20-22 Covid-19 Daily Reflections

It was about a year ago that Calgary Health Officials reported the first case of Coronavirus. People were somewhat apprehensive but not that worried about it. However, we heard about a completely different response to the virus in Vietnam, and the entire country shut down. We found ourselves in the same position a month later. Now we are wondering when it will end. There will be new issues that we will have to face when life slowly gets back to normal. People will ask many questions. I came across this cartoon recently, and I find it rather funny and amusing. "Now how we gonna get out?" They asked because of what happened to them physically due to isolation. How about many of us? How are we going to get back to what it used to be, or can we? Some people might have to deal with some challenging predicaments in their marriages or significant relationships. They know that things won't be the same and they have to make some choices. They were avoiding these choices. The door ...

We are indeed going through a critical cultural shift in gender identification when Hasbro decides to remove Mr. Potato Head from its toy box. Maybe we eventually come to the point when "Mr. and Mrs." will not be used to address people whom we respect. We can achieve gender awareness without the need to destroy all traditional values and ways of life. We can accept and appreciate other people's viewpoints about human sexuality. However, we feel the condemnation that comes from those who take a different stand on moral values. The accuser in many ways behaves more terribly than the accused. It feels as if we are heading to a place where nothing is making sense except confusion itself. We have no idea what is right and wrong. What used to be right now wrong and vice versa. We don't even know how to have a proper discourse when we disagree with one another because people get offended too quickly. We dissect one each other's speech so that we can find faults in the me...

Someone in my Linked In contact list sent me this picture. It reflects some of my experience in working with people during the last 12 months of the pandemic. Maybe we should pray more earnestly that this health threat will be over soon. I have a hunch that people have begun to get tired of it, and we might start seeing more and more civil disobedience when it comes to health regulations and protocols. The recent event at Toronto Airport was one of them. People arrived by plane and decided to ignore the requirement to be in quarantine, and went home. The police didn't stop them either. Some people have indeed been able to cope with this pandemic a lot better than others. I even see that in my family. Two of our kids got better jobs, and our youngest found herself out of work. Some are excited about the future, and others might be more apprehensive about it. Some businesses have been doing very well, and others can hardly keep their head above the water. I talked to a Vietnamese san...

    I have been thinking a lot about what a young person wrote in a poem describing her loneliness. She was honest while talking about her dissatisfaction and her doubts in dealing with her faith in God. She also seems to questions the sincerity and the authenticity of those who claim to be His people. She was not angry. She was overwhelmed by her loneliness. I might not share the sentiment of her loneliness. However, I can identify with the loneliness she feels in some ways. Loneliness is part of the journey in being with God. Life is simple if we feel God's presence and comfort all the time. Sometimes we feel as if we live our life not with God, but with the idea of God in our head. It doesn't mean we don't have faith. It is about living in between the already and the not yet in terms of God's revelation. Loneliness is what we have to experience while living in this world and decide not to belong to it. It is a part of our life journey that we have to walk alone with ...

  Many years ago, I met a Vietnamese pastor who had been imprisoned by the Communist Government in Vietnam for ten years after the fall of South Vietnam in 1975. The ministry he was with told him to leave Vietnam just a few days before the collapse of the South Vietnam government. Their American counterpart even sent him a plane ticket and told him to get out. He didn't, and he sent this message back to his people in the US:  "When the sheep are scattered, the Shepherd doesn't run away."  His first daughter was not even one at the time, and she didn't know him. He was released from the concentration camp because he was too dangerous to the Communists there. Many people became Christians because of his teaching in the camp. He faced another challenge when he arrived in the US. He didn't know how to relate to his teenage daughter. He asked me to help him. Fortunately, she was more open to me than her dad at the time. I was directing a summer camp for senior high...

