moments when sitting alone on the grass under the red, windy sky. And yes, I learned to love the rain, too! Rain was happiness. It may still is, because I still remember.

How does one define what a happy life is? To me a good life is the one which has many good moments in it. Some family moment, some good friendships, some achievements, one love. And maybe that’s quite enough for a life to be entitled as “happy”. Because of it, it doesn’t really matter to me how tough this current life is, or how depressing the future can be. I already have my happy life, and I will be thanking God for it forever.

“Một lần yêu thôi về thắp nến linh hương trong lòng

Và ngồi hát ca bềnh bồng…”

Happy Thanksgiving to you too. 

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Related topics:

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A.R.K.

Tìm Em Giữa Đời

Giấu thật sâu tận nơi nào

Im lặng, ta mãi đào chẳng thấy

Rồi từ đây tình yêu người cách biệt

Lặng lẽ đời trôi; em quên tôi.

In vào tim ta là nỗi đau bé nhỏ

Mỏng manh, khốn khổ, chơi vơi.

Sống khắc khoải rồi sẽ phải đi thôi

Ông Trời ơi, làm chi cho khắc nghiệt?

Rồi có còn ai biết

Rằng sau bao năm cách biệt

Yêu thương lại mải miết đi tìm em giữa đời…

How to become a little bit more successful

Regardless of what we do, it almost always comes down to whether it’s a success or a failure. Like taking a daily bus to work.

Normally there’s more than one option for us to choose. Some are simply good. Just by choosing one of them, the chance of success will be automatically enhanced and secured. For those who want to get from my apartment to the banking center where I work, the bus number 522 is a great option. 522 is a “rapid bus” which skips 70% of the bus stops and doesn’t have to follow a fixed schedule: it runs as fast as the traffic allows. By taking a 522, I can get to work in less than 30 minutes, sometimes even within 20 minutes!

Good options, however, don’t come around very often. We can’t help but to look for available alternatives which aren’t gonna be as appealing. In those less fortunate days when 552s are nowhere to be seen, a Number 22 will take me instead. 22 is a “standard” bus which stops at every single bus stop on its path and follows the schedule faithfully. When a 22 shows up early, I can’t ever be glad knowing that it’s gonna rest for 10-15 minutes somewhere on the road to keep up with the schedule. And I will arrive at work in (averagely) 45 minutes.

25 minutes and 45 minutes are decisively different. One would make me a model employee who shows up gloriously 15 minutes ahead of the schedule; another would show the world that I am nothing but a slacker who apparently not very talented at time management. If every bus in the world magically became a 522, I would be very happy.

Wishful thinking doesn’t help, and none of us controls the existence of the good and bad things, they may as well be left to chances. Humanity, therefore, is stuck forever with absolute blind luck.

Or is it, really?

Many people in the past have moved mountains, conquered great seas, and changed history. I believe that each and every one of us possesses the power to change many things, including those that are yet to come upon us. One day I got tired of hoping for seeing a 522 coming every single morning, so I decided to change. I started waking up 15 minutes earlier. Now by the time I get to the bus stop, it no longer matters which bus is coming. Either 522 or 33 will get me to work on time, and if I don’t feel like it, I can even skip a 22 to wait for an eventual 522 in pleasure. By waking up a little earlier, I am able to choose which bus to get in. By changing ourselves a little bit, we gain the power to manage the future’s outcomes.

Self-discipline is no easy task. Significant changes occur when one’s will is determined enough.   By being a little bit more determined, we can have many of those good and bad things grasped in our hands, and the power to control them is to our disposal. And finally, we may as well be a bit, though just a tiny bit, more successful in Life.

I am back again

Life has been really hectic lately for me. I am amazed how quickly a week can get by when having a job. There are simply so many things to be done and I would rarely go to bed at night without feeling guilty for my own indiscipline. So here I sigh…

That’s it for excuses. I have neglected this page long enough and I ought to come back. How can DK-Gm ever define himself without this blog? He can’t. Some certain precious things will be gone forever if he does.

Mark my word, there will be a new post next week!

How to watch a movie and appreciate it fully

You have a movie in mind that you really want to watch because you know that it’s gonna be great? These are some steps you should take to make it a wonderful experience:

1.                   Go to Wikipedia and find out the original book the movie gets inspired from

2.                   Read the book

3.                   Finish it

4.                   Appreciate it and give it some thoughts

5.                   Wait for 3-10 months until the story has faded away a little

6.                   Now you are ready. Get the movie and watch it.

Trust me, the impacts the movie would give you after going through all of these steps are phenomenal. It takes so much effort and time of so many diligent hard-workers to produce a movie, it’s certainly worth it.

