I recently caught a TV programme on herbs and what this herbalist from Eu Yan Sang said was that when each individual herb is brewed on its own, it may not yield a remedy that is healthful.
However when the right mix of berries, seeds, leaves and roots are selected and brewed together, a magical transformation takes place and drinking the resulting decoction efficaciously heals and brings the body back into harmony.
This simple truth is reflected in cooking where the right marriage of ingredients creates a harmonious explosion of flavours on the palate, and a fecund spiritual life.
As individuals, we are each gifted with unique talents which we first utilise to reap financial gain and work towards a physically comfortable life for ourselves. Nothing wrong in that at all.
But man/woman was not created to be alone. We were created to live in community, the family being the most basic unit of community.
As such, when we use our talents for others, sharing in love what we have and what we can and want to bring to the table, the beneficiary is not only the receiver, but the giver as well.
I have experienced this as a reality in ICPE's W2W Ministry. As a community of women, we gather weekly to share our life experiences, giving thanks to the One who made it all possible, bonded by our love for Christ and our sincere desire to grow into mature women of faith.
The honesty and vulnerability of each woman makes each meeting a sacred space that Jesus enters and is powerfully present. There are many insights and much healing for something indefinably potent happens when a community prays together that is different from solitary prayer.
If you're serious about spiritual growth in life, consider the power of community and experience how unity in diversity makes for quantum leaps in faith and character building.
Friday, January 30, 2009
Monday, January 26, 2009
Balancing act
Today is the first day of the Lunar New Year and I finally have some quiet time. It's been a busy time spring cleaning, shopping for all manner of food and having branches of the extended family over for lunch today.
Many thanks to my sis-in-law W., cousin A., Lynn and my brothers who helped out with prepwork, and cousin J. who helped with the wash up - couldn't have done it without them. Why is it that every year I forget how much work it all entails?
I am quite pleased with how the dishes turned out despite my forgetfulness (only remembered ingredients midway of a stir-fry). Well, I did pray that Dad would be there in spirit guiding me - after all, cooking for the family is my way of paying him homage.
This hospitality, or as the Hawaiians call it, the spirit of aloha, is one that I value more as I get older. There is a sense of joy in being able to make someone feel welcome and sitting down together to good food and conversation.
As I scurried around, I reminded myself to keep focusing on "the one thing", unlike Martha who was so intent on serving that she was upset with her sister Mary for not helping out, and was eventually reminded to choose the "better part".
There will always be a tension between being able to do everything (perfectly) and finding the time to focus on Jesus and his availability to the people around Him.
Given my perfectionistic streak, I have a tendency to disregard the human element in getting a task done right, often sacrificing graciousness in the process.
I'm glad I was not so manic this new year, that I was able to let certain things go, and most importantly, that I was able to give thanks and enjoy the bounty and the fellowship that has been provided by my Maker.
Many thanks to my sis-in-law W., cousin A., Lynn and my brothers who helped out with prepwork, and cousin J. who helped with the wash up - couldn't have done it without them. Why is it that every year I forget how much work it all entails?
I am quite pleased with how the dishes turned out despite my forgetfulness (only remembered ingredients midway of a stir-fry). Well, I did pray that Dad would be there in spirit guiding me - after all, cooking for the family is my way of paying him homage.
This hospitality, or as the Hawaiians call it, the spirit of aloha, is one that I value more as I get older. There is a sense of joy in being able to make someone feel welcome and sitting down together to good food and conversation.
As I scurried around, I reminded myself to keep focusing on "the one thing", unlike Martha who was so intent on serving that she was upset with her sister Mary for not helping out, and was eventually reminded to choose the "better part".
There will always be a tension between being able to do everything (perfectly) and finding the time to focus on Jesus and his availability to the people around Him.
Given my perfectionistic streak, I have a tendency to disregard the human element in getting a task done right, often sacrificing graciousness in the process.
I'm glad I was not so manic this new year, that I was able to let certain things go, and most importantly, that I was able to give thanks and enjoy the bounty and the fellowship that has been provided by my Maker.
Sunday, January 04, 2009
Epiphany
As the newborn slumbers in the night, his mother
Gazes at him in wonder and delight.
What a miracle the child is!
He is precious, perfect - a prince of peace.
Even the angels concur, carolling
Jubilant tunes across the star-studded skies
Drawing shepherds and their flocks from afar
To see the saviour of the world in swaddling soft.
While star-trailing kings from the East bear gifts
Of gold, frankincense and myrrh
The highest honour to Emmanuel, God-with-us.
Nativity epiphany!
To see what is revealed in the wintry darkness
Revering, revelling in the mystic truth
That a tiny babe can redeem humanity
Conquering sin through love through time,
No greater love has man than a god who loved
The world so much that he gave his only son
To be born; to live and die agonizingly alone.
