tilling_a_star's Xanga

A Promise is a Promise, Right?

Sat, 16 Aug 2008 14:23:11 GMT

I read the Fireproof Your Marriage entry on revelife's xanga site. I ended up looking at the trailer and a part of it said "How far would you go/to keep a promise?" Seeing that the movie was about a married couple, I assumed it was about marriage as a promise and surmise as thus:

1. Marriage is a promise. It's a promise made under God-- He as the ultimate witness-- and to Him and to the spouse. Then, should a married couple not keep it? Which leads to the next point:

2. Let's say that somehow, you now think that you had all the wrong assumptions about your spouse when you said your vows, thus making a promise on false or misinformed premises. Then would you break that promise? In other words, is a promise-- ANY promise-- that was made before you "had all the facts" or that is simply too "hard" or "impossible" to keep worth keeping?

On one hand you have the people who say that a promise is a promise no matter what-- when you make a promise, not only do you tie your honor on the line, but you also whisper a sense of guarantee and an "I'll do this for you" into the other's ear. To break that promise would be to unstabilize the other person. Christians can probably say that God understands and even if you made the most ridiculous promise but you either a) still want to do something for that person, but you don't know how (i.e, as a young lad, "I'll buy you a diamond ring!" and the girl's still waiting, yet renting a house let alone buying a ring is out of the question: perhaps seek for God's understanding?), or b) made the most dangerous promise ever; then if you kneeled and prayed before God with true ernestness, then He would listen to you and fix it for you.

On the other hand you have the people who say that a bad promise is not worth keeping. Besides, if both parties don't like the promise anymore (i.e. in case of a mutually agreed-to divorce), then is it worth keeping, really?

I guess it all boils down to this: what is a bad promise? Does a bad promise even exist? Is a bad promise, or something like that, worth breaking?

Is marriage an exception, or is it a promise that applies to the responses you might come up with to the questions stated above?

A Sermon, or Two.

Fri, 15 Aug 2008 12:39:29 GMT

I am touched.

First, during America, I heard a sermon about "Walking With God" by Pastor Isaac Lim. He first talked about how, when people walk together as friends, they talk with each other. They become like each other. It would be pretty awkward if they did not talk with each other regularly, wouldn't it? It's the same with the Lord: to walk with the Lord, you need to talk to Him, and we do that by prayer. You also will become like Him, because whether you like it or not, you become like the people that you walk with.

The Lord is the only friend that you'll have who'll never tire of you. Even you need to stay away from your friends from time to time, right? Yet He'll be there for you, and always delight in you, and never tire of your presence. For, as stated before, he delights. He delights in us.

Then, if that wasn't enough-- and is any point in time, any sermon, ever truly enough?-- I checked revelife's site, stumbled upon this entry and a comment which pinpointed me to this:

"Ten Shekels and a Shirt"

http://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=10180222445

transcript here: http://media.sermonaudio.com/mediapdf/10180222445.pdf

Then I realized that my peace, the peace that I obtain through my interaction with God, should not be an end-- my goal-- but a by-product of my interaction with him. The simple reason to walk with Him: not because there's something in for us, but because we exist to glorify Him, because he gave up His son.

He must fill us. this is more important than for us to understand him, for all we need to know is that He loves us, and He deserves something for His suffering. This is the same as serving a friend who killed his son so that you could live.

Amen.

The Lost Art of Writing

Sat, 09 Aug 2008 14:20:10 GMT

[editedit] and this is why I was, am, and always will be such a nerd. Go figure. :P

--and by that I don't mean writing as a hobby, as in blogging (like us xangans), or fanfiction-writing, or even writing in a story-diary. No; what I mean by this is that somehow, we've lost the art of published writing.

This occurred to me about around the time when the second semester of school started. I had pretty much bulldozed through a fourth, maybe a third of the classics section of my little "library." Instead of reading classics, I had immersed myself in the modern era's "novel" group of novels: satires such as Kurt Vonnegut's and Chuck Palanuik's (spelling?), realistic fiction such as--oh, I don't remember, they weren't that memorable-- and yes, as the summer rolled around, even Breaking Dawn, the alleged-to-be oh-so-great last novel in the Twilight saga. Various books caught my eye, and I read pretty much most of the introductions and first chapters of the novels I did, but somehow, every time, I found myself reading the same style; the same story; the same plot development and themes.

