Have a Covid-19 Christmas!

15 December 2020 Leave a comment

The thought that Christmas in most churches would be a muted, quiet affair does not faze me. Straits Times’ journalist Lee Siew Hua wrote an article (click here) that sketched what a pandemic Christmas would look like for churches in Singapore. And nothing is likely to change in terms of the church’s programs for the Prime Minister’s announcement yesterday was that Singapore will move into Phase 3 of its Covid-19 management only in 28th December. 

In my opinion, it is time we had a Christmas more in keeping with the quiet, inconspicuous Christmas of Bethlehem. More in keeping with the spirit of silence, worship, and wonder of the original occasion of Christ’s birth.

The stage was a manger, not a fancy church stage. The youthful couple were in a panic, not in a party. Their guests were gate-crashing strangers filled with amazement and adoration- some educated, respected, and well-off; and others uneducated, despised and poor. And all they did was worship.

There, before a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths, they stood in silence, worship and wonder. All their cares, worries and duties forgotten during that comma when time stood still, and they wished it lasted forever. They simply stood in stillness, silence and surrender. 

The Savior has come, let us cease from the hassle and frazzle of past Christmas, and immerse ourselves in the simple peace of pause and pray. The Savior is with us. This Christmas can be very special if we choose not to be afraid of stillness, silence and solitude. 

Why not try this: on Christmas eve, hide yourself somewhere, whether in a room, a park, or on a bench in the open air, and be all alone. Relish the fact you are all alone – this is a rare Christmas treat. 

Read a passage or two about the birth of our Savior. Read it slowly more than once. Savor the word, phrase or image that draws you into meditation. Allow the memory, emotion or song that rises to consciousness to breathe. Be conscious of the presence of the Savior – and talk with the Lord. Take your time: ramble on and on if you must. Or be silent before Him and let your heart do the talking when it is ready. 

Breathe in and soak in the love of our Savior, like in a spiritual spa. The finished work of Christ is made available to us because Jesus came as a helpless, powerless babe in the trust of youthful parents who were all alone and far away from the community support they needed. God became a human, a helpless babe to save us ungrateful, rebellious and sinful humans. What astounding divine love!

I am not afraid of a quiet, muted Christmas. In fact, I look forward to it. Hopefully, we do not try to substitute this muted Christmas with more amusement, and more gluttony, and more noise, and more activity. Hopefully, we will re-connect with the original spirit of Christ’s birth. Hopefully, we will never ever be satisfied again with the “normal” kind of razzle- dazzle Christmas we have gotten used to and are tired of. 

What about you? What kind of Christmas are you looking for?

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Awakened and blessed

18 September 2020 Leave a comment

I was not aware that I was tired and stressed these past eight months. Working from home, cancellation of ministry, and the imminent retirement gave me the idea that this was a less hectic period in years. But it was not. I realised that the constant changes in government advisories and directives due to Covid 19 were stressful because we had to respond to them and make decisions and changes in the midst of uncertainty. This meant more meetings on zoom, more discussion and flip flopping in response to rapid changes. It also meant we had to record our own messages from home using our handphones. We had to learn digital stuff quickly. I had thought that as it neared my retirement, my workload should have halted, but it did not. It increased. More teaching, more handholding and handover duties, even those of the deaf congregation.

Trees were always significant images in my retreats

Therefore, the first two days of the retreat I slept long hours and took naps after meals. I listened to my body as best I could and found myself in bed more than normal. I realised that I was tired and never noticed it while you are still at work and fulfilling your responsibilities conscientiously. A retreat forces you to listen to the cries of your body and your emotions. So I am thankful for greater awareness of the stress of this year. Grateful that the slowing down and time for reflection awakened awareness and wisdom.

The spiritual director plays a key role and has to be sensitive to the Spirit and have knowledge of the spiritual dynamics at play in a retreat ants soul during the retreat. I was glad Lance Ng, was able to discern what the Spirit was doing in my soul and facilitate what the Spirit was wanting to accomplish. I became aware of blocks that kept me from drawing near to God, and the graces for which I should be grateful during 40 years of pastoral ministry. I learned to wait on God and let Him stir emotions, inspire ideas, and surface desires. I stop brainstorming and listing things. I let the Lord surface them to consciousness. Then I sit and ponder and converse with the Lord about these ideas. Each day I shared what surfaced and the director would point me to the next thing ahead, suggesting scriptures or paths of reflection.

As a whole the director noticed the movements in my soul are towards a deeper friendship with Jesus (apart from my roles) – a friendship without benefits. without a utilitarian purpose, without strings attached. This was all part of a movement towards spiritual freedom from the expectations springing from my role as a pastor over the past 40 years. What people expect of me as a pastor have shaped me considerably and the Lord wants to allow me to be simply a child of God, and not to have my identity, security and significance tied inextricably with being a pastor.

In the end, this was a very fruitful retreat. But it did not begin this way. I was happy with the lovely room, but was grieving over the loss of the food and spaciousness of Seven Fountains in Chiangmai, or Chau Son in Dallas. Still in denial and depression. Have to accept that travel in the coming year is going to be blocked or too expensive. If I need a retreat, I have to accept the more expensive accommodation, restricted space, and less interesting meals. I must not allow these external let-downs block me from seeking what is interior, what is unseen, and the One who waits for in love and total attention for me.

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A Retyrement Retreat

7 September 2020 Leave a comment
  • The rooms that faces Bukit Batok Nature Park

The misspelling was deliberate: retyrement instead of retirement. With my retirement from being senior pastor of WRPF, I felt a retreat would be necessary to give me the spiritual space and pace to reflect on the past 40 years of pastoral ministry. The way to go forward is to first go backward and process the past. I had already begun reflecting on this for some months but when you are occupied with the stresses of pastoral ministry especially during the Covid 19, your mind is preoccupied and your emotions hide underground and are hardly perceptible. This retreat will help me slow down and free up sufficiently and allow the Lord, His Spirit to surface matters for reflection.

