Who Says You're Naked?!

I have always wondered why artists love to paint naked human subjects on their naked canvases. There must be something in the human body that they probably consider as mythical or even Harry-Potterish, but since I am not an artist, --- y’see, I can’t even draw a house, for Pete’s sake!!--- I will never get to appreciate the right geometry of the human anatomy. All I know is that it’s quite humiliating to be naked before a bunch of people holding different theories in their open minds, more so if they’re paying too much attention on the concavities and convexities of your asymmetrical body. If I were to flaunt my physical glory before a crowd --- ok, ok, I know this is more of a desperate dream, nyahahahaha!! --- guess which part of my body I will cover? …. Of course my face!! They can see the whole of me but not gossip about it because they wouldn’t know who the subject is, unless of course they’re too intrigued about what they’re seeing --- hiryago again dennie! This is already too much of a coping mechanism, have you taken your tranquilizers yet!! Hahaha --- that revealing my face will ultimately feed their brains’ satiety centres. Well, of course you know I’m just babbling and this is all non-sense, hahahaha. Kidding aside, mankind’s evolutionary development made us realise that nakedness is a humiliation, a taboo, and even a manifestation of some neurological imbalances, but what does being naked truly mean in the eyes of God? Is it a sin to be symbolically naked before God? These things I will humbly endevour to explore to make us realise how beautiful we are in God’s eyes.

The book of Genesis tells us about the Fall of Man, this was after Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit. When God was looking for Adam in the cool of the day, he answered, “I heard You in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked. So I Hid.” Then God replied, “Who told you that you were naked?”… There are two things that I wish to emphasise on both of their responses; first Adam saw his nakedness, he saw the obvious, he saw the limitations whereas God saw the glory of His creation through Adam, and that he was not naked. You see, we are like Adam who thinks that what we see in ourselves is what we really are. I believe that in this life, we need to think mythically…. Oh yes, you read it right, we need to go by the myths of life, these are stories or teachings with or without determinable basis of a fact or a natural explanation BUT need to be construed on a different angle. Most of the time what we see is never quite what they seem, which explains why it takes wisdom to understand the intricacies or myths of life. Some people feel that they are worthless because they are poor and that their lives are not at par with their contemporaries. They dislike themselves for not being able to vanquish their battles, for not being smart, for being unattractive, for being in chains of some habitual sins and bondages, for failing their parents’ expectations, for not being able to perform well with their jobs, for being so obstinate about their principles just to hide their inequities, and the list goes on and on. These things are obvious and can be seen or experienced by one’s self with his/her day-to-day living. These may all be true and agreeably would affect one’s perception about him-/herself, but if you think mythically, what you see is never quite what they seem. We are the children of the Most High God, we were patterned into His likeness and that alone should guarantee us that His favour would always be upon us no matter how bad we’ve become or how bad the circumstances are around us. Where you are now does not determine your future, you may suffer some of the consequences of your wrong decisions but that does not mean that God’s only plan for you is to suffer. Your CHARACTER is the one thing that matters to God, He is not concerned of what you have become but more of WHO YOU ARE and WHOSE YOU ARE. I always say this to my small group at our church; God will not change the circumstances around you because He wants you to have a character, a kind that will truly reflect His identity through you, through us. Just because you have none does not mean you’re naked! God looks at us differently for our identity belongs to Him. We are His children. We were beautifully and wonderfully made by God. We are the apple of His eyes. We are highly favoured. We are loved. Nothing in this world can EVER take us away from God’s love, not even sin, not even our brokenness, not even our bondages. Amazing love!

The next time you feel that you have nothing and worthless, think again. God does not see your limitations; He looks at your heart and your true identity, which of course belongs to Him. You are never an accident in this world for God has purposefully created you to do great things for Him and for yourself. Let’s all be passionate about living, after all we only have one life to live.