Bearing the gift of eternal life in his human entity
The Christ child brings us back to the beginning_
The way it's supposed to be.
When man and woman were created
To live in unity.
Thursday, January 01, 2009
Love and honour
If the way I have spent New Year's Day is indicative of what is to come in the rest of the year, then this year will indeed be a time of rest, recollection, reflection, inspiration and creativity.
Last evening, I was given the opportunity to welcome in the new year with a thanksgiving mass at St. Teresa's with family members, while this morning I lounged around luxuriously in my jammies, with my mother for soothing companionship.
I also managed to watch the movie Love and Honor, Bushi no ichibun, by Yoji Yamada. It was a gorgeous tale of love conquering adversity - of Shinnojo Mimura, a samurai who was blinded in the line of duty and how he sought to avenge the dishonour of his wife, Kayo, who in seeking to address the calamity of her husband's misfortune had fallen prey to an unscrupulous samurai, Toya Shimada.
In purportedly offering aid to the young couple after the event that led to Shinnojo's blindness, Shimada has demanded recompense by taking advantage of Kayo, whose beauty he had lusted after for years.
Kayo had submitted unwillingly, caught in the situation, as she believed Shimada would redeem her now-useless husband's livelihood. Subsequently she was blackmailed by Shimada and acquiesced to his demands in misery, knowing full well that the husband she loved and would die for would eventually find out and kill her for her "infidelity".
Upon discovering the truth, Shinnojo divorces Kayo and drives her away, and sets about to relearn his fighting skills as a blind warrior, before challenging Shimada to a duel.
In his single-minded pursuit of Kayo's lost honour, Shinnojo cuts off Shimada's arm amd the defeated samurai eventually commits the final act of seppuku, taking to his grave the identity of his nemesis.
In the final scenes of the movie, Shinnojo debates whether it would have better if he had not discovered the truth for he acknowledges that he has acted wrongly against Kayo whom he loves and who never stopped being his loving and faithful wife.
Shinnojo's humility marks him as a man who loves much and despite his blindness, is able to see the unvarnished truth about himself and those around him.
The movie brought home to me that love and honour are inextricably linked and thus in seeking to bring God honour, I must not forget Christ's principle of love in all things for without love, honour is meaningless.
What also moved me was the portrayal of spousal love between Shinnojo and Kayo, how each were willing to sacrifice self for the benefit of the other, and how each lived out the role of husband and wife respectively, with great tenderness and nobility.
As I begin the new year with fresh resolve to live with integrity, I ask for the ability to realize my still nascent and amorphous desires in order to bear much fruit in 2009.
I also ask that I accomplish everything honourably, and with much love.
Last evening, I was given the opportunity to welcome in the new year with a thanksgiving mass at St. Teresa's with family members, while this morning I lounged around luxuriously in my jammies, with my mother for soothing companionship.
I also managed to watch the movie Love and Honor, Bushi no ichibun, by Yoji Yamada. It was a gorgeous tale of love conquering adversity - of Shinnojo Mimura, a samurai who was blinded in the line of duty and how he sought to avenge the dishonour of his wife, Kayo, who in seeking to address the calamity of her husband's misfortune had fallen prey to an unscrupulous samurai, Toya Shimada.
In purportedly offering aid to the young couple after the event that led to Shinnojo's blindness, Shimada has demanded recompense by taking advantage of Kayo, whose beauty he had lusted after for years.
Kayo had submitted unwillingly, caught in the situation, as she believed Shimada would redeem her now-useless husband's livelihood. Subsequently she was blackmailed by Shimada and acquiesced to his demands in misery, knowing full well that the husband she loved and would die for would eventually find out and kill her for her "infidelity".
Upon discovering the truth, Shinnojo divorces Kayo and drives her away, and sets about to relearn his fighting skills as a blind warrior, before challenging Shimada to a duel.
In his single-minded pursuit of Kayo's lost honour, Shinnojo cuts off Shimada's arm amd the defeated samurai eventually commits the final act of seppuku, taking to his grave the identity of his nemesis.
In the final scenes of the movie, Shinnojo debates whether it would have better if he had not discovered the truth for he acknowledges that he has acted wrongly against Kayo whom he loves and who never stopped being his loving and faithful wife.
Shinnojo's humility marks him as a man who loves much and despite his blindness, is able to see the unvarnished truth about himself and those around him.
The movie brought home to me that love and honour are inextricably linked and thus in seeking to bring God honour, I must not forget Christ's principle of love in all things for without love, honour is meaningless.
What also moved me was the portrayal of spousal love between Shinnojo and Kayo, how each were willing to sacrifice self for the benefit of the other, and how each lived out the role of husband and wife respectively, with great tenderness and nobility.
As I begin the new year with fresh resolve to live with integrity, I ask for the ability to realize my still nascent and amorphous desires in order to bear much fruit in 2009.
I also ask that I accomplish everything honourably, and with much love.
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