Getting there

A boat docked in a tiny Mexican fishing village.

A tourist complimented the local fishermen on the quality of their fish and asked how long it took him to catch them.

"Not very long." they answered in unison.

"Why didn't you stay out longer and catch more?"

The fishermen explained that their small catches were sufficient to meet their needs and those of their families.

"But what do you do with the rest of your time?"

"We sleep late, fish a little, play with our children, and take siestas with our wives. In the evenings, we go into the village to see our friends, have a few drinks, play the guitar, and sing a few songs.

We have a full life."

The tourist interrupted,


"I have an MBA from Harvard and I can help you!
You should start by fishing longer every day.
You can then sell the extra fish you catch.
With the extra revenue, you can buy a bigger boat."

"And after that?"

"With the extra money the larger boat will bring, you can buy a second one and a third one and so on until you have an entire fleet of trawlers.
Instead of selling your fish to a middle man, you can then negotiate directly with the processing plants and maybe even open your own plant.

You can then leave this little village and move to Mexico City , Los Angeles , or even New York City !

From there you can direct your huge new enterprise."

"How long would that take?"

"Twenty, perhaps twenty-five years." replied the tourist.

"And after that?"

"Afterwards? Well my friend, that's when it gets really interesting, " answered the tourist, laughing. "When your business gets really big, you can start buying and selling stocks and make millions!"

"Millions? Really? And after that?" asked the fishermen..

"After that you'll be able to retire,
live in a tiny village near the coast,
sleep late, play with your children,
catch a few fish, take a siesta with your wife and spend your evenings drinking and enjoying your friends."

"With all due respect sir, but that's exactly what we are doing now. So what's the point wasting twenty-five years?" asked the Mexicans.

And the moral of this story is:

......... Know where you're going in life.... you may already be there!!

- ed -

Wonderland...

I was rather restless, uninspired and desiring very much to escape into my own wonderland on Friday afternoon while sitting in front of my desk.

I looked around at the colleagues around me, everyone seemed to be so engrossed in their own world. Nobody was talking, not sure what they were thinking. I walked outiside to a bigger office area, where the supposedly more fun-loving colleagues were sitting, again everyone has dived into their own world. There used to be colleagues that I could talk to, and yet, out of my control, they seemed not to be willing to talk to me. I don't know exactly why, perhaps because of some strained relationships between me and them, perhaps because of other colleauges who have strained relationships with them and I happened to be close to these colleagues... or perhaps simply because I've been very anti-social lately so people just found me unapproachable. Whatever it was, I just found that the office was cold, gloomy and unfriendly.

I carried this heavy heart to class, to home. Comfortably I saw this verse on the calender:

"Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God." 1 John 4:7

How great and wonderful the world, especially the office will be, if only just a quarter of the people in the office can remember to love one another, not to blemish, not to play politics but just to genuinely love one another!

Sometimes I find that the office is really a harsh secular world, if only I can escape into my own wonderland...at least I can find this true love in my wonderland....

Anna

Personal Perception

Different people have different perception. One man ' s meat could be another man ' s poison. A couple bought a donkey from the market. On the way home, a boy commented, "Very stupid. Why neither of them rides on the donkey? "Upon hearing that, the husband let the wife ride on the donkey. He walked besides them. Later, an old man saw it and commented, "The husband is the head of family. How can the wife ride on the donkey while the husband is on foot?" Hearing this, the wife quickly got down and let the husband ride on the donkey.

Further on the way home, they met an old Lady. She commented, "How can the man ride on the donkey but let the wife walk. He is no gentleman."
The husband thus quickly asked the wife to join him on the donkey. Then, they met a young man. He commented, "Poor donkey, how can you hold up the weight of two persons. They are cruel to you." Hearing that, the husband and wife immediately climbed down from the donkey and carried it on their shoulders.

It seems to be the only choice left. Later, on a narrow bridge, the donkey was frightened and struggled. They lost their balance and fell into the river. You can never have everyone praise you, nor will everyone condemn you. Never in the past, not at present, and never will be in the future.

Thus, do not be too bothered by others words if our conscience is clear..

- got this email excerpt from someone.
- ed

God of This City - Chris Tomlin

I came across this song today during worship. There is something amazing about this song. The rhythms are so easy to catch, you just automatically flow with it and want to dance with it. The melody blends into our secular society so well, and yet reminds us that God is in the midst of us.

It's like the presence of God among us is so real that this feeling just keep burgeoning in between the lines and the melody.

Ha, I'm not exaggerating but this is really how I feel about it. Ha. The video is full of energy too.

Anna

Acting according to our own conscience

Many times I wonder why a non-christian is more morally sound than a Christian. They have better conscience than Christians. They are more upright than many Christians that I know. There are also friends who told me that as long as they act according to their own conscience, they are alright.

All these really undermine my faith in the power of God, to be honest. But I just chose to ignore because my faith for the existence in God is stronger. However, yesterday, I read the following statements, which sort of gave an answer to my problem:

"Look within you. Look at your sense of right and wrong, your code of ethics. Somehow even as a child you knew it was wrong to hurt people and right to help them. Who told you? Who says? What is this magnetic pole that pulls the needles on the compass of your conscience, if not God?"

God does play a part.