How to Become a Teller For Bank of America

I currently am working for Bank of America (BofA) as a teller, and it’s been 2 months now. A little bit about what I am, I am an international student whose first language is not English. When I graduated from college, I didn’t do any internship and had no remotely related experience to banking industry. I was full of disadvantages. BofA’s website clearly stated that they wouldn’t typically hire and sponsor F1-visa students, and, on top of everything, the economy was painfully lagging.

One cannot help but wonder why in the world they would hire someone like me while millions of Americans were being unemployed. That’s why I really think that I should share my story, and that my story might be somewhat beneficial for some of you who are now reading it.

The first and foremost reason was because I was interested in BofA deeply. When I was in my junior year, I was reading my Marketing textbook. The featured story of chapter 8 was about Bank of America, the history of the company, how as a tiny local bank they surpassed many competitors and became the current largest holding bank in the world, and how BofA is one of the best places to work for. I said to myself, “this company is great, and I will try to get in there!”

You certainly can stop reading this post right here, because I have shared with you what probably the only thing that matters most. As an applicant, I had nothing, and the only thing that made me stand a chance in the competition was that I was interested in the company the most, that I was the most passionate among the applicants. This is basically the key to success: Love what you do, and do what you love. If you truly love to work for Bank of America, then go for it.

If you choose to continue reading my post, I’ll also be very delighted, because now I am sharing about what I did with that passion. Actually when you truly desire something, you’d want to learn more about it, and things would be so much obvious beyond this point. In any industry, you got to be a “grunt” first, so aiming for the teller position was reasonable. Then of course I would have to find out what it would take to be a good teller. A teller has to be good at customer service (mostly) and sales (sales skills are important for so many things in life). So how did I achieve these two skills, I took part time jobs. During my three and a half years in college, I served food and cleaned things in a buffet restaurant, processed barcodes and maintained an inventory in a library, sat at a reception desk, kept track of other people’s documents in a school office, and gave tours around campus to groups of new students.

How do these help at all, you say? I saw the benefits of each job when I took it: giving tours helps me present things better; filing and barcoding helps me become detail-oriented and also better with long numbers; serving food and cleaning stuffs teach me endurance and customer service; and sitting at the desk makes me know by heart of how much each roll of coins worth. Even though I had no related experience with banking industry when I applied, these “trivial” jobs made me fully ready to absorb whatever it would take to do a good job. So to be prepared is essential. The hiring process was about two weeks, but my success was constructed many months before. No experience is irrelevant at all, really. If you see something that can help you to get closer to your goal and is relatively easy, then it’s great! Do it!  

The third important reason for me to get chosen is that I was lucky the entire time. I was called for the interview at the right time, had the right interviewers and the right competitors, enjoyed the right questions and answers… The weather itself was right, too. On the day I had my last interview with the branch manager, at the last moment there was some problem with the street address. I tried to calm down, walked to the nearest computer and looked up the address for the destination. The bus came and took me away, and I arrived at the interview 10 minutes early. I was blessed.

I truly believe that humans can only try so hard, and in every success lies some sort of luck. One can try to prepare so well, yet his very ability to be able to think, move, and act is already a very great blessing. I didn’t have a car, but I was lucky enough to be able to run to the bus: a person on wheelchair might not make it to the interview like I did. We don’t really control our luck, but I do believe that each of us has our own kind of luck, and what we can do is to appreciate and utilize it.  

So it is it, then. There was no secret to it: I found out what I liked to do; I prepared; and I was lucky. Guess what? The title of this post should instead be “How DK becomes a teller for Bank of America”, since it’s mostly about my personal experiences and thoughts. But guess what? This can also be “How one can become successful in so many things in Life.” Yes, I do believe that Passion, Preparation, and Providence are important as much.

Updates

My dearest readers,

It’s been a while since I had my weekly posts, and now I am trying to get them going again. There are several reasons for this blog’s discrepancy, and sharing some of them with you may be a good thing to do.

One reason is that I am living in a apartment, and the landlord is one odd fellow. He wouldn’t be happy unless scolding someone. One hobby of his is to cut off my internet whenever he sees fit. Deductive thinking won’t help me figure out when and why my internet would be blocked, since I haven’t really done anything out of ordinary. And each time my Internet access would be cut off for several days.

