Where is Love? a seminar by Jose Philip
Where is Love?
That is the title given for the seminar given by the Young Adult Fellowship of Bukit Batok Presbyterian Church, Indonesian Congregation, to Jose Philip, a Prawn Biologist, who started an IT software house in Dubai, and graduated from SBC with MDiv and MTh degrees at the same time, and now an associate with RZIM.
Love is an interesting word. When being asked, anyone will have something to say about 'what is love'. Some may say that love is something that you will know once you experience it. But is that really so? Jose gave an illustration when he first his new born son. He held the baby, and his first sentence to the baby was "I love you." Why did he say that? it is beyond comprehension. Apparently, love is not just about experience, but it is something much grander than that.
So, Where is love? This question really depends on who is asking the question. - A Haitian kid who just suffered greatly from the earthquake will ask the question
- An orphan in Singapore may ask the same question
- A rich kid in Singapore with all the material needs provided for, but whose parents are too busy for him, may also ask the same question.
Is love really a sensual experience? a romantic experience? This question really depends on who ask.
We live today in a world where the meaning of love has become so blurred, that it is so difficult to speak of love without any sexual overtones over it. Love has changed from a four letter word L-O-V-E to a three letter word S-E-X or L-U-S-T.
Jose continued to talk about David Levy, a grandmaster who wrote a book : Love and Sex with Robots, where Levy described about the possibility of Human Robot relationship, where the robots can possibly be tailored made to suit the human needs, be it the weight, size, temperament, emotions and so on. To Levy, emotions, sacred though it is, can be programmed together with other functions of human, including reproduction functionality.
So, is love just limited to human to human? think again. In a recent exhibition in the US, one of the exhibit was a human robot which can talk, and walk, and listen and respond, with skins that feels like human skin. The robot is without the ability to do the house chores, but she can pretty much do anything else (italics intended).
Who you are is defined by whose you are. For a Christian, it maybe easy for us to say that the Cross is the embodiment of all the aspect of love from God to us. But how about those who are not Christians, and who have yet to experience the love of God?
Do you like pleasure? Is there any person who doesn't like pleasure? there are people who feels love when they have pleasure. There are people who needs power. There are people who needs possessions. But one thing to be sure off, all these are just temporal things that can satisfy us temporarily:
- The pleasure that we experienced will ask for more pleasures
- The power that we have will demand for more powers
- The possessions that we owned will shout for more possessions..
our hearts are constantly looking for ways to be satisfied. It is in fact looking for something that is permanent, that will keep us forever in a satisfactory state.
So, where can we find a love that is permanent that will keep us forever satisfied?
If we were to draw our lives and our achievements, what we have, what we experienced, how will our lives look like? Can it be any better than the description given in Ecclesiastes 2? The writer of that passage owned all the things we can ask for:
1. He is probably in the top 10 wisest person in the world, ever
2. He has power and dominion over a large kingdom
3. He has experienced all kinds of pleasures
4. He can have all sorts of women he wanted
5. His wealth is beyond measure
and yet, despite of all these, at the end of the chapter, he described his entire life as chasing after the wind. In short, all these are meaningless, his possession, wisdom, women, power, etc.
In Ecclesiastes 2, we learn that it does not really matter what we have. What matters most is whose we are. God loves us not because of who we are or what we have. He loves us inspite of who we are. God loves us with an everlasting love.
Now, that we have learnt where we can find love that eternally satisfying, what is preventing us from drawing near to Him? It is fear. Fear, sometimes, is a greater emotion than love, that prevents on from daring to approach God's love. That is why, "Fear not" is a common phrase that God, Jesus, and angels used when they started to talk to man. It is also the words that Jesus used many times to tell the disciples of the goodnews, of the gift of eternal life.
Talking about gift, a gift actually reflects more of the character of the giver than of the receiver. Jose gave an illustration of his first birthday present to his wife. He bought her a very expensive 12-string guitar, which even the price for the bag is worth two guitars. That is very kind of him, isn't it? Well, there is only one small problem. His wife does not play guitar. He does. :)
Who, among us, are willing to give what we have for our loved one? Is what we give something that is permanent that will totally satisfying to the loved one? If that something is costly, are we still willing to give it away?
God, because of His love for the world, has given his most precious and only Son, to us, the unworthy human, as something that will be permanent and totally satisfying for us. That reflects the character of God.
Are you seeking for a permanent love that will satisfy you forever? God has given you His Son. Will you accept it?
==== Q & A Session ====
Q: You have been married for almost 10 years. Have your love evolved from the time you were just married until now?
