Bathroom God ... again

Today I suddenly found myself singing this song again. In fact, it's a pretty nice song. When I first time found the title of this song months ago I was shocked--"Bathroom God"
"Bathroom" and "God" this was exactly where this blog started long time ago. (see this very first post here) http://www.bathroominspiration.blogspot.com/2008/10/thank-god-for-bathroom.html

So, here goes...

Stance... another example

For instance, when your cellphone rings...
what is your immediate response/reaction?

"Do I have to answer this? Who is going to bother me now? What kind of pressure is going to be given to me this time? etc. etc. etc."

"Great! I love to answer the phone."

So, it's not really one's "view" but basic stance to what happens, which you can see through his immediate reaction to things happening to him.

You may not like the way how you react to things, but do not compare this with other people and get bothered. You could also change it if you wish to do so.

Stance for life, I mean...

like some people view that life is a burden... (of course there are some fun sometimes...)
  ...why do these thing happen to my life?...
  ...why my life is always like this?...
  ...do I have to do this again?...
  ...why me? (not him/her? them?)
,which they have to deal with, tackle, persevere, overcome, ... or have to "appreciate" etc. etc.
anyway, something they have to...

other people view that life is something to enjoy...

people view life different way for many different reasons, causes...

That's what I was trying to say

When you have trouble with your stance toward your life...

Don't feel bad when you realized that your stance toward your life is different from someone else
Don't be worried when you feel someone's life situation is "worse" or "better" than yours

Everyone is uniquely and equally loved by God
and have equal chance for his/her life
Remember who you are

You are the HOT DAY FIG! (to be honest, I don't really like this one but...)

You are the

Hero/Heroine
Of
The
Drama
And
Your
Fan
Is
God!

"America" ... my high school favorite

Do not put God into your small box

Be aware of the danger of putting God into your own small box by calling him "God"
Then you might become one of those who dare to kill people in the name of God.
I recommend you keep raising your conscience that has ability to communicate with that being
I also believe that one of the abilities of conscience is to help you keep an objective view about what's happening.
Then, I hope you would avoid becoming one of those who kill in the name of God
I'm not saying you shouldn't call him God, but just be aware of these things
I call him God, too, for the sake of having some conversation.

"Show me God, then I will believe in him."

When I was in college, my Communist friend challenged me saying, "Show me God. Then, I will believe in him."

I struggled because I couldn't show him God.

I, then, got an inspiration from somewhere to ask him this question, "Do you have a mind?"

He said, "Of course I do."

Then I said, "Show me your mind. Then I believe you have one."

Then, he struggled.

Eventually he realized that he cannot deny God's existence only because he cannot visibly see God. I think this was a good realization for him (and me).

He also realized that the real reason why he denied God's existence was, in fact, not that God is invisible, but that he hated "religion" for some personal reasons. So, it was an emotional reason that he didn't want to believe in God.

Therefore, even if someone says, "I don't believe in God.", do not give up. You can find out why he doesn't want to believe in God or why he decided not to believe in God. Through that conversation with him, you (and maybe he also) might find God!

Rejected stone

My wife's recent favorite quote:

"Have you not read this scripture:

'The very stone which the builders rejected
has become the head of the corner;
this was the Lord's doing,
and it is marvelous in our eyes'?"
(Mark 12:10)

Let us always humbly seek for what God is doing
instead of insisting on "my own viewpoint"

God is a personal God

a personal God--with intellect, emotion and will.
If you believe so, then let's relate with him that way.

Thank God for mothers!

Mother becomes old, but the mother is the mother

There are young mothers, and they are mothers, too.

Anyway, what could we do without mothers?

Thank God for all mothers!

Every day is your chance to live for someone

Life always brings you different challenges, which may confuse you at times.

Just stay on the recognition of the presence of your living God all the time. Try to imagine how he is feeling and thinking at each moment.
Then, try to give joy to him, as well as try to give joy to whoever is sent to you
as if the whole purpose of your life is to give joy to him

Try talk to him at times, and be ready to receive his response from anywhere at anytime
In doing this, use your God-given creativity to its best

Remember-- don't worry too much about your past. What you do at this moment is the most important thing

Enjoy!

Let's talk to him every day

Try to communicate with him every day every moment

You can naturally talk to him as you would talk to a person, but do not expect him to always talk back to you with the way you can imagine. He listens to you, and understands you, and he will respond to you, but in many creative way of his. So, once you speak to him, expect his response from anywhere anytime. When you develop that type of sensitive focus, then you will begin to find out something of what is his way of communicating with you.

His core essence is HEART. So, you can honestly share what's in your heart, express your gratitude and sorrow, your challenges and determinations. You can also report to him what you are thinking about and what your are thinking about doing. You can also report to him what you are doing as you do it.

Sometimes he will be like your best friend, sometimes like your father or mother, and sometimes your spouse, and sometimes even like your child.

Just keep in mind that his core essence is HEART, and he will speak to you through your conscience.
Enjoy!

