Chet’s Chatter

Lonely

Posted on 26 March 2005 @ 21:08 in Personal

Ethan and VaLz are serving on board the M V Doulos, and Thumper is away for three weeks, halfway round the world, not to be seen online.

Haiyah …

Bamboo Time

Posted on 26 March 2005 @ 12:20 in Stress Busters

Picture edited courtesy of Brian of Mariseo’s House. Thanks, Brian!

Bai Yun at the end of yet another day at the San Diego Zoo. Here’s what it means to be a giant panda – living a life of solitude all year round, except for the few (very few) days when they gather to seek out mates and to mate.

But if you think such solitary creatures don’t know what to do when they have babies, you’re wrong. Mama Bai Yun has done well with the two babies she’s had so far – Hua Mei in 1999, and Mei Sheng in 2001.

When Hua Mei was born, Mama Bai Yun stayed with her in the birthing den for five whole days without drinking or eating. It was only on the fifth day that she ventured out and had a drink at the pool near the den. Even then, when she heard a squawk, she looked up and quickly returned to the den for her baby.

Maybe because Hua Mei was the first baby she had, Mama Bai Yun was extra careful with her. By the time Mei Sheng was born – and probably because he’s a boy – she was less afraid to leave him on his own. She left the birthing den on the fourth day, a day earlier than for Hua Mei. Later, it was reported that when Mei Sheng cried for attention when Mama was eating, she pushed him away in favour of her bamboo. This was when he was a few months older, and not a helpless newborn.

Of course, the San Diego Zoo staff took extra care with Hua Mei, too, putting her on public display only when she was six months old, whereas Mei Sheng met the world when he was four months old.

When it came time for Mama Bai Yun to be separated from her first born, the Zoo made a big deal of it, videotaping the event for posterity. Here’s a photo of their last time together:

In Mei Sheng’s case, it was reported that the separation was natural, with no pictures to mark the occasion (well, at least, nothing posted on the web site). Aww …

Meanwhile, Mama Bai Yun is getting ready for another mating season. If all goes well, there will be the pitter-patter of tiny giant panda cubby paws at the San Diego Zoo later this year.

Stay tuned …

A Testimony

Posted on 25 March 2005 @ 21:32 in My Faith

I used to think I need a major testimony to share when people ask me how I became a Christian. I still have that, the testimony about events that led to the conversion. But being a Christian is not about how we became Christians, cuz that would be standing still at that moment of change. But being a Christian means moving on beyond that moment of change, an ongoing lifelong story about how God is changing our lives, and what we’re doing with the new lives He has given us.

Being a Christian is about all the little testimonies about what goes on in our lives that in some way or other – big or small, usually small – glorifies His Name.

Being a Christian is not about earth-shattering things we do for the Lord, but little things that help someone in some way, however small.

It’s not about “oh praise the Lord, I saved so many souls this past week”, but about accepting, admitting and confessing our weaknesses, and acknowledging that we need Him, that on our own, without Him, we can do nothing.

No apologies

Posted on 25 March 2005 @ 21:27 in My Faith

It’s Good Friday, and no, I wasn’t in church today. I probably won’t be in church on Easter Sunday either. Instead, I spent today being with my loved ones, and doing things for the beloved one, which I know is what God wanted me to do. And that is where I will be the rest of this weekend, too – with my loved ones.

Physically, I may not be in church. But in my heart, that most important of places, I remember what He did for me, for you, for all of us today. And don’t worry, satan – you have not defeated Him. Death has not defeated Him. Wait three days and see.

Yes, it’s Good Friday. But instead of meditating on God’s Word, I want to share some words from a non-Christian who told her audience in Singapore last month, “How can I be a Christian? I’m a Jew.”

“We are saints and we are sinners
We are heroes we are thieves
We are all of us beginners
on the road to Galilee”

“Mary’s Eyes”

“Here is your living proof
that death cannot be proud
Some say it’s a judgement on us all
I can’t believe that God could be that small”

“When Angels Cry”

“It” is AIDS, and “When Angels Cry” was a song she wrote about the scourge, and no, not against it …

Honest and from the heart. Sometimes, I think that’s all God wants from us.