There are many stories to tell for a later time, but one thing consistently struck me funny this weekend. Boston and Tulsa are truly two different worlds! I was in Tulsa last year for Sofia's oldest brother's wedding, and though I noted a lot of differences between the two cities, I also didn't see how truly activity packed Boston is compared to Tulsa. That's probably due to the fact that a wedding by nature is time-packed and a flurry of activity from the get-go. This time around, I noted a few things:

• Boston has a lot more buildings and even less space.
• Bostonians walk A LOT. Our normal strides are close to speed walking compared to other places.
• Boston restaurants are actually restaurants, while Tulsa has many more buffet-styled ones.
• During a college commencement, the following can be happening at the same time: Walk for the cure for cancer; a Red Sox game; weddings; downpours;

Either case, the commencements for the Siswanto sisters have come and gone. A new season of life is in store for both of them as one stays in Boston and prepares for residency and marriage, and the other heads back to Oklahoma to start medical school. Who knows, maybe in 4 years this whole process will repeat itself again and Tulsa/Oklahoma city will be just as activity packed as Boston this past weekend. Cheers!

Tonight, after I dropped my best friend back home, I came back to my apartment building to find a hispanic woman loudly sobbing.  She was surrounded by a group of other tenants, and according to them, they had broken up a domestic violence event.  Unfortunately, the woman only spoke Spanish and no one else, including myself, could communicate with her.  People tried to speak to her in English, but she couldn't understand anything either.  I asked if one of them were going to call the police.

The group looked unsure and finally one of them told me that they're not sure if it was domestic abuse.  They (except the guy who saw the event) didn't see the husband choking his wife or hitting her on the head.  They only rushed down because their friend said he saw the husband choking her on the street.  All he knew now was that there was a hispanic woman who was crying and he didn't feel comfortable of bringing the police into this.  Then he told me that if I wanted to call, that's my right, but it's not something he would do.

I honestly stood there amazed.  I was amazed of what I had just heard.  I stood there for almost a minute, and finally decided to go back to my apartment and call the police.  Why?  I called because the law of love demanded that I called.  Even if it wasn't domestic abuse, something was wrong.  A woman is crying.  No one around can understand her.  One does not just walk away from that.  If one does, a part of one's humanity is lost in that moment.

The law of love demands that we do not intentionally ignore the hurt of those around us, esp. when we know that we have some ability to alleviate the pain.  When we know that we can become part of the solution, or a non-factor in the problem.  When we're presented with the choice of going pass our comfort zones, the places we consider "dirty", or to view from our apartment windows and note the violence in progress.

In the end, the police arrested the husband and took the wife to the hospital.  I do not know what will happen when sunrise comes, but lets hope it's a new beginning for healing in that family.  Let's pray that when we're presented with choices like these, that we would choose the one that strengthens our humanity and which pushes us more towards dependence on His power, not ours.

Ever feel like you're drowning in a sea of web 2.0 communities and innovations? Want to find a way to navigate the increasing number of social networking sites? Just want to poke fun at our obsession with super connectivity?  Well, the folks at xkcd.com came up with a nifty map representation of the online world today.  Enjoy!

PS:  Though not as big as the big daddy, we can at least fret not about our existence!

Comic found at http://xkcd.com/c256.html

I know this is a small gesture, but it is an act of solidarity and care from those who have been involved with the Passion movement and 268 generation.  On Monday, April 30th, 2007, people from the social networking site, Facebook, will be converting their profile pictures to a common picture of support for VT after the tragedy the campus endured when 32 students and professors were murdered.

If you have a Facebook profile and wish to join along in support for this event, please click here, or go to Facebook.com and search for the "Facebook United For Hope" group site.  The profile picture I've provided.

In addition, Passion Conferences and Six Steps Records have released an EP of 5 free songs for download in the effort to share to anyone who is hurting or searching, and continuing to pray for the VT campus.  Please feel free to share these songs to anyone you may know who may be encouraged and supported by songs that focus on the solid rock that Christ-followers have to stand.

Yesterday I decided to take the day off because of the marathon and spend the day with my best friend.  Our original plan was to eat some lunch and then head over to the MFA, which would have been the first time for her.  While we were eating and watching people work their way through Heartbreak hill on TV in the pizza place, I noticed a little news ticker that was scrolling across.  It read "VT shooting early in the morning..."

