Our God's tender love for His servants makes Him concerned for the state of their inward feelings. He desires them to be of good courage. Some esteem it a small thing for a believer to be vexed with doubts and fears, but God thinks not so. From this text it is plain that [He] would not have us entangled with fears. He would have us without... doubt, without cowardice.

[He] does not think so lightly of our unbelief as we do. When we are desponding we are subject to a grievous malady, not to be trifled with, but to be carried at once to the beloved Physician. Our Lord loveth not to see our countenance sad... He would have us put off the spirit of heaviness, and put on the garment of praise, for there is much reason to rejoice.

[We] ought to be of a courageous spirit, in order that [we] may glorify the Lord by enduring trials in a heroic manner... Let your spirit by joyful in God your Saviour, the joy of the Lord shall be your strength, and no fiend of hell shall make headway against you, but cowardice throws down the banner.

Moreover, labour is light to a man of cheerful spirit; and success waits upon cheerfulness. The man who toils, rejoicing in his God, believing with all his heart, has success guaranteed. He who sows in hope shall reap in joy; therefore, dear reader, "be thou strong, and very courageous."
-CH Spurgeon, Daily Readings

The LORD your God is with you,
he is mighty to save.
He will take great delight in you,
he will quiet you with his love,
he will rejoice over you with singing.
~Zephaniah 3:17

Things I've done/experienced in NYC thus far!

- Playing basketball in a beautiful park in the Upperwest Side over President's Weekend
- Swing dancing at Swing 24 near Times Square
- Dancing and more dancing :)
- Watched Billy Elliot
- Experienced "snow days" off from work
- Visiting Redeemer small groups
- Karaoking and getting Korean food in K-town
- visiting the Guggenheim Museum on a "pay as you wish" night
- volunteering with Hope for New York (including with the NYC Relief Bus on a freezing Saturday morning in the Bronx)
- visiting the Museum of Chinese in America (MOCA)
- living in and navigating Flushing..enough said :)
- watching a Eugene Park concert at the Village Underground
- going to a Lifehouse Concert at the Hard Rock Cafe
- walking the NYU area on foot
- trying the best halal place on 53rd & 6th where there is a ubiquitous line
- Steak Shack
- going to the Cloisters
- experiencing long lines akin to airport security check lines at Whole Foods
- Seeing the Highline and exploring the Meatpacking District (including a covered market there)
- going to see a Mets Game
- salsa dancing at the LQ at the Radisson Lexington Hotel
- bike-riding along the Hudson River
- going hiking about an hour and a half away from NYC
- going to the REAH NK meetings
- running in and exploring Central Park
- visiting Times Square Church and the Brooklyn Tabernacle (the best gospel choirs ever in my humble opinion :)
- the YWCA Queens and KAFSC's 21st Annual Gala
- reconnecting with old friends and meeting new ones :)

On Love

“Have you ever been in love? Horrible isn't it? It makes you so vulnerable. It opens your chest and it opens up your heart and it means that someone can get inside you and mess you up. You build up all these defenses, you build up a whole suit of armor, so that nothing can hurt you, then one stupid person, no different from any other stupid person, wanders into your stupid life...You give them a piece of you. They didn't ask for it. They did something dumb one day, like kiss you or smile at you, and then your life isn't your own anymore. Love takes hostages. It gets inside you. It eats you out and leaves you crying in the darkness, so simple a phrase like 'maybe we should be just friends' turns into a glass splinter working its way into your heart. It hurts. Not just in the imagination. Not just in the mind. It's a soul-hurt, a real gets-inside-you-and-rips-you-apart pain. I hate love.”

~Neil Gaiman

“To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything, and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give your heart to no one, not even to an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements; lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket- safe, dark, motionless, airless--it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable.”

~C.S. Lewis

Let Go and Change

"When we let go of hatred, prejudices, arrogance and entitlement from the heart, our actions change. We love, forgive and hope from the heart, and from there our world changes. So I offer this prayer for us: 'Holy One, we give you permission to carve away all that is not pure in our hearts. We invite you to create space in our crowded hearts for you to dwell. Create in us a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within us. We ask you to align our priorities with yours, and awaken our hearts from their sleep."

Source: Esther Elizabeth, Journey Into Freedom

영광의 상처

나는 그에게,
손이 베일 정도의 제품을 만들어보자고 말했다.
너무나도 아름답고, 너무나도 완벽하기에, 손이 닿았을 때
베일 것 같은, 완전무결한 것을 만들자는 뜻을 전했다.
돌이켜보면 '손이 베일 정도'라는 표현은, 어렸을 때
아버지께서 자주 하셨던 말씀이었다.
"무슨 일이든 손이 베일 만큼 해라.
그렇지 않으면 제대로 했다고 할 수 없다.
공부도, 네가 하고 싶은 일도
손이 베일 만큼 해라."

- 이나모리 가즈오의《왜 일하는가》중에서 -

Let Evening Come

Let the light of late afternoon
shine through chinks in the barn, moving
up the bales as the sun moves down.

Let the cricket take up chafing
as a woman takes up her needles
and her yarn. Let evening come.

Let dew collect on the hoe abandoned
in long grass. Let the stars appear
and the moon disclose her silver horn.

Let the fox go back to its sandy den.
Let the wind die down. Let the shed
go black inside. Let evening come.

To the bottle in the ditch, to the scoop
in the oats, to air in the lung
let evening come.

Let it come, as it will, and don't
be afraid. God does not leave us
comfortless, so let evening come.

Source: Jane Kenyon, Collected Poems