Month: September 2015

28.8.15

– “When TV came to my house. I forgot how to read books.
When the car came to my doorstep, I forgot how to walk.
When I got the mobile in my hand, I forgot how to write letters.
When computer came to my house, I forgot spellings
When the A/C came to my house, I stopped going under the tree for cool breeze
When I stayed in the city, I forgot the smell of mud.
By dealing with banks, I forgot the value of money.
With the smell of perfume, I forgot the fragrance of fresh flowers.
With the coming of fast food, I forgot to cook dal and rice.
Always running around, I forgot how to stop.
And lastly when I got watsapp, I forgot how to sleep…”

Ha ha ha! Kids can’t handle advanced stuff without harming themselves & others…

http://wp.me/p4o7tF-Gb

Can confrontation & challenge be an expression of love??
How does GOD love us?
Does He love us always, even in judgment??
The challenge is to maintain the old AND say yes to the new. NOT easy, but possible, even necessary!

“Adults also can become kids subtly without their knowledge. Where to draw the line? It is extremely dangerous and we are vulnerable and fragile. We need the Holy Spirit to discern and perceive.”

Spirit vs. Flesh – continues……
The line – kids need it to be drawn & enforced for them, by others. Adults – they know their own limits!

“And this is what whatsapp does:  communicating thru whatsapp and not sitting and talking  to each other.  Ha ha ha! My observation! No offense pls!!”

Some things (sensitive/controversial) are easier to discuss through writing!
Better to do that than not address such issues at all…
The test of the quality of relationships is in the capacity to directly face & work through emotionally difficult matters, without repression or explosion.
People in an intimate & stable relationship (like immediate family) must get over the need to always be nice and avoid any offence. That is real freedom! But doing this requires emotional maturity & tactfulness in communication…

Gadgets – learning to use the permissible (ALL things) in beneficial ways (NOT every way)!

– http://wp.me/p4o7tF-G8

Scream AND enjoy!
Let us be adults, with the inner child intact! ☝
Life is a horror movie!

“But life is very adventurous”
“It’s not an horror movie for me&128522;”

&128521; no danger, no adventure! Sometimes even deadly, but that’s the bargain…

– “From reminiscence to life-review”
http://gen.lib.rus.ec/book/index.php?md5=842561B9091B5E4868E358D77B2D87EC

– Hey… I wish I could show the finger to my seniors when I was a junior in college! But I guess ragging is a different story when one is living in the hostel, in another city…

– Distinguish:
Disc
&
Disk

– “All for one, & one for all”
WOW!

– Mis-education
Domesecration

– Global history

– New paradigms and critical perspectives

– First-World woes

– Can one be both feminist & feminine (in the individual-psychological and in the social-cultural levels)??
I think the “no male nor female in Christ” phrase should not be taken too far – it primarily applies to the issue of equality/discrimination, not difference/complementarity…

– Windows 10 is sexy!

– Torrent client – change to Deluge!

– I could have been a good software professional!  😉

– Is it possible to be a non-foundational Evangelical (like Stanley Grenz)??

– Offence
&
Offense
2 words with the same meanings, but different nuances!

– Careerism

30.8.15

– Movies:
“Amira & Sam” (hit)
“You & me against the world, I don’t mind!” – Stavesacre (GOD/spirit + Body/church = Christ/salvation?!)

“Equalizer” (hit)
WOW! What style.
I should get more Antoin Fuqua films…
There are the brutally efficient, & there are the humane/compassionate.
But is it possible to be both brutally efficient & human-compassionate?
Maybe that is what it means to be “Christ-like”…!
Can’t true love produce heroic courage??

31.8.15

– “There is nothing more practical than a good theory.” – Kurt Lewin

– “Your children are NOT YOUR children. They are the sons and daughters of Life’s longing for itself.” – Kahlil Gibran

– “Nature, Mr. Allnut, is what we are put in this world to rise above.” – From the movie ‘African Queen’

– “In a sense, the religious person must have no real views of his/her own, and it is presumptuous of him/her, in fact to have any.” – Albert Ellis

– “Reality is subjective and dream is objective. That is, what we see around us and do everyday are all products of our dreams. They are not correct descriptions of reality, but something subjective and illusory.” – Nietzsche & Chuang-Tzu

– “Sweep me up.” – Kierkegaard’s last words

– “You haven’t (yet) met yourself.” – Doug Mann

– Skills & concepts

1.9.15

– From understanding & management, to awareness & expression.

– Movies:
“Preludes” (1 – 12)
“Mothlight”
by Stan Brakhage
Well, what can I say!?
The Brakhage Lectures

– Distinguish:
Happiness
&
Excitement
Peace
&
Calm

– What does creativity have to do with legality?

– There is so much of bullshit masquerading as Christian ministry in India/Chennai today, and it has such a great (poisonous) cultural impact! Should I try to do something about all this??

– Naomi Klein

2.9.15

– Distinguish:
Individualism
&
Selfishness
Spirituality
&
Spiritualism

– Monasticism was a reaction to worldliness.
Mysticism was a reaction to scholasticism.
Reformation was a reaction to legalism.
Criticism was a reaction to pietism.
Hmmm… Now what??