The bigger reason however is, well, I got a job. I have been a teller for BoA for roughly two months now, and this explains why I have been quite busy lately. On a typical day, I won’t have time to do my things until 8 p.m.. Better yet, Saturday is the most important day at work, for people tent to flood to the bank on this lovely day. This year surely will pass by very fast.

The good news is that after such period of time, I have several new ideas of what to write for this blog. I may start a series telling my story as a teller. Another thing I can do is to tell about interesting people and incidences I have seen while sitting on the bus.

So yeah, this should be it for now. Thank you for sticking with me until now, and I’ll try to keep you entertained as much as I can.

One Thing about Passion

In tenth grade, I liked breakdancing a lot. I practiced by myself for months to master one single move and I could not. Then I moved to Montana when some friends and I decided to form a crew and practice breakdancing together. In mere three months, we had our first performance in a wedding (yup, that's me in the picture). After that fateful year, I had mastered quite a number of moves and was capable of taking an instructor’s role. Then I went to college at a tiny town where no one ever breakdanced. Dancing alone in a corner was purely sad, and there was no longer a point for me to practice. So I stopped.

Drawing never was my talent, because when I was little I was bad at it. Then with practice I became a decent artist who could make his own comics. In one year I would complete about 3 – 4 pictures, and I satisfied with it. January 2011 came, brought along an online forum where people with great drawing techniques competed for prizes. I was so influenced by the website that when February came, I already had finished 3 pictures, 2 comics, and also 2 manuscripts were in process. Furthermore, I became much better with shading, using screentones, and inkings. In one month, I achieved an improvement of several years’ worth.

Community is indescribably important, no matter that we do. Joining a community of people who share the same passion helps us feel a little bit more of being ourselves, of being complete. We now have friends to whom we can share what we love, talk about it, challenge about it, and encourage one another to nurture that very passion.  It is quite unimaginable for humans to wholeheartedly want to develop a certain passion and not seeking company with others who have that same interest. We ought to.

Speaking of which, don’t we have something to fix here, my fellow church-less Christians?  

The Best Believer of the Lord

"The most extraordinary thing in the world is an ordinary man and an ordinary woman and their ordinary children."

— G.K. Chesterton


I recently finished the book Deuteronomy of the Bible. It urges me to write something for Moses, seeing his entire life devoting to serve the Lord. Moses truly is the greatest follower of Christ.

In an earthly sense, Moses is an extraordinarily typical man. When the Lord comes to him, he says, but, my Lord, I am not even good at talking in front of people! Please choose someone else, for I am just another random person. . And so he is. There is absolutely nothing special about him. He is neither well-read nor well-traveled. Why would the Lord chooses him and not Aaron his brother, or someone else who “knows better”? I believe the answer is that God loves the ordinary Moses has. Nothing can be more glorious to God than making a completely normal human to become a great chosen one. If there was anything special about Moses, if he was better at public-speaking, if he was any more knowledgeable, or even if he was just a bit more physically appealing, the story of Moses would never be so great. It was a miracle because it started from the absolute scratch. By saying this, I do not by any means state that ordinary is worthless. Instead, it may yield one of the greatest conceivable powers. In many cases in life, simple is sufficient. If Moses was any more “clever”, he would have built a golden calf. If he was any more “heroic”, he would commit murder and adultery. Aaron was a great priest, David and Solomon were great kings, but what the people of Israel needed during their toughest time was someone better than that - someone like Moses.

The books of Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy show us how obedient Moses is. It is as if whenever God appears and says, “You do this”, Moses would humbly answer, “Right away, my Lord.” Moses’ life wasn’t at all earthly joyful. In my personal experience, flying from Vietnam to the US for 2 days is long and tiresome. Here in the Bible, traveling from slavery to the Promised Land for 40 years full of battles, thirst and hunger, and deadly diseases would be something well beyond. It is even worse when Moses has to lead thousands of non-committed people during these long years. Putting three children in order is out of hand, mothers know best. Multiply such hardship thousandfold and we have what Moses goes through. The apparent price for great joy is great responsibilities.    

Everyone among us commits some sin, but the sin Moses commits is minimal: he pokes the rock with his stick because his faith in God isn’t enough. Though imperfect, this faith of his surely surpasses those of many other Biblical heroes. No one could have done a better job than what he did.

This faithful servant of God serves Him until the very end. He stops and falls down when the Promised Land is in sight. And every single hat in this world would be taken off before such death. The earthly tragedy now becomes the great honor.

