On Pursuit

by Thomas Heng

Not to beat down the Other

Nor to promote Oneself

Not for Riches from without

Nor for Glory for its own sake

Not to avenge some Injustice

Nor to cast aside one's own Afflictions

Not for one's Redemption

Nor for Others' sake

You are but the natural Consequence; the

Sum of mind, flesh and ego; when

Aligned to universal Spirit; a

Response to divine Grace

Keys to Success

by Thomas Heng

Consider

Life

As

Really

Important

To

Yourself

Forget

Other

Considerations

Utilise

Spirit

Let

Information

Seep

Through

ENtirely

Master

Emotions

Always

New

INsights

Gained

Excellence

Never

Excludes the

Results

Generated by

You

When

In

Silence

Dwell

On

Me

Place

Ultimate

Recognition on

Personal

Objectives that

Serve

Everyone

Life

Of

Virtuous

Excellence

The Mystery of Choice

by Thomas Heng

Choice, a word oft used yet much abused

When paired with Freedom, one finds War

When bounded with Rationality, one risks Conformity

When teamed with Dichotomy, Falsehood reigns

Choice, a word simple yet profound

When confronted with the mirror of Truth

Suppression flees, as does Fear and Loss

Only Purpose and Wisdom remain

Guiding one's steps towards Destiny

On Mission

by Thomas Heng

Visualisation of the dream is the first step towards creating reality
But it is Mission that provides purpose to Sight,
That directs and drives Action.

While the forces of Doubt do their best to thwart Action,
It is Mission that sustains faith, and Vision that preserves hope,
Blessed indeed are those who do not see, and yet believe.

For Vision, Mission and Action are but one,
In union with faith, hope and love, striving towards Destiny
And eternal Harmony with the Infinite.

On Suffering

by Thomas Heng

Oh! that Man can be so deluded, to
Believe that Suffering o'er him reigns;
Permanent though Suffering may seem, yet
Immortal she is not.

For Pain is only as strong as its victim
Who may well tremble under her rod; yet
Ownest her Man must, for
Such is his birthright.

Ally with Pain, once Man's enemy,
Transform fear into faith
Allow Suffering to run her course,
The fullness of Man's Destiny awaits.

Without

by Thomas Heng

LORD, with you I can
Arrive without preconception
Enter without qualification
Partake without charge

Hope without proof
Witness without evidence
Share myself without judgement
Provide solace without comfort
Illuminate without being engulfed

Be right without being righteous
Be humbled without humiliation
Be content without avarice
Be hurt without suffering
Revisit without rancour

Toil without weariness
Persist without approval
Proceed without wavering
Persevere without vindication
Love without reward
Leave without being abandoned

May I always remain in Your Love
without losing faith in You
Amen.

On Love

by Thomas Heng

Love + Loss = Grief

Love + Desire = Lust

Love + Reason = Vanity

Love + Hate = Philosophy

Love + Control = Obsession

Love + Laughter = Euphoria

Love + Longing = Attachment

Love + Words = Law

Love + Action = Justice

Love + Action + Words = Romance

Love + Loss + Desire + Reason + Control + Laughter + Longing + Words + Action = the approximate of the Entirety of the Human Experience

Love diminishes when added to other forms of human expression.

Love simply Is, without compare, for Love originates from that which is Divine.

Oh! for the Infinite Love that transcends all human understanding,

Yet that is the Eternal Legacy embedded within every single soul of Humanity.

Prayer for Discernment

Heavenly Father,

Help me to discern

The Thing Behind the things

The Meaning Behind the words

The Evidence Behind the actions

I ask this in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit,

Amen.

The Infinite Love

by Thomas Heng

Love initiates through a multitude of circumstances and situations.

Love grows with faith.

Love ends when expectations begin.

Love returns through forgiveness.

The same can be said of once's relationship with the Infinite.

THE OLD MAN AND HIS SHOE

This is one of my favourite stories, enjoy!

__________________________________

One day an old man boarded a bus. As he was going up the steps, one 

of his shoes slipped off. The door closed and the bus moved off so he was 

unable to retrieve it. The old man calmly took off his other shoe and 

threw it out of the window. 

A young man on the bus saw what happened, and could 

not help going up to the old man and asking, "I noticed what you did, sir. 

Why did you throw out your other shoe?" The old man promptly replied, "So 

that whoever finds them will be able to use them." 

The old man in the story understood a fundamental philosophy for life - do not hold on to 

something simply for the sake of possessing it or because you do not wish 

others to have it. We lose things all the time. The loss may seem to us 

grievous and unjust initially, but loss only happens so that positive changes 

can occur in our lives. 

