Sunday, August 21, 2011

Digitalizing your notes

I've just finished a certain master's degree but that left me a huge stack of printed notes along with the personal notes that I've jot down during the classes.

Therefore, the best way is to scan them all and to keep them in your computer, index them properly so that I might read them again when required.

The scanning process is quite tedious even I've a scanner with auto-feeder. The problem comes when I'm scanning double-sided notes but the feeder jammed in the middle of the process. Anyhow, it's still way better than scanning one by one.

After scanning, I would keep those pages with one side blank and to send the double-page sheets to the recycler...

健康食物

現代人喜愛健康食物, 因為覺得吃了健康... 此後, 人們就把食物分類, 有健康的, 也有所謂不健康的...

細心想一想, 其實食物本身沒有健康不健康的, 因為健康本來就是形容人, 而不是用來形容食物的!

因此, 只有健康的人, 和不健求的人...

對於健康的人, 一切食物都可以很健康!

但對於不健康的人, 才有所謂不健康的食物... 但對於這類人, 就算是健康食物也不能吃太多! 這樣, 不健康的人才是問題本身, 這個命題就變得更真實了!

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

以神為中心的靈修

這個暑期我開始每晚都跟兩個女兒靈修,採用的是一本兒童聖經,但這只是素材,內容還是根據真實的聖經來講。

經過幾年神學反省,我認為認識神才是讀聖經的最終目的,其它如道德教訓等都是次要,除非聖經明言要我們學效,否則我們也不必從人物中找學習的功課。這就是我所指的以神用中心的讀經。

讓我先舉些例子:

1. 當讀到約瑟的生平時,我並沒有指出約瑟有甚麼好學習的地方。約瑟固然有可以學效的地方,但他的生命也不是沒有瑕疵的,如果要憑我們的喜好或理性去做選材,那麼我們就是把我們的喜好和理性放於聖經之上,我們總沒有權去這樣做!以神為中心來看,世界實在充滿罪惡,約瑟竟然被自己的哥哥出賣,忠心服事的約瑟也被人陷害,或被人遺忘,但神總不忘記人。約瑟晚年總結自己的一生,他肯定週遭的人或許心存惡意要害他,但神的意念卻是好的,他先去到埃及,就是要救活許多人。神的能力與安排總勝過人的罪惡!

2. 當讀到摩西生平時,我們就看到神的能力。出生時,神竟能把摩西藏在敵人的家中,不但生命得以保存,也有學習埃習知識的機會。年青時,摩西想仗自己的力量去救以色列民,就人來看,那時他確實滿有能力,但神卻不使用人的力量,唯獨等摩西老了才藉他施行拯救,好叫人只能把榮耀歸給神,人根本就都不濟事。

神在野地賜嗎哪,與主耶穌的五餅二魚一樣,叫人在野地裡得飽足。現代人謎信金錢,以為沒有錢就沒有東西吃;古代人謎信農業,以為要耕作才有得吃,但神卻能在野地裡叫人得飽足!天空的飛鳥也不種也不收,但神就供應他們。

到賜十誡的時候,我又叫女兒們有一幅更大圖畫。神應許亞伯拉罕要成為大國,那麼他們那時已經有許多人民,而且還向迦南地前進,可見神的工作從沒停止!要成為大國亦要有君王與律法,十誡就是這個的律法。

每天靈修後,女兒們無不驚歎神的作為,我們也學習藉信心一起過生活,願榮榮歸與神。

Re-evaluation

The price of a certain item will not jump dramatically simply because people believe that it should worth a higher price.

It will jump only when people see it from an entirely new angle. Let say a certain company, after acquisition or re-organization, or having a new way of business, its true value should then be re-evaluated, and in that case, a huge price jump would then be expected.

Gold had lost its function as a form of reserve in the last twenty years so its price remained more or less constant. But recently with the economic down turn or better say re-shuffling, the function of USD was now in doubt and gold came out again so that it might regain its old position, by then it's value is being re-evaluated again!

Of course, such a re-evaluation process is hard to predict, and sometimes it will overshoot but then adjustments will follow. I expect the price of gold should keep moving in a generally upward trend for a number of years to come.

十誡

誡命是守不了的, 但卻可以活出來

「所以凡有血氣的,沒有一個因行律法能在神面前稱義,因為律法本是叫人知罪。」 (羅 3:20)

因為罪從來並不單是外在的行為, 更是內在生命瑕疵的表現

若以有瑕疵的生命來守律法, 那自然是不可能的; 但倘若有了得釋放的生命, 我們就可以順著聖靈的帶領, 把誡命活出來