  It is amazing what a mess the Government of Canada has created by being unclear and unprepared to explain their new travel regulations. Sometimes it is hard to understand the incompetence of our government. I am good with these travel protocols as long as everyone is clear. Even government workers are not confident in what they are telling people on the phone. Things are more complicated than they need to be. Maybe that is how our government is going about creating jobs.   Here is what missing about leading during this crisis. A) Have clear information. Leaders cannot make good decisions without credible data. That is what we have seen with the travel restrictions in Canada. People have suffered enough stress. Good leaders should be able to alleviate some of that stress, not add to it. B) Communicate clearly and appropriately. The last thing people want to do is to phone a government office and wait these days. What happens to online services? We also need to train work...

Natural disasters do happen whether we believe in global warming or not. We are not in control of nature, and we have to prepare for the unexpected. What happened in Texas during the cold freeze last week reveals many needed lessons to us. To be prepared is to make plans for different possibilities. To have a clear priority about the health and the well-being of people when a natural disaster takes place. We need to acknowledge that we are not in control, and we need to make room for what we don't know. To be prepared is to consider the needs of the poor, the elderly, the sick, the physically challenged, and people with other disadvantages in life. A compassionate society is willing to go to bat for these people when they cannot do that for themselves. To be prepared is to find ways to overcome the isolation in our existence. Why should a sick man get his oxygen tank by himself? Why didn't anyone check on the grandmother and her three grandchildren? Either our sense of isolati...

  I am not going to name the organization that I am about to quote what they put on their website. The quote is a description of its existence. In recent months many businesses have decided to support their causes without doing the needed due diligence of what they really plan to do. Here is the quote: “We disrupt the Western-prescribed nuclear-family-structure requirement by supporting each other as extended families and ‘villages’ that collectively care for one another”. Caring for one another should be the extension of how we learn how to care for our family. Talking about the destruction of the family unit contradicts that desire. We have been trying to compensate for the impact of broken homes as a society, and we are still struggling with the damages of the breaking down of family unit. We can care for one another a lot better by starting to care for our families. This specific organization has also liked to quote Martin Luke King, assuming that he would support their agenda....

  I have done enough pastoral care for marriages that are in trouble to know that the first statement from either side tends to be: "We don't talk anymore. We live like two strangers under the same roof." Communication is the lifeline in human relationships. Most of us know that, and yet many of us have failed to be good communicators. The same principle will work with our relationships with God. The dryness of our prayer life is the main reason that we cannot hear God at all? We are so preoccupied with our affairs, and we pray as if we need someone to rubber-stamp our plan for life. So what happens to us when we experience the desert in our prayer life? We fail to understand God because we don't care about what God has to say. We can't see God if we ignore His revelation. Much of God's revelation occurs in our prayer time. When we pray for others, God might ask us to be with them fully. When we do that, we yield to God's voice more often. We might overlo...

  Some people care deeply about their appearance. They would protect it at all costs. Some politicians and celebrities have no shame about doing that. Our mind is shallow, and our spirit is hollow in dealing with the superficiality of our appearance. Appearance also has gone further than how one looks. We have to deal with the pretend appearance of speaking the right language, talking about the right issues, and affirming the ongoing concerns. How often have we heard politicians use the term "systemic racism" lately? Getting on the bandwagon is another form of appearance. Appearance, therefore, has become a deception. The latest is the appearance of standing for the truth from various news networks in the US. The power to deceive has gone very deep, and it is hard for us to discern the truth. News anchors show up with the appearance of their self-righteousness to condemn one another. We are no longer watching the news. We are judging a boxing match between news networks where...

Conversations about right and wrong are tricky these days. It is not that simple to find the same set of values in our society anymore. We see that happens right after President Biden took office. Different fractions of his party begun to maneuver to establish the influence on the current administration. Value systems are defined by who has the most power to lobby. Not too long ago, it was not right for anyone to get angry and damage other people's property. Summer 2020 tells us that the mob mentality has taken over the real meaning of democracy. The authority seems to either look the other way or to find excuses for that kind of behavior. We witnessed a celebration of lawlessness in the name of democracy. We have allowed indecency to take over meaningful processes of reasoning. We used to have the freedom to dialogue about contentious issues concerning human life and well-being without the need to use threatening languages. Self-righteous mobs would show up and protest against an...