We should not always assume that losing something is 

bad, because if things do not shift, we'll never become better people or 

experience better things. That's not to say of course that we only 

lose "bad" things; It simply means that in order for us to mature 

emotionally and spiritually, and for us to contribute to the world, the 

interchange between loss and gain is necessary. 

Like the old man in the story, we have to learn to let go. The world had 

decided that it was time for the old man to lose his shoe. Maybe this happened 

to add momentum to a series of events leading to a better pair of shoes for the 

old man. Maybe the search for another pair of shoes would lead the old man 

to a great benefactor. 

Maybe the world decided that someone else needed the shoes more. Whatever 

the reason, we can't avoid losing things. The old man understood this. 

One of his shoes had gone out of his reach. The remaining shoe would not 

have been much help to him, but it would be a cherished gift to a homeless 

person desperately in need of protection from the ground. Hoarding 

possessions does nothing to make us or the world better. We all have to decide 

constantly if some things or people have run their course in our 

lives or would be better off with others. We then have to muster the courage 

to give them away. 

Ministry

This is a piece inspired by the hymn Lord, You Give the Great Commission.

Ministry

by Thomas Heng

The humble individual, while made of mere cosmic dust, is crticially important to the sustenence of all of Creation. While the Infinite creates all there was, is and ever will be, it is incumbent on the individual to respond with the Integrity that has been bestowed by the Infinite, so that the cycle of unity between that which is divine and that which is mundane remains unbroken.

While the cycle remains unbroken through the boundless grace of the Infinite, the individual is not bound to slavery. Alongside the gift of Integrity is the gift of Liberty, which allows for the full expression of the individual, according to the specific gifts that one has been so endowed. Restrictions are but an illusion that the individual imposes on oneself, such that they prevent the completeness and fullness of the Infinite from effectively channeling through oneself to all of Creation.

The reality of the individual's particular role in this Journey cannot be divorced from one's immediate surroundings -- plants, animals, the elements, and other individuals. Each of these constitutes the individual's immediate Community, and responds in perfect accordance to the mysterious and unfathomable system established by the Infinite. For the ultimate purpose of the Journey is to allow the individual to find Infinity within oneself, as well as to recognise and indeed rejoice in the Infinity that resides within one another.

Communities are seemingly disparate, yet these are seen as but one Society in the eyes of the Infinite. It is the continual task of each Community to recognise its limitations in Society's scheme of things, while proceeding to channel its strengths towards the benefit of its own, as well as towards the enhancement of other Communities.

Magnificent though Society may be, it is all too finite. For over time Society waxes and wanes, as it must exhale just as certainly as it must inhale. Society's breath allows it to remain constantly aware of its dependence on Eternity. Such is the power of Eternity that no less than the Infinite can wield it, with Grace, Joy, and Love.

O mystical Infinite!

Thy Grace, Joy and Love

Sustain the individual with Integrity

Strengthen one with your Liberty

Nourish the manifold Community

Unites them into one Society

Preserves us for all Eternity!

Here are the lyrics for the original hymn:-

Lord, You Give the Great Commission

Lord, You give the great commission: “Heal the sick and preach the Word.”
Lest the Church neglect its mission, and the Gospel go unheard,
Help us witness to Your purpose with renewed integrity,
With the Spirit’s gifts empower us for the work of ministry.

Lord, You call us to Your service: “In My Name baptize and teach.”
That the world may trust Your promise, life abundant meant for each,
Give us all new fervor, draw us closer in community.
With the Spirit’s gifts empower us for the work of ministry.

Lord, You make the common holy: “This My body, this My blood.”
Let us all, for earth’s true glory, daily lift life heavenward,
Asking that the world around us share your children’s liberty
With the Spirit’s gifts empower us for the work of ministry.

Lord, You show us love’s true measure: “Father, what they do, forgive.”
Yet we hoard as private treasure all that You so freely give.
May Your care and mercy lead us to a just society.
With the Spirit’s gifts empower us for the work of ministry.

Lord, you bless with words assuring: “I am with you to the end.”
Faith and hope and love restoring, may we serve as you intend
And, amid the cares that claim us, hold in mind eternity.
With the Spirit’s gifts empower us for the work of ministry.

A Prayer for Grace

by Thomas Heng

Oh Lord, I pray that...

