It's not that unusual
When everything is beautiful
It's just another
Ordinary miracle today
The sky knows when it's time to snow
Don't need to teach a seed to grow
It's just another
Ordinary miracle today
Life is like a gift, they say
Wrapped up for you everyday
Open up, and find a way
To give some of your own
Isn't it remarkable?
Like every time a raindrop falls
It's just another
Ordinary miracle today
The birds in winter have their fling
And always make it home by spring
It's just another
Ordinary miracle today
When you wake up everyday
Please don't throw your dreams away
Hold them close to your heart
'Cause we are all a part
Of the ordinary miracle
Ordinary miracle
Do you want to see a miracle
It seems so exceptional
That things work out after all
It's just another
Ordinary miracle today
The sun comes out and shines so bright
And disappears again at night
It's just another
Ordinary miracle today
I wish I could go travelling again
It feels like the summer will never end
And I've had such good offers from several of my friends
I wish I could go travelling again
I want to sit in my shades, sipping my latté
Beneath the awning of a famous café
Jet-lagged and with our luggage gone astray
I wish I could go travelling again
I want a waiter to give us a reprimand
In a language neither of us understand
While we argue about the customs of the land
I wish I could go travelling again
I want to sit in traffic, anxious about our plane
While you blasé comments drive me half insane
I want to dash for shelter with you through the tropical rain
I wish I could go travelling again
I want to be awakened by a faulty fire alarm
In an overpriced hotel devoid of charm
Then fall asleep again back in your arms
I wish I could go travelling again
But how can I ever go travelling again
When I know I'll just keep remembering again
When I know I'll just be gathering again
Reminders to break my heart
I wish I could go travelling again
It fells like this summer will never end
And I've had such good offers from several of my friends
I wish I could go travelling again
"Kant's life was outwardly uneventful. He was born, studied, taught and died in the same place --- the east Prussian port city of Konigsberg. He served as an unsalaried lecturer at the university (1755-1770) before being elected professor of logic and metaphysics. Kant was unmarried and untraveled. His schedule was so regimented that the women of the town are said to have set their watches by his 3:30 p.m. daily walk. Not until he was fifty-seven years old did Kant produced a major work..."
又或者，是要突出尾句才這樣鋪陳的：
"Yet the book he did publish that year, The critique of Pure Reason (1781), rocked the philosophical world and inagurated an intellectual tidal wave, the effects of which are still being felt."
Mary and Joseph seem surprised when Simeon tells them that their son's actions will lead to the fall and rise of many in Israel. The prophet Anna raises her hands to indicate that she also considers the boy the Messias.
This is one of Rembrandt's earliest known works. He made at least two more paintings with Simeon: in 1631 and in 1669.
鬧情緒的天氣，打翻了回憶的五味架，過去、現在、將來散落一地。順手牽來數年前一份沒趕及開封的禮物，揚聲器娓娓道出昨日的掙扎、明日的挑戰，今天的踏實感覺。給祢再下一城彷彿意味著一切已再沒有爭辯的餘地；也不用爭辯了－－祢的靈乘載我，祢的愛使我自由、使我成為我，I put my trust in You.
今天的點唱，給天上的父；I put my Trust in You, by Gregory Charles
You know sometimes the world is so cruel Warm each day and suddenly cool You lead your life feeling real strong Before you know it everything's wrong When there's nowhere to hide When I need someone by my side All that I must do...
Is put my trust in you I believe what you say is true I have faith in what you do Yes I do You are my dream come true I put my trust in you And I know when I am blue Yes I know you'll carry me through Yes I do All that I need to do Is put my trust in you
The taller you feel the harder you fall And when you're down (now) who do you call When you need someone to hold your hand Someone who'll help you make your stand When there's nowhere to hide When I need someone by my side All that I must do
CHORUS
Oh You've always been there for me You're the wind that has carried me Your love has set me free Your love has made me: me
accidentally came across this psalm on such a special day; can't believe some description of the wicked stays the same from generation to generation.
God said "vengence is mine", may it be fulfilled in due time.
Psalm 64 (English Standard Version)
Hide Me from the Wicked To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.
Hear my voice, O God, in my complaint; preserve my life from dread of the enemy. Hide me from the secret plots of the wicked, from the throng of evildoers, who whet their tongues like swords, who aim bitter words like arrows, shooting from ambush at the blameless, shooting at him suddenly and without fear. They hold fast to their evil purpose; they talk of laying snares secretly, thinking, "Who can see them?" They search out injustice, saying, "We have accomplished a diligent search." For the inward mind and heart of a man are deep!