  I was asked once by a young person whether God speaks to everyone. I told her that I believe so. She then asked me this question: "Why don't we get a chance to hear from other people in the church what they know about God on Sunday morning? Why do we just listen to one man?". That is a good question. We have been doing church thinking that everyone learns about God the same way. We depend on our pastors for teaching and sometimes worship leaders. Many pastors are not good teachers. Maybe it is about time to consider how Jesus taught. Jesus knows who he is. It sounds simple, but it is a challenge for many pastors we know. Our lack of security and self-understanding does not enhance our authority to teach. We learn in the Bible that Jesus taught with authority. He did not doubt his mission and purpose to be in the world. Jesus taught in parables. He used stories that people can relate to while making his points. He understands life and the suffering of life. We can only h...

  Some people have told me that they have stopped going to church. They prefer to be at home and doing church online. Some have found their fellowship with smaller groups of believers more meaningful than attending church regularly. People's approaches to meet their spiritual needs have changed. Churches have also changed. The megachurch has become a phenomenon in North America. As much as I understand the benefits of having a huge church, I wonder whether some pastors have lost their understanding of being a shepherd. Big churches are like big organizations, they need a lot of work and money to keep going. Some senior pastors are harder to get in touch with than a CEO of a business. They have become removed and unapproachable. So what it means to be a pastor? Let us look at Jesus' ministry and see we can find some answers: Jesus called people to follow him. He had no status and no respect from the authority at the time, yet people follow him because of who he was and his teach...

  Many years ago, farmer markets were places we went to buy fruits and vegetables straight from farmers. It used to be where people came and looked for local produce at reasonable prices. These markets used to down to earth.  Nowadays, it is a different story. Farmer markets now cater to another clientele. They are fancier. Their clients seem to be wealthy folks who are looking for healthier and more expensive products. It is also harder to see a real farmer. These markets are now just another kind of shopping malls with kiosks.  Something is missing in these new farmer markets. Maybe we can no longer see the authenticity and the simplicity that we experienced in the past. It is like going to Starbucks for a cup of coffee. We have to learn a whole new set of the lingo to sound sophisticated while ordering. It is a lot harder to find just a good coffee without any foreign names and unnecessary added substance. It is hard to have an authentic self considering the impact of ...

  It might be appropriate to look at some of the well-known quotes about love today. Love has been written and talked about throughout human history. Love is something we need and yet don't always know where it is from and how to receive it. We have struggled with loving others and ourselves since the beginning of life. There are many common themes about love in different cultures and belief systems.   "I may not be your first date, kiss, or love, but I want to be your last" -  (China) Many people who discover Jesus' love for the first time have mentioned a similar message they have received from Him. God wants to be our last Lover from then on. "The quarrel of lovers is the renewal of love" -  (Morocco) Our relationship with God is not always smooth. The more we struggle with our love for God, the more we learn to receive His love. That's why we find it hard to pray and to be at peace at times. Our struggle in loving God tells us that our love is real, ...

  "What are you guys going to do for Valentine?"  is the question people might ask some of us on this day. With someone like me who has been married for 40 years, they might get a blank look. It is not because I don't love my wife. But the whole notion of having one day to express my appreciation for someone I love is absurd. It is easy to go all out in one day. It is a lot more meaningful to give oneself more wholly to the other all the time. That is when we realize that we all fall short. It is like celebrating a birthday while forgetting how to live. I don't make a big deal about birthday either because I would prefer to appreciate life as it happens. Sometimes I wonder why the number of years is a big deal when many never get their chance of being alive. Whenever I think about my birthday, I am solemn with that thoughts.  No doubt that there is a great need for love in this world. Many people never have a chance to experience love. The absence of love has damaged ...

We look for knowledge with the hope that we can use it to advance ourselves and our causes. Our understanding of our environment helps us to plan and to be creative in planning. In some ways, knowledge gives us a sense of being in control. There are many different forms of knowledge. Our theoretical one gives us the needed understanding of how things work. Our emotional one allows us to journey with one another through the many challenges of life. Our spiritual knowledge gives us a deeper earning for God and God's presence in the world.  The question some people have asked me is how to develop a quest for spiritual knowledge. Some might even go further by stating spiritual intelligence as our need for knowing God, others, and ourselves. Here are some of my thoughts: Being aware of who we are is the first step. The more we become aware of who we are and what we are dealing with in life, the more we learned to have a fear for God. Being aware of ourselves is a critical step in acqui...

