Things Glen Found Interesting, Volume 448
5 days ago
Friday, May 05, 2006
East Coast Park
On Labor Day (1 May), we went to East Coast Park, to roller-blade and bike. Boon Sim was practicing his cycling so that he will be prepared for bike-crazy Stanford.
Trina's Birthday
We celebrated Trina's birthday at the Biz canteen on 20 Apr. She is pretending to have a crush on Cheston, who looks really embarassed!
Man In The Hole
The following was posted on my ex-website on 18 Sep 2004:
I just watched the episode "Noel" of the second season of "The West Wing". It won an Oscar or Emmy or something like that I think. The episode is about Josh, one of the aides to the President.
Josh was shot during an assassination attempt on the President. Fortunately, he survived, but the trauma of the incident continues to come back to haunt him and torment him. Joe, the Chief of Staff at the White House, decides to get a psychologist to help him. Josh was initially very reluctant to undergo the treatment. Eventually, the psychologist succeeded in helping Josh overcome his problems, and Josh is extremely thankful to Joe.
At the end of the episode, Joe recites a story to Josh: a man was stuck in a deep hole, and he cries out for help. Initially, a pedestrain passes by, hears his cry, but writes something on a piece of paper and tosses it into the hole. Later, a priest passes by, hears his cry for help, takes a look at him, but scribbles something on a piece of paper and tosses it to the man. Finally, a friend passes by, sees that the man needs help, and jumped into the hole! Exasperated, the man questions his friend, "Now, how are we going to get out?!" The friend replies, "Just follow me, because I have been here before, and I know the way out."
The story really reminded me of my experience with Jesus. He steps suddenly into my life, and shows me that I am in a deep hole. I try to climb out by myself, but to no avail. Finally, I turn to Him and say, "I can't do this! I am sorry I have disappointed You. I do not deserve your attention or love." He looks into my eyes and replies, "That is the beauty of it all, I am here to help you! I have been here before, and I know the way out."
Some people ask if Christianity is a crutch for the weak. Here is my honest reply: yes, it totally is. Jesus is my crutch, because I have realised that I am too weak to heal myself. I am the patient who comes to the doctor and pleads him to help me, or I will die. I have become totally dependent on Him. Without Him, I will die.
I just watched the episode "Noel" of the second season of "The West Wing". It won an Oscar or Emmy or something like that I think. The episode is about Josh, one of the aides to the President.
Josh was shot during an assassination attempt on the President. Fortunately, he survived, but the trauma of the incident continues to come back to haunt him and torment him. Joe, the Chief of Staff at the White House, decides to get a psychologist to help him. Josh was initially very reluctant to undergo the treatment. Eventually, the psychologist succeeded in helping Josh overcome his problems, and Josh is extremely thankful to Joe.
At the end of the episode, Joe recites a story to Josh: a man was stuck in a deep hole, and he cries out for help. Initially, a pedestrain passes by, hears his cry, but writes something on a piece of paper and tosses it into the hole. Later, a priest passes by, hears his cry for help, takes a look at him, but scribbles something on a piece of paper and tosses it to the man. Finally, a friend passes by, sees that the man needs help, and jumped into the hole! Exasperated, the man questions his friend, "Now, how are we going to get out?!" The friend replies, "Just follow me, because I have been here before, and I know the way out."
The story really reminded me of my experience with Jesus. He steps suddenly into my life, and shows me that I am in a deep hole. I try to climb out by myself, but to no avail. Finally, I turn to Him and say, "I can't do this! I am sorry I have disappointed You. I do not deserve your attention or love." He looks into my eyes and replies, "That is the beauty of it all, I am here to help you! I have been here before, and I know the way out."
Some people ask if Christianity is a crutch for the weak. Here is my honest reply: yes, it totally is. Jesus is my crutch, because I have realised that I am too weak to heal myself. I am the patient who comes to the doctor and pleads him to help me, or I will die. I have become totally dependent on Him. Without Him, I will die.
Losing Faith
The following was posted on my ex-website on 28 Feb 2005:
I just read the testimony of a man who was a missionary and a bible translator who became an agnostic. His story can be found on http://www.geocities.com/kenandcharlene/Testimony.htm. I did not read the entire story but I can sense the sadness in him. He struggled a lot with his doubts, and could not find any resolution around them. He did the only thing he could: being honest with himself.