But God shoots his arrow at them; they are wounded suddenly. They are brought to ruin, with their own tongues turned against them; all who see them will wag their heads. Then all mankind fears; they tell what God has brought about and ponder what he has done.
Let the righteous one rejoice in the LORD and take refuge in him! Let all the upright in heart exult!
By Kolawole Olaiya, Nigeria (*This poem is dedicated to my late father. it was inspired by the sudden news of his transition.)
i've always thought that those who traverse the length and breadth of the earth would know how far the distance is...
drenched by the ice navigating the contours of my shivering shoulders; some dwelling on the valleys of my bags in bits, others settling in the creases of my ruffled muffler
i traverse the distance, smiling, threading delicately on slippery pellets cascading from the sky's moody eyes dabbing the earth in snow-white.
and on getting home, i peeped out of my mouldy room savouring the mixed joys of surviving another distance.
can even those who travel the length and breadth of the earth conquer distances' chameleonic antics?...
i have seen distance turn prince to pauper, subjecting stately souls to the slovenly hands of melancholy
i have seen teachers turned learners of new accents to bridge the gulfs created by distance
i have seen distance tame the hawk and the dove forcing them to cohabit peacefully.
i have seen distance fashion new tongues from myriad people yoked together by choice in Toronto
having cruised the length and breadth of the earth in the twilight of my wanderings, i thought i understood distances' riddles and knew how far the distance was
until the phone - subverter of long distances - that misty morning, brought me news of another distance that had been untimely bridged:
my father, horsetail in both hands, has suddenly navigated a new distance; danced to join his ancestors without leaving a word on how i can transverse the travails of this painful distance.
who really can conquer distances and understand how distant the distance is?
要借別人的哀愁來理解理自己的茫然，就是我跟自己最遠的距離。
"I've seen things you people wouldn't believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhauser gate. All those moments will be lost in time... like tears in rain... Time to die." ~ Blade Runner 1982 ~
Lord, teach me to read the many languages of love: the way my parents put up with me, the little things they do for me, that i may uncover their caring and desire to connect to me behind the seemingly brief and mundane sentences/questions about the movie i watched or the dinner i had; how my teachers voluntarily lingers after class for us, the way my classmates take the initiatives to open up conversations, strangers who'd hold the door for me, or those who let me exit the bus before they do, my mentors' smiles, a friend's pad on my shoulder, the kids who distracted me from work at Habitu.....
and sometimes, when love is hard to be read, like waking up in the middle of the night and getting sick, being yelled at, rejected, gossiped about, looked down on....Lord, grant me still the faith to believe, that under the facade of pain, love lingers.
when people do not respond in ways i expected, Lord, teach me the patience of a persistent translator, to take it as just another difficult sentence yet to be translated, to still read that love language though it may seem so foreign to me, to be humble enough to learn their language of love, their way.
and if i may be so bold to ask for more, that you'd love me lavishly when i get lost in translations and become frustrated, and remind me about this prayer, with the tenderness of the humble king.
人生の全てに意味があるから Woo...（人生的一切都是有意義的，喔～）
恐れずにあなたの夢を育てて（所以請不要畏懼，去栽培你的夢想吧）
La la la la la la, Keep on believing
La la la la la la, Keep on believing
Keep on believing, Keep on believing...
害怕being lost in translation的人，在陌生的語言中感到完全被明白，是難以言喻的一種being found in translation的、「被接住了」的窩心。
也許，淚水是要幫我畫出一道前行的彩虹？
想起了Maria Jastrzebska的〈Bi-lingual〉：
Under these words
Are the hidden words
I can't say to you - Whichever way I face
There's always another language
One you don't know
One from which I sometimes translate
Words for you
Words you sometimes learn
Painfully
One at a time But even then there's a gap
Even between words that are supposed to mean the same.
Under these words
Are the echoes of other words
Woven in brighter colours
Spoken more loudly
A different nourishment.
If I told you that other language runs
Swift as my own blood
Splashing and bubbling
Under the surface of our conversation
Runs like a river underground
Crying and thundering through silences
You can feel it
If you press your body to the ground
If I told you I want you
To press against these words
Would you feel its echoes?
Whichever way I face
Even between words which mean the same thing
There's a gap
An enormous space
It is a world of its own
Dazzling me
Wild rock torn apart
By sudden waterfalls
Rich source of my longings
World between worlds
I've paced up and down it It is the loneliest place I know.