Most important - know yourself (your identity, or, who you really are)

If I were to give you one message before I go, it would be this one.
As for my personal belief about this, I believe you were born to this world as a child of God, in other words, under God's lineage.
Therefore, the most important thing for you to do is to find your God
and develop your personal relationship with him
and I believe everything you need will come out of that relationship
Everything else is less important than this one
That's all
Enjoy!

Positive aspect of being a loser

There is a positive aspect of being a loser if it serves as a learning opportunity to experience and understand what it's like to be a loser.

sounds like a bit Fortune Cookie-ish?

What kind of friend are you?

When you are about to say to your friend, "What kind of friend are you?"...

just hold it, and ask yourself, "What kind of friend am I to him?"

Then usually you will get some answer.

Seek, and you will find?

You have to seek your own God and find him

The sooner you find him, the better

Do not wait until you regret

If you sincerely seek, then the situation will be set up (by someone) so that you can find him

Believe in this, then you lose what? --nothing

Keep your mind open

Try not to hold on to any concepts you may have

He may be just inside of you, waiting for so long to see you

Also it will be helpful if you could keep being totally honest to yourself in this process

You will find your own personal relationship with God

You need your own personal relationship with God

Your parents may have their own relationship with God, but that's one thing

and your having your own relationship with God is another

You could learn from them (good things and bad things)

You may not like what they believe or what they do

But the point is God put them as your parents, and his plan is that you learn from them and build your own relationship with him

Do not expect their faith will secure your entrance to some nice spiritual area

I know your birth from these particular set of parents is one of those unprecedented things in human history, but you are the one to tackle this and figure out what it means to you

it's not something somebody else can tell you. of course people may try to help you understand its value and significance, but it is only you who can figure out its true meaning

Yes, you have your own life.

You are you by your own right

I hope, though, still you can see things from "God's" (or, higher) perspective, and humbly search its meaning based on the understanding that you did not come to this world by your own decision, but only by God and only through none other than your parents your life has become the "fact" Don't ever forget that, or, underestimate what it means.

Well, I hope you can enjoy this research, and get closer and closer to possibly the most precious thing which ever existed in our human history.

May God be with you always, and you be with him also!

re: wasting time

this came to me in the bathroom last night:

You will never "waste" your time.

You may say, "I wasted my time!" or you may have such experience.

However, think about this; nothing happens by chance;

everything comes around to you for reasons behind for you to respond

You will be using everything that comes around to you for one purpose--fulfill your original purpose of your life

so, if you have such experience of having wasted your time, that would help you to have a certain determination or certain style of your life which those who didn't have such experience cannot have.

That means, your "wasted time" is, in fact, contributing to the fulfillment of your goal

So, there's no such thing as "wasting your time"

everything is a learning experience and you have an ability to utilize everything to accomplish your goal

because you are created as a "co-creator" by our Creator

So, do not waste your time in lamenting that you have wasted your time. (oops, again....)

re: blaming

If someone has to feel his value by blaming somebody else, that person may be living a very sad or lonely life, or, a miserable life, which deserves sympathy

So, first you need to be grateful that you do not need to live that way for some reasons

but also you could take it as a chance to reflect on whether you also are living that way or not

and then try to see what God is trying to tell you through this person, or situation

You will be surprised that what you were blamed was actually very true!

Most likely the case is, that you may be hurting people many times without realizing it

so, it's a good chance to be humble and determine to change your way of life

Anyway, the thing is; you are the co-creator who is given an ability to create heaven (or hell!) through your God-given "creativity", or, how you think, how you act, etc.

So, don't waste your limited time in blaming anyone including yourself, but use that time to create something positive, which you are the only one who can do and not even God can do for you

I have a question

If someone is telling you, "I gave this to you, I gave that to you, I gave.... but you never gave me anything. You do not practice what you preach, but I do!"

... what would you do?

That's where it begins; and one step at a time

Thus begins this one way massage

one step at a time

with a hope to one day grow to become a two way thing or even three

if there is no first step, there's nothing

but if there is first step, there is a hope of something else to come

not so many options anyway

One way or no way

One way is not good enough

but one way may be better than no way, I hope

"Blame" ---kinda tricky word

When you say, "Do not blame me", you may be blaming someone for blaming you.

Similarly, when you say, "Do not blame people", you may also be blaming someone for blaming people.

But, in fact, you are not blaming someone but you are saying it for that person's sake. (means, out of your love and care)

If that's the case, someone might be doing exactly the same thing to you, so...

instead of thinking that you are blamed, you can try to see that he is doing it for your sake (even if you may not feel that way)

You need to accept that possibility that he is doing it for your sake (means, out of his love and care)

Then, even if he is still not doing it out of his love and care, still a possibility is God might have used him to tell you what he wanted to tell you.

So, it is always safe to think, "what is God trying to tell me through him/through this?"

Then, usually you will find gratitude to God, and those God's agents.

My car suddenly stopped in the middle of the road

Right at that very moment, it was not easy to just say "Thank you, God!"