Living By The Dash

Most people dread the day they will face death but I reckon there is nothing to fear about dying if you really never existed. How can you end something that has not yet begun in the first place? Or should I ask, what could someone do to bring life to a living dead person? These are the things that every sapien silently asks to himself in his moments of introspection. Some people in this dreary old world only exist for one thing and that is to be happy, they search for places, people, and even practices which can ultimately bring forth reason for their existence. Some of us, on the other hand, only exist to gain earthly treasures just to find out that life is too short to actually gain everything. Death is inevitable and we all know that, God never designed us to be like worms, which can regenerate if one of its segments is cut off. We only have one life to live here on earth and we need to make every moment count. In a psychological perspective though (pardon my rusty explanation as I have been out of post-graduate school for quite a while now, geeeez!!), people live through a lot of developmental stages --- social, cognitive, physical and even behavioural. For some personality theorists (hmmm, I’m tryin’ to be one!), a couple of these stages should be strictly followed otherwise the person can not move to the next level of development, hence, the word fixation. Certain behavioural patterns will exhibit if these stages are not fully reached across the lifespan and this is one of the many ways that some psychologists (like me, ahem ahem!!) look at in understanding how a person behaves and lives his life. Moreover, one’s life is molded by a lot of factors both intrinsically (biological and behavioural) and extrinsically (socio-cultural) depending on how much impact these factors have in the person. Ultimately, every person’s goal is to achieve a genuine sense of individuality; an identity that sets him/her apart from other people. How one gets to the individuation stage is something that will determine how a person will live his/her life. For some doctrines of religion, this stage could be comparatively described as the Nirvana of life. But hey, I am a Christian! So please allow me to express my humble thoughts about living a life designed by the Creator of the heavens and the earth.

Looking at the epitaphs of people buried in the cemeteries, you will see one common description about the person ---- the day of birth and the day the person experienced rigor mortis (as my Anatomy teacher would word it - - now I’m missing our class’ cadaver, her name was “Skelly” short for skeleton, Lolz!), but which is really important between the two? I guess nobody will really care unless if you’re into numerology or other New Age practices. To me, it’s the LITTLE DASH between the dates that truly matters. That short tiny dash represents a lot of things, it makes you wonder, how much this person mazimised his life on earth. How many struggles did he experience, how many battles he fought, what were his dreams, how many times did he laugh, how many litres of tears did he shed, and above all how did he live his life? That short DASH means a lot to God and He makes a long account of one’s life through it. I mentioned earlier that life is too short but God is so gracious to give us so many chances to fathom its meaning, to enjoy it and have it to the FULL! People today live for nothing because their principles are so twisted, thinking that the only way to live one’s life is to enjoy it, do good works (we can not be saved in doing good works but only through God’s grace), and earn more money. They have purposefully removed love, victory, faith, eternity, and God out of the equation because these things are too intricate to measure and understand. To God, our life is just but a handbreadth and if we spend our time living up for earthly principles of happiness we will die feeling discontented because we will always have something to long for even in our death bed. The journey of life commences when we begin to realise that we are dead to sin and that no matter how much effort we do to put meaning into our being these things will only fall short from experiencing God’s victory over human strife. No matter how rich and fulfilled you are in the eyes of the people, God knows what’s happening on the inside - - a life of guilt, depression, addiction, deception, animosity and discontent. These things will bury us in a bottomless pit where life is nil. A person may also be intelligent and does not need to believe on something that he does not see, but God will choose the foolish things of this world to shame the wise and this person will stand before God and He won’t acknowledge him for he chose to live his life according to how he designed it minus the will of the One who created him. As a Christian, we need to understand that we died with Jesus on the cross but since death could not hold Him down, He rose from the dead and now we live in Him and we are alive. We can never have a perfect life because we are not perfect, God knows that we can never be good enough for Him but because He is so gracious He makes us feel that no matter how many times we disappoint He remains faithful and still gives us His favor in everything we do.

