A Refreshing Morning…
I took a day leave on Friday to just simply get away from it all for a moment. My hope is that it would help me to be refreshed and be refocused on things from a godly perspective.
As I had been living in the western part of Singapore for most part of my life, I planned to take the morning to explore the different sights and sounds and taste of the north-eastern part of the island.
At just before 9am, I went to the Serangoon Garden Hawker Centre (the one beside the popular Chomp Chomp) to eat the famous Kway Chap. I had tried to sample the food in my past 3 visits but they were not open for dinner. I managed to find a good parking lot in the rather crowded place. It was tasty but not as good as I had expected it to be. Perhaps my expectations were too high.
I completed breakfast with my usual cup of kopi while reading through The Straits Times and Today. It was really good to slow down as I took the opportunity to observe the different groups of people around me; ranging from retirees, housewives, young adults (perhaps taking leave like me) and children. It caused me to think about the dreams and fears that these people would have in their lives. How can we, as a church, present Jesus relevant and real to them?
After breakfast, I went to Kovan Heartland Mall. My initial intention was to go there to eat the famous Peanut Pancakes but there was no space left in me. Anyhow, I walked around in the Mall for around 20 minutes. I visited a video/DVD shop. Apparently, this stall has quite a large collection of WWE VCDs. I was just browsing around and it did not take me long to lose interest before heading back to the car park.
Next, I went to Punggol Plaza. I went to the NTUC Supermarket to browse through the food section. Recalling my talk with Claudia, about me not being able to lose weight despite the many hours of exercise, stopped me from buying any “sinful” stuff. I walked swiftly out of the Supermarket like how Joseph ran away from Potiphar’s wife!
Thereafter, I want to buy a curry puff from Sengkang Sqaure. I took the time to smell as well as to eat my puff. I could not recall when was the last time I actually took the time to simply smell my food. In other countries, they talked about taking the time to smell the flowers but in Singapore, our version would be to take the time to just smell our food.
I ended my tour of the north-eastern part of Singapore by getting my car filled up at the petrol kiosk. There were two queues for payment. I was on the shorter queue when I discovered that the cashier was taking a long time to explain to a Caucasian guy about applying for some petrol redemption card program. I was frustrated at the long wait and moved myself to the longer queue.
As I was waiting in the new queue, it struck me on why am I always in such a hurry. Where was I rushing to and what was I rushing to do? To my amusement, I ended up waiting even longer in this new queue than if I were to remain patient in the former queue. Like what one friend had once said to me, “less haste, more speed”. How true is this statement in my life!
God, please teach me to slow down and to enjoy the journey of my life with you. The enjoyment is not only in reaching the destination but in every step of the journey.
As I had been living in the western part of Singapore for most part of my life, I planned to take the morning to explore the different sights and sounds and taste of the north-eastern part of the island.
At just before 9am, I went to the Serangoon Garden Hawker Centre (the one beside the popular Chomp Chomp) to eat the famous Kway Chap. I had tried to sample the food in my past 3 visits but they were not open for dinner. I managed to find a good parking lot in the rather crowded place. It was tasty but not as good as I had expected it to be. Perhaps my expectations were too high.
I completed breakfast with my usual cup of kopi while reading through The Straits Times and Today. It was really good to slow down as I took the opportunity to observe the different groups of people around me; ranging from retirees, housewives, young adults (perhaps taking leave like me) and children. It caused me to think about the dreams and fears that these people would have in their lives. How can we, as a church, present Jesus relevant and real to them?
After breakfast, I went to Kovan Heartland Mall. My initial intention was to go there to eat the famous Peanut Pancakes but there was no space left in me. Anyhow, I walked around in the Mall for around 20 minutes. I visited a video/DVD shop. Apparently, this stall has quite a large collection of WWE VCDs. I was just browsing around and it did not take me long to lose interest before heading back to the car park.
Next, I went to Punggol Plaza. I went to the NTUC Supermarket to browse through the food section. Recalling my talk with Claudia, about me not being able to lose weight despite the many hours of exercise, stopped me from buying any “sinful” stuff. I walked swiftly out of the Supermarket like how Joseph ran away from Potiphar’s wife!
Thereafter, I want to buy a curry puff from Sengkang Sqaure. I took the time to smell as well as to eat my puff. I could not recall when was the last time I actually took the time to simply smell my food. In other countries, they talked about taking the time to smell the flowers but in Singapore, our version would be to take the time to just smell our food.
I ended my tour of the north-eastern part of Singapore by getting my car filled up at the petrol kiosk. There were two queues for payment. I was on the shorter queue when I discovered that the cashier was taking a long time to explain to a Caucasian guy about applying for some petrol redemption card program. I was frustrated at the long wait and moved myself to the longer queue.
As I was waiting in the new queue, it struck me on why am I always in such a hurry. Where was I rushing to and what was I rushing to do? To my amusement, I ended up waiting even longer in this new queue than if I were to remain patient in the former queue. Like what one friend had once said to me, “less haste, more speed”. How true is this statement in my life!
God, please teach me to slow down and to enjoy the journey of my life with you. The enjoyment is not only in reaching the destination but in every step of the journey.
posted by Jeff Chong at 2:01 am
10 Comments:
Hi Pastor Jeff,
Wow, cant help but agree with the part on slowing down and enjoying the journey!
I usually take my jogging/swimming time as my slow down time and communicate with God. =)Life in Singapore is really FAST!
hmm.... Pastor, didn't you also eat a lot on your way? =P
gee, Pastor, you sound like some brainwashed automaton in a trance in every post. it's amazing how human beings can centre every single waking thought on something others have made up, and end every post with a reference to the institution.
but then, it's really like any other obsession, such as sports or video games.
Chris, I disagree. Ps Jeff is not that kind of person, if you care to meet the real us, that is :)
If you could care to leave your real name and real contact particulars, I believe that Ps Jeff or others would be glad to have an open face-to-face discussion with you :)
It is a bit difficult to respond to an anonymous hit-and-run comment =)
fresh dew, if you do read between the lines, you can tell that i'm not attacking him in any way. i'm sure he's a great person and so are all of you, but i find it unfortunate the way that all of you nice people, like some friends of mine, have been systematically institutionalised.
I agree with you, Chris..
Thanks all for your comments. I appreciate the honesty greatly.
Hi Chris, it would be great to talk further. You can always email me at ChuRch@HOpesingapore.Org.sG (all small caps but writing as such to avoid SPAM) and we can learn together further.
Once again, I raelly do appreciate the open and respectful sharing.
Pastor...
What can I say? Continue to inspire:)
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
thanks for the reminder... i had found myself rushing and rushing for nothing... really need to slow down and tcc with God...
*kopi-C with bubbles, please*
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