Monday, February 28, 2005
Thursday, February 24, 2005
Trip to L.A.
On Feb. 19, we moved to L.A. Driving in the white Toyota with i and G, 400 miles and almost 7 hours later, we arrived at our friend's place in Fullerton (and they were waiting for us to have dinner together!).
What a journey from almost exactly one year ago when LS got the phone call from M for an interview at B University. Yes, after one year and the seemingly long process of house-selling, house-hunting, house-buying, etc., the costly relocation is finally ending. And the date happened to be our 7th wedding anniversary. Champainge!
Another thing, it's the 5th wettest year in the history of L.A. Rain. Rain. Torrential rain. Thunderstorm. Floodings. Mudslides. Fatal accidents. Desarester area. etc. etc. etc. When it finally stopped, it was then the blue sky, the lingering gray clouds, and the majestic mountain all covered with snow. What a welcoming show we had!
And what a friend we have. They cooked, they buy groceries, clean, borrow futon, baby chair, etc. The food. Mmmm. Cantonese soup, hand-made Jiaozi, hotpot on Yuanxiao night, etc. etc. etc. And what friends we had for the past 5 weeks. PP, UC, YT all showed us their hospitality. i had 2 birthday parties, he learned to walk at YT's place and now improving in DY&ZR's. We've been cared by the angels!
Now the rain had stopped, we'll be moving into the new house Friday 225! We've put in new ceiling, the recessed lights, and the wall by our contractor MB and had the house and the carpet all cleaned, bought the frig and washer/dryer. BU is even agreeing to pick up the tab for the local move. PTL!!
What a beginning of a new chapter in our lives.
What a journey from almost exactly one year ago when LS got the phone call from M for an interview at B University. Yes, after one year and the seemingly long process of house-selling, house-hunting, house-buying, etc., the costly relocation is finally ending. And the date happened to be our 7th wedding anniversary. Champainge!
Another thing, it's the 5th wettest year in the history of L.A. Rain. Rain. Torrential rain. Thunderstorm. Floodings. Mudslides. Fatal accidents. Desarester area. etc. etc. etc. When it finally stopped, it was then the blue sky, the lingering gray clouds, and the majestic mountain all covered with snow. What a welcoming show we had!
And what a friend we have. They cooked, they buy groceries, clean, borrow futon, baby chair, etc. The food. Mmmm. Cantonese soup, hand-made Jiaozi, hotpot on Yuanxiao night, etc. etc. etc. And what friends we had for the past 5 weeks. PP, UC, YT all showed us their hospitality. i had 2 birthday parties, he learned to walk at YT's place and now improving in DY&ZR's. We've been cared by the angels!
Now the rain had stopped, we'll be moving into the new house Friday 225! We've put in new ceiling, the recessed lights, and the wall by our contractor MB and had the house and the carpet all cleaned, bought the frig and washer/dryer. BU is even agreeing to pick up the tab for the local move. PTL!!
What a beginning of a new chapter in our lives.
Wednesday, February 23, 2005
指 九 天以 為 正 兮, 夫 唯 靈 脩 之 故 也
-- 屈原 离騷
指 ， 語 也 。 九 天 ， 謂 中 央 八方 也 。 正 ， 平 也 。
靈， 神 也 。 脩 ， 遠 也 。 能 神 明 遠 見 者 君 德 ， 故 以 諭 君 。 言己 將 陳 忠 策 內 慮 之 心 ， 上 指 九 天 ， 告 語 神 明 ， 使 平 正 之。 唯 用 懷 王 之 故 ， 欲 自 盡 也 。
指 ， 語 也 。 九 天 ， 謂 中 央 八方 也 。 正 ， 平 也 。
靈， 神 也 。 脩 ， 遠 也 。 能 神 明 遠 見 者 君 德 ， 故 以 諭 君 。 言己 將 陳 忠 策 內 慮 之 心 ， 上 指 九 天 ， 告 語 神 明 ， 使 平 正 之。 唯 用 懷 王 之 故 ， 欲 自 盡 也 。
Tuesday, February 08, 2005
Mardi Gras
It's French for "Fat Tuesday", a day of feasting before the Lent, which is the 40-day fasting period prior to Easter. The 40-day measures 6 six-day-weeks plus 4 days before Easter Sunday, so Lent always begins on a Wednesday (called Ash Wednesday). Naturally, people will have a big feast on the Tuesday before they starting fasting on Wednesday. Since Easter moves, so does the day of Mardi Gras each year. The date generally falls in February or early March:
2004 - February 24
2005 - February 8
2006 - February 28
2007 - February 20
2008 - February 5
2009 - February 24
2010 - February 16
The craziest time during Carnival is the Friday before Mardi Gras through the holiday itself.
The three colors of Mardi Gras were decreed by Rex and the colors mean the following: purple = justice, green = faith and gold = power.
2004 - February 24
2005 - February 8
2006 - February 28
2007 - February 20
2008 - February 5
2009 - February 24
2010 - February 16
The craziest time during Carnival is the Friday before Mardi Gras through the holiday itself.
The three colors of Mardi Gras were decreed by Rex and the colors mean the following: purple = justice, green = faith and gold = power.
Monday, February 07, 2005
Theology
Haven't seen Pastor C and his wife for 3 years. They haven't changed much (he even wore the same deep purple shirt I've seen at least 3 years ago). But for the last 3 years, Pastor has spend much of his time and energy studying theology, and he gave me a glims of it last night.
It is hard to summarize theology in a few words, but basically it is, as he said, Bible plus logic. The more I think about it, theology is men's struggle to answer the inevitable questions in Christian faith. That is, trying to use human logic to rationalize our understanding of God.
There're Calvinism (the TULIP), Arminianism, the 5C, 3C, 2.5C, 5A, Openism, etc. All these are results of serious thinkings of the same scripture, but probably the only thing they can agree on is the inerrancy of it. Since the Bible itself is not a book of doctrins and theories, but rather a book of mostly events and letters, it's neither explicit nor strict on the defination of doctrines such as predestination vs. free will, trinity, or ??? (the three areas where theologists have been debating for ages).
Without theology faith can be criticized as irrational, but too much of it are proven dangerous (poisonous, as Pastor C described). Many difficult questions from a non-believer may be found in the theology books, but none of them provides the same answer, probably.
What's my take? Well, to be brief: the existance of tri-une God and inerrancy of the Bible. Perhaps there's a middle ground somewhere between 5C and 5A that I can accept. One thing is clear, theology is interesting. As Pastor C said, you need a starting point even though later on you might find it wrong.
It is hard to summarize theology in a few words, but basically it is, as he said, Bible plus logic. The more I think about it, theology is men's struggle to answer the inevitable questions in Christian faith. That is, trying to use human logic to rationalize our understanding of God.
There're Calvinism (the TULIP), Arminianism, the 5C, 3C, 2.5C, 5A, Openism, etc. All these are results of serious thinkings of the same scripture, but probably the only thing they can agree on is the inerrancy of it. Since the Bible itself is not a book of doctrins and theories, but rather a book of mostly events and letters, it's neither explicit nor strict on the defination of doctrines such as predestination vs. free will, trinity, or ??? (the three areas where theologists have been debating for ages).
Without theology faith can be criticized as irrational, but too much of it are proven dangerous (poisonous, as Pastor C described). Many difficult questions from a non-believer may be found in the theology books, but none of them provides the same answer, probably.
What's my take? Well, to be brief: the existance of tri-une God and inerrancy of the Bible. Perhaps there's a middle ground somewhere between 5C and 5A that I can accept. One thing is clear, theology is interesting. As Pastor C said, you need a starting point even though later on you might find it wrong.
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