Democracy

Democracy. So what exactly does that mean? Well, from my political science class, the most important element is that there are degrees of "democracy." In that it is not just "something," but it is how much of it. Hmmm. So here is my two cents. I think the simplified version of democracy simply means the people in a geographical country has a voice. Of course, most of the time a democracy happens with a majority voice; elections and such. But it is becoming more famous now to voice out minority concerns, and bills get passed in Parliament too, due to this "democracy" element. Now, how democratic is that if everyone is able to voice and get their interests passed as a bill? I don't know...it is certainly contentious. Take the case of Canada's same sex marriage issue in Parliament. Due to the fact that it is viewed as a violation of citizen's rights not to be able to get married in the eyes of the law, the governing party; The Liberals will be taking it to Parliament at the end of this month. The bill is expected to be passed - homosexuals being able to get married legally. Well, there are a few oppositions, mainly conservative Christians, but really, it's a lost case. Sad as it is. So...although I do have my sentiments on democracy and do believe in it, it really depends to what extent it is practiced. If it is such that everyone, all minority interests are given attention to and weirder bills are being passed, now, I don't know how democratic that is to a person like me.

Anyway, I was not really thinking about the Canadian issue when I was starting to write on democracy. I am really thinking of the U.S. case. So Bush got elected again. I personally don't know if that is more of a bad news or an okay news. Of course I like his evangelical aspect, but other than that, I don't quite agree with many of his policies.

So he was just sworn in yesterday, and pledged to spread liberty and freedom "to the darkest corners of the world." Wow! I don't know if that sounds heroic or "ganas!"
Well, I don't know how "democractic" it is to barge in a country without the people having a voice/say in it, and trying to turn it into a democractic country. Wanting democracy for a country is good, but by just invading it, isn't that undemocratic to the people of the country since they really didn't have a say on it? I don't know, it is so contradictory! I am just saying that there must be a better way to influence other countries to see the good of being a democratic country, by obeying UN and being ethical at the same time.

Of course, world politics is complicated...but there must be a better way.

The Road Not Taken

TWO roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both

And be one traveler, long I stood

And looked down one as far as I could

To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,

And having perhaps the better claim,

Because it was grassy and wanted wear;

Though as for that the passing there

Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay

In leaves no step had trodden black.

Oh, I kept the first for another day!

Yet knowing how way leads on to way,

I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.


Robert Frost (1874–1963). Mountain Interval. 1920.

Blessed Assurance

Blessèd assurance, Jesus is mine!
O what a foretaste of glory divine!
Heir of salvation, purchase of God,
Born of His Spirit, washed in His blood.

Refrain

This is my story, this is my song,
Praising my Savior, all the day long;
This is my story, this is my song,
Praising my Savior, all the day long.

Perfect submission, perfect delight,
Visions of rapture now burst on my sight;
Angels descending bring from above
Echoes of mercy, whispers of love.

Refrain

Perfect submission, all is at rest
I in my Savior am happy and blest,
Watching and waiting, looking above,
Filled with His goodness, lost in His love.

Refrain

Words: bio("Fan­ny Cros­by","c/r/crosby_fj")
Fan­ny Cros­by, 1873:

Music: bio("Phoe­be P. Knapp","k/n/knapp_pp")
Phoe­be P. Knapp, 1873
lmn("a/s/s/Assurance")
(MI­DI, score)

http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/b/l/blesseda.htm

The Farm.

Hello all. It is the second day of winter semester today. It was a hustle bustle busy day, had three full classes; started from 9.30am to 4.50pm. Looked for books today. My, do they cost a lot of dough. hmm. Nevertheless, I think I will be enjoying this semester's courses very much. I am taking:-

BUEC 311 (Microeconomics)
Acctg 322 (Management Accounting)
Fin 301 (Finance)
Org A 201 (Organization Management)
CHRTC 350 (Science and Religion)

So, I have four core subjects and one elective. The elective is very interesting, shall tell you more as the course progresses. I was also enrolled in History 350. But after 10 minutes of it, I dropped it. Yep. Why? Well, it was supposed to be Canadian History, but it turned out to be Canadian Environmental History; not my cup of tea.

Okay, so on my title it writes "The Farm." I shall tell you more about it.
Last weekend, I went to my friend Steven's farm in Cremona. It was supposed to be a navigators leaders retreat, but it was supposed to be fun too. So anyway, we stayed at steven's house. It is huge! Absolutely huge and antique like! Yeah, the farm looks like those farms we would envision when reading an old farm like fiction book. Well...since my friend Steven is only 23 and having graduated from Agriculture not long ago, he didn't really build it. He inherited it from his grandparents. Anyway, it is a beautiful farm, with tons of snow encircling the house, and yards and yards of land covered with white snow. I saw herds of cows too. They are humonguous! It is just too bad that due to the B.S.E. case in Alberta, Canada, the price of a cow has dropped from $1500 to $150 which is tremendously bad for farmers. U.S. has since closed its borders to live cattle from Canada since June 2003. However, just when they announced to re-open their borders a week ago, there were another two B.S.E. cases reported in Alberta. Not good for the cattle industry at all. Hopefully things will get better.