A life of obedience means a life of abundance; this means that no matter how few the fishes and loaves are in your basket as long as you obey, God can multiply them to feed thousands of people who will soon be blessed because of your obedience to God. If God is telling us to do things now, then we shouldn’t be putting them off because we might not be able to do them in the future. A dirty pan if left unwashed for several days will become so difficult to wash, the same thing with our relationships. If God is asking you to heal that relationship with someone (mom, dad, friends, boss, etc.) but you keep on putting it off, our hearts will soon become calloused and we might not be able to re-build those broken relationships in the future. Life is too short to be spent with hatred, unforgiveness, and guilt. Night after night you go to your beds feeling frustrated about your broken relationships, but God can free you from those bondages if you only choose to obey and not procrastinate. What are you putting off today? Tomorrow might not come and you might suffer the consequences of disobedience. A disobedient life will only force God to disown you before His Holy Father.

Living a life with Christ is a decision that we need to nurture whether things go against our way or our way. Remember, that the true test of living a God-designed life is reflected on how we respond to struggles. In my quiet times with God, I ask Him a lot of questions about what’s been happening in my life, why He’s hiding His face from me, why He’s forsaken me in my wilderness, why He’s not answering my prayers but since I made a decision to live my life in Christ then I must accept His will even if I don’t understand it. I don’t want to rebel against God just because He’s not answering my needs; I know that I have only one life to live and I don’t want to spend it trying to figure out God’s perfect plan for me. For I know that everything works together for good to those who love God… Let’s all make every moment count, after all we only have one life to live!!

“Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain
a heart of wisdom.”
Psalms 90:12

Are You God's Pituitary

Fascinated with how brain works, I have always dreamt of acquiring a PhD on either Behavioural Genetics or Neuropsychology but you see the demands of work and time constraints have never failed to paralyse this dream. Oh, and not to mention financial limitation which all the more disrupts my cerebral homeostasis (anyone willing to raise a fund for me? Nyahahaha!!). However, this does not in any way stop me from being astonished by this part of the human anatomy. For it is in this dream that God is making me realise how limited our neuronal cells are despite their vast number. So I guess you would give me this liberty to displace my frustrations of becoming a Neuropsychologist by this “uber” pretentious journal, nyahahaha!

Even at a very young age I knew I was very competitive, always wanting to be the first in the class ---- **clears throat** only because I was always first in the line during flag ceremonies, class pictures and all those VERY discriminating activities that would require the class to fall in line. Ok, Ok I was….. or should I say I am a midget! **eyeballs rolling - right foot tapping** . You see, I grew up to be the 3rd shortest (I had always been one of the runners-up) among our class, which is why I despised my genes. It’s as if when God poured out His perfect genetic design for my clan, my mouth and my legs were widely open to embrace the dominant trait of dwarfism. Here’s the thing, one can never change a genetic composition, it’s the blueprint of our humanity. Genes are predefined so we can’t alter them just as we Christians are predestined by God according to His will (Eph 1:11). So I am now forced to love my height and be happy about it, awwww! Physiologically speaking, our brain still contributes growth during our childhood years until one reaches early adulthood. Consequently, I was a bit pacified by that fact and was compelled to believe that I could still grow a couple of inches more (I was only 4’11 during my elementary and early high school years --- is there a prize for being too honest?! nuni-nuni-nu) post my childhood years (by the way I’m now 5’8…. Oh c’mon Dennie I thought you’ve been released from your bondages?! ---- Ok, Ok I’m only 5’6 **sighs heavily**). I remember during my Biology class back in high school, there was one gland in our body that spiked my attention - - - the PITUITARY GLAND. You know why, because until now I have never stopped admiring this vital gland in our body situated at the bottom of the hypothalamus at the base of the brain only because it’s just about a size of a PEA….. Yup, you read it right, it’s as tiny as a pea yet is a very crucial gland. What perplexes me even more is that this pea-sized gland is necessary for GROWTH!!! weird – huh!! Yes, folks, this gland produces all of our growth hormones including Somatotropin, which is one of the most active growth hormones during our growing years. This paradoxical truth in human physiology can strongly be related to how God values us as individuals regardless of our limitations. No matter how tiny and insignificant our lives may seem, God will use us if we live our lives according to His purpose. Despite the pituitary gland’s minute structure, inside it are overflowing hormones that promote growth, and not to mention its role in controlling the functions of almost all other endocrine glands in the body. In the same way, God looks at what is inside of us and not our stature, profession, skills nor our influences. We can all be like the psalmist David, who despite his stature God saw the purity in his spirit and became one of the most influential Bible characters that we’ve ever known. My heart is overflowing with joy because I know that day by day God is increasing my faith, I used my miserable past to compare what it is like to be truly intoxicated by His love and grace. Yes, I am an insignificant person to some people but in the deepest recesses of my hypothalamus, I know that God’s purpose for me is to become great and He will gradually increase my territory. I want to be His Pituitary that despite my limitations in the natural I will be supernaturally lifted up way beyond ALL impossibilities….

