Words To Nourish The Mind

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This is the final to the four-part series that has been inspired by my Bible read through (reading the bible from beginning to end).  As I read the book of Ecclesiastes, I was reminded of the book review I did earlier on Dealing with Disappointment. They both ask the big question: “Is life just one big disappointment?” Even if you are not a believer, I think this discussion will be equally thought-provoking and hold deep resonance with most, if not everyone. I wanted to close the series with a personal thought from my own journey to find meaning and purpose, as life can seem pretty pointless and mundane at times. The cycle of life and death in broad terms typically includes schooling, job, family, house, car, holidays, retirement and ultimately death. It makes life appear like a shopping list rather than a gift; it may be treated as the way we see it. Prior to finding Christ, I have found living to be somewhat of a burden that we call life, characterised by brok...

This is a four-part series that has been inspired by my Bible read through (reading the bible from beginning to end).  As I read the book of Ecclesiastes, I was reminded of the book review I did earlier on Dealing with Disappointment. They both ask the big question: “Is life just one big disappointment?” Even if you are not a believer, I think this discussion will be equally thought-provoking and hold deep resonance with most, if not everyone. The whole notion of this life quite literally reinforces the sentiments of everything we do is meaningless. This could be especially obvious in the workplace, quite often we carry out tasks that just seem like a pointless exercise, bearing little or no impact to the overall outcomes of the organisation. This reminded me what a police officer said in a documentary: ‘we could spend hours and hours gathering evidence and all for the courts to give them a small fine, maybe some community service and then to do the same next ...

This is a four-part series that has been inspired by my Bible read through (reading the bible from beginning to end).  As I read the book of Ecclesiastes, I was reminded of the book review I did earlier on Dealing with Disappointment. They both ask the big question: “Is life just one big disappointment?” Even if you are not a believer, I think this discussion will be equally thought-provoking and hold deep resonance with most, if not everyone. What is wrong cannot be made right. What is missing cannot be recovered. Ecclesiastes1:15. If we look at the suffering and the injustices in the world and the pain that humans can cause with one another, it doesn’t seem to ever truly go away; we can only do our best to move forward in the best way we can.  The voids in our life can be large. From the lack of parental love and guidance to the loss of a loved one, the emptiness cannot be recovered in the way that we desire it to be. But what is the answer? In Ecclesi...

This is a four-part series that has been inspired by my Bible read through (reading the bible from beginning to end).  As I read the book of Ecclesiastes, I was reminded of the book review I did earlier on Dealing with Disappointment. They both ask the big question: “Is life just one big disappointment?” Even if you are not a believer, I think this discussion will be equally thought-provoking and hold deep resonance with most, if not everyone. Everything is meaningless, says the Teacher, ‘completely meaningless!’ What do people get for all their hard work under the sun? Ecclesiastes 1:2-3. You can feel like going through the motions of living but not really be living at all. We are given the precious thing called life but yet life can feel lifeless, if we buy into the hype of cultural and social norms. For example, we live in an increasingly consumer-driven world where we are largely led to believe that stuff equals happiness; but does it and at what cost? Sure,...

This week is the concluding part of the three-part series on cutting through the clutter to gain clarity. In the last two posts; I talked about physical clutter and how that is just a physical manifestation of chaos in the mind – Patrice Washington. Embracing minimalism in our lives can be difficult to do in a world that constantly feeds us with information and messages of so-called wants that are somehow packaged as needs. Our best life is often lived when we are out and about not stuck in the same stuff that prohibits us from truly living.  Being mindful and conscious of the choices we make from how we spend our time to how we spend our money pays dividends in the long run, as we are no longer influenced by dogma. For this to happen one must take the time to explore a different world, with a different lens or perhaps even a different message. When we pursue information, it not only informs the mind but nourishes the soul to seek the question that we all as...

‘People who live far below their means enjoy a freedom that people busy upgrading their lifestyles can’t fathom.’– Naval Ravikant. Most of us spend a good proportion of our lives consistently chasing the next best thing, filling life and space with mostly meaningless stuff that quickly goes out of fashion. It also gives life to the belief that stuff = happiness. For me this couldn’t be further from the truth; but I did once buy into this lie, along with most of the population. Until we receive a true awakening that there has to be more to life than chasing stuff and possessions – life may feel meaningless. We strive for better and newer, we will become ever more enslaved to always wanting more because one is never satisfied through the means of possessions. I suspect the rise of social media and seeing others’ lives through a filter can only exacerbate this perceived need or want. Living beyond your means seems to be the norm but should it be? I am making a conscious...