  I am writing while waiting to pick up my Mexican take out. Our son mentioned the place to us a few months ago that it is one of the best Mexican food in town. Some spicy food will be a good cure for this ungodly cold weather we have this week. Good food is one of the best ways to overcome our cultural barriers. For many years when I was working with international students, we used to have these unbelievable feasts. Our students brought food from their own countries. We ate, talked, listened, and learned about other cultures. These are good memories, and I miss those days. How we use spices sometimes indicates the geographical conditions and uniqueness of our home. Spices signify either the intensity or the depth of flavours of our food. Some we can taste right away with our lips, some with our tongues, and some later with our throats.  The world we live in is like an international buffet. We have our choices in terms of items we would like to try. We might miss some good sel...

Listening to a couple who is expecting their first child is a wonderful experience. It is both innocent and exciting. I usually don't say much because having a baby is not my expertise. However, it always feels good because it is about life. This couple came to Canada as students and decided to apply and stay here. The young mom-to-be has many questions. We thought it might be helpful to play a game by quoting different people about pregnancy and share our thoughts about them. "Of all the rights of women, the greatest is to be a mother." — Lin Yutang Being a mom is the greatest right because mothers allow themselves to God's instrument in creating life. That right comes with tremendous privileges. Being a mom is one of the purest opportunities to truly identify with God and His love. "A baby is something you carry inside you for nine months, in your arms for three years, and in your heart until the day you die." — Mary Mason The love of a mother for her chil...

It is anticlimactic to think about Lunar New Year in a sub -30c° climate. This Thursday is New Year's Eve if we follow the Lunar calendar. It is the Year of the Ox. No firecracker 🧨, no family gathering, no dragon and lion dance in Chinatown. I might go for a Chinese dinner with my wife. That is the extent of my Lunar New Year Celebration this year.  Some people asked me what does the year of Ox means? Three words come to my mind: diligence, dependability, and strength. It is an animal that played a very important role in our farming business. They were not fancy and flashy. But they can be counted on anytime we put them to work on a rice patty. When Jesus said: "my yoke is easy, and my burden is light," the image that comes to my mind is one of two oxen connected by a yoke plowing a field together. I am the younger ox, and Jesus is the more mature and wise one. God connects with us via that yoke. Diligence, strength, and dependability will be who we are as we learn how ...

  Can we think of one good reason why God does not want us? Indeed, we are not worthy of the calling we have received. We follow the call knowing that we don't deserve it. I have met many people who are struggling with the thoughts that God wants them. When we do a quick survey of the Bible, we learn how God chose people from different walks of life to do His will. Here are just a few examples. Moses could not talk properly. He stuttered. However, Moses was a great prophet and teacher. He led his people out of slavery from Egypt. God gave him the ten commandments in Mt. Sinai. That has been the foundation for ethics in Western civilization. Hosea's wife is a prostitute or a woman characterized by sexual infidelity. God asked Hosea to marry her. God used that as an example of His great love for His people. David had an affair. He committed two grave sins that demanded death: adultery and premeditated murder. David repented. He never doubted that God had chosen him to be King of ...

  I wrote this on Super Bowl Sunday. We were still waiting for the game to begin. I am always amazed by sports commentators' ability to fill the air time they have. The game itself took about 25% of the total broadcasting time allotted for the game. Not everything they had to say makes sense. It is amazing how we perceive entertainment. It is our determination in the domain of meaninglessness. The game happened. It was not a close game as I had hopef. Kansas City Chiefs did not play well, and it appeared that they did not prepare well for the game. The best team always wins, so congratulations to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. A few observations from me at the end of the game. The championship game is the ultimate reflection of team culture. That is a culture of working together to be the best. It is exciting to see a team with the oldest coach and quarterback in NFL history wins. Our age should not stop us from aiming for excellence. I have dealt with folks who seem to use their age as...