Tales of a servant are to praise his master, and looking at a noble death is to remember the noblest sacrifice there is. Happy Easter to you all.

I will be back

My dearest readers,

I haven't posted anything on this blog for awhile, and I will continue to do so for several more weeks. My life has been changing quite a bit, and I am trying to keep up with it. People say that we spend more time on what truly important to us, but I don't agree with the statement at all. Depends on the moment and locations, there are certain things that we simply have to do even though we don't really give them a squat; and there are people and things that we can gladly die to protect, yet we have to give up on them for less relevant matters sometimes. I am taking a break from blogging doesn't mean I have lost my joy of writing or I no longer value my readers as highly.

In the near future, this blog will be updated again and will continue to serve you in its humble way. For now, you may want to check out my older posts. I have blogged since 2006 and you very well may have missed a lot of interesting posts. And please give me comments or at least click the like/dislike button. Feedbacks are as warm and sweet as a group hug.

After School

This 2-page comic was for an online contest. The topic was about Conversation or... Love, and the requirement was that there had to be a cat in it. The contest ended 3/20/2011. Mine got 2nd place.

Enjoy!

My Tribute for Japan

(click on the image for a larger version)

PRAY FOR JAPAN
Feel free to use the artwork for supportive purposes.
God Bless.

Điều còn sót lại

Giả sử một lúc nào đó, anh bị mất trí nhớ thì sao nhỉ? Nhưng điều đó khó xảy ra lắm, nếu có cũng chỉ là trong một giấc mơ mà thôi. Vậy hay là, mình cho rằng có một giấc mơ như thế, một giấc mơ mà trong ấy anh bị mất trí nhớ…

Khi đã mất trí nhớ rồi mọi việc đối với anh sẽ mông lung lắm. Nếu lúc ấy gặp em, anh sẽ không thể nhớ tên của em là gì: anh thậm chí sẽ không nhớ cả tên anh cơ mà!

Nhưng anh vẫn sẽ nhận ra em là một người thật đặc biệt, vẫn tươi cười và mừng rỡ khi gặp em. Còn em, đứng trước một người không thể nhận ra chính mình, em cũng trở nên độ lượng hơn mà bỏ qua tất cả. Cảm giác như thế cũng không tệ chút nào, em nhỉ?

Thế rồi mình sẽ đến Đầm Sen và cùng chui vào phòng chiếu 3D. Màn hình trong ấy cũng “lồi” lên, nhưng thô thiển và giản đơn như cái screensaver mê cung trên Windows 98. Em sẽ chê là nó xấu quá, còn anh sẽ cười và bảo rằng, thứ này đâu thể sánh với film 3D bây giờ. Cái này chắc phải cũ lắm rồi, lúc mà người ta gọi nó là…, là gì nhỉ? À, “Thực tế ảo”. Em nghe nhưng chẳng nói gì.

Rồi anh sẽ lại nói, em đừng la lên nhé, những thứ này đâu có đáng sợ gì. Còn em sẽ trả lời, tại anh giật mình nên em mới la lên thì có. Ừm đúng rồi, mọi thứ trước giờ đều là do cả hai chúng ta gây nên cùng một lúc mà. Lúc nào cũng thế.

Anh bị mất trí nhớ thật à, em hỏi. Anh gật đầu, anh đâu thể nhớ ra tên của em là gì. Mất trí nhớ thế này cũng thật khó tin, nhưng anh đâu có gì để phải nói dối em? Nhiều điều anh nói cũng đã rất khó tin, nhưng đâu phải vì chúng khó tin mà thành ra không thật được. Sao lại không tin anh?

Dù vậy, câu hỏi của enh cũng làm anh cố nhìn vào trí nhớ của mình. Tên của anh và em anh vẫn không thể nhớ ra, nhưng anh biết rõ rằng cảm giác gần bên em thế này thật ngọt ngào và êm dịu. Rồi mình sẽ ôm nhau, tha thiết mà bâng quơ như một thói quen. Nhưng cái thói quen bị quên lãng ấy đã làm lòng anh bình lặng và thanh thản vô cùng.

Rồi mọi thứ sẽ là một khoảng trắng, một khoảng không ngưng đọng một cách vô duyên như trong mơ người ta thường thấy. Sẽ không có gì xảy ra cả vì khi mơ nhiều, giấc mơ sẽ vội bay đi, nhanh chóng, phũ phàng.

 

Đến cuối cùng, anh lại thấy chính mình cùng em dạo bước. Chẳng hề nhớ điều gì đã xảy ra, cũng không cần quan tâm những điều chi sẽ đến, ta vẫn đang ở bên nhau.

