20-22 Covid-19 Daily Reflections

  Are you ready to say goodbye to 2021? What are your main thoughts when you review the year? What would be the experiences that you will never forget when you think about this year? What resolutions are you considering for yourself as you anticipate 2022? It has been a year of refocusing for me because of the noises and the confusion we have experienced. I don't want to be distracted by unhelpful and untrustworthy thoughts. My focus is to be noble, kind, loving, and compassionate. I feel a lot at peace when I can do that well. It has been a year of learning to have meaningful realignment with God and His people. It does not mean that I work exclusively with Christians. I continue to discover that God is beautiful both inside and outside the church. True humility is being free to learn from people with whom we disagree. It has been a year of thinking more and more about heaven. Why are we so afraid of death when we claim that eternal life is a certainty? Why are we so b...

  Some couples make a big deal about their New Year's Eve. It tends to have some romantic notion to it. It is the time of the year for some people to consider how their relationships or marriages are going. How about our relationships with God? When should we double-check on it? How do we know where we stand with God? Here are a few signs of its deterioration. A) Our prayer life is non-existent. We feel detached from God. We have no awareness of His presence. He has become a religious figure whenever we think or talk about him. We don't feel the need to be with Him. B) We react to life events with blames. We blame Him, and we blame others. There is no thoughtfulness on our part. We can become very negative quickly. Fear of responsibility becomes our major struggle. C) We don't give thanks. We think we deserve whatever is good in life. We don't want to hear God and what He has in mind for us. We would rather avoid God than give thanks to Him. A thankless hear...

Last week we learned that the Public Health Agency of Canada had been tracking 33 million mobile devices during lockdown till this past Oct. The Agency said that it did not violate the Privacy Act in such surveillance. The lack of transparency of PHAC can only add to the distrust and apprehension of people who believe that governments around the world have propagated this pandemic to take away their freedom and to establish power to erase the human sense of safety. We also need to realize that PAHC is not alone in collecting such data. Have you ever had a conversation with someone about a specific brand name and product then discovered that ads about them appear on your cellphone internet browser? The same thing happens when we use Google to search for products or services. Someone is listening to us and tracking us via our mobile devices. We are monitored (surveillance) and censored (abusive control) daily. We will be living in denial if we deny that. Freedom of thought and freedom of...

  Going for Dim sum after Christmas has been a tradition in our family for the last few years. We go with our kids, their spouses and sometimes their friends. There is no specific reason for it except the desire to have good food and be together. There is no surprise when going to Dim sum. We see what we order, and the names of every dish are very descriptive. Chinese name their food for what they are. There is some comfort knowing that nowadays because we have had to encounter many situations where we have no clear idea what others are telling us. We have become skeptical toward what we hear about the pandemic. We are uncertain whether the authorities are truthful in what they tell us. Dim sum is a lot more fun when we go with a group of people because we can try different dishes. It is a community meal. Sometimes we see three generations at the same table. Sometimes we see friends gather together after many months of being apart. We had a great time with our kids. We ...

  What are we looking forward to in 2022 as we prepare to welcome it into it our lives? One of my brothers wrote to the rest of the family the earlier last week and said: "Let us hope that it will not be 2020 too." There is a tad of cynicism in that statement. We all hoped for a better 2021, and it didn't turn out to be that way in terms of COVID 19. Are we more tolerant? For some people, that might be what they think. Others might say we just become more indifferent. Being gracious is not the same as being tolerant. When we exercise tolerance towards others, it doesn't mean that we care about them and embrace them. Are we more understanding? It depends on the topic of discussion. We might have abused the need to be understood our struggles with the demands for our rights and privileges. More and more people are now asking for privileges and compensation than ever before. Are we more capable with our human intelligence? There is no doubt that we have made many signifi...

