A couple months back, on a peaceful afternoon inside a church, a man bump into one old priest in the santurary. The old man had appearently recognized that man as a member of the public living near that region and invited him on a scroll. They had talked about nothing paricular, and the old man made the little boy immediatly felt like home.
"Father," the man said, "may I ask you a starnge question?"
The old man smiled. "Only if I may give you a strange answer."
The man laughed. "I have asked every priest I know, and I still don't understand."
"What troubles you?" The old man led the way in short, quick strides, his cassock kicking out in front of him as he walked. His black, creple-sole shoes seems befitting, the boy thought, like reflections of the man's essence... modern but humble, and showing signs of wearing.
The man took a deep breath. "I don't understand this omnipotent-benevolent thing."
The old man smiled. "You've been reading the scripture."
"I try"
"You are confused because the Bible describes God as an omnipotent and benevolent deity."
"Excatly!"
"Ominipotent-benevolent simply means that God is all-powerful and well-meaning."
"I understand the concept. It's just... there seems to be a contridiction."
"Yes. The contridiction is pain. Man's starvation, war, sickness..."
"Yes" The man exclaimed as no other have hit his mind as direct as the old man. "Terrible things happen u this world. Human tradegy seems like proof that God could not possibly be both all-powerful and well-meaning. Ih He loves us and has the power to change our situation, He would prevent our pain, wouldn't He?"
The old man frowned. "Would He?"
The man felt uneasy. Had he overstepped his bounds? Was one of those religous question that he's not suppose to ask? "Well... if God loves us, and He can protect us, He would have to. It seems He is either ominipotent and uncaring, or benvolent and powerless to help."
"Do you have kids my son?"
The man flushed. "No, father."
"Imagine you had an eight-tear old son... would you love him?"
"Of course."
"Would you do everything in your power to prevent pain in his life?"
"Of course"
"Would you let him skateboard?"
The man did a double take. "Yeah, I guess," the man said. "Sure, i'd let him skateboard, but i'd tell him to be careful."
"So as this child's father, you would give him some basic advice and them let him go off and make his own mistake?"
"I would't run behind him and mollycoddle him if that's what you mean."
"But what if he fell and skinned his knee?"
"He would learn to be careful"
The old man smiled. "So although you have the power to interfer and prenvent your child's pain, youu would choose to show you love by letting him learn his own lessons?"
"Of course. Pain is part of growing up. It's how we learn."
The old man nodded. "Excatly."
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introduction
Hello you! You've reached the blog page of Isaiah Simon Lin. The average guy!This page is currently under-going some revamp for a come-back. Owner's Message Do watch out for this space and... hope you will be lucky one day to find it updated :):) So... COME ON IN AND READ.. YAY! |
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- Tuesday, October 04, 2005 @ 12:05:00 AM
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- Tuesday, October 04, 2005 @ 12:05:00 AM
A couple months back, on a peaceful afternoon inside a church, a man bump into one old priest in the santurary. The old man had appearently recognized that man as a member of the public living near that region and invited him on a scroll. They had talked about nothing paricular, and the old man made the little boy immediatly felt like home.
"Father," the man said, "may I ask you a starnge question?" The old man smiled. "Only if I may give you a strange answer." The man laughed. "I have asked every priest I know, and I still don't understand." "What troubles you?" The old man led the way in short, quick strides, his cassock kicking out in front of him as he walked. His black, creple-sole shoes seems befitting, the boy thought, like reflections of the man's essence... modern but humble, and showing signs of wearing. The man took a deep breath. "I don't understand this omnipotent-benevolent thing." The old man smiled. "You've been reading the scripture." "I try" "You are confused because the Bible describes God as an omnipotent and benevolent deity." "Excatly!" "Ominipotent-benevolent simply means that God is all-powerful and well-meaning." "I understand the concept. It's just... there seems to be a contridiction." "Yes. The contridiction is pain. Man's starvation, war, sickness..." "Yes" The man exclaimed as no other have hit his mind as direct as the old man. "Terrible things happen u this world. Human tradegy seems like proof that God could not possibly be both all-powerful and well-meaning. Ih He loves us and has the power to change our situation, He would prevent our pain, wouldn't He?" The old man frowned. "Would He?" The man felt uneasy. Had he overstepped his bounds? Was one of those religous question that he's not suppose to ask? "Well... if God loves us, and He can protect us, He would have to. It seems He is either ominipotent and uncaring, or benvolent and powerless to help." "Do you have kids my son?" The man flushed. "No, father." "Imagine you had an eight-tear old son... would you love him?" "Of course." "Would you do everything in your power to prevent pain in his life?" "Of course" "Would you let him skateboard?" The man did a double take. "Yeah, I guess," the man said. "Sure, i'd let him skateboard, but i'd tell him to be careful." "So as this child's father, you would give him some basic advice and them let him go off and make his own mistake?" "I would't run behind him and mollycoddle him if that's what you mean." "But what if he fell and skinned his knee?" "He would learn to be careful" The old man smiled. "So although you have the power to interfer and prenvent your child's pain, youu would choose to show you love by letting him learn his own lessons?" "Of course. Pain is part of growing up. It's how we learn." The old man nodded. "Excatly." |
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 The Education : Republic Polytechnic [2007] : SIM (UOL) The NS : SCDF [2007 - 2009] Been with MOE as a relief teacher for the whole of last year after NS in August and currently with Adam Khoo assuming the role as Training assistant. |
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