I started thinking a lot about my own faith in God, and I wonder if I have put my beliefs through the same rigorous thought that he had. Does my faith come out of peer pressure, or not wanting to admit that I am wrong, or from brain washing by the church? Or do I have faith because He is the one true God? I asked God what faith is like, and I am reminded of the story of Job. Many people say that the story of Job is a story of faith: about an innocent man who was put through the worst of suffering but put his trust in God. Yet, Job wrestled with doubt. He says, "I cry out to you, O God, but you do not answer; I stand up, but you merely look at me. You turn on me ruthlessly; with the might of your hand you attack me." (Job 30:20) Why does God torture us with doubt, why does He not just give us faith so that we need not be put through needless pain?
I feel that God is telling me that faith grows stronger with doubt: when we wrestle with doubt, our faith grows stronger. If we want to learn about Peace, He teaches us through Worry. If we want to learn about Love, He teaches us through Apathy or Unforgiveness. If we want to learn about Hope, He teaches us through Despair. In the same way, if we want to learn about Faith, He teaches us through Doubt. I ask God, why must you work through this way? I feel that He asks in return, "Do you know of any other way?"
God has taught me some important lessons about Faith. When I was in Budapest, I lost my debit card, and had to borrow money from my room-mates for a while. I applied by a new debit card but even after one and a half months, the card did not arrive. I was runnning out of money. I got worried, and following advice from my room-mate, I asked my bank to send me a new card by Fed-Ex. One week later, I had a very strong feeling that the card had arrived. I ran up to the mail room in the morning but it was not there. I prayed earnestly, and ran up the mail room again in the afternoon but it was not there. Not discouraged, I went up again at the end of the day and still, it was not there.
I became very disappointed and angry with God. I felt that He has all the power in the world to bring the card to me that day but He did not. I felt that He only wanted to break my faith. After a while, I felt angry with myself. I had fooled myself into thinking that God was telling me the card was here. Perhaps God does not speak to us in such a clear manner. Perhaps God only leads us to do nice things, and nothing more. This is what I recorded in my journal that day:
The next morning, I woke up, and again, I felt a really strong feeling that the card was here. In an unsure manner, I plodded into the mail room that morning, and checked, but the card was not there. I reminded myself to be faithful, knowing God has a reason for putting me through this. That afternoon, I checked the mail room again, and INCREDIBLY, THE CARD WAS THERE!!
I praised God all the way home. It was probably my happiest day in 6 months! My faith was strengthened, and God had answered my prayer for a stronger faith.
A few days later, I asked myself if I had been intellectually dishonest with myself: I knew the card was going to come anyday, since Fed-Ex usually takes about a week to deliver packages from the US. Perhaps that was the reason why I had a strong feeling that my card was here. My answer to myself then was this: I can never know - it is a plausible explanation but unless I can go back in time to "cancel" my prayer for the card to arrive, I will never know if the card was there because of Fed-Ex or because of my prayer.
God had a better answer for this question for me. Three weeks after I received my card, a Fed-Ex package came to me. I opened to found my "new" card: the one that I had requested to be sent quickly to me. So the first card was actually the original one that took more than one and a half months to come. There was no way I could have known that this card would come on one of those two days.
That strong feeling had to be from God. Through the incident, He showed me that indeed, He is the perfector of my faith.
I just read the testimony of a man who was a missionary and a bible translator who became an agnostic. His story can be found on http://www.geocities.com/kenandcharlene/Testimony.htm. I did not read the entire story but I can sense the sadness in him. He struggled a lot with his doubts, and could not find any resolution around them. He did the only thing he could: being honest with himself.
I started thinking a lot about my own faith in God, and I wonder if I have put my beliefs through the same rigorous thought that he had. Does my faith come out of peer pressure, or not wanting to admit that I am wrong, or from brain washing by the church? Or do I have faith because He is the one true God? I asked God what faith is like, and I am reminded of the story of Job. Many people say that the story of Job is a story of faith: about an innocent man who was put through the worst of suffering but put his trust in God. Yet, Job wrestled with doubt. He says, "I cry out to you, O God, but you do not answer; I stand up, but you merely look at me. You turn on me ruthlessly; with the might of your hand you attack me." (Job 30:20) Why does God torture us with doubt, why does He not just give us faith so that we need not be put through needless pain?
I feel that God is telling me that faith grows stronger with doubt: when we wrestle with doubt, our faith grows stronger. If we want to learn about Peace, He teaches us through Worry. If we want to learn about Love, He teaches us through Apathy or Unforgiveness. If we want to learn about Hope, He teaches us through Despair. In the same way, if we want to learn about Faith, He teaches us through Doubt. I ask God, why must you work through this way? I feel that He asks in return, "Do you know of any other way?"
