Outside a storm appears to be brewing, as one UMNO minister after another pontificates over the right of Muslims to demonstrate against Justice Lau Bee Lan's okay to 'Allah' for non-Muslims (In the ongoing debate, it's conveniently forgotten that Sikhs too address God as 'Allah', and not just indigenous bumiputra Christians who only speak Bahasa).
For awhile, I forget that the world's not all right and that a cloud is descending over that ill-begotten PR-spun nonentity called 1 Malaysia.
There is a stirring inside as I think about recent events. As anxious as I am about the current turmoil, my mind is really regurgitating over the books I am currently reading and reflecting on: ex-missionary to the Congo, Helen Roseveare's testimony in Stand (John Piper/Justin Taylor) about the one thing that matters; Don Miller's essay on Isaiah's grim description of an ugly Jesus (Isa 53:2-3) in Searching For God Knows What; and Buechner's collection of sermons, Secrets in the Dark.Buechner's essay (actually, a sermon) A Room Called Remember was deeply moving, and I was teary at several points. Yes, while one may be preoccupied with what's not right, the oughts and what ifs and what could have been, nothing focuses the mind more than when we remember what is:
Glory in his holy name;
let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice.
Look to the LORD and his strength;
seek his face always.
Remember the wonders he has done,
his miracles, and the judgments he pronounced...
I Chronicles 16:10-12
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