blogpastor – Page 68

Author: blogpastor

Before The Coffee Gets Cold: a Spiritual Reflection

24 January 2021 blogpastor Leave a comment

It was an award-winning Japanese play byToshikazu Kawaguchi. The author then converted it into a novel. The novel is clad with its birthmarks. This troubled some who read it but the cut and paste did not trouble me much. I find this a moving, poignant novel about the stage of bargaining we go through when we experience a great loss.

GOODREAD’S SUMMARY

Goodreads summarizes the story this way: “In a small back alley in Tokyo, there is a café which has been serving carefully brewed coffee for more than one hundred years. But this coffee shop offers its customers a unique experience: the chance to travel back in time.

In Before the Coffee Gets Cold, we meet four visitors, each of whom is hoping to make use of the café’s time-travelling offer, in order to: a businesswoman to confront the man who left her; a nurse to receive a letter from her husband whose memory has been taken by early onset Alzheimer’s; a sister who runs a mini-hostess bar to see her sister one last time; and the café owner’s wife to meet the daughter she never got the chance to know.

But the journey into the past does not come without risks: customers must sit in a particular seat, they cannot leave the café, and finally, they must return to the present before the coffee gets cold.

CANNOT CHANGE THE PAST SO WHY BOTHER WITH IT

So why would they want to go to a different time when there is no chance of changing the past? Why would they want to meet the person they wanted to meet? What would they say to them or want to hear from them? These questions stem from the “bargaining stage” of the grieving process, the “if onlys” and the “what ifs” and “I should haves”. The author crafted beautiful, poignant stories for each of these ladies who wanted to time-travel. It seemed to be made with an eye to a film, and indeed there is a Japanese film of the same title, based on the novel.

Each of the women’s past was not changed as a result of their time-travel but they themselves experienced a change within, arising from new information they had gotten from their brief visit to the a different time. It corrected their assumptions…indeed misled judgments, they each felt loved or hopeful, and the changes in perspectives transformed their attitudes towards their loved ones, their losses and their suffering.

I like this book. It made me feel, it moved me. It got me ruminating about it. It made me curious. It engaged me. I want to watch a film version if available.

SPIRITUAL TRUTH

It got me to thinking that it is important for us to go backwards in order to move forwards. There are painful, regretful, hurtful experiences and relationships we have in the past that needs re-visiting and reflection and prayer. When we bring all those past experiences and trauma or pain to God in prayer and dialogue with him, he will give us perspectives, graces and healing within that will transform us even though it does not change the past events nor the present situation. It just changes us. Such reflective prayer on past hurts and events that affected us is vital to living in the present with wholeness, and to propel us forward as disciples of Christ.

I certainly got more that I had expected from reading this book. I wanted to be entertained but found something deeper within its pages. Thanks to Grace Phua for introducing me to this book.

Shocking Prayer For After Excretion

21 January 2021 blogpastor Leave a comment

Asher Yatzar. Observant Jews pray this blessing after urination or excretion. They recite the prayer after washing and drying their hands. It is called the Asher Yatzar. This is the prayer:

Blessed are You, Adonai our God, King of the Universe, Who formed man with wisdom and created within him many openings and many hollows. It is obvious and known before Your Throne of Glory that if even one of them ruptures, or it even one of them becomes blocked, it would be impossible to survive and to stand before You (even for a short period). Blessed are You, Adonai, Who heals all flesh and acts wondrously.
The Encyclopedia of Jewish Prayer

When I saw this prayer, I was surprised and embarrassed. I found it interesting that this prayer is prayed diligently by observant Jews after each urination or excretion. It shows the earthiness of Judaism. The Jews pray this in gratitude for health – that they are able to urinate and excrete. There is no tinge of shame or unseemliness in such a prayer, for to the Jews their faith is practical and embodied in physical existence too. They are right for indeed without these abilities we would be in deep trouble health-wise.

