letters

_posts/2023-04-26-scorchingly-sunny.md

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+---
+title: "letter to my brother-in-Christ, L."
+layout: post
+---
+
+L:
+
+I'm sad to hear that you are stressed. But, joy is such a precious 
+emotion; I pray that you will experience an abundance of joy.
+
+As for me - I recently met a supervisor at my barista job, who bitterly opposed 
+the way of unconditional love that our Lord Jesus has taught us. In his 
+view, customers exist to give him money. If they pay money, he will joke 
+around with them, and make them coffee. But, if he sees that there is no 
+money that he can extract from the customer, he won't even attend to the 
+customer. 
+
+That's shameful to even talk about. 
+
+My supervisor completely 
+disagreed with how I choose to love others. And he frequently erupts 
+into fits of rage, which I feel is out of proportion. 
+
+I was greatly 
+tormented when I had to obey his instructions during my job. I suffered 
+so much that I lost weight visibly, to the alarm of my friends. 
+
+One day, 
+I couldn't tolerate that supervisor anymore, and handed in my 
+resignation letter. (He seemed happy to see me depart from the 
+barista-organisation.) 
+
+Anyway, I'm sure that there is an entire gang of 
+such awful people, everywhere in the world. Please be wary of such 
+people, in your own life. But I believe God will repay such people for 
+their shameful attitudes towards other people. 
+
+I've watched the video 
+you sent me. "Thank you for the sunshine, thank you for the rain. Thank 
+you for the joy, thank you for the pain." How apt these words are! (The 
+cat video is so cute too.)
+
+ I thank God for the priceless lesson I 
+have learnt painfully, at the hands of my supervisor. It has highlighted 
+how precious God's love is, in this world that prioritises transactions 
+and self-centredness, over other-centredness and an unconditional love 
+that expects nothing in return. 
+
+Now, I am convinced, more than ever, 
+that Jesus will give me the keys to a glorious future, in the afterlife. 
+I'll pray for you to meet me in Paradise, brother. But, of course, 
+meeting me is not as important as meeting our loving Jesus. 
+
+Here is a 
+website that interested me recently: https://interfaith.sg/ 
+
+Have a nice 
+week ahead!
+
+25th April 2023 A.D.

_posts/2023-10-23-cloudy.md

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+---
+title: "letter to M, my friend who practises Zen Buddhism"
+layout: post
+---
+
+Hi M: 
+
+I am writing on a sunny but cloudy morning in Singapore. 
+
+I've 
+taken your sugggestion to observe the rhythm of the sun. One of my 
+favourite times of day, when I am working at my part-time job (at a meat-free 
+restaurant), is - can you guess it? - twilight; I like to watch the 
+sunlight fade to blue darkness outside the windows, while the electric 
+lamps indoors provide a warm orange glow. 
+
+The fading light, day after 
+day, night after night, reminds me that my busy-ness with myriad 
+operational tasks at the restaurant, is just a small puff of vapour, 
+compared to the vastness and ancient-ness of the Sun, not to mention the 
+galaxies in the emptiness of the Space beyond Planet Earth; the Sun has 
+been rising and setting since the time of the dinosaurs, and what 
+creature am I to presume that I am the centre of the Universe? 
+
+But I 
+need a spiritual belief to be my compass in this vast emptiness, and I 
+have found that through a personal relationship with King Jesus, 
+resurrected Son of God, who is alive, active and powerful (even today, 
+at this hour). But I ken that not everyone uses the same compass, and I 
+have been growing in my acceptance of that. 
+
+One good thing in my life is 
+like-minded friends who share edifying information with me, through the 
+wonders of the Internet. For example, Jill wants to find out more about 
+the Quakers, so she looks that up on her smart-phone, and tells me about 
+them, reading from her smart-phone, while I sit across from her on a 
+comfortable couch, marvelling at the ease-of-access of such information. 
+In other situations, my Buddhist brother sends me Buddhist Scriptures 
+that is free-of-charge to view at a Web-page. 
+
+(For example: 
+https://accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/an/an11/an11.016.piya.html ) 
+
+It is 
+true that the Internet can harm us if we let it, but I believe a rich 
+inner spiritual life can steer us towards a more constructive use of the 
+Internet. 
+
+Well, my shoulders ache from typing out this email with an 
+awkward posture at my keyboard, so I shall stop writing here. 
+
+Yours 
+sincerely,
+T
+
+On this day, the 23rd of October, 2023 Anno Domini