Charis (1989-2008?)

Oooh, don't worry, i'm still not physically dead yet.

Death. I know CNY's coming, and it's not very auspicious to mention death for chinese. Sorry if anyone out there is offended, but i thought Pastor Peter Anderson gave a extremely good and challenging sermon today about dying to self.

It's not the first time i heard this topic, or read about it. But it's always a good reminder.

And the concept of dying to self in exchange of a new, abundant, Godly life, lived to the fullest and to the best it could possibly be has caught my heart since the first time i heard of it.

But like Ps Peter said, girls tend to rethink buying a beautiful dress after seeing the price tag. And the price tag for this wonderful life is quite mad indeed. What's more, this wonderful, fulfilled life could indeed be the hardest path to take. Nevertheless, purposeful and amazing. It turns every new day into a step further into a wonderful, mysterious place which you know for sure that it's the best way to take, but without any humanly logical reason. It makes those mundane routines of life not so mundane, and every activity needed to sustain life into something that's secondary. It takes away our survival instinct to live for ourselves, but give meaning to our short time here on earth.

Yet, it's not easy to always choose that path. At least for me. Coz i think my spiritual self is like a starfish. You chop one of the legs off and it'll somehow grow again. Just give time to it. After all, that's what we humans have been. We resist being destroyed or terminated.

Somehow the sermon made me think a lot about the HNOP person I'm interviewing (see post below). Living for something bigger than this otherwise meaningless life.

Let me give a short comparison between 2 people i respect.
The 1st would be a HNOP person. The 2nd would be one of my favourite actors, Hugh Laurie.
U'd probably know quite a lot about what i think about my HNOP person in the post below. She let go of her self doubt, her worries, her hopes and ambitions. She took on something different. She wasn't pursuing things for herself in her life. She was pursuing something different. She was pursuing God. And now, even when there seem like nothing else to live for, and her body so weak she couldn't fulfill much of her interests, she is happy, contented and satisfied with God, herself and others.

Hugh Laurie's a big, big hit. Since young, producing shows after shows in the UK, he then moved to Hollywood which then showed this multi-talented actor-singer-producer-writer to the world. He definitely accomplished a lot for himself in this life. His acting is quite unmatchable, his voice mimicking unique, and the whole package just blows people away. I mean, how often do you find an actor who can sing well, write funny songs, play various instruments and at the same time, act so well? There are not many brits who can actually pull off acting as a American doctor. Talking medical lingo is not easy, and changing accents is extremely hard. Tell me about it! His talent is so well recognised, and his probably one of Britain's best gift to the entertainment world. Yet, there's something about him that makes him look so sad during interviews. Like how his relationship with his mom turned sour. It's like he has almost everything an average person will want. Looks, talent, money, family, fame. But there's just some emptiness there. Emptiness common to all human beings. I've felt it before. And it feels morbid.

i should seriously 'pick up my cross'. Everyday.