How great is our god

char(:

Monday, September 24, 2007

"Oh besides reading my novels in school today, we basically did nothing cuz today is the day for finalising our marks and so on. So it was kinda slack... The funniest thing that happened today was probably when ms tan gave up the temasek polytechnic mag in the morning. So when we got it, me and charlene flipped to look inside the mag when denise suddenly said, "eh i think the guy on the right is handsome". ( not to us but indora) anyway charlene and my reaction were damn funny and so synchronized!!! upon hearing what denise said, we immediately flipped to the cover!!then we looked at each other and laughed like mad cause we didnt even consult each other or anything. it was a spontaneous chemical rxn! sigh are we desperate people?! i don't think so lah, just curiosity :) anyway i don't think the guy is cute."

stolen from nianci's blog =D

just for fun, i did the quiz in the mag.but i cant be bothered to type the questions out, ohwell.

You're a creative and imaginative person. You're at your best when you're thinking out of the box and harnessing your creativity. You could do well in our design and media-related courses.

You're a people person. You could do well in business-related courses especially those pertaining to hospitality and tourism, marketing, as well as in the new Psychology Studies course TP will start offering next year.

ah just tell me to work in the casino already.

=D

The beautiful structure of a poem written about wars can move you to tears when you realise that war is not as glorious as it seems to those bent on military expansion, but rather is a mindless destruction of what is dear to us. The words used are vivid, superimposing a picture of a bloodied battlefield with cries of the wounded mingled with the cheers of the triumphant army. We may even see a courageous Macbeth slaying tens of thousands with a single swing of his sword in our minds’ eye. Hence is the power of words.

Severn Suzuki, already an environmental activist at the tender age of twelve, is one such person who knows the power of words. Addressing the world from a podium probably higher than she was at an international conference, she repeated the phrase, “I am only a child” many times in her speech. Those simple yet powerful words expressed the need for adults to wake up and see the world through the eyes of a child, to look at the simple things in life with both joy and mourning because we are destroying the earth we have inherited. Even a child knows the power of words – what about the rest of us?

In the newspapers, journalists offer a wide range of vocabulary for students to learn. However, if you probe deeply enough, you may find that too many euphemisms are used. Frankness is something I feel newspapers should continue to cherish and espouse. It is only by using the right words, without exaggeration nor underplaying the true circumstances of the report, that we will be able to fully grasp and comprehend what is happening to the world we live in.

There is a word for every time. Though I call for frankness in a newspaper report, I also think sensitivity is important. At a funeral, words like “passed away” instead of “died” are frequently used. Though this may not be the most direct way of saying a person was no longer the cheery, spry senior citizen he used to be but is lying buried in the cold ground, it is a sign of respect for the bereaved. Hence we must be careful of the words we use, lest they offend someone.

The tongue is truly a coiled serpent. It is unpredictable and contradictory. It has flattery streaming from it one second, and the next moment holding invisible arrows that pierce the friend you were just talking to. It may smell of sweet honey one moment, and in the next the curses that pour forth could astound even yourself. It is a wise man who learns how to tame the tongue, such that it only encourages and affirms someone else, and avoids tearing a person’s reputation to shreds.

Words evoke emotions within us. A stand-up comedian will have us clutching our ribs and gasping for air with jokes and puns. A kindergarten teacher starts with “once upon a time” to introduce children to a world in which animals talk, boys cavort about in mud after being turned into pigs and fairy god-parents grants you the most absurd wishes you could think of. With a “and they live happily ever after,” children sigh, yawn and stretch, having had the resolution they were expecting.

Words are a paean to the very essence of human beings. We may be considered part of the animal kingdom, but according to the natural order conservative Christians from Victorian times believed in, we are higher than animals and just below God. That, I believe, is because we have the power of speech. Using that authority and talent bestowed upon us, we are able to name animals and even have them succumb to our will. A parrot is a fine example. It can easily be tamed, and then begins to mimick the words we say.

“One word may spark off a chain reaction of ideas within a group. One word, “Eureka!”, would mean the invention of something so amazing it changes our lifestyle. Veiled words have great consequences too. When President Truman introduced the Truman Doctrine to the world, he said that help would be offered to any country under threat from minorities or armed forces. By that, he meant Communism to be the threat. That speech resulted in the Cold War, a standoff between two countries whose ideologies were bipolar.

We communicate mostly through words, for it is not often that we find a friend who is truly psychic. However, words may be deceitful, and it is only by carefully listening to the unspoken words between two friends that we truly understand their meaning.

Words. Poweful, emotive, vivid, stinging – it is our prerogative to choose our words carefully or be branded a fool. Will you be the Severn Suzuki of your generation, to use your eloquence to draw us a picture of how pitifully the world has been decimated? Do you want to make a difference? Words are all you will need.

trembling at His voice,8:44 PM
You are worthy of our praise