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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Related topic(s):
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

Love, definitely

A good friend of mine is getting married this summer. When I received the “Please save the date” card, I learned that they had known each other for 2464 days. I literarily used my calculator and put down

2464 ÷ 365 = 6.7507

After six years of knowing each other, they’ll get married. How great is that?

When we were still in class, I asked my friend that when seeing a girl, how to know if she is the right person. He said something like this: “She would stand out from the rest of the world – so brightly you can’t help but notice.”

Adam Sandler also said something about “the right person” in The Wedding Singer: “You’ll know when you meet the right girl, because it’s not how you feel about her, it’s how she makes you feel about yourself.”

Great ideas. Great quotes. Yet Valentine’s is coming and I find myself hanging out with Isolation. After all the relationships I have had, I failed to earn my true love. After all of these years, I have to once again wonder what love is.

Well, the easiest way is to look it up in the Bible. So the Bible says:

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. (1 Corinthians 13:4-8a NIV)

Ha, ok. This always sounds good. However, how would love, then, differ from a crush? As someone who has had plenty of crushes (unintentionally), I clearly understand how passionate, selfless, and forgiving a crush can be. When two people are having a crush on each other, what they feel and do to one another can arguably surpass those of two lovers, at least in scale if not in scope. I think maybe what makes love stand out is the longevity: a crush briefly occurs while a true love lasts.

When I was with my former girlfriend, Arwen, it was a happy time. We did what we could for each other even though we were half a globe apart. I thought I loved her, yet in the end we could not overcome our imperfections and said goodbye. After so many nights praying for the two of us, I found this ending heartbreaking. “O God, so she wasn’t the one then.”

Very soon, I met new people and got attracted. Maybe I have been wrong about love the whole time! Or maybe, I have never known how to love a woman.

At the latest time when I thought I knew what love was, I defined it as what remained after every fanciness of a crush had left. It never was true. When all the attractions, all the desires and passions have gone, a relationship would remain with responsibilities, obligations, and rational thoughts. Love would become despair. A crush, then, though silly and irrational as it is, is not at all insignificant. Instead of ridding this “crush”, true love may better be a crush that has matured and transformed into something everlasting. I think.

Now, when I meet some great person who is so attractive, I’d automatically have a crush – with all its passion and forgiveness and other goodies. I would deny them all, thinking how that is any different from other millions crushes. How do I know if fate is to tie me with this particular person? How dare I have any kind of hope? How do I even know what to pray about this?

My journey of finding true love is yet to be over.

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