Being Authentic, Being Encouraging, Being Supportive, Being Forgiving, Being Sincere & Trustworthy, Being Humble, Being Respectful

Being authentic

The meaning of being authentic to me is be my original self. Most people would say it is good to be yourself. It depicts honesty. It is easier to get to know somebody who is honest and do not hide in the bushes. It is easier to interact with people who are honest and show their true self in the presence of others.

However, in reality, society is made up of different people and values. People in society wear different hats everyday. Therefore, due to that fact that society shapes us, we inevitably at times have to be behave differently towards other people. This may be something difficult for us to do as it goes against our religious believes or principles. However, the secular world and the religious world at times do not see eye to eye. If we are to be honest with people, they may not like what they see or here. They may start to judge us. They may even backstab us. Spread rumours about us that are not true.

So I have encountered people telling me that is better not to be so open and honest. The question then is who should we be open and honest with. Well, we have to be selective. There will be people who appreciate who we are and others that will treat our friendship with them as superficial. That is not to say that those close to us may not betray us one day. One reason of betrayal can be due to financial reasons.

I like being authentic with people. However many a times due to me being authentic, I have lost friends. Some do not want to get to know me but I have also made very good friends. That is not to say that I am authentic to everybody. I do select those that I want to be open with and those that I do not want to be open with. It is a matter of surviving in this cruel world. I believe the lord would not judge me by my actions as he gave us the power to make choices and because of his love for us, he would respect the choices that we make. The consequences that the choices that we make is another matter. Therefore it is better to pray before we make a choice rather than after making the choice. I do know that the person I will be authentic too is my future partner and that if she accepts and loves me for whom I am then I will marry her.

Being encouraging

Being encouraging to people who needs encourage in life in many matters is important. To encourage somebody in need of help is great, however, we must not have any hidden agenda in our encouragement in helping people to cope with life, to be happy, to do better in life and the list goes on.

Why do I say we must not have any hidden agenda. Well, it is because encouragement must come from the heart. We cannot aspect any returns. Once we aspect something in return then we will become disappointed. There is not true honesty in our encouragement of others because we will also have an objective. Friendships may be lost. Same thing goes when you love someone wholeheartedly. Sometimes the person you love may not love you back but even though you know the fact that she may not love you back and you still encourage her so that she can be happy, then I feel that is true love.

Being supportive

Being supportive and being encouraging is more or less the same. So whatever I said about being encouraging also applies to being supportive. However, there is a question to ask. Would you support a friend in an activity that you know is not ethical?

For example : I did a survey on your people’s attitudes on Romance. I went round collecting data and asking them questions. The work I did was on my own effort. However, I had a friend in class who had to undertake the same project as me. He decided to call me at the last hour to give me the names and contacts of my interviewees in order to interview them. I do know that it is wrong to divulge personal information because he told me that he was having problems with his work and did not have the time to do the project. Well, I told him I can’t give him their contact numbers but can show him the information that I had collected. Told him that I do not support what he is doing but at the same time giving him the benefit of the doubt. Therefore I decided to help him. Therefore I formed a balance of helping a friend and at the same time not condoning what he was doing.

We may face difficult decisions time to time. It can be very painful when we have to be cruel to be kind but sometimes we have to do what is necessary, friend or foe. It is this times that we have to call on God t give strength to do what we have to do and help us to over any negative outcomes in the like of our decisions.

Being forgiving

Being able to forgive somebody provides food for our souls. However, it is easier said than done. There are some who can forgive totally, some who can forgive but cannot forget and some who cannot forgive at all. The level of hurt that we face from someone is also a deciding factor in how we are going to forgive a person.

God is the only one that can forgive totally. Does that mean we cannot do so? Actually we can but to do that is very difficult and if we really can do it than it shows that we have achieved a certain high standard in our spiritual life.

Most of the time if the hurt is severe, we forgive but we do not forget. After all we are humans, we are not perfect. We have to ask Jesus the grace to forgive someone totally. Only with his help and time can wounds be healed.

For those that cannot forgive at all, well if they do not learn how to forgive then their soul will just wither and die. They will always live with hatred in their heart. This will lead to anger and anger can destroy them.

Being sincere & Being Trustworty

Being sincere is a very important. It makes us trustworthy. We gain a lot of people’s trust and friendship. Most of the time we view being sincere as a righteous value however there are times that being sincere back fires on us.

For example : Sometimes we are too honest to our spouses. We may tell our spouse that he/she is not the first person that we had slept with. We trust them to accept it. Some may, some may not. Another scenario I can think of is when I told my ex that I had been with a Malay girl and this cause a friction between us whenever I wanted to eat Malay food. She accused me of still having feelings for her whereby it has been ages since I last saw her. My dad once told me that I could not tell everything to my future wife, however I disagree with him on this matter. I still believe in being sincere and honest to her. Another example, is went we have to report a wrong doing done by a collogue. He or she might be a close friend of yours. Friendship may be broken if you risk reporting on your friend’s wrong doing. So do you do it? Sometimes we have do if it is our duty.

