The New York Times Interview: Lee Kuan Yew

Photo courtesy of The New York Times

Lately, he said, he had been looking at Christian marriage vows and
was drawn to the words: “To love, to hold and to cherish, in sickness
and in health, for better or for worse till death do us part.”

“I told her, ‘I would try and keep you company for as long as I can.’
That’s life. She understood.” But he also said: “I’m not sure who’s
going first, whether she or me.”

At night, hearing the sounds of his wife’s discomfort in the next room,
he said, he calms himself with 20 minutes of meditation, reciting a
mantra he was taught by a Christian friend: “Ma-Ra-Na-Tha.”

The phrase, which is Aramaic, comes at the end of St. Paul’s First
Epistle to the Corinthians, and can be translated in several ways.
Mr. Lee said that he was told it means “Come to me, O Lord Jesus,”
and that although he is not a believer, he finds the sounds soothing.

“The problem is to keep the monkey mind from running off into all
kinds of thoughts,” he said. “A certain tranquillity settles over you.
The day’s pressures and worries are pushed out. Then there’s less
problem sleeping.” - The New York Times

I am a Catholic. I am a Christian.

I have friends of other religions and persuasions.
We may or may not have the same beliefs.
We choose to celebrate our similarities.
We choose to respect our differences.

I am glad that MM Lee Kuan Yew was introduced to Christian Meditation.
Yes, it does exist. No need to go looking for it elsewhere.

I have been fortunate enough to have attended the talks of Sr. Mary Niere.
I have attended other contemplative talks and retreats. But I have enjoyed
hers the best.

The Gospel of Contemplation and How to Pray by Sr. Mary Niere are
available at St. Paul's.

The Taming and Reclaiming of Prospect Park West

A few years back, a friend from one of the cities I love
told me, "You're part of a dying breed."

Why? Because I love being human!

I love modern city living.
But I am not consumed by it.
I enjoy the comforts we enjoy in this day and age.
But these comforts are merely "tools".
They are there to enhance the human experience.
Not to take away from it.

Thankfully, I am not alone.

The Taming and Reclaiming of Prospect Park West
Courtesy of Streetfilms

It's that time of the year!

The BER months are back!
Let the Christmas countdown begin!

The 3 Powerful Steps to Phenomenal Success

http://www.flickr.com/photos/showmeone

I will not bore you with my commentary on Bo Sanchez's
latest inspirational message. The article speaks for itself.
Read it and live a phenomenal life!

The 3 Powerful Steps to Phenomenal Success
by Bo Sanchez

"Friend, do you want to be successful in life?
Remember that success doesn’t happen overnight.
Success is a journey.
In fact, you’ll have to pass via three landmarks in this journey.
Between where you are now and where your success is are three landmarks.
Here they are:
Landmark 1: When you discover your talent
Landmark 2: When you develop your talent
Landmark 3: When you deliver your talent

1. Discover Your Talent
A lot of people ask me that question: How will I discover my talent?
Kids ask me that question a lot. Teens ask me that question a lot.
Amazingly, even adults ask me that question a lot.

Let me be frank with you.
One of the biggest reasons why you haven’t discovered your talent
is because you haven’t been saying a lot of Yeses to life.
You’ve been habitually saying No.
To opportunities. To learning. To experiences. To stretching.

You’ve been saying No because you’re afraid.
You’re afraid of making mistakes.
You’re afraid of being laughed at by people.
You’re afraid of falling flat on your face.
You’re afraid of being humiliated.

Discovering your talent is like discovering buried treasure.
Treasure hunters don’t dig in one spot and automatically find
the treasure.

Treasure hunters go through a lot of surveying the area.
They dig in one spot, find nothing, dig in another spot again,
find nothing again, dig in another spot again, find nothing again…
until they dig in this one spot and find the treasure!

God has called you to serve Him with your talent.
So serve Him and be willing to make mistakes.
Be willing to fail.
Be willing to be a fool for Christ.
All you’ve got to do is say Yes to God!

2. Develop Your Talent

But I didn’t stop in the discovering of my talent.
I developed my talent.

Some people discover their talent, but they don’t develop it.
They’re good mechanics, farmers, speakers, writers, thinkers,
listeners, musicians, engineers, mathematicians, administrators—
but they don’t develop their talent.
They don’t hone their craft.
They don’t sharpen their saw.
They don’t expand their expertise.
They don’t increase their initiatives.
They don’t grow their gifting.

How did I develop my talent?
Simple.
I used it.

I said “Yes” to every single invitation given to me to speak.
Tiny prayer groups invited me to speak; I said yes.
Prisons invited me to speak; I said yes.
Hospitals invited me to speak; I said yes.
Poor dilapidated schools in far-flung barrios invited me to speak; I said yes.
I had to cross three rivers before I spoke; I said yes.
Only twenty people showed up; I said yes.
Only ten people showed up; I said yes.
Only three people showed up; I said yes.
In my early years, I would preach every single day.
I didn’t know it, but saying “yes” to every invitation was fulfilling Malcolm Gladwell’s 10,000 Hour-Rule of Greatness.

Sometimes, young preachers come up to me and tell me,
“Brother Bo, I want to preach as good as you do.”
“Great!” I say. So I ask him, “How often do you preach?”
“Oh, about once a month…” he says.

I want to strangle him.
“Once a month? By the time you’ll be any good, you’ll be 150 years old.
You should be preaching every single day!
Create opportunities for you to speak!”

Here’s the truth: The only way to develop your talent is to use it.
Let me say it again. If you don’t use it, you lose it

3. Deliver Your Talent
One of the things I’ve found out about this world is that
you don’t get rewarded for discovering your talent;
you don’t get rewarded for developing your talent;
you only get rewarded for delivering your talent.
In other words, do you have the ability to launch?

Planning to launch is not enough.
Preparing to launch is not enough.
You have to actually launch.

There are those who like tinkering with their work endlessly.
So they delay. And delay. And delay.
And they never launch.
It’s the sickness of corporate world.

Again, the reason why people don’t deliver is fear.
It’s same old enemy.
They’re afraid of failure.
They’re afraid of rejection.
They’re afraid of public humiliation.
So they want everything perfect before they launch.

And there lies the mistake.
There’s no such thing.
They don’t understand that perfection doesn’t exist.
What you need to do is launch and re-launch and keep on re-launching
until you get it right.


Give your talent to God.
Just say “Yes” to Him.

May your dreams come true,
Bo Sanchez"