Unfortunately, most of us know about the university shooting that occurred at Virginia Tech University yesterday morning at 7:15AM.  It's been revealed today that the shooter was a Korean undergrad senior who in the span of two hours murdered 32 people and then killed himself.  People are speculating his reasons for committing this crime, advocating for better on-campus security, tighter gun laws, etc. Yet, this morning, as I got in my car and turned to the radio, a surprising thing came over the radio.

I could sing of your love forever...
...Over the mountains and seas...

No, it wasn't on a Christian radio station, nor was it a CD, it was on the news station that I usually listen to when I head to work. The news reporter explained that the music was from a church service held last night as students came together to pray and console each other after this tragedy.

To be honest, I felt a mixture of encouragement and uneasiness as I listened to the song being prominently played. Encouraged that indeed, God still cares, that he still is in control, even when we don't understand it. Encouraged to hear that despite tragedy, those students in that church service could still sing and praise Him, a reminder that the some of the purest acts of worship in spirit and truth come during times of trial and pain.

Uneasy because I can imagine the thousands of other Bostonians that also heard that song and were probably left puzzled at best, annoyed/angry at worst. Moments like these are what confuses non-followers of Christ as they watch His followers acting and behaving in ways that are not typical within society. It is not typical to sing about God's love when you know friends and family have just been murdered. It isn't normal and the usual explanations deal with a lack of coping with reality, denial, acting, suppressing, etc...

This world is a living paradox in motion. We watched people in victory and people in pain simultaneously, but over different events. I heard a group of people who declared victory through the tears and pain, and I hope they experienced the joy that comes from realizing his mercy, even as they dwell in this valley at VT for the coming time.

He grew up before him like a tender shoot,
and like a root out of dry ground.
He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him,
nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.
...
But he was pierced for our transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was upon him,
and by his wounds we are healed.

~Isaiah 52:2,5~

With the Cross, God stripped away all of our excuses and lies.

By the Cross, we are forced to see the horror of sin and fickled lives.

Through the Cross, we see the failure of man's attempts to stay alive.

In the Cross, we grasped that our lives depended on the one that we despised.

Through the Cross, his death became our life.

By the Cross, justice was completedly satisfied.

With the Cross, we see the ultimate beautiful Divine.

One thing I've learned as a follower of Jesus over these years is how easy certain words and phrases can become nothing more than just jargon, or a subculture language(Christianese). Words that had immense meaning, intense passion, and incredible depth, can become a cliche, an automated phrase that comes off our lips during prayers or conversations. The irony is that we're simply imitating what we perceived as part of being "spiritually matured", but simultaneously stifling our ability to progress in our relationship with Him.

For me, I've been pondering on what does it mean when I say, "Beautiful Lord" or "The Lord is beautiful."

What does it mean for me to tell God that He is beautiful?

A dictionary definition of beauty gave me a better grip on this question...

This I can understand to a point:

• My best friend is beautiful. She is beautiful on the outside as well as the inside.
• A sunrise, a sunset, a rainbow are all beautiful to me.
• A photograph, a song, a drawing, a poem are all things that I can consider beautiful.

The common thing about them all is that they all are tangible to a degree. Their beauty is expressible. It is graspable to my mind. It may take some time to find the words, but these things are humanly tangible. They can be seen, tasted, touched, heard, or smelled. They all have some sort of definition to them.

Yet, how does one do that with a being who is ulteriorly INTANGIBLE? How does one even describe a being who is unseen, who is spirit, who has no graspable traits to our minds? The best that we could do is grasp the shadow of the shadow of His Glory! Even the words of the Bible, though inspired, are limited when they attempt to describe One who is infinite. How could anyone, in our messed up state, ever grasp the beauty of God?

I know, however, it's possible because Jesus thought it is possible! His sacrifice made it possible for us to grasp the beauty of God...to take hold of the intangible...to see the majesty of Him, whom we call the "Beautiful One."

I don't fully comprehend it. Such words have a mystical property about themselves. What a day it will be when faith does become sight. When every follower is finally capable of gazing upon the One whom angels dare not look at, and be able to say for the rest of eternity that HE IS BEAUTIFUL!

He ran
thus till he came at a place somewhat ascending; and upon that place
stood a cross, and a little below, in the bottom, a sepulchre. So I saw
in my dream, that just as Christian came up with the cross, his burden
loosed from off his shoulders, and fell from off his back, and began to
tumble, and so continued to do till it came to the mouth of the
sepulchre, where it fell in, and I saw it no more.

...Now as
he stood looking and weeping, behold, three Shining Ones came to him,
and saluted him with, "Peace be to thee."

the third also
set a mark on his forehead, and gave him a roll with a seal
upon it...