Therefore being sincere can be one of the hardest things to accomplish in life. We need the lord guidance to guide us in our decisions and also to help us to overcome any mis - happenings due to our actions. Life isn’t fair. At one time society asks us to be sincere and on the other hand it can be a double edge sword.

Even though it is tough being sincere, I still think that being sincere is very important in one’s life. It makes us who we are.

Being humble

Being humble is another important virtue. Braging can be a real turn off. Some people may not like it. Jealousy may set in. For example, some children are born with the silver spoon. They may wear the latest fashion. Being young, it may be natural to show them off. However, these actions may cause jealousy among other students, especially those that cannot afford it. They may resort to fights and even stealing. If not corrected, showing off may be the catalyst for breeding would be gangsters and thieves!!!

Being humble also means reaching out to the less fortunate. We can do that by donating some unwanted goods like old watches, clothes and even money. Doing missionary work is also another way. I have always felt that our youths of today need to do missionary work and live among the poor. Only then would they know how precious life is.

Personally I am not a rich person. I do not travel much as there are financial constraints in my family. I admit I may be a bit spend rift and like to eat good food which may cost a lot. But that does not mean I am a bragger. I still like my favourite fried kway teow, wanton mee, hokkien mee and chay chap. I would like to do missionary work and frankly I do not mind giving up what I have to live among the poor, help them and write about their plight so that the world will know how they are suffering and yet can still smile. People living in 1st class countries have everything but they cannot smile. So WHAT is there to show off actually.

Being respectful

Well, there is really nothing much to say about respectful because it is something that should be in us. Our up bringing is very important. Parents must teach their children from young about respect and the respect of the elders. They cannot always give in to their children. Something is very wrong when you see a child shouting back at their parents and their parents just keep quite about it. Surprise? I have seen it in my own eyes.

Parents must also treat their children with respect. Punishment and reward needs to be administrated properly. If a parent punish their children to harshly to a state where it constitutes to child abuse then it is very bad. The children will grow up resenting their parents or worst still become violent people themselves because they may thing that abusing a person is a norm. If you treat your child with respect, they would most likely grow up loving you even more!!! Rewards can be used when a child performs a good deed or is obedient to his/her parents but parents also need to instill into them that they cannot take the reward for granted.

When it comes to religion, respect for the lord also needs to be taught from young. They need to be taught how to seat properly in church, dress properly in church and not run around. Sadly, these days I see parents allowing their children to draw in church, drink whenever they are thirsty and run around. In my younger days, my parents had to force me to seat quite in church and pay attention to the sermon. If I talk and looked distracted in church, my dad gave me a look that striked fear in me.

Children need to be taught the lords words in a simpler way so that they can understand and appreciate the lords teachings better. In this way, they can show more respect to the lord.

What It means to join a church ministry

Christians around the world believe in Jesus Christ. We attend masses mainly on Saturday, Sunday or even everyday. I used to attend church everyday when I was young at one point of time, however, as time went by, attending church everyday was not feasible.

I am a catholic so this entry will be based on my experience as a catholic. Catholics are called not only just to attend Sunday Mass and be holy on Sunday but to live our Christian values everyday of our lives.

We have to serve Jesus Christ because that is what he has called us to do. There are various ways in accomplishing these tasks. The various ways are envanglisation, joining a church ministry and doing missionary work. In no way this list of ways are exhaustive. However, to engage in these actives we need to be committed, sincere, trustworthy, authentic and frequent.

I am going to touch on what it means to join a church ministry. There are various ministries in various churches. The ministries that I am going to name are from my church.

They are : Altar Servers, Art Ministry, AVA Ministry,Cantor Ministry,Choirs,
Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion. Lectors and Commentators
Wardens, Answering the Call To Serve ( ACTS ), Catholeaque, Genesis,
Ministry of Expression, Revelation Generation, Youth Arise Ministry,
Youth Mentors, Youth Music Ministry.

To join these ministries we need to possess five vital elements. They are: Commitment, sincere, trustworthiness, being authentic and being frequent. Without these elements we will not last in a ministry for long because we are not serving Christ with our heart. Mostly likely we are in a ministry to serve our own agendas. I shall elaborate further on this issue in relation to the five elements.

Commitment

In every church ministry that we join, we must be committed to it. We must be truthful to our cause in joining the church ministry. There must be no hidden agenda in why we join an a church ministry. In being committed, we will be able to work in harmony with our fellow workers and contribute fruitfully to the church ministry. One reason is because we are in sync with the church ministry's goals and vision. We will be willing to help our fellow workers in their work if they face any difficulty in carrying out their duties. There will be fewer disputes. Organising activities would be much easier. Disagreements and differing in opinions is a natural phenomenon in any church ministry because we all come from different backgrounds but they will be better dealt with if we remain true to our cause towards the church ministry.