This became strikingly more so after I visited Barnes and Nobles and found nearly three shelves-- or more-- chock-full of vampire stories. Some of them were set in the future; some of them had a scientific twist to it (don't worry, I didn't read all of them; I only read the back covers); and some of them were just pure romance. Before Twilight and only a little while after Anne Rice made her debut, there weren't that many vampire stories out there. But after the Twilight saga made a huge hit... maybe the booksellers decided that the audience liked those types of novels, or maybe various want-to-make-easy-money authors (sorry if you're offended-- I just don't have respect for authors who tend to regurgitate other authors while trying to sound original) had a sudden stroke of inspiration and decided to write. I don't know what exactly happened, but poof!-- suddenly vampire stories hit the markets anywhere.

I don't have a complaint with deriving inspirational ideas from other authors. I just think that... let me describe to you something first real quick: our summer assignment was to read How to Read Literature Like a Professor. In one of the chapters, the author claimed that all stories illuminated an aspect of the same story. He said that all of the novels out there are part of one story, and that story is the story of humankind. I had finished reading it, and while I was browsing the bookshelves at Barnes and Nobles, I thought-- instead of expounding on the same facet of the human story all over and all over again, can't our modern era's writers write something more original?

I don't know if it's just me, and if I'm viewed to others in this age as old-fashioned and outdated (and I'm certain there's a word for that, but my vocabulary is limited-- proof of what this day and age has done to our literary lives), but it just seems to me that... today's novels, along with being repetitive, are so elementary. If you compare one of the "adult" novels to writing done by Charlotte Bronte or Charles Dickens, there's certain to be a drastic vocabulary level difference there. It's not only the style of writing; as I mentioned before, it's also in the ideas. Take Harry Potter: before it came out, fantasy novels were more along the lines of the Wizard of Earthsea and the Darkness Rising series (forgot exact name-- it was by Susan Cooper). After Harry Potter became famous, suddenly a lot of fantasy stories like Inkheart and The Prophecy of the Stones sprang up. Twilight led to the vampire story burst. Heck, there's even a relatively new manga called "Vampire Knight." Maybe, one might protest, it's the dawning of a new age for books. After all, our novels are supposed to be a reflection of society's ideas-- right?-- and society today is fairly different from that the era of petticoats and knickerbockers.

Then, I would like to ask in return, is it good that we have undergone such a change? Is it good for our novels to be changed, not only in style, but in content, as well? Is it good that we have "chicklits," teen novels which talk about the sassiness of girls and all of the other things which make us seem more immature than we really are? Is it really good for the most popular novels to have vocabulary levels equal to that of a high-schooler? Heck, even my friends can write better. Is it truly good for the novels to have kissing scenes, and below-the-waist-touching scenes (some people I knew liked those novels-- they scarred me forever)? Is it truly good for our era to be dominated by novels which make us feel but do not make us think? Is it truly good for our society to be caught up in an era where American literature is unpolished and shallow, and the truly touching works seem to come from others outside of the country?

Ladies and Gentlemen-- there are some ladies and gentlemen out there (the featured xanga entry on the lack of ladies today had a vibrant ring of truth to it), right?-- I would like to point out that there are three real drastic errors in the world today, each with its own symptoms:

1. global warming<-- "development"<-- caused by human lethargy and greed.

2. dropped performance in literature<-- sensual fiction opposed to moving fiction<-- pleasure-driven society.

3. lifestyles of people <-- fitness problems, wasteful spending and lack of depth in general <-- again, caused by lethargy or lack of a stimulating environment.

I would like to make a proposition: please. let's stop. Let's stop with the rolling about in couches and throwing paper, food and plastics into the same bins. Let's stop with putting our kiddies in front of the TV. Let's stop TV dependence in general, and see how daily conversations change, and how they change from "did you watch that? He's so hot!" to more life-focused, meaningful questions. Let's stop thinking that we can alter the current state of the planet without pain, because, guess what? What we've done to our earth is too drastic to the point that we've passed the time when we can turn it around without losing something. Let's stop reading sensual fiction and start reading thoughtful fiction. Overall, let's add some DEPTH in our lives, and hope that, in time, it will be reflected by the books we create.

And Ladies and Gents, peace. Peace man, peace. Let's have some peace in our hearts. Because in this hectic world, that's what we need the most. (Well, I as a Christian can go further and say that we need God. But I have a feeling that the atheists and other religious sects won't like that).

Friday, August 08, 2008

Fri, 08 Aug 2008 14:22:42 GMT

I saw Korea enter! now China's entering.

there's a child right next to Yao ming (think it's him, anyway), who's holding the flag.

OMG. There are so many Chinese athletes.

I would like to quote the Korean commentator: "The world has waited for 4 years; China has waited for 100 years."

(about 10 minutes later)

they're STILL coming in! Just how many: 600 Chinese athletes?

Wow. China did really put their life on the line for this, eh?