So I encourage everyone to see yourselves the way God sees you. Let’s not stagnate our growth only because of natural limitations for God looks at the heart and our desire to be used by Him. I speak of growth to everyone who reads this journal for God will use you as His pituitary.

“Until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the
Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of
Christ. Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves
and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and
craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in
love, we will in all things grow up into Him who is the Head, that is, Christ"
Ephesians 4:13-15

The Science Of Christian Faith

Pardon for being “geeky” today, but allow me to freeze your mind as you flaccidly subject yourselves to a scientific journey towards the universe…. 1……..2………3…….. Troposphere…… Stratosphere…… you are now on top of the Ozone…… a little higher and you are just above Mesosphere and Ionosphere…. Then Voila! You see everything hovering up in the air and as you look down the Earth it looks just as big as the palms of your hand…. At this point you are starting to realise that God is soooo powerful… holding the entire universe by His own hands… But hey, wait-a-sec, don’t cry just as yet (freeze up your tears, will you?!) for our journey doesn’t end here, I still want you to see the Earth’s position around the mighty Sun………. this is my journal for this week.

Just imagine that our shuttle is situated a million miles away from the Earth and the Sun, from our point you’ll see that the Earth is relatively near the Sun as it revolves around an eccentric and stationary orbit. It is through this orbit that determines the Earth’s proximity to the mighty Sun, this also explains why we sometimes have longer nights and shorter days. APHELION, as I remember it, is the point in the orbit where the earth is furthest to the Sun that is why we have longer nights and PERIHELION is …. You guessed it right! The opposite (earth is closest to the Sun). Regardless of the earth’s spatial disposition, the mighty Sun remains STEADFAST to live up to it’s purpose ……. TO BE THE CENTRE OF THE UNIVERSE AND TO GIVE LIGHT TO THE HEAVENLY BODIES. The planets are free to move around the stationary Sun without disrupting its astronomical Sun-ness (for a lack of a better word) because the Sun was created to be self sufficient.

In the same way, in our running away from God, darkness will lure our own planet and the Sun (Jesus) becomes invisible. The longer the darkness stays the longer we desire for warmth. Too many times we tried to hide from God but we always failed because even in our darkest nights He still gives us the moon and the stars to shine our paths. I don’t know what or who your moon and stars are but one thing is certain, despite our wandering away from God, He knows that we can never be sufficient but He will allow us to see His grace shining so brightly above our dark skies. Just as the planets are free to move around a very stable and mighty Sun, our free will sometimes pulls us away from our source of light. However, God is too omniscient to know that even if we escape from His Lordship the universe will conspire to bring us closer and closer to Him who has been there all along like that mighty Sun.

It has been a long evening for me, but the moon and the stars have made me realise how God can STILL make wonders even during my darkest nights. Far or near from the centre, I know that God remains steadfast and His grace will pull me back to His warmth and light………. Jesus is the light of this world and just as long as I am with Him I can do anything and I can be anywhere I want to be.

"When Jesus spoke again to the people, He said, “ I am the light of the
world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light
of life." John 8:12