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Archive for the ‘reflections’ Category

Getting Wisdom

Posted in reflections, tagged , on March 10, 2015| Leave a Comment »

Photo by tinyfroglet

Photo by tinyfroglet

By Diana Gee

Wisdom cries out in the street;
                        in the squares she raises her voice.
            At the busiest corner she cries out;
                        at the entrance of the city gates she speaks:
            “How long, O simple ones, will you love being simple?
            How long will scoffers delight in their scoffing
                        and fools hate knowledge? 
                                                                 —Proverbs 1:20-22 (NRSV)

Ignorance is bliss, so they say. Watching the news while eating dinner can leave one feeling disgusted and nauseous. War, destruction, violence, hunger, fear… the list goes on. There are some things that I’d rather not know, some things that I’d rather not deal with. (more…)

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A Season Spent Alone

Posted in reflections, tagged , on March 3, 2015| 1 Comment »

Photo by Goinoiseau

Photo by Pierre Goinoiseau

By Ann Chen

When I tell people about my time serving overseas in Malawi, the part that I usually get the most response about is when I tell them about the nearly 4 months I spent alone. (more…)

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Can “FOB Fever” Crack the Bamboo Ceiling?

Posted in reflections, tagged , , , , , on February 24, 2015| Leave a Comment »

Photo by Chris Smith Ronnie Shumate

Photo by Chris Smith Ronnie Shumate

By Young Lee Hertig

The term “the bamboo ceiling” coined by Jane Hyun describes the virtual absence of Asian Americans in top corporate CEO positions despite significant numbers of Asian American students at Harvard (18%) and Stanford (24%). On October 14, 2014, an article called “Cracking the Bamboo Ceiling” posted in The Atlantic stated that Asian Americans account for just 1.4% of Fortune 500 CEOs and 1.9% of corporate officers overall. (more…)

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Church Vs. School

Posted in reflections, tagged , , , on February 17, 2015| 1 Comment »

Photo by Vancouver Film School

Photo by Vancouver Film School

By Eun Joo Angela Ryo

I recently attended a seminar for the parents at a Korean immigrant church I was visiting last month.  The title of the seminar was “God and Grades.”  As a mother of a teenager and a preteen, I thought it would be helpful to check it out.  The seminar, as it turned out, should have been more accurately titled “Church Vs. School” rather than “God and Grades.” (more…)

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The Idealists and the Realists

Posted in reflections, tagged , on February 10, 2015| 1 Comment »

Photo by Sakhr Abdullah

Photo by Sakhr Abdullah

by Chloe Sun

This week, I came across a short poem that prompts me to reflect on the idealists and the realists. The poem goes like this:

Ideals are like stars
We never reach them,
But like mariners of the sea,
We chart our course by them.[1]

This poem distinguishes ideals from reality. Ideals and reality are not set in opposition to one another. Rather, they are in an interconnected relationship: Ideals give hope to reality. Ideals chart the course of our lives. Whether we can ever reach the ideals is not the question. The question is: as we journey through life, what are we guided by? Are we guided by a higher principle or are we like a ship wandering in the vast ocean aimlessly? (more…)

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Grace and Gratitude for the Moment

Posted in reflections, tagged , , , on February 3, 2015| 2 Comments »

Photo by Maria Liu Wong

Photo by Maria Liu Wong

By Maria Liu Wong

Coming out of the fog of an intense push to finish my dissertation in the midst of the holiday season in December – while juggling full-time work and family life raising three little ones – I was close to being totally burnt out and needing a serious break. A month later, in a session with my spiritual director, I looked back at that time as a gift, where I learned an important lesson of gratitude, in a journey and process that was surprisingly life-altering and life-giving. (more…)

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Life Map

Posted in reflections, tagged , , , , on January 27, 2015| Leave a Comment »

Photo by Courtney Rhodes

Photo by Courtney Rhodes

By Wendy Choy-Chan

As part of an exercise for a spiritual formation program, I had the opportunity to construct a life map of my own.  As I answered various prompts and filled in event after event in my life — negative and positive childhood memories, encouragement and criticism from major figures in life, etc. — something wonderful emerged from my life map.

There have been negative life events that have shaped me and given me false beliefs of myself and of God.  In the first few weeks of the program, we talked about negative cultural and family influences and how they project for us a false image of God. (more…)

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To Know and Be Known

Posted in reflections, tagged , , , , on January 20, 2015| Leave a Comment »

Photo by Jonathan Kos-Read

Photo by Jonathan Kos-Read

By Tina Teng-Henson

Dear Reader,

I realize, I don’t really know you. I read your little bios at the bottom of your blog posts, and I remember bits and pieces of things you’ve shared over the years… but who are you really? And who the heck am I? 🙂 Our words take us a long way on this journey to know and be known – yet at their best, they are still an approximation.

It’s mid-January, 2015. I don’t have any formal ministry responsibilities lined up ahead of me. I have one class this quarter then one class next quarter — then I’m done with my MDiv. I am, Lord willing, going to give birth to our second baby this summer, but that’s about it. (more…)

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Christ’s Love in Relationships

Posted in reflections, tagged , , on January 13, 2015| Leave a Comment »

Photo by Bent Velling

Photo by Bent Velling

By Liz Chang

When I provide therapy for couples who are struggling in the face of their child’s challenges, I often find that the role of ‘parent’ to their child can easily overthrow the role of ‘lover’ to one’s life partner. There have been many sessions when focus on a couple’s marital relationship significantly benefited their parent-child relationships. (more…)

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Complete Your Crew (Part 2)

Posted in reflections, tagged , , on January 6, 2015| Leave a Comment »

Photo by [ war horse ]

Photo by [ war horse ]

For Part 1–>

By Debbie Gin (originally written for ATS Colloquy Online)

There is one thing I would change if I had my journey to do all over again: I would have been more intentional about completing my crew. I would have figured out earlier where the holes were in my crew and strategized how I might connect with folks who could help me develop in specific areas. I would have created a mentor map of influencers in my life and identified the areas where I needed additional guidance. (more…)

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