  There are many "traditions" about Boxing Day. Some have somewhat departed from the original intention. It was supposed to be the day when masters gave gifts to their servants and then sent them home to be with their families. Nowadays, it is one of the biggest shopping days. Maybe we should reconsider its meaning. How about treating it as the day when we box all of our useless and unhelpful thoughts and put them away? We might want to box all of our jealousy and envy. These feelings and thoughts don't serve us well. They make us miserable and unattractive, affect us negatively, and shut the door on generosity and helpfulness. Our lives have less meaning when we desire to have more with our jealousy. We might put our painful experiences in a box and give them to God. Christmas time sometimes can be challenging for some people because of what we remember and long for in our human relationships. We wonder how our life would be without these experiences. We mig...

Merry Christmas to you all! May God grant you and your family peace, comfort, understanding, and courage as you ponder on the meaning of Christmas. Many people might find it hard to get up and go this morning. It depends on what we were up to last night. However, some children might not want to sleep in this morning. They are eager to know what is in their stockings and under the tree for them. Some people might not have the same privileges as they wonder when and where they should get in line for their Christmas meal at drop-in centres. So what do we have in common when we think about Christmas? We know good relationships are blessings in our lives. Healthy relationships are one of the best therapies we can ask for while dealing with life challenges. They bring healing and hope. They give us a sense of purpose while knowing that we don't have to be alone in dealing with various unknowns of life. We know that acknowledging our brokenness is not a weakness. When we have ...

Today is Christmas Eve Day. When I was a kid, I would go to the closest Catholic Church to listen to the Christmas carols sung by its choir. Although I was not a Christian at the time, something was magical about it. We were living in a war-torn country, and the notion of peace was both surreal and desirable. Peace was something people talked about at the time, and no one really had any idea what it was. "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men." -  Luke 2:14 Three statements that seem to go together in this verse: Glory to God: I don't think we either know or care what that means these days. It is not that cool to mention Jesus at Christmas high school concerts. Some retailers have forbidden their employees to say "Merry Christmas" to their clients. How can we see God's glory if we don't intend to acknowledge Him? We have replaced the Glory of God with the fallacy of humanity. We have learned to glorify ourselves...

  More people are talking to me about getting married these days. Three couples have asked me to perform their weddings in the next six months. It is exciting because I wonder whether people bother much anymore about marriage. We are living in a time when many of our "traditional practice and values" have been put into question. Most marriages start with a proposal. Then someone has to say "yes" before it can happen. Christmas is the kind of marriage proposal that God has put in front of us. It is an invitation to everlasting life with him. It also comes with the assurance that He understands our conditions. We can only have a committed relationship with God by saying yes. Most couples have no idea what they say on their wedding day when they say "I do". It is a statement of faith.  When we said yes to God, we did not understand the full implication of that statement either. We learn how to live out our commitment daily. Sometimes we fail because we don...

We have heard more and more about pandemic fatigue lately. We don't fully know everything. Sometimes wish we have the mind to understand the goodness and the wickedness of humanity so that we can see things clearly and have a definite answer for any challenge in life. However, that might not be a plan that God has in mind for us. He wants us to be people of faith as Mary and Joseph were. Having faith is to be open to the many unexpected events in life. So what does it mean to have faith when we resent everything about this virus? Meditate on Jesus' birth and stop talking about the virus. If we can all do that, it will be a miracle. Jesus' birth should be more exciting news than any virus. Maybe, we discover the gentle side of our hearts and the compassionate side of our minds when we learn to embrace God's love for the world through it.  Practice hospitality as much as we are allowed. Buy Christmas Dinner for a needy family. Take some new Canadians skiing or snowshoein...

John 12:46  gives us more understanding of why God has sent Jesus into the world. It is the battle between Light and Darkness. “I have come into the world as light so that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness.”  Light and darkness cannot co-exist. Light reveals what darkness has hidden. What happens to us when we choose to remain in darkness? A) We are helpless. It is hard to find our way in darkness. We cannot either look back or see ahead. We live in a great deal of uncertainty. We can walk, but every single step is risky. We do not have any idea what danger we might have to encounter. We live in the open sea of immorality without any compass. B) We are spiritually bankrupt: We have the feeling that we are going through that darkness these days. Everything has changed, and we are overwhelmed by the lack of moral certainty. Maybe we cannot deal with this virus effectively because we have no common moral foundation to establish trust and authority....