For those that have their own agendas, they will feel stifle if they feel that their fellow brothers and sisters do not campaign for the same agenda as them. Sometimes, it is very difficult to spot them because the way they do things are all under cloak and dagger. Only time will tell. They would not last very long in the church ministry also. If there are too many of them, activities may not be organised smoothly. It will be harder to carry out the activities planned if they find that the activities to not cater to their goals.

On the whole, I believe that those that join any church ministry are there truthfully. For those who may have their own agendas in joining a church ministry, I ask of you to do some soul searching. God loves everyone of us so do as us a favour and ask yourself whether you really want to hurt the God that truly loves us all because of your own agendas. Join if you truthfully want to serve the lord.

Sincere & Trustworthiness

What I have much wrote on commitment also applies to the notion of sincerity and truthfulness in joining a church ministry. Sincerity and trustworthiness comes hand in hand. Being sincere is a very good christian value that we all have to upkeep. Yes, we may find ourselves in a dilemma at times when we have to bend the rule in order to survive in the secular world or even in the religious world as well. Religious leaders do fall from the path of righteousness at times. Why? It is because we are all humans and not God. We can always go for confession but please do not make it as a fail save facility. If we find ourselves swaying from the path of being sincere and trustworthy then we have to be honest with ourselves and stir back to the right path. It is easy to go to the dark side. Never underestimate the power of dark force!!!!

Being Authentic

As mention in my post previous post titled Being Authentic, Being Encouraging, Being Supportive, Being Forgiving, Being Sincere & Trustworthy, Being Humble, Being Respectful, I wrote that being authentic is about being one true self. In a church ministry, it is important to be your true self and not be somebody that you are not. Sometimes we indulge in things that we do not normally do or agree on in order to impress others around us and not to hurt others.

I say do not do that because you are forcing yourself to be somebody that you are not. If you disagree with something that have been suggested just voice it out diplomatically and tactfully!!. Remember the words here are " diplomatically and tactfully". In being who you are , you are also being honest with your fellow brothers and sisters in the church ministry that you are in.

Well some may say that at times it may not be too wise to be authentic. Some people may not accept it or may gossip about you if they cannot accept who you are. There is some truth to it. The question is how much of authenticity should you portray in an organisation? These vary from organisation to organisation. For example, in a church ministry, it is good to be 100% authentic, however it may not be possibly so. Being 70% authentic would already be a great effort. That is why I mention that those who join a church ministry must be committed, sincere and trustworthy. Unfortunately, achieving a 100% bench mark would never be able to achieve because they will always be some black sheep. It will be great if everybody play their part and atleast try to achieve a bench mark of 90% on being sincere, committed, trustworthy and authentic.

Being Frequent

Being frequent is to attend meeting and activities regularly. Sometimes due to exigencies of work, you may not be able to attend the meetings and take in the activities. However, do not absent yourself frequently. If you are committed, sincere, trustworthy and authentic, you will not let it happen. People will be able to trust and depend on you. More community bonding with your fellow brothers and sisters will be formed.

Well, I hope more people would serve the lord in different ways and join the various church ministries in their church. You need not have to join every one because it can be time consuming. I have recently joint the Catechist Ministry. YES!! there is nothing wrong with your eye sight. If you are a deep shocked and have your mouth wide open, I am glad!! I am so evil. Rest assured I got no hidden agenda. Trust me, "BIG SIMILE" Have a great week ahead. Take care and God Bless.

Harry Potter and The Half Blood Prince Movie Screening by Young AUSBE

The movie was the second movie screening project that was initiated by Young AUSBE. It was held at Filmgarde, Iluma Bugis. It was a pretty hectic and exciting week for the movie committee team of Young AUSBE. They had to friviously sell all the 248 movie tickets and timing was not on their side.

Other the less all tickets were sold so kudos to the team. 98% of those who ordered the tickets came. What was not expected was that most of them came at 6pm whereby filming of the movie would only commence at 7.15pm. In addition, the film organiser allowed the people to go to the cinema hall earlier. This cause a panic for the team. There was no proper crowd control and other patrons that were watching other movies also followed the crowd despite a sign board being displayed promptly that the the queue was meant for people who were from AUSBE members and were watching the Harry Potter movie.

Well, with all that, help came our way as arshers promptly told the "outsiders" not to join the queue. The show started promptly. Before that, there were some quizes about the movie and posters were given out to those who answered the questions correctly.

In all, the movie project was a successful event. Members were happy and were looking forward to other movie screening projects. Young AUSBE proudly assurred the members that there were more to come.

Here are some pictures from the movie event.