A: My marriage was a rather traditional type of wedding. I was Dubai. There was my friend in Canada, who asked how am I going to live like that (as a single). Then I received a mail from him again, saying he has found someone for me. I replied with a single "?", and he replied with a "!". Later, I received another mail from another friend in Chennai, a 2-page long email saying that the sister of his wife is available. Jose said, you know my parents, talk to them, if they are okay, I am okay. In short, because I am okay, my parents are okay, the girl's parents are okay, the girl is okay, so I flew to Chennai, on 18th August 2001, proposed to her while waiting for gas at the gas station, and on 29th August 2001, got married.
Although my experience is not the same as others, who might have gone through a period of courtship, get to know each other, and tying the knot before the altar, but believe me, the wife or husband that you love so much before the wedding, will be very different after wedding.
My love for her starts from there, and ever since has been growing. It is difficult. It is probably not going to be easier. But nevertheless, it will always be growing.
Q: How can a limited human being like us, able to experience the unlimited love from God, to receive eternal salvation or damnation?
A: We have to agree on two points. We are limited and have a beginning and an end. Assuming there is anything at all, this anything that has a beginning and an end, must come from something that is without a beginning or an end.
In order to be able to experience the unlimited or eternal thing, we must be able to first relate to the being that is already eternal. That is God. Our ability to receive eternal salvation and damnation, therefore, depends on our relationship with Him, whether we accept Him or we reject Him.
Q: How is it possible to experience the Love of God? Isn't it something that is difficult?
A: This question is valid for any type of love, not just the love of God. When your loved one says that he or she loves you, how can you experience this love? it is as difficult as experiencing God's love. Is it by action? someone can act and do something that shows he or she loves you, but does the action really mean love? there are people who are able to act, but does not love. Is it by feeling? someone can love in a very mechanical manner, but does not mean that he or she does not love?
The only thing, that a person need to do in order to experience the love of someone or God, is to Trust. Only when you trust someone, that he or she truly loves you, then you will experience love. Same thing with the love of God. There is no way we can prove that God loves us, except to trust Him in what He has done for us as truly the act of love for us.
Q: If not all people are responding to God's love, how can they still be good people?
A: The ability to perform 'good' is something built in the nature of men. Genesis 1-2 tells that God created the animals, and after each creation, there is a short phrase "according to their kinds". It means, the lion will look like the lion, the bird will look like the bird, and so on. But for human beings, in Gen 1:26, God says: "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness." Men are not made like monkeys or chimpanzees, but like God. Whether or not they respond to the Love of God, they are still capable to do good. The problem is, is the good, good enough to get them to be saved?
That is the title given for the seminar given by the Young Adult Fellowship of Bukit Batok Presbyterian Church, Indonesian Congregation, to Jose Philip, a Prawn Biologist, who started an IT software house in Dubai, and graduated from SBC with MDiv and MTh degrees at the same time, and now an associate with RZIM.
Love is an interesting word. When being asked, anyone will have something to say about 'what is love'. Some may say that love is something that you will know once you experience it. But is that really so? Jose gave an illustration when he first his new born son. He held the baby, and his first sentence to the baby was "I love you." Why did he say that? it is beyond comprehension. Apparently, love is not just about experience, but it is something much grander than that.
So, Where is love? This question really depends on who is asking the question. - A Haitian kid who just suffered greatly from the earthquake will ask the question
- An orphan in Singapore may ask the same question
- A rich kid in Singapore with all the material needs provided for, but whose parents are too busy for him, may also ask the same question.
Is love really a sensual experience? a romantic experience? This question really depends on who ask.
We live today in a world where the meaning of love has become so blurred, that it is so difficult to speak of love without any sexual overtones over it. Love has changed from a four letter word L-O-V-E to a three letter word S-E-X or L-U-S-T.
Jose continued to talk about David Levy, a grandmaster who wrote a book : Love and Sex with Robots, where Levy described about the possibility of Human Robot relationship, where the robots can possibly be tailored made to suit the human needs, be it the weight, size, temperament, emotions and so on. To Levy, emotions, sacred though it is, can be programmed together with other functions of human, including reproduction functionality.
So, is love just limited to human to human? think again. In a recent exhibition in the US, one of the exhibit was a human robot which can talk, and walk, and listen and respond, with skins that feels like human skin. The robot is without the ability to do the house chores, but she can pretty much do anything else (italics intended).
Who you are is defined by whose you are. For a Christian, it maybe easy for us to say that the Cross is the embodiment of all the aspect of love from God to us. But how about those who are not Christians, and who have yet to experience the love of God?
Do you like pleasure? Is there any person who doesn't like pleasure? there are people who feels love when they have pleasure. There are people who needs power. There are people who needs possessions. But one thing to be sure off, all these are just temporal things that can satisfy us temporarily:
- The pleasure that we experienced will ask for more pleasures
- The power that we have will demand for more powers
- The possessions that we owned will shout for more possessions..
our hearts are constantly looking for ways to be satisfied. It is in fact looking for something that is permanent, that will keep us forever in a satisfactory state.