曾經深信那翻不出來的文字就是"the loneliest place I know"，但原來，「明白」，也不是必要的。那種不再害怕being lost in translation的豁然開朗，鼓勵我繼續寫作。
生活中散亂又零碎的點滴，跟我聽過的音樂交織在一起；沒有目的，不是要交代什麼，i was simply thinking out loud i guess...... To see a world in a grain of sand, And a heaven in a wild flower, Hold infinity in the palm of your hand, And eternity in an hour.
~ Auguries of Innocence by William Blake
一早一晚穿梭於城市的血脈中，熙來攘往，是RubberBand的〈一早地下鐵〉：
天一光已踏進地底裡 小吃站選一罐冰汽水 請小心踏進列車裡 座位不夠窗邊寄居……
又是回家路上的片段；每次見到牠們的蹤影，都會樂足一整晚，那怕只是一個「我很睏，別過來」的不屑眼神。
〈像貓的女人〉
多少有一點懶惰性 很珍惜空間 怕重新適應環境 習慣自我 喜歡冷清 像貓的德性 自有我傻勁 若隨時高興 想飛出撲在你的身邊 如高興 躺於你懷裡去取暖 Nothing you have Nothing I care 享受你眷戀 如此專一 不會善變
是2000年URBANA的杯，今天，拿著它，在神學院；昨日彩虹下的約定，彷彿只相隔一盞荼的時間：
〈The Rainbow Connection〉
Who said that every wish would be heard and answered when wished on the morning star? Somebody thought of that and someone believed it, and look what it's done so far. What's so amazing that keeps us stargazing? And what do we think we might see? Someday we'll find it, the rainbow connection, the lovers, the dreamers and me.
When you try your best but you don't succeed When you get what you want but not what you need When you feel so tired but you can't sleep Stuck in reverse.
And the tears come streaming down your face When you lose something you can't replace When you love someone but it goes to waste Could it be worse?
Lights will guide you home And ignite your bones And I will try to fix you
導演：Yasmin Ahmad 國家：馬來西亞 年份：2009 也不是第一晚了，要不徹夜造夢，要不夜半醒來好幾小時。昨晚睡得特別差，心掛掛六時多起來做原文釋經，腦海還不時想著另一個將要交的書評，心身靈絞作一團。在最stress的日子，聽了李傳道的話：去睇戲。
謝謝天父，在我需要的時候，賜下眼光獨到的同伴，選來一齣好電影。
一開始就認出昔日曾彈得滾瓜爛熟的clair de lune，月亮、茉莉花、音樂，一直貫穿整齣電影。不是最refined的零瑕疵製作，卻像一份很「人」的手作小禮物，就如teddy姐送的小禮物一樣，genuinely handmade。
另一個驚喜，是曲終人未散的「與導演對談」；像母親一樣的女導演，溫柔的回應著觀眾的提問；其實也不是什麼特別的提問，是他們的所思所感吧！臨走前還是忍不住走上前對她說，"your film inspired me so much tonight, and i really love the music, both the classical and original works"。我告訴她我在加拿大居住的日子也是每天得面對多元文化、種族、宗教的互相碰撞和磨合，那種複雜的情緒在117分鐘的電影中再度躍現眼前。我想我大概是感動的，因為大家仍在不斷思想如何和平地共存於狹小的地球上。
喜歡這位有heart的導演，也因為之後讀了她的文字；回看別人對自己的批評，Yasmin不忘同伴給她的鼓勵，也節錄了畫家Andrew Wyeth的話："I get letters from people about my work. The thing that pleases me most is that my work touches their feelings. In fact, they don't talk about the paintings. They end up telling me the story of their life or how their father died."
對後來的人，她如此說：Today, after making about 50 television commercials and six feature-length films, after winning 11 international awards, I often feel like I don't know the first thing about filmmaking. But I know this much: If your intentions are pure, if you apply your craft with a view to observe humanity and, ultimately, God himself, very often something powerful will surface. And the next thing you know, hordes of strangers from all around the world are stepping forward to tell you "the story of their life or how their father died."
在哀傷的日子，祢沒有叫我「別流淚」，只輕輕的說："i love you just as you are"；世上亦只有祢能夠依我的本相愛我，因為祢是愛。多年前mentor的一句，至今未敢忘記："we can do nothing to make God love us more, neither can we do anything to make Him love us less"。那是學習愛自己的第一步，這麼多年，仍未學會，卻從沒放棄。
"The first gavotte keeps the tension going by varying the rhythms, and this change continues throughout the middle dance, which, in its triplet meter show a special vigour. Like a soufflé following a grand gourmet meal, the gigue is light, frothy and a pleasant ending to a monumental work."
"No one understands another's grief, no one understands another's joy... My music is the product of my talent and my misery. And that which I have written in my greatest distress is what the world seems to like best."