Covid 19 meant my colleagues had to cancel their retreats which they booked at the Seven Fountains, Chiangmai. I had not done any bookings for the year so I did not have the hassle of cancellation. Travel is not possible or viable in the foreseeable future so a retreat overseas is not an option. Even the retreat houses in Singapore were closed. However, I recently heard from friends that they have opened. So I picked a period when I was not doing any preaching or weekly zoom teaching, and applied for some dates. I was glad that the reply was swift and I was able to take five days over a weekend to have time to wait on God in silence.

  • Air-conditioned with balcony and ensuite bathroom

I am also thankful that my spiritual director, Lance Ng, who has accompanied me on my journey for a few years now, was also available and had a few directees in Lifesprings Spirituality Centre during that period. I was happy to use Zoom for spiritual direction, but since he was available, I was happier it was a live session. We communicate with our whole bodies so its better this way, and he can “read” me more sharply and fully.

I requested a room with an attached bathroom and I must say the room that was assigned to me is spacious and conducive with beautiful views of green foliage. It overlooks Bukit Batok Nature Park. My first apartment was a ten minutes walk from the park and I was very familiar with the whole neighbourhood. While the grounds here are adequate, just a slow walk of ten minutes will bring you to a large park conducive for reflection and prayer, with its many benches and gazebos.

The Centre is a ministry of the Canossian sisters. They have been doing fantastic work in Singapore for close to 90 years. They ran orphanages, schools and all kinds of works that helped the needy. They also ran this retreat house and have spiritual directors among them too. May the Lord continue to bless the work of their hands.

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The Examen in original words of St Ignatius

8 July 2020 Leave a comment

The examen is one of the prayer methods used by retreatants to help them be aware of sins in their daily life. It was one of the prayer methods mentioned in the Spiritual Exercises of St Ignatius, a manual for spiritual directors guiding people through about 30 days of solitude and prayer and meditations on the life of Christ. The original method has since been modified for contemporary use in many creative ways. The contemporary ones have a greater “God consciousness” in the reflection without the heavier emphasis on “sin consciousness” of the original method.

Here is the English translation (Puhl) of note number 43 of the Spiritual Exercises of St Ignatius (original in Spanish):

Method of Making the General Examination of Conscience notation 43 (SE)

There are five points in this method

  1. The first point is to give thanks to God our Lord for the favors received.
  2. The second point is to ask for grace to know my sins and to rid myself of them.
  3. The third point is to demand an account of my soul from the time of rising up to the present examination. I should go over one hour after another, one period after another. The thoughts should be examined first, then the words, and finally, the deeds in the same order as was explained under the Particular Examination of Conscience.
  4. The fourth point will be to ask pardon of God our Lord for my faults.
  5. The fifth point will be to resolve to amend with the grace of God. Close with an Our Father.
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The coronavirus prophecy by Tan Gee Paw

3 March 2020 Leave a comment

I received this prophecy about the Wuhan virus (now called covid 19)and judged it a valid and significant word from the Lord.

Mr Tan Gee Paw

Tan Gee Paw was a civil servant who took charge of the clean up of the Singapore River. More importantly he is a man of God who followed and served Christ faithfully and humbly with a local Methodist Church, and Full Gospel Businessmen Fellowship International. He is known to be a preacher that speaks God’s word without fear nor favour, all the time with humility and the fear of the Lord.

This prophecy from him about the Wuhan virus when it first spread in January 2020 is something we should heed, in my humble opinion.

THE WORD OF THE LORD THAT CAME TO ME ON THURSDAY 6TH FEB 2020: THE WUHAN VIRUS

China and the whole world are gripped by the outbreak of the Wuhan virus with city lock downs in many parts of China and the closing of borders with China by many countries in the late afternoon of 6th February 2020. I went to MacRitchie Reservoir Park to spend a quiet time before dinner. As I sat on the bench in communion with the Lord, I asked a silent question, ‘Lord, what is the meaning of this outbreak?’ I was taken aback by a clear answer from the Lord, saying, ‘I have pressed the pause button on China.’

My immediate reaction was, ‘Lord, if you have pressed the pause button on China, then you have also pressed the pause button on all surrounding countries affiliated with China, including Singapore’.

As the message was so clear, I walked back to my car in deep silence. As I drove home, I turned on the radio (93.8) to hear the 5.30pm news. One of the news items shook me up. The radio announcer read out ‘China has pressed the pause button and postponed its annual National Peoples Congress, the top policy making body.’ The very words ‘pressed the pause button’ was read out! I listened again to the 6 pm news, and the same words were repeated.

MESSAGE TO THE CHURCHES:

The Lord has pressed the pause button not only for China but also the church in Asia. It is time for us to pause, be quiet and spend time with Him. We must pause to listen to Him, for time is fast running on.

TAN GEE PAW

The church in Singapore is like the Ephesus church in the messages to the seven churches in the Revelation. We are known for our deeds, our activity, hard work, and orthodoxy. But the one thing we lack is the most important: ‘You have forsaken the love you had at first’ (Rev 2:4 NIV). This pause has caused many churches to shut down many of its programs, for some churches even its services. It is exactly as the prophecy revealed. The PAUSE button has been pressed. We therefore need to take heed to the response God expects from his church, the Bride of Christ. We are to quiet down before Him in prayer and seek His face in prayer. When we do this we would be a better equipped and empowered people. Time spent with the Lord will be more profitable than a thousand cancelled events and programs driven by mere human effort and wisdom.

God in His wisdom can make good come out of evil. This is God’s mercy. Let us pray.

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