So, where can we find a love that is permanent that will keep us forever satisfied?
If we were to draw our lives and our achievements, what we have, what we experienced, how will our lives look like? Can it be any better than the description given in Ecclesiastes 2? The writer of that passage owned all the things we can ask for:
1. He is probably in the top 10 wisest person in the world, ever
2. He has power and dominion over a large kingdom
3. He has experienced all kinds of pleasures
4. He can have all sorts of women he wanted
5. His wealth is beyond measure
and yet, despite of all these, at the end of the chapter, he described his entire life as chasing after the wind. In short, all these are meaningless, his possession, wisdom, women, power, etc.
In Ecclesiastes 2, we learn that it does not really matter what we have. What matters most is whose we are. God loves us not because of who we are or what we have. He loves us inspite of who we are. God loves us with an everlasting love.
Now, that we have learnt where we can find love that eternally satisfying, what is preventing us from drawing near to Him? It is fear. Fear, sometimes, is a greater emotion than love, that prevents on from daring to approach God's love. That is why, "Fear not" is a common phrase that God, Jesus, and angels used when they started to talk to man. It is also the words that Jesus used many times to tell the disciples of the goodnews, of the gift of eternal life.
Talking about gift, a gift actually reflects more of the character of the giver than of the receiver. Jose gave an illustration of his first birthday present to his wife. He bought her a very expensive 12-string guitar, which even the price for the bag is worth two guitars. That is very kind of him, isn't it? Well, there is only one small problem. His wife does not play guitar. He does. :)
Who, among us, are willing to give what we have for our loved one? Is what we give something that is permanent that will totally satisfying to the loved one? If that something is costly, are we still willing to give it away?
God, because of His love for the world, has given his most precious and only Son, to us, the unworthy human, as something that will be permanent and totally satisfying for us. That reflects the character of God.
Are you seeking for a permanent love that will satisfy you forever? God has given you His Son. Will you accept it?
==== Q & A Session ====
Q: You have been married for almost 10 years. Have your love evolved from the time you were just married until now?
A: My marriage was a rather traditional type of wedding. I was Dubai. There was my friend in Canada, who asked how am I going to live like that (as a single). Then I received a mail from him again, saying he has found someone for me. I replied with a single "?", and he replied with a "!". Later, I received another mail from another friend in Chennai, a 2-page long email saying that the sister of his wife is available. Jose said, you know my parents, talk to them, if they are okay, I am okay. In short, because I am okay, my parents are okay, the girl's parents are okay, the girl is okay, so I flew to Chennai, on 18th August 2001, proposed to her while waiting for gas at the gas station, and on 29th August 2001, got married.
Although my experience is not the same as others, who might have gone through a period of courtship, get to know each other, and tying the knot before the altar, but believe me, the wife or husband that you love so much before the wedding, will be very different after wedding.
My love for her starts from there, and ever since has been growing. It is difficult. It is probably not going to be easier. But nevertheless, it will always be growing.
Q: How can a limited human being like us, able to experience the unlimited love from God, to receive eternal salvation or damnation?
A: We have to agree on two points. We are limited and have a beginning and an end. Assuming there is anything at all, this anything that has a beginning and an end, must come from something that is without a beginning or an end.
In order to be able to experience the unlimited or eternal thing, we must be able to first relate to the being that is already eternal. That is God. Our ability to receive eternal salvation and damnation, therefore, depends on our relationship with Him, whether we accept Him or we reject Him.
Q: How is it possible to experience the Love of God? Isn't it something that is difficult?
A: This question is valid for any type of love, not just the love of God. When your loved one says that he or she loves you, how can you experience this love? it is as difficult as experiencing God's love. Is it by action? someone can act and do something that shows he or she loves you, but does the action really mean love? there are people who are able to act, but does not love. Is it by feeling? someone can love in a very mechanical manner, but does not mean that he or she does not love?
The only thing, that a person need to do in order to experience the love of someone or God, is to Trust. Only when you trust someone, that he or she truly loves you, then you will experience love. Same thing with the love of God. There is no way we can prove that God loves us, except to trust Him in what He has done for us as truly the act of love for us.
Q: If not all people are responding to God's love, how can they still be good people?
A: The ability to perform 'good' is something built in the nature of men. Genesis 1-2 tells that God created the animals, and after each creation, there is a short phrase "according to their kinds". It means, the lion will look like the lion, the bird will look like the bird, and so on. But for human beings, in Gen 1:26, God says: "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness." Men are not made like monkeys or chimpanzees, but like God. Whether or not they respond to the Love of God, they are still capable to do good. The problem is, is the good, good enough to get them to be saved?
posted by Suhandy Yao Wei Xuan @ 8:29 pm
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home