learning to dream
Posted by dopi2 at 09:30 AM on November 7, 2009.
no, maybe it can't be helped/prevented. that doesn't really make it right .. after all many of our instincts are morally unsound. the Bible clearly says it's a perversion although there is little detail on how it occurs and how one deals with it. indulgence is certainly out of the question but exorcism is over-the-top pointless. and there's no need for hue and cry over it being a perversion...it's not the only or the most common or endowed with the most potential for evil, i guess.
Posted by dopi2 at 03:54 PM on November 6, 2009.
another learning curve? oh well, let's see where this ends.
i almost lost my password to the NUS account. hardly surprising as i keep on changing passwords every two or three weeks .. and lately they get less associative / meaningful (i.e. more random), just to discipline myself into not forgetting things :O. thank God I recalled it in the end.
not sure where i placed that bryson book...i could really use some entertaining light reading right now.
been thinking about homosexuality lately...not out of personal struggle or anguish =P. i'm quite sure i've no homosexual tendencies .. i spent some time examining myself on that possibility when a female friend admitted to some attraction to me a number of years back (and accused me of feeling the same).
there's no reason to believe it's demon possession. there's a great deal of reason to believe it can't be explained away easily. maybe some people are born with it and really can't help it.
Posted by dopi2 at 09:57 AM on November 5, 2009.
when one has no willingness to learn from others, he/she is doomed to be left behind and lose relevance in the end. it's sad, but i've always known he's that type of person. oh well, i haven't got a "saving people thing", and these days i do pick my battles. i suppose my duty stops at giving due warnings :O. and then let it go =).
good luck
Singapore CPI (Sep 09)
Posted by sentosa at 09:15 AM on November 3, 2009.
Consumer Price Index
(2004 = 100)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Group | Weights | Index | % Change |
| | |-----------------------|-------------------|
| | | Sep | Aug | Sep | Sep 09/ | Sep 09/ |
| | (%) | 2008 | 2009 | 2009 | Aug 09 | Sep 08 |
| --------------------------|---------|-------|-------|-------|---------|---------|
| All items | 100 | 111.2 | 101.8 | 101.8 | -0.1 | -0.4 |
| | | | | | | |
| Food | 23 | 115.7 | 116.4 | 116.6 | 0.2 | 0.8 |
| Clothing & Footwear | 4 | 104.3 | 106.0 | 104.3 | -1.6 | - |
| Housing | 21 | 119.0 | 116.6 | 116.1 | -0.5 | -2.5 |
| Transport & Communication | 22 | 101.5 | 101.5 | 101.3 | -0.2 | -0.2 |
| Education & Stationery | 8 | 107.6 | 110.0 | 109.8 | -0.2 | 2.0 |
| Health Care | 5 | 112.6 | 114.8 | 115.0 | 0.2 | 2.1 |
| Recreation & Others | 17 | 110.3 | 108.1 | 108.3 | 0.2 | -1.8 |
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Posted by dopi2 at 05:47 AM on November 3, 2009.
everybody is hungry for significance. i understand that. so a man in his decline who's reaped much less encouragement and more limited praise than he's used to, will do for himself what others wouldn't: sing his own praises to give him the sense of significance that he's missing. it's understandable. it's not right, but it makes sense.
and, no, i am not blind. so i saw clearly that i have practically lost the capacity for being emotionally attached to anyone. in the past, i could be clingy or emotionally needy under very special circumstances. the current level of detachment is astonishing. i can honestly say that there is not a human being whom i would sorely miss, or hate not having near me. it would be a pity to lose some people, but i don't suppose i'd get all soppy and sentimental about it.
i think so much "independence" is kind of wrong/dangerous and unhealthy.
other than that, life is being kind to me. 
Posted by dopi2 at 04:19 AM on November 3, 2009.
cheap shot, below the belt:
- when rebukes are delivered without any willingness to consider context/complications. it's "cheap" because it takes no particular cost to the one who delivers the rebuke. no need to try to understand/emphatize, no need to help find a solution, no need to even share the emotional pain of struggle/failure to live up to God's standards. in the Christian context this is usually delivered in public, commonly from the pulpit, where the one who rebukes is safe from any sort of reply/response and has the strength of numbers.
yet cheap shots, and rebukes delivered out of spite, envy or for selfish gains, are still better than hidden love :O.
Posted by dopi2 at 03:48 AM on November 3, 2009.
there are many who claim that "spiritual problems are the root of all problems".i agree, wholeheartedly. in fact, when people fail to do good and show love to those around them, using the above claim as justification, they are having spiritual problems. it's no coincidence that spiritual giants are also moral giants. how can a good tree be barren or produce bad fruits?
even in our private lives we see most obviously that believing in Christ does not immediately translate into perfect conduct and faultless instincts/feelings. it takes "work", the exercise of obedience. how then can anyone expect everything to be right once beliefs are set right?
1 John 4
20If anyone says, "I love
God," yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love
his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. 21And he has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother.
James 2
14What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? 15Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. 16If
one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,"
but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? 17In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.
18But someone will say, "You have faith; I have deeds."
Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do.
19You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.
20You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless? 21Was not our ancestor Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? 22You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. 23And the scripture was fulfilled that says, "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness," and he was called God's friend. 24You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone.
25In
the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous
for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off
in a different direction? 26As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.
James 3
13Who is wise and
understanding among you? Let him show it by his good life, by deeds
done in the humility that comes from wisdom. 14But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. 15Such "wisdom" does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, of the devil. 16For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice.
17But
the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then
peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit,
impartial and sincere. 18Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness.
Circle Line MRT
Posted by sentosa at 07:58 AM on November 2, 2009.
Circle Line MRT map (in exact scale)... fully ready in 2011
Note the additional Station of Bayfront and Marina South, connecting with North-South-Line and future Downtown-Line.