God has taught me some important lessons about Faith. When I was in Budapest, I lost my debit card, and had to borrow money from my room-mates for a while. I applied by a new debit card but even after one and a half months, the card did not arrive. I was runnning out of money. I got worried, and following advice from my room-mate, I asked my bank to send me a new card by Fed-Ex. One week later, I had a very strong feeling that the card had arrived. I ran up to the mail room in the morning but it was not there. I prayed earnestly, and ran up the mail room again in the afternoon but it was not there. Not discouraged, I went up again at the end of the day and still, it was not there.
I became very disappointed and angry with God. I felt that He has all the power in the world to bring the card to me that day but He did not. I felt that He only wanted to break my faith. After a while, I felt angry with myself. I had fooled myself into thinking that God was telling me the card was here. Perhaps God does not speak to us in such a clear manner. Perhaps God only leads us to do nice things, and nothing more. This is what I recorded in my journal that day:
"You prayed for the card to come with all earnesty. I hear your prayer, and I long to fulfill it for your sake. Yet, for my sake, I draw you closer to me when I allow it not to come to you. Is this intellectual dishonesty on your part, or do you need to trust me more? Have you forgotten of my goodness in your life? Will one hurt deny all other blessings?So, I decided that I will not allow this incident to weaken my faith. Rather, I will have faith that because He allowed it to happen, He must have something better in store. He has a better plan for me.
You heard me say that it will come today, and when it did not come, your heart was broken. Indeed, how should you look upon this? Does it mean you stop trying to hear me?"
"Lord, I am not afraid to make mistakes. I know that your grace is sufficient for me. Help me to be loving, patient, and faithful.
Do we dare to trust the Lord? Are we more afraid of getting hurt? What if we hear you wrong? What would happen if Jesus felt that He heard you wrong about dying for the sins of Man, and about things to come? Do you trust the Lord more, or do you trust yourself and the world?"
The next morning, I woke up, and again, I felt a really strong feeling that the card was here. In an unsure manner, I plodded into the mail room that morning, and checked, but the card was not there. I reminded myself to be faithful, knowing God has a reason for putting me through this. That afternoon, I checked the mail room again, and INCREDIBLY, THE CARD WAS THERE!!
I praised God all the way home. It was probably my happiest day in 6 months! My faith was strengthened, and God had answered my prayer for a stronger faith.
A few days later, I asked myself if I had been intellectually dishonest with myself: I knew the card was going to come anyday, since Fed-Ex usually takes about a week to deliver packages from the US. Perhaps that was the reason why I had a strong feeling that my card was here. My answer to myself then was this: I can never know - it is a plausible explanation but unless I can go back in time to "cancel" my prayer for the card to arrive, I will never know if the card was there because of Fed-Ex or because of my prayer.
God had a better answer for this question for me. Three weeks after I received my card, a Fed-Ex package came to me. I opened to found my "new" card: the one that I had requested to be sent quickly to me. So the first card was actually the original one that took more than one and a half months to come. There was no way I could have known that this card would come on one of those two days.
That strong feeling had to be from God. Through the incident, He showed me that indeed, He is the perfector of my faith.
Personal Identity
The following was posted on my ex-website on 04 Aug 2004:
A common question people ask themselves at critical turning points in their lives: Who am I? Peter Parker asked himself this question in Spiderman II, because he felt torn between his responsibility as a super-hero, and his own love for MJ. A lot of people come to realize that their passions and feelings and desires play a large part in answering this question. However, some people stop at this point and conclude that to be themselves, they need to follow their passions, feelings and desires. They let these things guide and rule their lives. The problem is that our feelings are often in flux, and it frustrates and confuses us to follow something that changes all the time.
The crux of the problem lies in realizing that we are created beings. If one does not accept this premise, the issue of who we are cannot be resolved. Life will remain a mystery. Suppose we ask a toaster, what is your purpose? The toaster should realize that its purpose is pretty much decided by its creator, and it is only when it fulfills the purpose in which it is created for that it will experience true joy. The toaster that thinks it is a coffee-maker is walking on the path to mechanical failure. In a similar way, we need to ask our Maker what our purpose is. Our Maker has created us with our passions, feelings and desires so that we can fulfill our purpose with joy and hope. That is why following our desires is part of the answer to the question of who we are, but not the full answer. Our feelings can often deceive us (because we have an Enemy that wants to take us away from the Maker) and we need to ask God to continually remind us of our true purpose.
