becoming

是如此的緊張。

Obama和McCain一戰，連我們家中的討論也緊張起來。

話說家人「發口痕」跟著香港這段時間的報導，說Palin怎樣不可能接到（講到好像）隨時瓜得的McCain作總統。跟著再比較Obama怎樣掂，經驗比Palin如何如何豐富…

一來我奇怪家人會討論美國大選，二來我總覺得討論有點不妥，於是加把口說，將Palin和Obama比較是不公平的：一個是選副總統，另一個是總統候選人。另外Palin可不可以接McCain位是一個假設性的問題，這個情況根本沒有出現。要比較應將兩個總統候選人作比較，因為這是必定出現的情況。

誰不知，此話一出，引來很大迴響。我彷彿成了共和黨的死硬Fans，斗膽對那萬人景仰的大英雄Obama說三道四！

嘩，豈敢、豈敢…

當我還詫異著家人的反應，頓時驚嘆，
這場美國大選，

竟然可以令全世界，包括我的家人
如此的緊張。

美國、傳媒、Obama，
果然唔講得笑！

Yes, a profound observation indeed:

And perhaps more disturbing, are we unknowingly contributing to the problem by encouraging Christians to construct and express their identities via Christ-branded merchandise rather than through characters transformed to reflect the values of Christ himself?

I think Skye is right, except he is too kind and nice to say that we are “unknowingly contributing” to the problem. I would go a step further –  many Christian leaders and talks on church growth are “knowingly” and publicly branding churches to achieve a cult-like status and create their own church myths. Church leaders are worshiped as celebrities and mythological figures, and church buildings (not church as in people of God), the temple with miraculous wonder. 

[Out of Ur: The Cult of Mac]

[左至右：溫哥華的Alan Yu，香港的Littleho，多倫多的Edmund]

是歷史時刻。

哈，最少對我們這三個傻人來說，是如此。

雖然是先見文字，後遇真人；
但是總有一種熟悉的感覺。

是網絡的神奇？
是相近的年紀？
是共同的passion？

我想，都會是，然而卻不只這些。

因為我們接連於上主的故事，在溫哥華、在多倫多、在香港——祂的故事；
因為這個故事，我們的心連在一起。

從校園事工，到堂會事奉，說著、笑著。說話的背後，帶著能成為祂故事一部份的興奮…

是歷史時刻（historical）。

因為這是屬於祂的故事（his-story）。

謝謝你們，是的，後會有期。

——-

Alan Yu 說：「能夠如此團契，真好。」

I thought a few of you are eager to see the following photos. So I decide to post them before our trip to mainland starting early tomorrow morning.

—-

Musing from Karen.

同細佬Adrian 和 Jocelyn 做的專訪：

死唔死，來了四日（拍攝時），「我鍾意Hong Kong 多過 Canada…」

以下兩種在港之飲品，多倫多並不見售：

檸檬可樂：檸檬味假到震，似洗潔精那種，同茶餐廳的差得遠， No good。

少糖維他檸檬茶：我沒有試過，但測試者說，仍然很甜， Also no good。

Hi everyone, greetings from HK!

Yes, we are having a great time in HK. Jocelyn gets so excited to sit on the doubledecker bus (wait until she rides the “ding ding” tram!) As expected, we walk like we never walked before… it’s been 14 (and Cc’s 15) years since my last visit. So you can imagine.

Interesting enough, I notice HK people are very friendly and polite. Much nicer than I could remember and imagine (and at times too polite, I would say…) Let me explain what I mean later…

In the mean time, please enjoy a few snapshots here and there.

Anson, I read this during my trip on the plane. It echoes your thought on reform:

It would be so much better for the church and the world if Christians would be content to show a better way to organize community life among themselves. As Yoder never tried of saying, the crucial standard of Christian conduct is obedience and not effectiveness (The Politics of Jesus [Eerdmans, 1972, 1992]). Effectiveness in transforming culture may follow obedience, but that’s God’s business. not ours. Focusing on effectiveness (e.g., how many souls can be saved with a dollor invested in evangelism done a certain way) detracts from obedience in a sinful world. When obedience to God’s way revealed in Jesus Christ is subordinated to effectiveness, the latter always trumps the former, which then ends up failing at least partly by the way.

Roger Olsen, How to be Evangelical with being Conservative, p.126-127