Out of the Blue

Tonight I attended a musical out up by my secondary school, called "The Father's Hand". Though I initially felt reluctant to go, I must say now that I did not regret it at all. It was definitely heartwarming to see and feel the familiar PL spirit of putting God first in everything we do. Today, as an adult looking back at the tradition that laid a foundation in my growth, I appreciate it very much. Because it was a bedrock that built my life. And I'm so relieved God put me in PL,despite my other preferences in the past. The musical was about "Jena and the Israelites in their journey of faith, where they discover that their identity and purpose in life are in the Father's Hand." It drew on the human need for undersanding of one's existence and the desire to be feel important in others' eyes. In fact, I saw alot of myself in the characters played out. I'm like the Israelites, who got dis-illusioned and complained when there was no w

"It was not by gentle sweetness and womanly self-abnegation that she brought order out of chaos in the Scutari hospitals, that from her own resources she had clothed the British Army, that she had spread her dominion over the serried and reluctant powers of the official world; it was by strict method, by stern method, by rigid attention to detail by cease-less labour, by the fixed determination of an indomitable will. Beneath her cool and calm demeanor, there lurked fierce and passionate fires. "(Lytton Strachey on Florence Nightingale, in 'Spirtual Leadership') I was surprised to read this description of Florence Nightingale. In my impression, she was a gentle, kind-hearted and noble angel whom started the nursing profession. What I did not realise is the hard discipline required of the lady in white.  And isn't it so in our lives?  A good performance or a job well done is the result of labour and intentional working out of what God has given us.   

My homework this month as I start New Staff Training is to read a book called,"Spiritual Leadership" by J. Osawald Sanders. What seemed like a too-serious cum boring topic to delive into became a thought provoking learning experience, making my dreaded trips to and from home on that bumpy bus 30 more enjoyable. Like to extract a memorable quote by Samuel Brengle (leader in Salvation Army): "(Spiritual Leadership)..is not won by promotion, but by many prayers and tears. It is attained by confession of sin, and much heartsearching and humbling before God; by self surrender, a courageous sacrifice of every idol; a bold uncomplaining embrace of the cross, and by an eternal, unfaltering look unto Jesus crucified. It is not gained by seeking great things for ourselves, but like Paul, by counting those things gained to us as loss for Christ. This is a great price, but it must be paid by the leader who would not merely a nominal but a real spiritual leader of men, a le