I was enjoying an article in SundayLife about two Singaporean poets. One of them is Aaron Lee, a Facebook friend and a Christian elder in a Brethren Church. It was an interesting interview but a line he quoted from his mentor caught my attention. He talked about some verses he had captured on his cellphone, lines inspired by daily life and social commentary that never got birthed as poems. He recalled how his mentor had given him some advice long ago. Aaron said: “She told me: ‘It’s got to have a story, a personality, so people can go on this journey with you.‘” The sentence held me captive and I was reminded of the several books that talked about the importance of the sermon being structured like a story, a narrative, a homiletical plot. It was such a good reminder as I tend towards the tired three pointer didactic sermon. Perhaps I should look for texts and themes that can be put on a story board and bring the congregation from tension to truth, from problem to promise, from conflict to resolution, from suspense to conclusion. I have to think and order things more like a short film director than like a teacher or textbook author.
Lord help me. It’s so easy for me to fall back into that didactic three points sermon structure. It’s a rut I so easily fall into. Set me in front of a story board, and if there is no plot let there be no sermon. Amen.
Its been more than a month since I last blogged. Since then I have gone to Japan on vacation. I have seen a wonderful successful kidney transplant between two wonderful members in the church who are not blood related. I have been moving around in a Toyota Picnic that a kind American missionary friend who left for USA allowed me to use till the COE runs out in 2 January 2015. The church worship hall will undergo renovation so I have been busy with arrangements and communications of the alternate worship service space. And I have been on Whats App in a prayer group for the kidney transplant, and quite often communicating on my personal and church Facebook page. All these took time. And they drained me of ideas and the motivation to update this blog. In other words there were things to blog about but somehow the one liners of Twitter and Facebook seemed an easier and quicker and lazier way to express my thoughts. This blog is losing out but I know that if one of my goals of blogging is to practise writing then I simply have to push aside other competing demands and shun the broad and easy highways of one liners and plentiful pictures and “likes”. So here I am on Christmas Eve. I have decided I need to start writing again and avoid the easier path. Just write the ideas that strike me and reflections of what is happening around me and in the news. Ramble if I have to. Just get started again on a regular basis.
I am so heartened by Christian leaders and pastors who have continued to blog. Many have stopped as traffic moved elsewhere but these guys still keep writing regularly with persistence and quality. They are on my blogroll links on the right hand and I hope to keep company with them.
Well this is a good enough kick-start for today. Hopefully the passion will kick in and I will have something more substantial to say.
At the Chinese Garden MRT at 7.50am on Tuesday morning
With the cost of buying and owning a car in Singapore inching upwards with every month more car owners have had to give up their independence and mobility and become users of public transport. I had to do so and have been taking public transport for the past two months. The jury is still out, but my tentative feel is that our public transport system is good. The MRT and the buses are clean and effective and they do get you from one place to another in comfort and safety if not on schedule. However the peak hours can be suffocatingly crowded. Of course this can be alleviated by timing your trips earlier or later. It has been 30 years since I have to depend on public transport so much. By the grace of God my transition has been mainly positive. There are several things that have happened to me and I have made several observations during this transition:
My daughter had to teach me the tactics of positioning to increase your chances of getting a seat on the MRT.
I have walked more and perspired more than when I had a car.
The huge fans at the MRT stations are my favourite things about the MRT stations.
I now prefer short-sleeved cotton shirts for comfort.
I carry a small black umbrella in my bag for sunshine as well as rain. I find it cuts off 60%
Daughter mentoring father on tactics
of the heat and I perspire less.
I deliberately walk slowly.
Planning to leave much earlier for trips is something I am getting used to.
Review of sermons before preaching on Sunday is now done in the MRT on the way to the service.
Getting a taxi on Sunday can be difficult unless you book them.
Taking a taxi when it’s necessary is something I need to get used to as I am not used to spending that kind of money.
I have recently decided to stop carrying my laptop to office unless it is absolutely necessary. Its too heavy. The Samsung tablet is my companion and I am going to try working from an external hard disk on an extra laptop in the office.
My backpack can be full and heavy at times, especially when I borrow or return books from Trinity library.
I feel loved and humbled with the numerous offers to give me a lift, some even going the second and third mile to do that.
The transition made me consider alternative modes of transport like the Brompton, a foldable portable bike allowed by MRT and buses.The LTA has ruled out electric stand scooters.
I cannot go nearest where I want, and when I want, and at the speed I want, like when I had a car to use. Public transport tells me, You can only go thus far and by this time.
Each time I hear the “TEENH” in the MRT turnstile it is my Money Rapidly Taken (MRT).
On the whole I am amazed at my rapid adjustment during my transition to public transport. God gives the grace. He has given me a grateful heart. Thank God also for the smart phone. And also for times to be quiet before Him as you stand in the train. This is a transition many in Singapore will have to make. Most retirees will have to give up their cars and adjust too. God gives us the grace.
