KNOWING THE DIFFERENCE

"I believe God made me for a purpose, but he also made me fast.

And when I run I feel His pleasure."

— Eric Liddell, Chariots of Fire (1981)

To the New Year x some markers...

“Show me, Lord, my life’s end

and the number of my days;

let me know how fleeting my life is.

You have made my days a mere handbreadth;

the span of my years is as nothing before you.

Everyone is but a breath,

even those who seem secure.

“Surely everyone goes around like a mere phantom;

in vain they rush about, heaping up wealth

without knowing whose it will finally be.

“But now, Lord, what do I look for?

My hope is in you."

— Psalm 39:4-7

THE GREAT GATSBY

"He talked a lot about the past, and I gathered that he wanted to recover something, some idea of himself perhaps, that had gone into loving Daisy. His life had been confused and disordered since then, but if he could once return to a certain starting place and go over it all slowly, he could find out what that thing was....”

"'I wouldn't ask too much of her,' I ventured. 'You can't repeat the past.' 'Can't repeat the past?' he cried incredulously. 'Why of course you can!'"

"There must have been moments even that afternoon when Daisy tumbled short of his dreams—not through her own fault, but because of the colossal vitality of his illusion. It had gone beyond her, beyond everything. He had thrown himself into it with a creative passion, adding to it all the time, decking it out with every bright feather that drifted his way. No amount of fire or freshness can challenge what a man will store up in his ghostly heart."

“It is invariably saddening to look through new eyes at things upon which you have expended your own powers of adjustment.”

“Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgiastic future that year by year recedes before us. It eluded us then, but that's no matter—tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther.... And one fine morning—

So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.”

— F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby (1925)

CONVERSATIONS WITH A WORKAHOLIC

“Is this the craziest time in my life?” [Marc] Jacobs asked. “Yes, it is. But there’s always a reason why any given moment is the craziest moment in my life. That’s just how it is. Always a fresh hell. Which is fine. So long as it’s a fresh hell, and not the same old hell, you know?” With that, he smiled, his shoulders loosening. “The same old hell, now that would just be boring.”

— Excerpt from "Re-Making His Marc" by David Amsden, W Magazine (Feb 6, 2014)

CONFESSIONS OF A WORKAHOLIC

"I have an iron will, and all of my will has always been to conquer some horrible feeling of inadequacy. . . I push past one spell of it and discover myself as a special human being, and then I get to another stage and think I'm mediocre and uninteresting. . . . Again and again. My drive in life is from this horrible fear of being mediocre. And that's always pushing me, pushing me. Because even though I've become Somebody, I still have to prove I'm Somebody. My struggle has never ended and it probably never will."

— Madonna, Interview for Vanity Fair (1991)

Five years ago, in my last semester at Parsons, I wrote a blog entry (click here) of my journey in my academics sided by this nagging, insatiable hunger to keep going in my specific industry, with every gift and skill set afforded me, until I found myself satisfied professionally. In coming across this quote by Madonna, not for the first time but currently very timely, I'm reminded again of the life I could've drowned in had Christ not saved me from the black hole of my potential ego. I respect what she said because it comes from a heart of extreme self-awareness, something I believe not everyone has. And yet, as clearly as I can relate, I'm glad those words are not my own, and never will be. Lord, I thank you for every step, every opportunity, every experience you've ever supplied me with and will continue to provide. Be glorified in my joy, my reach, my deeper satisfaction in You.

AN ETERNAL WEIGHT OF GLORY

So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.

— 2 Corinthians 4:16-18 (ESV)

IN THE BEGINNING / HAPPY NEW YEAR

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

There was a man sent from God whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe. He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.

The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

— John 1:1-14 (NIV)


Interesting side note: "What does John mean by 'the Word'? The Word was a term used by theologians and philosophers, both Jews and Greeks, in many different ways. In Hebrew Scripture, the Word was an agent of creation (Psalm 33:6), the source of God's message to his people through the prophets (Hosea 4:1), and God's law, his standard of holiness (Psalm 119:11). In Greek philosophy, the Word was the principle of reason that governed the world, or the thought still in the mind, while in Hebrew thought, the Word was another expression for God. John's description shows clearly that he is speaking of Jesus (see especially 1:14)—a human being he knew and loved, but at the same time the Creator of the universe, the ultimate revelation of God, the living picture of God's holiness, the one who "holds all creation together" (Colossians 1:17). To Jewish readers, to say this man Jesus "was God" was blasphemous. To Greek readers, "the Word became human" (1:14) was unthinkable. To John, this new understanding of the Word was the Good News of Jesus Christ."

