格物 至知 意诚 心正 修身 齐家 治国 平天下

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.

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 。

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.

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.

明亮 豁达 高格调

Guidance for remodeling our home. Somehow I found it helpful as a motto as well.

Two sides of a coin

Hiuen Tsang=玄奘
King Ashoka=戒日王

Inspirational

If there's one speaker that consistantly inspiring it has to be Tony Robbins. I first heard about him over 10 years ago (from my friend Tony Z). I still remember one thing my friend strongly agreed with--to continuously make tiny steps towards the goal of your life.

Last night, I saw Tony's infomercial on TV again. I was even thinking about buying his lastest CDs (for myself and as a gift to others). This morning during my regular thinking time in the shower, I realized two things:

1. Invest on things that can make you more efficient (e.g. broadband internet)
2. Invest on things that can improve the quality of your life

Today I checked Tony's website (http://www.anthonyrobbins.com) and like this he wrote:

I MOVE TOWARDS:

1. Healthy & Vital
2. Love & Warmth
3. Intelligence
4. Cheerfulness
5. Honesty
6. Passion
7. Grateful
8. Fun & Happy
9. Make A Difference
10. Learn & Grow
11. Achieve
12. Be My Best
13. Invest
14. Contribute
15. Create

I MOVE AWAY FROM:

1. Consistent unnecessary worry
2. Consistent debilitation anger/resentment
3. Consistent inappropriate harshness
4. Consistent vulgarity
5. Consistent laying blame as a way of abdicating or avoiding responsibility
6. Consistent not walking my talk

Precarious

Reminds me of the feeling of graduate school. The time to graduate is not entirely at your own control--a big difference from undergrad.

Exclusiveness is not rude

Nor should it be unreasonable. Truth itself is exclusive. It's as simple as 1+1=2, not 3. A father can deny his own son, or vice versa. But if he is truely the biological father, then everyone else has to be excluded from claiming that title. That's not rude because only he can be the one. Same goes for the argument of 'Christianity is a rude religion because it excludes every other religion from being true.' It simply can't stand. Now, if a religion is so inclusive that it accept even contradictory religions or idologies, then it must be a false religion.

I have nothing...

if I have no will nor hope.

The ultimate list of my favorate melancholy/farewell songs

- A Valediction (by Li Shutong, music by J.P. Ordway)
- O Danny Boy (Irish folk)
- The Last Farewell (by Roger Whittaker & R.A. Webster)
- Brother In Arms (by Dire Straits)

Lyrics.

When I died..

I would like the Battle Hymn of the Republic sung in my funeral (if there is one!). This song is written by Julia Ward Howe (1819-1910) and is probably sung in all the presidential funerals in recent history. I had known and loved the melody of the song before I came to US.

* * *

Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord;
He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored;
He hath loosed the fateful lightning of His terrible swift sword;
His truth is marching on.
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! His truth is marching on.

I have seen Him in the watch fires of a hundred circling camps
They have builded Him an altar in the evening dews and damps;
I can read His righteous sentence by the dim and flaring lamps;
His day is marching on.
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! His day is marching on.

I have read a fiery Gospel writ in burnished rows of steel;
“As ye deal with My contemners, so with you My grace shall deal”;
Let the Hero, born of woman, crush the serpent with His heel,
Since God is marching on.
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! Since God is marching on.

He has sounded forth the trumpet that shall never call retreat;
He is sifting out the hearts of men before His judgment seat;
Oh, be swift, my soul, to answer Him! be jubilant, my feet;
Our God is marching on.
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! Our God is marching on.

In the beauty of the lilies Christ was born across the sea,
With a glory in His bosom that transfigures you and me:
As He died to make men holy, let us live to make men free;
[originally …let us die to make men free]
While God is marching on.
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! While God is marching on.

He is coming like the glory of the morning on the wave,
He is wisdom to the mighty, He is honor to the brave;
So the world shall be His footstool, and the soul of wrong His slave,
Our God is marching on.
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! Our God is marching on.

Pablo Neruda

One of those days

Disappointed. The best hope did not materialize. Frustrated. Lack of vision for desirable alternatives. But still fortunate. After all is said and done, the most important assets remain intact. Health. Family. Hope. They say in life you win some and you loose some. So perhaps a real looser is only those who give up too soon.

In Memory of UM

送别

长亭外,古道边,芳草碧连天.晚风拂柳笛声残,夕阳山外山.
天之涯,地之角,知交半零落;一杯浊酒尽余欢,今宵别梦寒.

-李叔同作(1880-1942)

Note: K went to see UM Monday night before he passed away. This was his favorite song.

Other note: The lyricist was born in Tianjin, China. When he was 28 years old, he became a buddhus monk (named 弘一). The music was written by American composer John P. Ordway.

RIP

UM passed away today at 2 p.m. Memorial service will be at:
Parklawn Memorial Park & Mausoleums
12800 Veirs Mill Rd, Rockville, MD 20853
Phone: (301)881-2161
Wreath for family.

Springtails. Not fleas!

Often I am so far down the path of the worst case scenario that I forgot other possibilities exist--much better ones. Without the knowledge of the better or best case scenarios, my internal world is often dark and gloomy.

Yesterday I got the assurance from Erica at TMX that the "jumping" insect is springtail (scientific name Collembola), not fleas as I originally assumed and feared. Immediately I feel relieved. And the clouds that hoover over me are nowhere to be seen. "What you told me has made my day!" I told her. Thank God!

Even though they have a nickname of "snow fleas", springtails don't bite human and don't transmit diseases. "Nuisance," says one website. "They are nearly always good guys," says another.

I learned a lesson. Do not loose sight of the best hope. And take actions to find out--that's how one can be insightful.

From Bird Gun to Cannon

Yahoo mail has expended storage space from 6 MB to 100 MB. That really came as a pleasant surprise as I open mail this morning. What a big relief just overnight. Pretty soon people will forget about the small mailbox in "the old days." Doesn't Google's gmail come with 1 GB storage? I'll be looking forward to that, too. But for now, I'll enjoy the freedom and breathing space with Yahoo. Ahhh....

As the Chinese saying goes, this is an exchange of the bird gun with a cannon.

Secret of Life

[121 words]

Take time to Think. It is the source of Power.
Take time to Play. It is the secret of perpetual Youth.
Take time to be Friendly. It is the road to Happiness.
Take time to Work. It is the price of Success.
Take time to Pray. It is the greatest power on Earth.
Take time to Love and be Loved. It is the way of God.