Nhìn em từ phía sau, anh bỗng nhận ra tên của em vẫn còn đây trong anh, cùng những cảm giác và kí ức về em dù bao nhiêu những điều khác, kể cả về bản thân anh, có rời xa anh mãi mãi.

- Em à, anh nhớ ra rồi. Tên em là… [**].

Nói đến đây anh sẽ bật khóc, và em cũng sẽ khóc theo như anh. Hai chúng ta vẫn tiếp tục bước đi như thế, và em vẫn ở trước mặt anh, thổn thức. Đâu ai ngờ rằng trên đời này có một cái tên sẽ làm ta phải đau lòng.

Tiếc rằng mọi thứ đã chỉ là một giấc mơ. Anh chưa từng mất trí nhớ,  và em đã không xuất hiện để khóc cùng anh. Anh lại tỉnh dậy trên chiếc giường chật hẹp, lau vội những giọt nước mắt đang lăn dài và tiếp tục cuộc sống đơn giản và không em này. 

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As a normal person
I woke up
I've lost a girl again

Some Thoughts About Christian Faith

Faith is Important

If Jesus Christ is the true God, and the only way for humans to be saved is to believe in Him, i. e. to have Faith, then anyone who attempts to be saved – if that is ever possible – should at least understand what “to believe in Him” really means. That is, we should at least understand what Faith is. By all means, Faith is what distinguishes believers and non-believers, right?

Right?

Our Knowledge about God is Not Perfect

Believing in Christ is not a simple matter, and many people have failed that. So frequently, non-believers are poorly thought of, but I wouldn’t think highly of many so-called Christians who believe in some customized “Christ”. To me, a personalized Christian-ism holds no difference from other religions. Collectivity in Faith shows obvious denials. If this “faith” still counts, if a person can become a follower of Christ because he thinks “I believe in my god, and I name him Jesus”, something is misleading here.  

There are always problems about our knowledge of God. I no longer cling to the question of why everyone does not have an equal chance to know God. However, it is true that there are many places in the world where Christianity is commonly considered as immoral and fatally dangerous. How sinful is it for a person X who lives in such a place to choose not to follow Christ because of his desire for the goodness? In the other hand, would it make any sense if in the same area, another person Y follows “Christ” with all the attached deviances and he consequently goes to Heaven? It wouldn’t.

The Bible is important and has many irreplaceable roles, but I don’t think it provides a clear Christian to-do list. I believe totally in the Bible, but I also think that we humans don’t really know what to make out of this book. Which part is always true and which part is historical and cultural and is therefore subjected to change? To drink wine or not to drink wine, for example.  While pro-wine people would cite wine-using occasions such as the Last supper; pro-wine-not(?) side would mention Lv 10:9 or argued that what Jesus used was something else. I simply think that some people like to drink wine and some don’t.   

One historical example may be slavery. The Bible seems to be okay with it, but does that mean that we should have maintained it? I have many African-American classmates. They really should NOT give up school now and randomly become slaves. Not everything in the Bible is constant, so it is not easy to pull out from the book a how-to, believe in it and call it Faith. Moreover, we shouldn’t have to.

Not Everyone Reads the Bible

Noah didn’t need it. There should not be much information going around in his era, and Jesus hadn’t made His Sacrifice. Yet God considered Noah righteous (Ge 6:9). Hm, how did he do that? My best guess is that right after the Fall of Men, humans were so dense that most of them failed to reach what would be common sense to us now.

The Bible doesn’t give us (initial) Faith, and self-declaration doesn’t create Faith. If Faith is something crucial that God wants us to have, and if God is good, then the true Faith should be better defined.

Faith, therefore, should not be about whether a person believes in God in a correct manner. It should be defined as a decision of a person to accept God when he ultimately has his chance to do so.

True Christians should not be defined simply as those people who “know” and “choose” a particular “Jesus” and declare to follow Him, but instead the people who would wholeheartedly love and desire the goodness this very God creates.

I believe that C. S. Lewis would agree with me on this. In his The Last Battle, one book in The Chronicles of Narnia, Emeth the Calormene gets accepted by Aslan (in the final chapter, you can read how Aslan redefines an Aslan-follower). The Great Devorce, another book if his, tells about various self-claimed Christians who failed to go or stay in Heaven.

This post is my effort to share this simple thought: since we were created by Love, let us carry on this Life with a good heart.

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Related topic(s):

A Matter of Trust