Do we lose our freedom when we submit ourselves to the purpose of our Maker? No, not at all. What is freedom in the first place? We need to realize that freedom is not the state of being controlled by nothing. We are always controlled by something: our feelings, our needs, our loved ones, our society. Freedom is being able to choose who controls you. I would rather choose someone who loves me a lot and knows who I am to control me, and this person is none other than God. God knows exactly what will make us feel satisfied, and only He can give us true joy!
A common question people ask themselves at critical turning points in their lives: Who am I? Peter Parker asked himself this question in Spiderman II, because he felt torn between his responsibility as a super-hero, and his own love for MJ. A lot of people come to realize that their passions and feelings and desires play a large part in answering this question. However, some people stop at this point and conclude that to be themselves, they need to follow their passions, feelings and desires. They let these things guide and rule their lives. The problem is that our feelings are often in flux, and it frustrates and confuses us to follow something that changes all the time.
The crux of the problem lies in realizing that we are created beings. If one does not accept this premise, the issue of who we are cannot be resolved. Life will remain a mystery. Suppose we ask a toaster, what is your purpose? The toaster should realize that its purpose is pretty much decided by its creator, and it is only when it fulfills the purpose in which it is created for that it will experience true joy. The toaster that thinks it is a coffee-maker is walking on the path to mechanical failure. In a similar way, we need to ask our Maker what our purpose is. Our Maker has created us with our passions, feelings and desires so that we can fulfill our purpose with joy and hope. That is why following our desires is part of the answer to the question of who we are, but not the full answer. Our feelings can often deceive us (because we have an Enemy that wants to take us away from the Maker) and we need to ask God to continually remind us of our true purpose.
Do we lose our freedom when we submit ourselves to the purpose of our Maker? No, not at all. What is freedom in the first place? We need to realize that freedom is not the state of being controlled by nothing. We are always controlled by something: our feelings, our needs, our loved ones, our society. Freedom is being able to choose who controls you. I would rather choose someone who loves me a lot and knows who I am to control me, and this person is none other than God. God knows exactly what will make us feel satisfied, and only He can give us true joy!
Science and Religion
Below is an essay I wrote as a freshman in Stanford for a writing class. As a young Christian back then, I was still unsure if my faith in God conflicts with my confidence in science. I was surprised to find great agreement between these two major parts of my life.
Science and Religion Essay
Here is a recording of a talk I gave in Stanford:
Science and Religion Talk
Over the years, my understanding about the relationship between Science and Religion has grown deeper. Below are the slides and recording of a talk on Science and Religion I gave at my workplace:
December Science and Religion Talk
Update on 22 Feb 2010:
My campus pastor sent a really interesting article by William Lane Craig on "5 Arguments for God". People who are more philosophically inclined may enjoy this. You can find it at
http://thegospelcoalition.org/publications/cci/five_arguments_for_god/
I have not written on this topic of Science and God for a long time, mainly because I've realized that nobody comes to know God by pure reason. Pure reason can inspire us to find this God, but ultimately it is our experience of Him that convinces us whole-heartedly that He is real. God is love, and nobody can truly know love unless they have experienced love.
However, I find apologetics extremely useful for the believer. We gain a deeper understanding of our Creator and Lover. "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and all of your soul and all of your strength and all of your mind." Something deep happens when you understand Him logically too. It always amazes me personally that a world-view with God makes a lot more sense than one without. I do not expect others to agree with me on this, but it really does make more sense. I'll write on my thoughts someday. Someday.
Science and Religion Essay
Here is a recording of a talk I gave in Stanford:
Science and Religion Talk
Over the years, my understanding about the relationship between Science and Religion has grown deeper. Below are the slides and recording of a talk on Science and Religion I gave at my workplace:
December Science and Religion Talk
Update on 22 Feb 2010:
My campus pastor sent a really interesting article by William Lane Craig on "5 Arguments for God". People who are more philosophically inclined may enjoy this. You can find it at
http://thegospelcoalition.org/publications/cci/five_arguments_for_god/
I have not written on this topic of Science and God for a long time, mainly because I've realized that nobody comes to know God by pure reason. Pure reason can inspire us to find this God, but ultimately it is our experience of Him that convinces us whole-heartedly that He is real. God is love, and nobody can truly know love unless they have experienced love.
However, I find apologetics extremely useful for the believer. We gain a deeper understanding of our Creator and Lover. "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and all of your soul and all of your strength and all of your mind." Something deep happens when you understand Him logically too. It always amazes me personally that a world-view with God makes a lot more sense than one without. I do not expect others to agree with me on this, but it really does make more sense. I'll write on my thoughts someday. Someday.
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