AT THE HEART...

"The righteous, loving Father humbled himself to become in and through his only Son's flesh, sin and a curse for us, in order to redeem us without compromising his own character... The biblical gospel of atonement is of God satisfying himself by substituting himself for us. The concept of substitution may be said, then, to lie at the heart of both sin and salvation. For the essence of salvation is God substituting himself for man. Man asserts himself against God and puts himself where only God deserves to be; God sacrifices himself for man and puts himself where only man deserves to be. Man claims prerogatives which belong to God alone; God accepts penalties which belong to man alone."

— John Stott, The Cross of Christ (1986)

THE WHORE AND HER HUSBAND

The word of the Lord came to me, saying,

“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,
before you were born I set you apart;
I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”

“Alas, Sovereign Lord,” I said, “I do not know how to speak; I am too young.”

But the Lord said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am too young.’ You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you. Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you,” declares the Lord.

Then the Lord reached out his hand and touched my mouth and said to me, “I have put my words in your mouth. See, today I appoint you over nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and to plant.”

— Jeremiah 1:4-10 (NIV)

"Has a nation ever changed its gods?
(Yet they are not gods at all.)
But my people have exchanged their glorious God
for worthless idols.
Be appalled at this, you heavens,
and shudder with great horror,”
declares the Lord.
“My people have committed two sins:
They have forsaken me,
the spring of living water,
and have dug their own cisterns,
broken cisterns that cannot hold water."

— Jeremiah 2:11-13 (NIV)

“If a man divorces his wife
and she goes from him
and becomes another man's wife,
will he return to her?
Would not that land be greatly polluted?
You have played the whore with many lovers;
and would you return to me?
declares the Lord.

— Jeremiah 3:1 (ESV)

“‘Return, faithless Israel,’ declares the Lord,
‘I will frown on you no longer,
for I am faithful,’ declares the Lord,
‘I will not be angry forever.
Only acknowledge your guilt—
you have rebelled against the Lord your God,
you have scattered your favors to foreign gods
under every spreading tree,
and have not obeyed me,’”
declares the Lord.

“Return, faithless people,” declares the Lord, “for I am your husband. I will choose you..."

— Jeremiah 3:12-14 (NIV)

Thus says the Lord: “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the Lord.”

— Jeremiah 9:23-24 (ESV)

Thus says the Lord:

“Heaven is my throne,

and the earth is my footstool;

what is the house that you would build for me,

and what is the place of my rest?

All these things my hand has made,

and so all these things came to be,

declares the Lord.

But this is the one to whom I will look:

he who is humble and contrite in spirit

and trembles at my word."

— Isaiah 66:1-2

"Consider who we were,

and what we feel ourselves to be

even now when corruption is powerful in us,

and you will wonder at our adoption."

— Charles Spurgeon on 1 John 3:1-2

WHAT DREAMS MAY COME

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J. COLE FEAT. WALE | WHAT DREAMS MAY COME TOUR

The Mann Center for the Performing Arts

Philadelphia, PA

Self-discipline

If you set out to seek freedom,

you must learn before all things

Mastery over sense and soul...

None learns the secret of freedom

save only by way of control.

— Dietrich Bonhoeffer

COSMOPOLITAN CALLING

"I simply argue that the cross be raised again at the center of the marketplace as well as on the steeple of the church. I am recovering the claim that Jesus was not crucified in a cathedral between two candles, but on a cross between two thieves, on the town garbage heap, at a crossroad so cosmopolitan they had to write his title in Hebrew, Latin, and Greek. It was the kind of place where cynics talk smut, thieves curse, and soldiers gamble. That's where he died. And that's where Christians ought to be and what Christians ought to be about."