– Every action is also a reaction.
Every choice is also a limitation.

– “Dear medico friends… I am doing a freelance service for promoting people’s spiritual growth (not practising Medicine for past 10 years!).
I am engaged in helping persons realize their full potential in every area of life (includes counseling for problem-solving), & also guide & motivate individuals to work on themselves, so that they can add value to their world.
So if any of you want to have a serious conversation on whatever is important to you (meaning, purpose, fulfillment, struggles, aspirations, doubts, etc.), please feel free to contact me.
I live in Anna Nagar, Chennai.
GOD BLESS YOU ALL!”
“I am also doing a ministry of collecting from, & distributing money (on a monthly basis) to genuinely needy people, all in my known social circle, for past 6 years.
So if anyone is interested in contributing, please contact me.
And I will give you more details.
THANK YOU!
(There is right now, a need for donors, for the education of orphaned & abandoned poor children in & around the Ponneri & Tiruvallur area – costs only Rs. 250 per month for a child. This is being done by a good friend of mine)”
“Do you know what “brain drain” is??”

– And every INDIVIDUAL has a PRESENT moment (for awareness & decision)! ☝

– Let us not judge (condemn) others, but only (evaluate) ourselves… So that we may not be judged by the One.

– “Your word is fixed in heaven”
The eternality (not immutability) of spiritual reality!

– Meta-personal self-construal

– Extrovertive mysticism

– Intrinsic religiosity

– Hermeneutic capacity

– Impression management & self-deception

– “Men exceptionally gifted with sights surpassing those of usual insight, we honor as seers.” – Robert Creeley

– “The search for an art, either in the making or the appreciation, is the most terrifying adventure imaginable…” – Stan Brakhage

– Isa. 55:8-9 – transcendence
+
Isa. 55:10-11 – effectivity!

– Truth – GOD is faithful (to his own nature).
Beauty – GOD is holy/perfect.
Goodness – GOD is pure love.

– The best Gospel, & therefore the surest hope of salvation, cannot be found apart from the person & message of Jesus Christ!

– Rebellion against GOD
&
Harming His creation
Are these 2 (different) things?

– True ~ pure ~ strong
So, what is ‘sin’?

– The Word as revelation, promise & command
See, believe & obey!

– Multivitamin & minerals, Ginseng, Spirulina, Chyavanprash and Cod liver oil

– A Christian is one who does NOT worship anything in, or all of, (material) creation!

– Steadfast love ~ Covenant loyalty

– Marriage/work is made for Man,
Not man for marriage/work.

– “See, I am making all things new.”
“It is done!”

– To love someone, or value something, is to hate/oppose whatever harms them.

– Abram –> Abraham
Can one be great without being famous??
“Kings shall come from you…”
“I will give you the land, in which now you are an alien.”

– Obey My voice ~ keep the cultural mandate/commission.

– Speak the message of truth, righteousness & justice – be the witness of the Word, which is GOD!

– Distinguish:
Form
&
Appearance

– Phil. 2:11 – can you glorify GOD the Father, without confessing that Jesus is the Christ?

– All revelation is salvific!

– Distinguish:
Idleness
&
Inactivity
Apathy & silliness go hand-in-hand!
“Whatever……”
“Chumma…… ” (Tamil)
” Yaeno dhaano” (Tamil)

– Cold sins & hot sins
The former are far more dangerous, & the latter are far less prevalent!

– “Enlarging the soul for the habitation of GOD”

– Be zealous, & KILL all these prophets of Baal!

– The realization that in spite of all the miracles, the world still goes on as usual (as if nothing significant ever happened), can be devastating……

– ‘acedia’

– Hope –> purpose –> passion!

– Cruel hope

– Phil. 3:15-17; 4:1
+
Heb. 6:9-12
Pride/vanity
&
Sloth/apathy
2 sides of the same coin!
The antinomianism of pride & the legalism of sloth……

– Adultery as disaster
Vs.
Affair as adventure

– “A wise person can see imperfections perfectly.”

– Artistic ~ autistic
Differently abled!

– How can you understand other people, if you are not even in touch with your own emotions?

– Bound by one’s own word!

– Distinguish:
Economic migrants
&
War refugees
‘Grant asylum’

– Apocalyptic eschatology & eschatological apocalypse!
And teleology too…

– Jack Roeda

– How can one be (fully) in the moment, without becoming (too) self-conscious?

– Forgetfulness, preoccupation & mindfulness

– Careless ~ callous
Being tough, without becoming hard…

4.9.15

– I would have made a superb software engineer…
Plundering Egypt, for Canaan!

– What happens when you combine extreme indulgence & severe abstinence in the same moment?!

– Work:Play > 2:1

– Movies:
“Ex Machina” (hit)
Is this one of the best movies I have ever seen?! Evolution – is Man the one who will ultimately supercede & replace GOD??
What did she whisper into her ear?