However, it was a very rare moment to stretch my mind and heart.

There are so many things to be thankful:

Somehow I have a car, while many people do not have such luxury

It did not stop in the middle of a "freeway" but in the middle of a local road (which helped me to avoid a serious accident)

I could contact AAA to have a peace of mind

Police came very quickly--I had a chance to think about their hard work and appreciate it

Police didn't want to wait until AAA truck comes and he called his tow truck-- I was so amazed by that young truck driver's driving skill-- a chance to talk to that young man and appreciate his hard work

I even found out AAA will reimburse my receipt from that non-AAA truck!

Within a half an hour I found myself at my favorite auto shop

and waiting for their comment with a peace in my mind

with a little (kind of big) fear about what (how much?) they are gonna say...

At least, I am still alive somehow. Thank God!

Now is the time for this message

"If my people who are called by my name humble themselves,

and pray and seek my face,

and turn from their wicked ways,

then I will hear from heaven,

and will forgive their sin and heal their land."

(2 Chronicles 7: 14)

"Itsumo nandodemo"

Right of way

I haven't come here for a while

Just a thought about "right of way"

"right" is just a right within the domain of traffic rule whose purpose is for safety

so, it's not exactly the same "right" which we normally mean

it is, in a way, a responsible duty to perform for the sake of safety

however, when someone insists on his "right of way" even when you have the "right of way", then, the rule says, "You have a right of way, but do not insist." yes, for the sake of safety.

therefore, it is not really good you try to give up your right of way in order to be "nice" to someone

it is, in fact, dangerous to do that

You need to perform your "right of way" for the sake of safety, but only if someone insists on his "right of way", then you do not insist on your "right of way" for the sake of safety

so, "safety" is the focus

Negative and positive

When you are about to say some negative words to someone

or, when you are bothered by some negative thoughts about someone,

just take a deep breath

and try to see from very different way

Ask yourself,

Are these "words" what God is trying to speak to me?

Sometimes you will be very surprised

to find out that those words are absolutely what you needed to hear from God at that moment

Then your conclusion will be "It was God who sent that person to me!"

Thank God!

King of suffering

Today is Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

When I started to think about him, suddenly one phrase from his speech came up in my mind:

"You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive..."

He said, "veterans of creative suffering".

Even though the context differs, I got this message today:

"Suffering" comes to all of us whether we like it or not. Therefore, you should make up your mind to deal with them with your creativity that is given by God.

And when you are using your creativity, just think about God and how he used his creativity when he created us all.

Then, you might find excitement, joy and hope as you continue to use your creativity. You will then enjoy your "suffering" and when you do so, "suffering" will evolve into another "chance" to grow, for which you can even be grateful.

Thank God for suffering!

Nobody will judge you--the day of judgment

This is a metaphorical description, but it's worth considering seriously to find out what is the right thing to do today:

"When the Son of Man comes in glory...and he will place the sheep at his right hand, but the goats at the left. Then the King will say to those at his right hand, 'Come, O blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.'

Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see thee hungry and feed thee, or when did we see thee a stranger and welcome thee, or naked and clothe thee? And when did we see thee sick or in prison and visit thee?'

And the King will answer them, 'Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me.'

Then he will say to those at his left hand, 'Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.'

Then they also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see thee hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to thee?'

Then he will answer them, 'Truly, I say to you, as you did it not to one of the least of these you did it not to me.' And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life." (Matt 25: 31-46)

Nobody will do this to you, but in fact, you will be the one who will be judging you according to the reality of your heart. Hopefully before that day you will be able to tell how true you are.

Life is short, but it will not end

I mean, your life on this physical plane (on earth) will end very short

You could experience and learn so many things during this period of around 80 years; but you will most likely say "I wasted so much time!" in the end, thinking you could have leaned more precious things

But, the good part of the story is that your life will not end; it will continue in the next environment for quite a long period--eternity

So, the question: what kind of life would you like to live over there?

It is very likely that what you build on this life here will have a big influence on how you start the life over there, and how you carry it on-- what you build, I mean, your character; your thinking habit or feeling habit; what is the center of your life; capacity to understand and love the people; control over your emotions; etc. etc.

Do not underestimate the gravity of this influence, so, no time to waste

You may not like this conclusion, but certain things we have to face it with our total honesty and sincerity

Do not lie

Do not lie because you are the one who will pay the price for it

Do not lie to others, and do not lie to yourself

Don't think you can cheat, or, you can hide anything

Heaven may be quiet for now

but that doesn't mean they approve your lying

They are quiet for some other reasons

You should know they are not able to move, or even touch the "price" which is scheduled for you

It is totally your responsibility

You will pay the price for what you do, period.

Green has come out of brown in January???

Last year the first snow came in the end of October

This is January, and out of brown somehow green came out everywhere

What's next?

It is good to have a dream

It's not that you should not have a dream

Question is who that dream is for

Is it for your own satisfaction?

or, for "God", for other people?