Friday Of Impossible Prayers (And Other Stuff)

***Update: Per normal, the original post below was written several days before Friday posting. When I posted it to my Facebook, I still had no idea Malaysian flight MH 370 had just gone missing (or maybe when I posted it had not gone missing yet, I’m not even sure). At the writing of this update, the plane is still missing.

Because of the title of my post, I wanted to clarify I had no idea about MH 370 at the time. It is purely coincidental on my part.  

Praying, praying, praying for MH 370 and loved ones of all those on board.

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1) The Oscars. I love what I can learn from watching stuff on the ‘tube, but honestly – not a movie buff. Kings determines almost everything we watch at the movies, and whether we do. I’m there for the beer, olives and nachos.

The Oscars and other entertainment awards however, you follow because nothing better reflects the sentiments of our times than the entertainment we choose, and choose to honor. From trophy – brandishing “fat girls” screaming “This one’s for fat girls everywhere!” to Lupita N’yongo’s by now famous speech about dark and inner beauty – there is no quicker “cheat sheet” of society and popular culture than to look at what we choose to entertain ourselves with, be inspired by.

When Lupita’s speech started getting raves, I went looking for the transcript. Her much-heralded take on beauty and our concept of it, but that was not what stood out for me. This was:

“…my one prayer to God, the miracle worker, was that I would wake up lighter-skinned.”

As someone who has prayed “impossible” prayers requiring “miracles”, I thought it was a simple, effective affirmation of how He hears our prayers, works in His own time, and yes, performs miracles. You might not walk on water, but you may see His hand in making it freeze over. (Or, He might put a drink in yours, with a little umbrella sticking out of it, someplace warm.)

I suddenly remembered that before I became a Christian, I once prayed a challenge: If you fix that God, I’ll believe. Decades passed, I came to believe (sans that particular miracle) in a way that was so all-consumingly powerful that my old challenge is so laughable, and I forgot about it until I read about Lupita’s “impossible prayer.” God willing, there are certainly ways to fix dark skin, technology has seen to that. But she got something that in her limited knowledge she could never know to pray for, something infinitely better.

We pray for what we want, don’t we? I often tell the Rockstars, “You can never get what you want if you don’t know what you want.” But what if you no longer want (or have discovered you don’t really need) what you prayed for? 

Thought for the week. We can pray impossible prayers, isn’t that just awesome?

Oh, and Ellen’s record-smashing Tweet.

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2) Life on Mars, ancient viruses….

Martian Meteorite Suggests Water And Microbial Life On Mars Once Upon A Time.

Scientists Resurrect Ancient Virus That Once Nibbled On Mammoth Carcasses (they’re hoping to find enough DNA in the stomachs of the frozen microbes to clone mammoths. Way to Real-life Jurassic Park. See what multi-billion-dollar movie machines can do for creativity, inspiration and yes plain ol’ entertainment of a 6 year old?)

Oh yeah there’s another reason I go in search of hit movies despite being completely able to take or leave movies – it’s because it’s a multi-billion dollar entertainment industry. Money attracts talent and creativity. (Ok, sometimes.)

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3) Oops picture-lite. And so about now is when I break out the

Imgurians’ phrases for things.

(I have a 21 month old who thinks “Cabbit” is more efficient than “carrots for rabbits,” of course I’d put this up)

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4) Um… Singapore’s Megachurches Move To Export Lucrative Religion

Ok this is touchy. So I will stick to as plain a narration of my “history” as possible. While in Singapore, I attended one of those megachurch services relatively regularly (to be exact the weekday Bible study, not so often Sunday service). And NOT at the megachurch currently facing lawsuits and other controversy.

As a fairly staunch Buddhist/ Taoist back then and coming from several generations of this faith (I even had a little statue of the Goddess of Mercy Guanyin, that my mother had taken with her to an old temple in Penang, had its “eyes opened” in a special ceremony, and then sent to accompany me in Singapore*), the description a close friend gave me, of his sibling and youth group-mates (whom I had once attended church service with) messing with their family altar and mocking it, left a lasting impression. (Not a Christian either back then, he was also deeply affected by it.)

It was an incredibly humbling experience that of all the places I would feel something powerful, and irrevocably know there is a God, it would be in this megachurch I had had an intense dislike for as a non-Christian. I was there that night because I was humoring a colleague I respected very much, who had unrelentingly kept inviting me to church after work. I didn’t believe, but was in no doubt that she believed with every fiber of her being and walked the talk every day in the dealing room because of it – no mean feat.

Why, YES, she attended that church too.

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5) Quick-thinking Taco Cook chases would-be kidnapper, saves 4 year old.

This is a beautiful story. After 2 blocks, kidnapper tells taco cook Delgado to leave the boy alone with him, because it’s just not his problem. He says it is, and manages to keep the guy til police arrive. When people discover Delgado is himself a father of a special needs girl, they start collecting donations, in inspiration of Not Just His Problem.

(More stories at bottom of link).

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6) 18 Things Creative People Do Differently. I was actually looking for something else to entertain the Rockstars with, this turned out to be a good read for myself instead.

7) Sorry picture lite. Here’s Wild Animals Practically Pose For Him.

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8) This week’s 5 second skit is simply “Hee hee hee.” Rockstar practices his Taegeuk on the bed and for some reason the upper block totally cracks the Miss up.

Good weekend dears…

 

* The night I unexpectedly became a Christian, I went back to where I lived back then in Singapore, past the huge floor-to-ceiling altar, also of the Goddess of Mercy Guanyin, that was right outside the door to my little rented bedroom, and had one final (polite) conversation with the little statue my mother had given me. I said I had chosen differently.

It was an incredibly comfortable, clear-conscienced transition into my newfound faith. There was no turmoil, no fear, I continued to live in this apartment, for maybe a year more. I passed the altars several times a day and was often in the apartment alone because my landlady worked shifts in the Singapore Air Force. On my next trip back to Penang, I returned the statue to my mother, where it sits on her family altar til today. I think my mother was immensely relieved I did not become one of “those” Christians.