The Christian faith is earthy and practical and embodied. We share the same Old Testament scriptures with the Jews. The name of the prayer, “Asher Yatzar” literally means “God has formed man”. God the creator formed our human bodies with all its “openings and hollows”. Therefore we should remember and honour God’s creation, our bodies, and give thanks to the Creator when everything is working as it should. He deserves honour because He who created the majestic Milky Way and our planetary system, did not think it below him to worry about our ugly, smelly and tiny openings. He cares about every detail and design of our bodies – God be praised.

I read this interesting insight in a book Elaine, my daughter bought, and I borrowed out of curiosity about the title, “Liturgy of the Ordinary” by Tish Harrison Warren, that gives rich insight into how our boring activities of every day life sanctifies us. This prayer was mentioned in Chapter 3 which uses daily tooth brushing as its anchor metaphor.

Each time we excrete is an opportunity to thank God for health and to honour your body, his creation.

Distractions That Spoil A Silent Retreat

18 January 2021 blogpastor Leave a comment

WI-FI USAGE & WORK

Whether it is a laptop, cell phone or tablet, any kind of device that gives you a wireless connection will be a major distraction. Our frequent usage of mobile devices and its resultant positive emotional rewards have conditioned us to a habitual pattern of usage whenever we hold our cell phones in our hands. Our muscle memory takes over and we unconsciously repeat our usual routines of phone usage. In normal life, this is at worse, a time stealer. In a silent retreat, this becomes a distracting idol that disrupts the time you have set apart for the Lord and Love of your life.

*The cell phone can be a major distraction*

There was one recent retreat where I thought I was able to limit my usage to using the Bible App in my cell phone, and take pictures for blogging and sharing with loved ones. I was fooling myself. I got absorbed in it, and the digital idol took over and became a major distraction from listening to the Lord.

I felt that the precious time I had set apart to be with the Lord would have been better if I had not bought that Thai local SIM card at Changi Recommends. If I needed to communicate with my family or church office, I could do it when I arrived on the first day. Most cafes there have free wi-fi and I could have communicated my whereabouts from there. I regretted falling into temptation and learned an expensive lesson.

An even greater distraction is urgent work. Do ensure your work will not chase after you where you are. Finish whatever you have to before the retreat proper begins.

BOOKS

Silent retreats can be forbidding and we wonder how 16 to 18 waking hours will pass. We may think one way to pass the time is to bring along books for work, for spiritual nourishment and for leisure. Most books are not helpful and may not flow in tandem with what the Spirit is wanting to accomplish in you. Why not let the spiritual director guide you in your meditations and readings if any? Let him or her sense what God is doing in your soul and direct you to scripture passages or spiritual exercises that will facilitate, and not hinder, God’s ongoing deep work.

*Take your pictures but remember your purpose for being there*

PUTTING ON THE TOURIST CAP

It is natural that when you are in an unfamiliar place or overseas for a silent retreat you would want to get to know your environment and surroundings. Some exploration is inevitable and with it the joy of discovery of new sights, things, and experiences. However, if you put on the tourist cap, looking for things to buy and see and experience, it will be a distraction from your main purpose of seeking God.

DISCOMFORT LEVEL

We Singaporeans are used to a high level of comfort. Our standard of living Is first world. However, retreat houses are not five stars hotels, not even three stars hotels. They are modest spaces designed for worship, prayer, quiet and rest.

The mattresses are not Simmons or Sealy, but definitely better than a sleeping bag. Some have en suite bathrooms but many, especially in Asia, have common bathrooms. They are not restaurants. You wouldn’t queue up for the food, but it is balanced and we Singaporeans could all do with eating less anyway.

There are very comfortable retreat houses but they are more expensive and often found in Western countries like Australia, Spain, USA and England.

Accepting that the comfort level is not ideal in retreat houses, and being mentally prepared will go a long way in helping you focus on seeking God. If you are fixated on fixing your comfort level, you will be totally distracted. Do what you can as you anticipate some problems with comfort, like, bring your own pillow if it is really necessary!! But accept what cannot be changed, and pray for the grace of enduring hardship like a good soldier of Christ.

What are some major distractions you have experienced in your silent retreats? Share it with all the readers by writing below in the comment box.