This verse has been in my heart and mind lately. "The Son of Man came to seek and save the lost." -  Luke 19:10 How often do we think about the fact that God is seeking us? Why does he need to seek us? When our children play "hide and seek", they have to hide first before we find them. Is that true that we are hiding from God? If it is, how do we do that? A) We hide from God by denying our brokenness. We might acknowledge our human predicament but believe that we can find the answers for ourselves. We do this by claiming that we are OK and nothing is wrong with us. We go about our broken lives with the proclamation of the new normalcy. B) We hide because we are scared that we do not want others to know us. We might feel incredibly naked when God finds us. Adam and Eve hid from God because of the same fear. They experienced the separation from God for the first time. In some ways, we don't want Jesus to find us. Being exposed is scary for many of us. ...

Two weeks ago, I met a high schooler a week after her father died in a tragic car accident. Her mother and her young brother were there. It did not take long for me to realize that she was ready to talk when her brother was not. I could feel his pain. I also understood that he was not prepared to talk about his feeling. My visit was about the conversation I had with this young woman. She needed to talk about her relationship with her dad and thoughts that she had wished about him. She was open to sharing with me her regrets. She shared her last memories of him. She talked about how good it was to feel the freedom to hug her dad a few weeks back. She expressed her longing to spend time with him in the wilderness. We talked about music and her passion as a violinist. Her father was an alcoholic, and his addiction had damaged his relationships with his wife and kids. Music has been her refuge in many ways. It was a good visit, I thought. I have tried to do some follow-up after...

  What is happening to us? Last night, a friend of mine, who was supposed to play in a concert that raised funds to support our Alberta Children's Hospital, was not allowed to enter an art performance venue because she was not vaccinated. She was tested negative for COVID 19. It was unfortunate and troublesome considering that people can go to a pub with a negative test. The owner was very rude and militant towards her and her husband. This event was supposed to be a Christmas concert. My friend came up with the idea for this concert. She recruited and selected two other performers. The theme of the concert was "Christmas in a Time Machine". Let us consider that theme with what happened to my friend. A) Have we forgotten that Jesus touched the leper and lepers could not enter the Temple Worship? We have come to a place where we treated those unvaccinated as lepers. I am vaccinated, but it does not mean I have the right to treat unvaccinated folks like trash. W...

  I am not much of a conversationalist in the early morning. I prefer to start my day with a period of reflection and meditation. Somehow that prepares my heart with tranquility and brings clarity to my mind. It is not a religious exercise. It is about my relationship with God, my reminder of who I am in God, my appreciation for people that God has brought into my life. As we approach Christmas, let us remind ourselves that God desires for us to have a meaningful relationship with Him, a peaceful heart in our interactions with one another, and confidence in going about His work. The most precious gift we can give one another is the gift of time. Once again we are told that we should not plan to travel this Christmas because of the new variant. Many families will have to go through the pain and sadness of not seeing their loved ones for the second year. Let us care for those who are lonely and shut in with God's help. Let us reach out to the sick and the destitute in our...

  "Practice Makes Perfect" is an expression we have heard often. It often means that regular exercise of an activity or skill is our way to become proficient in it. The keyword here is proficiency and not perfection. So what will make up the difference because we can be imperfectly proficient? Let us consider the wise men in the account of Jesus' birth. They used their knowledge to ask the right question: "Where is he who is born King of the Jews?" They just didn't have the discernment to ask the right person. We don't use our knowledge to control our life's circumstances. We should use our knowledge to ask questions about the mystery of God. Knowledge and prayer need to go together. Knowledge and truth don't always co-exist. King Herod used his knowledge of the whereabouts of the King of the Jews for his own selfish and fearful mandate. Deception took over as he tried to deceive the wise men about his true intention. He said to them:...