Okay, so anyway it was not all about the cows and snow. We were productive too! We arrived Friday night - played games and chatted. On saturday morning, we made breakfast, and had two hours of quiet time with God alone. It was a good peaceful quiet time of just resting in God's presence and seeking Him. Then we did a lot of sharing with each other. Then it was dinner (yeah, always eating). The guys made dinner, and then "everyone" seemed really tired...so we only began our semester's planning on Sunday. Although it was only a few hours, we covered a lot, and everyone was very excited about this semester. Hope all will go well. Do pray for the Navigators Ministry on campus at University of Alberta.

Well, I would love to show you the pictures, but although I have downloaded Picasso which is recommended by the blog, I can't seem to upload pictures on my blog. Yes, I have tried clicking and playing with the mouse, but to no avail. So, if you are a blogger out there, help!

Phantom.

I saw the Phantom of the Opera today. I thought it was pretty good...and it left me thinking about some issues. After watching it, my friend asked me if I felt sorry for the phantom. I think I did...right from the scene which showed he was a young boy being beaten in a cage just because of his scarred face. That was horrific. I feel just awful for the fact that he was shunned and unmercifully treated due to his appearance.

Of course, he did many horrible things to harm people; and even killed. I am not saying that these things can be easily forgiven or dismissed. However, I think it is unfair to judge his actions of killing just based on 'madness.' An action taken by a person cannot be judged just at that time period that it happened, as I am sure there are reasons as to why he acted the way he did. People do not simply kill. There must be a reason, or reasons. For the phantom, it was his background which led him to become who he was. He was mistreated, and unloved due to his physical aberration. He never did experience a human's touch and love. This isolation of human's love led him to crave for love, and when he did find love in Christine, he was obsessed with her due to this need to be loved and to love. Certainly this background of his does not justify his wrong behaviour, however, I think whenever we do 'judge,' we have to take into account the life and background of a person, and try to understand why they did what they did.

I was talking to a long time friend yesterday. We were discussing about 'stupid things that people do.' Of course, we have different reservations about it. However, I feel so strongly that we should not brush away people who does 'stupid things' ; alcoholics, rapist, murderers, liars, people who do not conform to the norms in the society. They do not simply do those things for fun. There must be reasons as to why they did those things. I think it is so important to look at the person's background and try to feel for them, to understand things that led to their behaviour. Here in Edmonton, many people regard homeless people as 'lazy bums who saps off taxpayer's money.' I do not think that is entirely true. To judge them based on the appearance of it all can be deceiving. How sure are we that they did not try to get a job? Not everything can be judged by the looks of it. There could be many reasons as to why they just could not hold or find a job; mental illness, social problems, stresses in life, and so many other reasons. It is so important to try to understand those reasons, and feel for the people.

I think a lot of these deals with the notion of grace. Grace is when we are forgiven and shown mercy when we least deserve it. Come on, I am sure each one of us have done at least one 'bad' thing in life. And, should we just be judged by what we did, and be shunned away by others? If it were so, I think life would be meaningless. We do "sin and fall short of the glory of God." (Romans 3:23) And did God shun us out because of our sins? No...He chose to send His beloved son Jesus to save us by dying on the cross, so that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life (John 3:16). I always think of this as the greatest grace I have experienced.

And in the phantom of the opera, the phantom received this 'grace,' when Christine asked God to give her the strength and courage to love him. She then kissed him. I think this kiss really symbolized the grace which she shown him...in wanting to love him despite his evil deeds. And, by receiving this grace, the phantom experienced a sense of love and human touch that rocked him to come to his senses, that what he was doing was wrong. With this, he let Christine and Ralph go.

I think in so many ways, as when we have experienced this grace, of being in a sinful state yet having the joy of experiencing love and forgiveness, we should extend this grace to others. Love your neighbours as yourself is God's command to all of us. Be it a murderer or a rapist, or our irritating young brother who does 'stupid' things, I hope we will all extend grace. And if you have not experienced grace, I hope you will come to know the meaning of grace.

I reckon it works.

Ok, this is my first blog, although I have had to create a website for my BUS 201 course. Of course, it was rather inactive after the 'homework' was handed in. You will have to pardon my inexperience capabilities in writing and blogging. As always, I guess the best way to learn 'how to do this' is by just playing and clicking along! That's how technology works at times eh?

So...today is the 3rd day in 2005. I can't believe how fast time flies. Cliche as it sounds, it really is true. I am still on my christmas break and going back to University on January 10th. The past week of holiday has been pretty good, spent relaxing, sleeping more than usual to compensate the lack of sleep for the entire semester, eating more than usual (ate too much turkey during Christmas), reading, praying, e-mailing, reading up on world events. The tsunami disaster is indeed destressing and saddening. I guess how I feel is how everyone feel, and there is not much more I can express my sadness over the hundred thousands that have died and millions who are displaced without shelter, clean water and food. God certainly does have His reasons to allow the disaster to happen. So happen, I am writing a short theology paper on it, so e-mail me if you want to read it though it's really not a polished paper. Still working on it.

New Year's have been okay, went to church, then to friend's place for 'fondue.' It is a type of French cuisine, quite interesting...maybe I should get a set later! Went for 'Salute to Vienna' orchestra concert at Winspear Centre with aunt, and it was excellent.

Will blog-in later! Happy New Year!