100 Things Challenge

I want to screaaammmm! The room is a mess. Christmas is just
around the corner and I promised myself that I will greet the New
Year with a much neater room.

How did we get here??? We have been in the process of moving for
some time now. Add to that the latest addition to our family. Ha!
Imagine a room bursting to the seams. Half of me wants to just
give it all away. Half of me wants to just hold on for dear life.
Obviously, I am torn.

Apparently, I am not the only once faced with this dilemma. Some
people have even taken extreme measures to get rid of the clutter.

Let me introduce you to a guynameddave. Dave started the 100
Things Challenge. You read that right, Dave only has 100 things.
I don't think I'm ready for that. But you have got to admire how
disciplined Dave must have been to have successfully pulled this
off.

10 / 10 / 10

view from my window sill

oh 10 / 10 / 10...

Woke up at the crack of dawn...

Had grand plans...

Had my camera ready...

You obviously had other plans for me...

Got a "panic attack" after breakfast... MIL and BIL told me

Baby M seemed to be losing a lot of weight...

I have sort of recovered... Good thing I can move his check up

to tomorrow... First time mom jitters... ho hum...

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!