The Quest for Character - A Gold Is A Gold

Someone reminded me this some time ago and I felt a small tug in my heart to post it here...

(maybe you would think that the writer of this blog is out of his mind)

A gold is a gold? Yeah right, so?

But the value of that statement increases immensely when we add this word: "wherever"

Wherever a gold is, it is still a gold.

In a beautiful jewelry box...
In a rubbish bin...
In the shape of a ring...
In its original..unsightly form...

or in an earthen vessel...

it's still a gold...and it is wanted (especially now when US dollar is disappointing)*.

All of us want to be wanted. All of us need to be needed. In extreme cases, there is a syndrome called ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) in some children (or maybe adults too?) where they always create problems in order to be the center of attention.

But there is a much better way in order to be wanted...needed, go and shine like gold.

Sometimes we change ourselves for the better because circumstances force us or incentives pull us.

But if we are "gold", we do not wait for circumstances or incentives. We change because we want to shine - because that is who we are and that is what we do.

My mentee asked me, what is the benefit of self betterment if nobody notices that or nobody rewards us for that?

I said if that is the case, then consider yourself as a gold in a rubbish bin. Your value is not determined by where you are but by who you really are. The gold is still a gold - shining in the rubbish bin as bright as in a jewel casket. So keep on shining, brighter and brighter, no matter where you are. Surely other people will find your value and you will be taken away and glorified.

And in the end, if really nobody cares, the Guy upstairs does.

Keep on shining...be wanted...be valuable...

* This statement is not supposed to be considered as investment advice. The author is not responsible for the loss generated from gold investment undertaken based on this statement. Nevertheless, the author requires a sizable share of gain should the investment based on this statement prove to be profitable.

The Quest for Wisdom II

Listen to this 'suppossedly wise' words:

Never walk away from Wisdom - she guards your life...
Love her - she keeps her eye on you.
Above all and before all, do this: Get Wisdom!
Write this at the top of your list: Get Understanding!
Throw your arms around her believe me, you won't regret it.
Never let her go - she'll make your life glorious.
She'll garland your life with grace, she'll festoon your days with beauty.

Wisdom and Choices...

Choices - are Life's building blocks. The kind of Life you build depends on the kind of Choices you make.

Wisdom leads the Choices we make and ultimately lands us to the kind of Life that is in accordance to the Wisdom we have. Wisdom is the accumulation of knowledge, intelligence, understanding and the character that have been developed over time.

That's it!... Character...

You can be knowledgable. You can be Intelligent. You can be enlightened a thousand times.

But if you do not have the right Character to support them, you would still be making the wrong Choices.

You may know what needs to be done, yet you may have no courage to do it.

Somebody is called "Wise" because he has made a considerable amount of "Wise Choices" not just knowing them

And hence - The Quest for Wisdom becomes The Quest for Character

The fear of the Creator is the beginning of Wisdom

The Quest for Wisdom

Wisdom...
Understanding...
Intelligence...
Knowledge...

What the heck are the differences between them all??? (if any)

It is said - Knowledge is power.. Then what about Intelligence? What about Understanding?

What about WISDOM?

Ok, just for the fun of it-let's make things slightly more complicated. There is data, there is information and then there is knowledge. Those who are involved in the study of data and information would know the differences.

Then there is the notion of:
You know what you know
You know what you don't know
You don't know what you know
You don't know what you don't know

But what about the first four...?

My puny mind tries to understand it this way:
data - information - knowledge - intelligence - understanding - wisdom (in increasing order)

Data - facts, unprocessed or unpackaged for a specific purpose
Information - Processed Data for a specific purpose
Knowledge - Processed Information combined with experiences for a specific purpose
Intelligence - Ability to apply Knowledge in specific circumstances to achieve certain purposes

... (things are getting more complicated from this point onwards)

Understanding - Ability to get enlightenment (took me a while to find this word) over certain matters derived from the Data, Information, Knowledge and Intelligence involved.

Wisdom - (speechless)

Solomon personifies wisdom as the first of all creations even before the earth existed. She was there beside the Creator and involved in the creation. He even urges others to get wisdom and understanding at all cost...

So what is wisdom?

I am still seeking...

The Purpose of Life II - Roadmaps of Life

Wouldn't it be easier if we were just given roadmaps of our lives?

For most of us, life is pretty clear from the age of 5 till 18.

Then things start to get more complicated. Which university?What major?

After graduation...which company?What job? (and to some the order is different)

After job...who to marry?(gee...one of the most confusing mysteries of life)

and so on...

Ever wonder that?

Go and ask the Guy Upstairs and most probably you won't get a definite answer...

Go and ask the people you know and most probably you won't get a satisfying answer...

Go and ask...some psychic hot line or horoscopes...and most probably you would get some obscure if not horrible answer...

