hazael went to see elisha to inquire whether the king of aram would recover from his illness.
elisha answered, "go and say to him, 'you will surely recovery; but the lord has revealed to me that he will in fact die.'" he stared at him with a fixed gaze until hazael felt ashamed. then the man of god began to weep. "why is my lord weeping?" asked hazael. "because i know the harm you will do to the israelites," he answered.
our church is dealing with the recent revelation of financial mismanagement. i can't stop thinking about what this says about our discipleship. what do you do with the knowledge of such brokenness?
i hate ants. i've never run across so many different types of ants before moving to asia: red fire ants, big black ants, little ants that smell like permanent marker when you squish them, etc. but there is something undeniably beautiful about ants and their communication and collective effort.
you may wonder if i'm posting all these photos because i'm showing off. you're absolutely right. i'm trying to make you jealous so that you'll be tricked-- i mean want to vacation with me next time. you're feeling veeeeeerrrrry sleepy...
this is completely just to show that my life isn't all vacation. 8 days in manila teaching on team building, spiritual disciplines, character development and luke for SP's GUTS (global urban training school). our training base in quezon city.ema and zach, staff in manila (zach by default because he's pretty useless at this point. kids! pffftt!)claire and her mom cora. claire is serenading me with a song she wrote when her family was going through uncertain times, like when their house was almost washed away by flashfloods. ate cora is the sweetest, most faithful woman. i stayed a friend of a friend's house in salvacion on the island of palawan. her family's second house is on a brackish inlet of the south china sea flanked by mangrove trees.could you imagine a more beautiful sunset?the subterranean river! you take a little boat into a deep cave for about 1.5km and marvel at the rock formations that look like corn and the holy family and a "sexy lady" called sharon stone. just don't open your mouth - you may get pooped on by one of the thousands of bats. one did its dirty business on my hand. i'll never wash this hand again...giant limestone formations jutting above verdant rice paddy fields. this pic doesn't do the green justice. so, did i succeed? are you coming with me next time?
i took my aisle seat between one large filipino man across the aisle and an older filipino man in the seat beside me discussing seat preferences. i asked if they wanted to switch seats to which the older man replied, "oh no, i like sitting next to you better, anyway." i thought, "what a cute, old man." we started chatting and he was unsure of how to stow his carry-on since there were important documents and he argued a bit with the flight attendant and confessed to me, "i don't fly that much." so, i revised my thought, "what a poor, old man." he randomly went off on what a nice person i was and how hard it is to find friendly people. i was a little puzzled because we hadn't really talked that much, but i figured, "what a sweet, old man." not actually feeling that friendly, i started getting out the in-flight magazine so he would maybe not talk to me. he noticed my passport in my travel book and asked if he could look at it and though i was a little wary, i thought, "sure, what could hurt? he seems sweet enough." he told me he was from chicago and asked what i did and i told him that i work with slum communities and he said, "oh, we do the same thing" and did i know he's a close personal friend of barack obama? i wasn't really sure what the "same thing" was. by the way, he noted, we're at 15,000 ft. "oh," i thought, "what a knowledgeable, old man." he asked me, since we do the same work, if i could perhaps be a consultant in their work to which i felt flattered, but again confused. i hadn't even told him what i do. he spouted off more on how i am great and did i know that? could i say that? i said, "uh, sure, i guess." "ok, can you say it?" "oh, you mean right now. uhh...ok. i am great." "you should know that." i can't really think of why he would think i'm great. he doesn't know anything about me. so, scratch that last thought. "what an unusual, senile old man." and he goes on telling me what "great" means: g is for genes, r is for respect, e education...and i wonder if he's one of those firm believers in motivational speeches and calendars. "...what's your father's name?" he asks. i feel uncomfortable giving him more personal info and make up a name. i have a sudden fear flash that perhaps he's a con and oh my gosh he just looked at my passport. he goes on telling me about the fat man across the aisle and that the fat man is his rich boss from japan who gives a truckload of money to the poor. funny, i think considering the fat man looks like the most filipino-looking person around us. he owns tuna factories in osaka and has a bank and so many businesses - oh, but he's humble! i am now certain this man is senile or funny in the head. he gets out a piece of paper and starts writing:
i am GREAT!
my name is: dr. alfred paul
my address is: osaka, japan
my bank is: mitsubishi
what does anything on that paper mean? does he expect me to write my name, address, and bank, too? things don't add up - he's from chicago but hasn't flown much? he's worked in community development but calls my occupation a title with a completely opposite meaning. oh no, scratch all previous thoughts. i think, "what an old, con man." now the fat man takes over and talks to me. he's mitsubishi but i can call him mits. he tells me that he's really rich and he gives money to the poor. did i know he's on his way to support a home for the aged? i can't really believe anything he's telling me and besides, my mind is racing usual-suspects-style thinking back on the whole flight going through the pieces of personal information they have gathered. mits asks for my contact info and i scribble a defunct email and spell my name incorrectly. i thank god we've landed and i vow to google this pair on the off-chance i'm wrong and b-line it as far as possible away from them. because, though this last read is perhaps the best, it's not the one i like.
i've been in manila, philippines for the last week teaching for SP's global urban training school (our version of orientation) and i just love filipinos' names.
best restaurants: kiss - king of balls jumbo japs flavors of negros (relax, negros is a place in the philippines. though i kind of wish it were soul food.) kids' names: windy (for those gassy babies) baby ruth (nobody puts baby in the corner!) jennifer (for a boy; and yes, he does get made fun of.) aileen (also for a boy) princess anakin (women's suffrage for the dark side!)
wanna see some random pictures from the past month?
no? get OUT! yes? read on, friend.
grand palace in bangkok. taken by dad. grand looking, eh? there really is nothing like it. friends and kids playing games after house church. the swampy lake at the north end of our community. it looks like a field, but it's not. it's all marshy plants over water. i think it's beautiful. jin being harassed by her niece, kem. cuteness is such a open door to naughtiness.megan, tina, puppet, and me at joe louis puppet theater (not the boxer). how can you tell that puppet's a monkey and not a demon? it's barefoot. (that's for real).