— George MacLeod, quote shared at last night's City Rhythms: Fashion & Finance hosted by Redeemer's Center for Faith & Work

FIGHT THE GOOD FIGHT

"'In the end, we stopped the Communists cold,' Reagan later said. It was a brag, but few those days would have argued with his right to it.

And I would add, simply, that it was in this drama that Reagan's character was fully revealed. In a time of malice he was not malicious; in a time of lies he did not falsify; in a time of great pressure he didn't bend or break; in a time of disingenuousness he was clear and candid about where he stood and why. And in a time when people just gave up after a while and changed the subject, he remained on the field through all the long haul."

— Peggy Noonan, When Character Was King: A Story of Ronald Reagan (2001)

TEN THOUSAND HOURS

I stand here in front of you today all because of an idea

I could be who I wanted if I could see my potential

And I know that one day I'mma be him

Put the gloves on, sparring with my ego

Everyone's greatest obstacle, I beat him, celebrate that achievement

Got some attachments, some baggage I'm actually working on leaving

See, I observed Escher

I love Basquiat

I watched Keith Haring

You see I studied art

The greats weren't great because at birth they could paint

The greats were great cause they paint a lot

— Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, The Heist (2012), Ten Thousand Hours

Character is like a tree and reputation like a shadow.

The shadow is what we think of it; the tree is the real thing.

— Abraham Lincoln, 1809–1865

BIGGER DREAMS, SMALLER YOU

Grandma sitting before mom and dad, partaking in a Korean New Year tradition of paying respect to your elders.
After having lived a full life, laboring for years and raising all of your children and then some, at the ripe old age of 60, would you finally retire or move to a foreign country to start over? At my grandmother's funeral this past weekend, the reminder to never forget the selfless courage displayed through my grandparents' lives kept ringing in my ear, as if there was a cymbal inside that's never been touched 'til now. I grew up knowing, like most second generation kids, the definition of what it meant to be an immigrant—to move to a country not of your native tongue and learn the trade of survival with only the aid of big dreams. What I didn't know was that my grandfather was 60 when he decided to forsake all earned comforts and bring his wife and family over, and that coming to America then would be the equivalent of me moving to Africa now (well, not now, but when I'm old and retired) with the intent of starting a life completely over, in a country not of my native tongue, to learn new trades of survival, with only the aid of bigger dreams, and then penniless to start—for the sake of new freedom, new opportunities, and a new life for someone else.

If that's not grace, and if that's not courage, shown by the hands of human effort, sheer will, love of others, and selfless abandon, guided only by the promises of heaven—of unfathomable riches, security, and a deeper rest tucked away in Christ, as my grandparents lived their entire lives to demonstrate—then I don't know what is. I am a product of that grace, a witness of that love, and a beneficiary of that gospel courage. And I will never forget it.

REST IN PEACE

Clothed in Christ's righteousness.
RIP 할머니, you can rest now.

The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.

— Psalm 23

WHEN CHARACTER WAS KING

"We live in a world shaped in so many ways by his will and heart. As president, Ronald Reagan believed without question that tyranny is temporary, and the hope of freedom is universal and permanent; that our nation has unique goodness, and must remain uniquely strong; that God takes the side of justice, because all our rights are His own gifts..."

"And now, having gone on to other wars and seen our country in other struggles, having lived more years, known more life and seen more things, having come to understand what the meaning of those old days was...well, old resentments and rivalries fell away, disappeared, and what was left was: us. And the meaning of what we'd shared.

We'd been in a war, and we had a leader."

"[Ronald Reagan's mother] believed completely in what was known as, in the title of a popular book of the era, The Christian's Secret to a Happy Life. This was the secret: Jesus is with you, is aware of your life and fully engaged in it; God is in everything; He will let little befall you that will not be to the ultimate benefit of your soul. Sometimes He steps aside for trouble coming your way but only if it will refine you or prepare you to be with Him someday in heaven, where you'll know a happiness beyond all human understanding. So there is no cause then for sadness, only for joy. 'Do not be afraid.'"

— Peggy Noonan, When Character Was King: A Story of Ronald Reagan (2001)