Reflections on 2022

 

January

Act justly. Love grace. Walk in purity with our God.

February

1 Samuel 15:22

And Samuel said,

“Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices,    as in obeying the voice of the Lord?Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice,    and to listen than the fat of rams.

March

"The tendency is to assume that everyone shares your world view." - Gary Kasparov

April

Haggai 1:3-5

Then the word of the Lord came by the hand of Haggai the prophet,  “Is it a time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses, while this house lies in ruins? Now, therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts: Consider your ways.

2NE1 performed live at Coachella.

May

Christians are a habitation of the Holy Spirit. What does this mean and how does it apply in my life?

June

Days (Philip Larkin)

What are days for?

Days are where we live.   

They come, they wake us   

Time and time over.

They are to be happy in:   

Where can we live but days?

Ah, solving that question

Brings the priest and the doctor   

In their long coats

Running over the fields.

The trust that is given to me is a profound gift.

July

There are always flowers for those who want to see them. - Henri Matisse

August

My quality of life is enhanced by...

Literature

Music

Architecture

Appreciation of nature

Solitude

Rest

Reflection at the end of each day

A gratitude journal

Quality time with family and friends

September

I want to trust people recklessly.

October

Be kind.

Imitate Christ.

Do the right thing, not the easy thing.

Proverbs 17:27

Whoever restrains his words has knowledge, and he who has a cool spirit is a man of understanding.

November

Lord, I am thankful for the joy of being immersed in something so enjoyable that I lose track of time.

December

Micah 6:8

He has told you, O man, what is good;

and what does the Lord require of you

but to do justice, and to love kindness,

and to walk humbly with your God?

 

Books read in 2022

 1. Colourful - Eto Mori

2. The Secret Lives of Planets - Paul Murdin

3. A  Mathematician's Apology - G.H. Hardy

4. The Cake Tree in the Ruins - Akiyuki Nosaka

5. My Annihilation - Fuminori Nakamura

6. The Waiting Years - Fumiko Enchi

7. Breasts & Eggs - Mieko Kawakami

8. Jerusalem - Selma Lagerlof

9. The Last Children of Tokyo - Yoko Tawada

10. Tokyo Ueno Station - Yu Miri

11. American Primitive - Mary Oliver

12. A Poetry handbook - Mary Oliver

13. The End of Everything - Katie Mack

14. The Art of Statistics - David Spiegelhalter

15. Numbers Don't Lie - Vaclav Smil

16. Spring Garden - Tomoka Shibasaki

17. The Little House - Kyoko Nakajima

18. Where Reasons End - Li Yiyun

19. The Brain's Way of Healing - Norman Doidge

20. Things Remembered and Things Forgotten - Kyoko Nakajima

21. Twenty-four eyes - Sakae Tsuboi

22. unit.

23. Purple  Hibiscus - Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

24. Dearly - Margaret Atwood

25. I would prefer not - Hermann Melville

26. Flights - Olga Tokarczuk

27. We - Yevgeny Zamyatin

28. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy - John le Carré

29. The Honourable Schoolboy - John le Carré

30. Elena Knows - Claudia Piñeiro

31. Voices in the Evening - Natalia Ginzburg

32. Idol Burning - Rin Usami

33. The Boy and the Dog - Seishu Hase

34. Cursed Bunmy - Bora Chung

35. The Age of Doubt - Pak Kyongni

36. Night on the Galactic Railroad & Other Stories from Ihatov - Kenji Miyazawa

37. Musings - Series One - George Yeo with Woon Tai Ho

Pitter patter

 "There are things you can't avoid, like the rain. But as long as you have people who can be your umbrella, I think you can survive the rain, even if you get a little bit wet."

- The Law Cafe, 2022

Compassion

Was reflecting on this recently because oftentimes, the words and actions of others cause us to get irritated, become angry, turn sad or make us feel rejected. How do we overcome our emotions and develop compassion for others? 

I don't think that I can do so by myself. I've had to pray consistently for God to fill my heart with love and empathy and help me see others the way He sees them. 

Also, it requires discipline and deliberate behaviour. A conscious recognition of the other person as a soul precious to God and a deliberate decision to tell oneself that I need to be kind and compassionate because I don't know what the other person is struggling with and where he or she was coming from when he or she said those words or acted in that way. 

It is all too easy for my heart to become cold and cynical but for Keith Green. 

When I get to heaven and I see Keith Green, I will thank him because his testimony and his words in this YouTube video (Keith Green - Oh Lord You're Beautiful left a deep impression on me. 

His exact words were "Lord, I want to have baby skin. I want to have skin like a baby for my heart." His words have become a prayer that I frequently use in my life. 

• Keep your heart with all vigilance,
  for from it flow the springs of life.
  Proverbs 4:23

 

 Some musings over the past week:

Proverbs 17:27: He that hath knowledge spareth his words and a man of understanding is of an excellent spirit.

Authenticity

Sufficiency

Humility

Be Kind

Imitate Christ

Do the right thing, not the easy thing

저녁에 / In the Night / Kim Gwang-Seop (1905–1977)

Among a multitude of stars,
one stares down at me.
Among a multitude of people,
I stare up at that one star.
As the night grows deeper,
it fades into brightness
and I disappear into darkness.
Where, when,
as what will the two of us…
you, one so warm, and me, one so tender,
meet again?

저렇게 많은 중에서
별 하나가 나를 내려다본다
이렇게 많은 사람 중에서
그 별 하나를 쳐다본다
밤이 깊을수록
별은 밝음 속에 사라지고
나는 어둠 속에 사라진다
이렇게 정다운
너 하나 나 하나는
어디서 무엇이 되어
다시 만나랴

Source: https://www.are.na/block/3203506

Spring

 If there's just one minute left for me

I want my soul to live that minute clean.

- Khet Thi