‘Clutter is the physical manifestation of chaos in the mind’ – Patrice Washington It is a tradition in the Chinese culture that we clear out the clutter in our houses and give them a deep clean before the New Year. I don’t consider myself as a hoarder but I still managed to accumulate a load of stuff that to some degree prevented me from enjoying my space because the house felt disorganised and busy.  It was hard to part with stuff especially if things hold a sentimental value so a happy compromise is streamlining my memories to fit into one or two boxes that are more manageable than a house full of stuff. In clearing out my stuff I found some books that I had double copies of so I started a book group with my friend and hopefully this will encourage me to read my hoard rather leaving it to gather dust. I also donated stuff to charity and made use of some forgotten / pre-loved things that incidentally I needed but couldn’t find or had forgotten about.  It ...

As the year draws to a close, I started to reflect on what was in the year just about to pass and what could be for the year ahead. Typically everyone gets very upbeat during the holiday break, only to go back to same old, same old in January. I am not immune to this either so I was deep in thought. It is estimated that 80% of New Year’s resolutions fail by the end of the first month. Incidentally, I listened to a message by North Point Community Church by Andy Stanley. I share the below excerpt which struck a chord with me and follows on from my previous book review on disappointment:  ‘Dissatisfaction with what we have and what we can afford can lead to discontentment. We live in a culture that tells us newer and shinier is better. So, what do you do when you’re no longer content with what you wear, drive, or live in?’  I suspect the above is true for most, if not all of us. We are constantly surrounded by commercials and culture so that it’s almost ingrained ...

This is the concluding part of a book review on the book, “Dealing with Disappointment” by John Hindley.  Life is, in fact, a disappointment, and has been starting from when sin entered the world. It re-created what God created which was a perfect world that is fully connected to God through worship and obedience. The unity was broken by sin and now we gravitate more towards earthly things rather than God himself. The things of this world only give us temporary comforts; hence most people are never fully satisfied. This couldn't be further from the gift that Christ wants to give us, which is an eternal life that fills us up with love, comfort and purpose enduring all seasons of life. The answer to life’s disappointment is God as He is love, love that endures all when nothing else will. Being loving and being loved won’t stop the disappointments but it means we don’t have to escape, as discussed in the previous post. Perhaps, it might stop us from buying stuff tha...

I have been reviewing the book; Dealing with Disappointment by John Hindley.  I continue it today with part 2. A common thread that has been running throughout the book is that life on this earth does seem to be one huge disappointment. We are constantly chasing the next big thing, whether it is a promotion or a better house. Somehow what we have now is not good enough and striving for things in life is portrayed as the answer to our disappointments. And to some degree, this may be true. It's always nice to have nice things as it gives us a feel-good factor, but for how long? The real question is how true is this? From my own experience and the book, it probably not very true because more often than not, once we get the upgrade in life, we may get an instant high but that buzz seems to be superficial and empty at the same time. We just have to look back in the last couple of years to realise that there is at least an element of truth into this from the disappo...

This book was a relatively easy read with the simple idea that leaves you to question: is life just one big disappointment?  In many ways it does seem so; the author delves into different areas of disappointment in our lives. I suspect most if not all are relatable to everyone. Firstly, the author says we actually should be disappointed by life, as things are not as good as they should be. We live in a frustrated and frustrating world; the frustration is because of the fallen world when sin entered humanity. We all carry this divinely inbuilt sense that the world should and could be better. The book goes on to say that on the other hand, we are sometimes too disappointed with life.  We expect satisfaction from other areas of lives to overcompensate for this.  When this satisfaction is denied, it starts an over-disappointed cycle. For example, I came across a thread where the mum wrote in and expressed disappointment in her children’s grades, which led her to ques...

I loved learning about the story of Reformation Day. The significance centres on how the Bible became accessible for everyone to read - historically the general public wasn’t allowed to read it, only priests or those considered anointed within the church were allowed to read it. The priests read the Bible in Latin, so for most people, it wasn’t even possible to read it. God’s word was entrusted into the hands of those in power, who were deemed qualified to understand it.  What the priests were teaching, was not actually in line with what the Bible said, as one monk, called Martin Luther found out. He started to read the Bible for himself out of pure frustration.  According to the teachings of the priests, believing in God seem to be just to be an endless set of rules and it left him feeling as if he could never be good enough for God. Little did he know at the time, he was about to birth a revolution that quite literally changed the world. This set him on a path of ...