advent - the hope of so much more

the first law of blogging: there are always things to blog about. but there are MORE interesting things to blog about the closer datelines and exams are.

which would explain this. yeah! 3 posts in 2 days. haha

so my church is starting on a new series, kinda... for this month - the advent. not sth tt my church does usually, nor does WRPF, so it is kind of an eye opener. sometimes traditions are more than just rituals - they can too be tools that remind us to reflect and go back to the Center that holds us all.

like this liturgical tradition of celebrating (or would that be remembering?) advent. and as in following with tradition, the first sunday is about hope (followed by preparation, joy and love). and honestly, it was a good reminder - christmas carols aside, gifts and holiday spirit aside, this time of the year is a reminder of so much more. it's a double focus - on the birth of Christ (His first coming) and on the Second coming, of which our hope is in.

It's a reminder that indeed, just like the Israelites had such low hopes in who their Messiah was to be (one who was merely a political leader, rather than One who came to save, who would establish an eternal kingdom and bring us back to God), I too forget and have such low hopes. For the past two years, Christmas has been about touching down in Changi, and then proceeding to sleep the day away in hopes of recovering from jet lag. Christmas has been... a time for me to get back to family and friends, and ...not enough.

What of the hope that I have in Christ, of a perfect and eternal kingdom where I will have my perfect relationship with Christ, with others and even with all of His creations? As a kid, I always yearned for the day that I would be able to snuggle my face into the fur of a majestic tiger. Over the years, that desire and yearning faded away - in the busyness of the world and the cares of academic life, these innocent and pure dreams fade away. But today, I was reminded of that... that desire to be able to play with the creations of God. The desire to be in His arms, for real. The hope that I have in the future and the coming age...

'everything is meaningless'... i've been reading ecclesiastes recently, and i do agree so much with the meaningless of it all. But truly, I have such a great hope, such a great promise, such a wonderful and grand future that in the light of all that is eternal and pure and holy, life is not meaningless. Not when you have this hope, and not when you're living for Him.

It's so hard to put into words what God really spoke to me today during and after the sermon, but it was definitely a great reminder... God, be my center, be my vision. Be everything.

Jesus, be the centre
be my source, be my light
Jesus

Jesus, be the centre
Be my hope, be my song
Jesus

Be the fire in my heart
Be the wind in these sails
Be the reason that I live
Jesus, Jesus

Jesus, be my vision
be my path, be my guide
Jesus