So what to do?

...sigh...who are we to solve the riddles of life?...

And in the end...maybe the real answer

lies on every single step we take
is whispered to our ears through every single beat of our hearts
is carved on every smile of the people we meet

and

is silently hammered upon us ... whenever we cry for it ...


I trust You to make me trust You...

The Power of Love - For The First Time in Eternity...

God: Do you know that for the first time in eternity, I was separated from my Son?

Man: ...? (silence)

And the mental picture comes up...

As the dearly beloved of the family I can never imagine that I'm ignored by my family. I was the spoiled one (still am - though in a different way). I can never imagine that I would show up in my hometown's airport and nobody is there waiting to pick me up.

I can never imagine that by the time I arrive at home...my parents would not say hello to me.

I can never imagine that I call them and they wouldn't answer (actually sometimes it's the other way around...)

If all those things happened... I must be wondering why... and worse... hurt...

Now consider the relationship between Father and Son. Try to understand Their relationship with our puny mind. Millions and Billions of years of sweet relationship - broken on that day.

It wasn't the abandonment of His trusted people
It wasn't the beating
It wasn't the accusations
It wasn't the scourging...the spitting
It wasn't the thorny crown
It wasn't the rejection of the people who hailed Him Lord a few days ago
It wasn't the "Via Dolorosa"

... that hurt Him most...

It was the rejection of His most trusted Person...

The Person Whom He put all His hope into... The Person about Whom He told His disciples...you guys will all leave Me but He would never leave Me...

And for the first time in eternity, He had to cry out...why?why have You forsaken Me?

Still the pain was so great till eventhough He knew the reason, He asked anyway...

And it was this cry that guarrantee us never to cry out the same words again...

...I wonder why it was an angel who gave Him strength???

Now I know why those who reject him would go to hell cause the sacrifice was beyond anything imaginable

Now I know why that He only asks us to believe cause the price is so great and no human can pay for it

-- Too bad the Passion of the Christ movie only focussed on the scourging.

The Purpose of Life

What exactly are we living for???

Ah...what a topic...

An atheist was asked - if you believe that there is no God and no life after death, what are you living for?
Answer: one sexual climax to another.

A New Age-r would answer - everything is spiritual, we are one with god (or whoever that spirit being is) - so keep on cultivating your spirit, that's the only thing that matters...

This ultimate question always pounds seekers all over the world and in all history of mankind.

Why does life exist? (alright - to give the benefit of the doubt that there may not be such a Being called The Creator)

Is it true that everything is relative, nothing is absolute...?

The more we think about it - the more questions we have...

Man's chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever - Westminster Cathecism

And don't ever think that the above statement dissolves all questions about purpose of life..

Conversation with God 2

Man: God?
God: Yes?
Man: Why do You want to build a relationship with me?
God: Because I love you
Man: And why is that?
God: Because I love you
Man: Uhm...I've failed You so many times, so do You still love me?
God: Yes
Man: Even if You know that I will leave You?
God: Yes
Man: Why?
God: Because I love you
Man: But I'm not sure if I love You
God: It doesn't matter
Man: Why?
God: Because I love you
Man: But it matters to me
God: Why?
Man: I feel guilty...
God: So?
Man: So I don't know why You still love me
God: Because I love you
Man: ... (silence)
God: !!! (affirms)

Ramblings...

Happiness is not about getting what you want...it's about wanting what you get...

Sometimes we are so focused on what we want and miss the best things of life...in front of us...

Conversation with God 1

Man:What is it that you want in me?
God:Just you.
Man:What do you want me to do?
God:Choose life not death!
Man:Why?
God:Cause it's better to die but live than to live but die..."

Man: Why did You create me?
God: So that you can know Me
Man: Why do we need to know You?
God: So that you can worship Me
Man: Uhmm....why do we need to worship You?
God: Uhmmmmmmmm....do you have better things to do???

God: Don't worry, I'm your Shield and your Great Reward.
Man: Uhmm....and why shouldn't I be worried?
God: ...???
Man: I mean, whenever I pray, You never give me what I have prayed for...
God: ...
Man: And I always got what I have never asked for...
God: ...
Man: ...
God: Do you trust Me?
Man: I don't know, it's hard to trust You.
God: Who do you trust then?
Man: I don't know, it's hard to trust others and myself too
God: Let's make a deal, shall we?
Man: What is the deal?
God: Trust Me to lead you through the ways that you've never thought before, and I will never fail you.
Man: ... that's all? Just trust?
God: That's all you need to do...after all, you have no-one else to trust... what say you?
Man: And what if I fail to trust You?
God: At least trust Me to make you trust Me...
Man: Who am I that You should care about my trust?
God: Would you believe My answer? ;)