20-22 Covid-19 Daily Reflections

  What would be the words that people use to describe who we are? I am not suggesting that we should depend on others' opinions and ideas for our identities. However, it might be a growing experience for us to reflect on these descriptions. Are we too opinionated? This statement might be true when we think we should have opinions over any topic of discussion. Have we appeared to be overbearing while presenting our ideas? If yes, then we might want to consider that possibility too. Are we too slow in making a decision? Others can perceive us as either being thoughtful or procrastinating. We might think that we need time to come up with a perfect answer. We end up not answering. Sometimes this happens because we are afraid of making a mistake. Are we too unwilling to deal with different ideas and choices? Being stuck in our way is more common than we think. Maybe we are not aware of our blind spots and think that there is nothing else to see. We might also deal with our limitations i...

  We might have a long discussion about this picture. Freedom and liberty are what we have heard a lot lately. More and more people are talking about how governments have slowly taken away their freedom. What is the true notion of freedom? We can overcome the imprisonment of the self. Self-imposed imprisonment is the darkest place in our human existence. We want to cry out for help and yet experience an intense self-condemnation. We struggle to find our ways out, and yet, we don't see any hope. It is more than a banner we choose to walk under. It is the promise we want to keep. We want to go beyond the superficiality of making a proclamation. We want to give our whole life to the freedom that lifts us up and sets us free. It is a choice to fight against our addicted tendencies. We all struggle with one form of addiction or another. We might live in denial by not facing it. We are not free when we allow ourselves to be held back by our addiction to the self. It is about having the a...

Most of us know that we are not irreplaceable at work. However, none of us is replaceable at home. That is the hard truth many people learn too late in life and end up paying for it. I have met working mothers who live in the turmoil of being divided emotionally. I have met fathers who lament over the lost years with their kids because they are busy chasing their careers. We can never gain back time. Today happens only once in life, and when it is over, it is gone forever. It is a gift that we can never ask for more. However, we can waste our given time. We are aware of time because it does impact us. Some people told me that they realized that they don't really know their kids and had lost the emotional connection with their kids since junior high. Some wake up in bed in the morning and have the feeling that they are next to a stranger. We won't be able to make sense out of time if we are not intentional about it. The meaning of time depends on how purposeful we ar...

  OK, which one of these emojis describes our emotional and mental well-being this morning? Are we happy and excited about life? How does that happen? Sometimes we feel excited because it is just one of those days. We rest well, and there is no significant disaster we have to manage. Relationships are going well. No financial worry is a concern. We are able to make a plan for the future with excitement. We feel confident about what is ahead. If that is our feeling, we need to give thanks. Are we feeling blaze and indifferent about life? It is our whatever stage in life. Nothing seems to make sense, and we are not excited about relationships, jobs, and who we are. There might be no significant problem. However, everything seems to be impossible. We don't want to make any plans because we are not excited about anything. Are we troubled by how life has been going for us? We try to be positive while looking ahead. Yet, we find it hard to be hopeful. We feel as if we like to dig a hole ...

November is Domestic Violence Month. It is one of the most damaging abuses in our society. In some disciplines, people also refer to it as intimate partner violence. People with whom we have intimate relationships are those who cause us pain. I have had my share in dealing with Domestic Violence situations in my work. It is not uncommon to see how the abused (most of them are women) keeps coming back to the abuser. We might need to know what these relationships are. They are full of insults, threats, discouragement. They break families and relationships. Jealousy and possessiveness are their trademarks. They manifest anger, control, and verbal attacks. Shame and blame are their pathways to success. They are manipulative and deadly silent. Many people are not free to talk about their struggles with abusive relationships. We need to listen very carefully to what is not said. Make sure that we reach out to someone we know and are dealing with domestic violence situation. Be a friend and ...

  This picture is about one of the oldest structures built in Canada. It is a fort that protects new settlers from outsiders. It has been a lasting fort even though people built it almost 300 years ago. It is still there today. Nowadays, we build different kinds of forts even though we talk about inclusiveness. The evidence tells us that we are far more removed from one another than previous generations were. We do not use barb wires to shut one another out. We use languages and social concepts to do so. The wall of politics: we have retreated and built higher walls in our political affiliations. Our nations are more divided than ever because of it. It is no longer just political ideas. It is about many changes that have taken in our unworkable democracy. It starts with not believing that there is right and wrong, truth and lie, courage and cowardice, and more. We seem to tolerate the practice of immortality in politics. Integrity is a hard commodity in the world of politics these ...

  "Those who tell stories, rule the society" (Plato) This saying has become true as we watch how the world has been dealing with the pandemic. How people respond to it depends on what narrative they have chosen to believe. Somehow they form their convictions according to the one they choose to believe. We are not coherent in our ways of managing the pandemic because we have more than one narrative. The stories change according to their audience. The audience that has more capability of retelling their stories will be the one that rules the world. Even though I might not agree with some folks in a small town in Southern Alberta about their rejection of vaccination, I can still appreciate that they made their choice based on the accounts of their history. It is a history of being abused, manipulated, and threatened by their authority. They are stories about religious persecution and cultural termination from the Russian Communist Government towards Christian communi...