When I arise, I arise well

When I take a shower, I take it well

When I eat a meal, I eat it well

When I commute, I commute well

When I complete my work, I complete it well

When I hug my loved ones, I hug them well

When I sleep, I sleep well

And should none of these come to pass,

I pray that I may have the grace to live for You the next day,

to Your Glory, Amen.

On Civilisation

Humankind's existence borders on the illusionry, and the word legacy has been very much abused. Significant our (dubious) achievements may well be, many of the modern trappings our society has lauded will not stand the test of time. In all likelihood once the last humans have disappeared off the face of the planet, the Civilisations on this Earth will be reduced to the fragile dust in which it originated, and will ultimately be reclaimed by the Nature of old within 10,000 years. 

Not that it would really matter to us by then. Schools of thought abound regarding the after-life, and range from animal reincarnations to alien evolution. Perhaps our collective memories will be retrieved by some alien archaeologist, or perhaps we could ship these out to one of our satelites for more permanent storage.

Ultimately, I believe that efforts to add some semblance of permanence into our footprint are relatively futile. For such moments of historical significance more often than not pale in substance when compared to the little snippets of joyful daily living that we have been called to engage in. 

If collecting past glories be fair, and planning future conquests be good, then treasuring the present be divine.

On Courage

Courage is the persistence to demonstrate the validity of one's beliefs despite the awareness of one's apprehensions. Society plays but a secondary role in determining one's actions in the ultimate analysis, although it must be clarified that the two are not mutually exclusive by any stretch of the imagination. Far be it for me to claim that only the anti-social, counter-cultural elements of society can be said to be courageous; some of them may in fact be running away or avoiding from that which is their genuine purpose. 

Courage is found in both the dramatic and the mundane. The journalist that gives his/her life in order to accurately communicate the truth about repressive regimes in war-torn areas of the world; the parent who disciplines the child firmly but gently, so that the child knows the importance of respecting boundaries of space and time; or even the strength of someone afflicted with an incurable illness to keep striving for the next meal when the authorities, society and loved ones stack increasingly insurmountable odds against him/her.

A prime example of Courage in Singapore is when MP Christopher de Souza defied party lines to oppose the passing of the Human Organ Transplant Act (HOTA). Rare is the man who stands up for what he believes in, despite all opposition to the contrary. For this little act, you'll go down in history, so take a bow, Chris...

Life in Stops and Starts

by Thomas Heng

Life is Worth Living When We...

Stop Venting and Start Listening

Stop Preaching and Start Learning

Stop Complaining and Start Reflecting

Stop Being Right and Start Being Authentic

Stop Procrastinating and Start Taking Action

Stop Having Doubts and Start Acting in Faith

Stop Having a Job and Start Having Fun with it

Stop Expecting Relationships and Start Growing Friendships

The Truth of Being A Christian

I first came across this little poem about five years ago, and I believe this will be meaningful to you if you are seeking to grow spiritually during your journey in this world, no matter what values you currently abide by.
_____________________________________________

When I say..... "I am a Christian" 
I'm not shouting I'm clean livin" 
I'm whispering "I was lost" 
Now I'm found and I'm forgiven. 

When I say... "I am a Christian" 
I don't speak of this with pride. 
I'm confessing that I stumble 
and need CHRIST to be my guide. 

When I say.... "I am a Christian" 
I'm not trying to be strong. 
I'm professing that I'm weak 
and need HIS strength to carry on. 

When I say.... "I am a Christian" 
I'm not bragging of success. 
I'm admitting I have failed 
and need God to clean my mess. 

When I say...."I am a Christian" 
I'm not claiming to be perfect, 
My flaws are far too visible 
but, God believes I am worth it. 

When I say... "I am a Christian" 
I still feel the sting of pain, 
I have my share of heartaches 
So I call upon His name. 

When I say...."I am a Christian" 
I"m not holier than thou, 
I'm just a simple sinner 
who received God's good grace, somehow. 

On Faith

by Thomas Heng

Faith is the gift of believing in what one cannot yet see.

In all things, have faith, for alone we truly can do nothing. All we can do is commit to beome a better steward, not merely to do more stewardship tasks.

Use discernment to decide which tasks deserve our attention and commitment to see it through, for we should invest our time wisely for the good of God's kingdom.

The purpose of having talents is to channel God's power in bless and multiply them in abundance.

Such growth is exciting but as foreign as the process of growing a seed into a mighty tree: all of us are aware of this concept, yet not all of us are blessed to view each earthly work as such.

Genuine self-confidence stems from a deference of one's self-awareness to the knowledge that the Creator knows His creations best.