  God has His special way of revealing to us His plan. As we are waiting to celebrate the birth of Jesus during Christmas time, we need to revisit the many unexpected lessons we have received. Let us consider a couple of them concerning Mary at the time of Jesus' birth. We don't know the time and the circumstances in our life when God will use us to bring about His will. Knowledge is helpful, but having the willingness to embrace what God's revelation to us is far more essential. That was what happened to Mary. Her faith in the will of God is significant in the Christmas story. It was not about why it happened to her. It was about why God had chosen her to bring Jesus into the world. The more we learn about having faith, the more we feel ill-prepared for what God has in mind in our lives. There was no boasting or deception. Mary showed both humility and commitment as she listened to God's message. Her faith was about what God had in mind for the world. It was not about ...

I had a conversation with a young fellow about his university education. He was wondering about changing his field of study. We went through various options he had had in mind. He was both anxious and impatient about his future. I understand his thoughts because I know his family situation. Our conversation was about making sure that he takes the right-small steps and not to worry about the long-big steps. Soon after our talk, I came across this picture. Life is the outcome of many small decisions we make along the way. For a young person like my friend, it is about going to class daily, doing his assignments, learning to work in small groups, and having the courage to ask questions. If he does all of that, he will make it through university. I met people who made some severe mistakes in their lives then found ways to redirect themselves, one small step at a time. It is a story about a single mom who decided to finish high school in order to pursue a career in nursing afte...

I took a walk in a shopping mall recently. It seems to me that Santa Villages or Santa Castles in shopping malls are getting smaller and less elaborate this Christmas. Maybe Santa begins to feel the impact of the pandemic after all. Maybe Santa and his helpers have to go through some severe cutbacks. I also wondered where the children were? There was no line-up. It has not been easy for young children to be kids due to the Covid-19 protocols. Perhaps when we fail to acknowledge the real reason behind Christmas, we also throw away any fantasies we create to take their place. Our human minds can become so bored when we are only preoccupied with the here and now. Our inability to acknowledge God has a plan for us eternally has taken us to the place where taking the next step in life can be the continuum of meaninglessness. My walk in this mall was interrupted when a young person almost bumped into me while texting. Maybe Santa has a better following in Social Media than in either his cast...

Christmas has been commercialized for many years now. We might talk about changing that, but it appears as if we cannot do much about it. The Christmas season has become a significant marketing time for many businesses. However, the real struggle is not the commercialization of Christmas. It is the religiosity that has destroyed the real meaning of Christmas. Religiosity frames the account of Christmas in such a way that we might not have the opportunity to truly explore and appreciate the power of God in the lives of Joseph, Mary, and many others. It fails to acknowledge the human experience in the account of Jesus' birth. Religiosity creates a hollow form of worship. We might say or sing all of the right words and yet do not experience their power. The power transforms lives. The very same power God used to bring Jesus into the world and raise him from the dead. It looks nice and proper, but it has no life. Religiosity misguides us in our search for God and His involv...

  Giving gifts is both fun and painful. It is a tradition at Christmas time. It is either a time to truly express our appreciation for someone or to meet some form of expectation. What we hear from people at this time of the year is: "I have not even started shopping for gifts" or "I have not finished". It is always an intriguing experience watching husbands or fathers rushing on Christmas Eve Day to get gift shopping done. What kinds of gifts are we hoping for when we know that we don't really need anything? Things come and go in this life, and we know that. Gifts of relationships:  meaningful relationships can bring about tremendous experiences in life. It is a gift of understanding, acceptance, acknowledgement, and being together. It can be an expression of God's care and comfort to us. That brings hope and joy. Gifts of time:  we can buy things for one another, but we cannot buy time. Time is precious as we get older. We just have more to wor...