Friday, August 08, 2008

Fri, 08 Aug 2008 13:27:32 GMT

... and America finally appears in the procession!

Bush is there, along with the first lady. Huh.

... they sure do have a lot of people...

watching Beijing Olympics

Fri, 08 Aug 2008 13:20:33 GMT

Current status: watching the Beijing Olympics, live on TV, with my computer in from of me.

I saw the first half of the beginning ceremony, and all I can think is... wow. China is SCARY. How hot and sweaty the performers have been...

I mean, it's just scary. 2008 drummers? lol...

Currently the countries and their representative (athletes) are being heralded in procession. Korea's the 174th or something out of 204 countries, so we still have a long way to go. ^^

God in Everything.

Thu, 07 Aug 2008 03:41:44 GMT

There was a mini-incident today. It was kinda funny.

Mother: "why did you get a call from [friend's name] yesterday?"

Me: "Er, well, we're meeting this Saturday for acting practice. The show's on August the 23rd."

Mother: "Have you memorized your lines yet?"

Me: *uncomfortable squirm* "I'm going to, before we meet up this Saturday."

Mother: "Wait, this Saturday?" Nice going mom, slooow reaction. "You're not going there this Saturday?"

Me: "There?" Does she mean the Alzheimer's center I go to every Saturday? "You mean--"

Mother: "I mean the appointment at 10:30, when we meet up with one of your cram school teachers to discuss your plan."

Me: "Oh. It was this Saturday?"

Mother: "Yes, I've been telling you all week!" You did? I gave her the benefit of the doubt-- a sign of God changing me, for not a few months ago I would have denied it--instead of crossing her on the subject of her memory.

Me: "Oh well, couldn't we do anything...?"

Mother: "You mean, this silly acting thing is way more important than your future plan?"

I was silent. Then, in a meek voice: "They have no replacements for my role, mother."

Mother: "Tell them you're going next week." But there is no practice next week. I bit my tongue again and returned to the computer.

Mother: "You're still going on the computer?"

"It's xanga, mother." She left me in peace.

I meandered around facebook and xanga for a while before I spotted the entry on Inner Peace. Then I suddenly felt a sense of peace settle over my heart. Inwardly, I smiled.

I'm just going to pray, and hand over the prioritizing to the Lord. He knows me better than I do, and I need to "surrender" to him.

Peace, man. Peace.

In Hawaii...

Sat, 02 Aug 2008 20:31:57 GMT

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New York was tiring after my mother came with my sister. We went shopping. For four days in a row. I didn't go on the last day because I was too tired and passed out >.<

And... I don't know. I don't write as I used to. I guess now, just like the Anne in the Anne of Green Gables series, I prefer to keep things to myself. Some things are only those that can be shared with the God Almighty.

It's a pleasure to write, regardless, especially for my summer assignments. In the discussion boards, people tended to reply a lot to the short posts and not reply to the long posts... just another example of human lethargy. But it's all good.

Hawaii is utterly unique. But sometimes I catch myself being homesick. Why is it that in New York, I did not miss America, yet when I came here I caught myself thinking of Korea?

... thoughts, little thoughts swimming around my head, wanting to be caught. They are caught, held onto, able to grow in the brain, instead of being let out in the world and being captured in Time.

    Time is truly paradoxical...

..

...

....

   It's as if a veil was released from my sight... It's strange, this queer, queer feeling, the feeling of being almost detached. I am not unsettled by my mother's words as I used to be; nor do I really care anymore about what others think of me-- yet, now I know the importance of not blurting every single little thing out here.
   It's truly strange. And all because I decided to read a little bit of the Bible everyday. It does truly work wonders...

What would you change about the way your parents raised you?

Fri, 18 Jul 2008 14:01:56 GMT

Less whipping. More acceptance. Less "do this, do that," more trust and more of "how are things going?"

Loving America all the way

Sun, 13 Jul 2008 01:18:31 GMT

AHHHHH I still have to do my summer assignments. But it's okay-- the reading was long, but it felt like I was reading a novel more than a textbook. So its okay.

Anyhow, I'm currently staying in Long Island with my two annoying but absolutely adorable cousins. They're both boys, but its okay-- they haven't reached the age yet where boys seem to become thick in the head. Though, it's kind of sad, since one is only four years old and he wears glasses that are stronger than mine...

My BELL session was simply awesome. I won't go too much into detail, because honestly, some things are just so secret that to reveal them would be tearing a piece out of you. All I can say is that it was life-changing and simply superb, and that now, I have a restored fiery passion for the environment.

It was so sweet.. I learned all over again how to value nature. How to value innocence and sweetness in a world that is becoming more greedy and greedy everyday. I learned the basics all over again...