My Christian columns

I write a weekly column for our church newsletter, The Christian Message. In Light Manner is the name of the column I started in January 2005 and recently I started another one called Lil Notes to God. In Light Manner is a pun on in like manner, an expression often quoted in the bible which means in the same way. Lil Notes is as the name implies, little notes, which I sometimes write using other people's voices.

From Guilty Greeter

Lil Notes to God

Dear Lord

Someone confided in me that she feels alienated in church. She comes to church, where one expects to find friendly Christians all over the place, but hardly anyone greets her or smiles at her. She is slighted and lonely, a buoy bobbing alone in the ocean. 

Watt’s brewing in Model Citizen’s home

• 
• If life gives you bruised bananas, make pisang goreng.
• If it gives you rotten apples, make compost.
• If it gives you lemon, make lemonade.

Watt’s up with all these aphorisms?

Raining cheese

"Mummy, will it rain cheese?" No. 3 asked recently.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"You said the water dries up and become clouds, then the clouds rain. If you leave cheese out in the open and it dries up, will it rain cheese?"

Alive and Kicking

Two weeks in a coma and now I'm resuscitated. A coma is not a condition you want to be in, ever. Take it from me. I've been through it first-hand in the figurative sense and second-hand in the literal sense when my father lapsed into a coma before he passed on. 

Confessions of a Workaholic

In Light Manner

This confession appeared in Business Week Online. It is shared by one Ron Scheer who wrote in to columnist Azriela Jaffe after the latter’s article on workaholic parents struck a chord with him.

Ron wrote, "The workaholism issue is a real one for me. I am never more than a couple steps — mentally — from the computer. What keeps me tethered is the fear that if I stop, my whole world will come crashing in on me. It's hard to get out of that mindset for even a few minutes."

A lil bit of Donny

On Wesak Day, I caught a bit of The Royal Variety Show while folding the laundry. I’m glad I did because it really sent me scampering down memory lane. Seeing Donny Osmond as he is now made me realize how much of a relic I’m becoming. I’m practically heading for the museum. But I digress. I used to watch Donny & Marie on TV back in the seventies. In fact I can’t get these lyrics off my mind :

From Not Sour Grapes

Lil Notes to God

Dear Lord

The SPM results are out. I didn’t pass with flying colours. My grades just hovered above ground. I only have myself to blame for the lack luster performance as I didn’t study hard for my exams.

Wash Day

 

In Light Manner

Housework and I don’t have an affinity for each other. Though I employ a part-time cleaner to mop and clean, there are still lots of odds and ends that need to be done around the house. So when I receive an email with Wash Day as its header, I opened it eagerly, thinking that it may contain some household tips to make washing a breeze. I was mistaken.

Coma

This blog is going into a self-induced coma. Initially I had wanted to pull the plug and let it R.I.P. but that seemed too drastic a measure. So my next best option is to let it lapse into a coma. I don't know when the blog will regain consciousness but when it does, I'll put out the word.  Maybe sometime in June, maybe later, maybe never.