Singapore

       City of Singapore and small state and island in South East Asia. It's up to you to judge this article from an English newspaper.

 

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An Italian Artist Auctioned Off an ‘Invisible Sculpture’ for $18,300. It’s Made Literally of Nothing

“It is a work that asks you to activate the power of the imagination,” Salvatore Garau said of his sculpture.

Taylor Dafoe, June 3, 2021

Per una opera "artistica" dell'italiano Salvatore Garau venduta in una asta la sua "opera immaginaria" per la modica cifra di 18,300 USD$😆 dal titolo 'Io Sono'

New Year Happiness Wishes

I suspect that if you asked people what their main goal in the new year is that somehow their answer would boil down to being happy. Resolutions represent changing factors in our lives that are obstacles to being happy. But what is the happiness that people pursue? We usually discuss happiness as a subjective category that each person fills in for themselves. We no longer have the notion that happiness is something more defined than that.

If we are created by God, He’s made us for certain purposes, and our happiness is tied up in pursuing those purposes. God has created all kinds of things that add to our happiness, but only if we engage them in the way He intended. Misuse can never lead to their ultimate purpose.

So to be happy we have to find the proper paths to it.—Melinda Penner

Defining happiness

Is happiness really attainable? It is a question many have sought to answer—debated in philosophy halls, whispered about at slumber parties, promised in innumerable marketing campaigns—and particularly at the turn of a new year. Our countless approaches to pursuing happiness are as diverse as our many definitions of the word. But what if the attainability of happiness is intimately connected to our answer to another question? Namely, what is the source of your greatest enjoyment in life? In other words, could there be a connection between your worldview and your capacity to experience happiness?

In a significant study, Armand Nicholi, professor of clinical psychiatry at Harvard University, compared the life and work of Sigmund Freud to that of C. S. Lewis. Each cultural giant was recognized for the remarkable accuracy with which he observed human emotion and experience. And yet, each man defined and experienced happiness in strikingly different manners, through radically different worldviews.

Freud’s experience and understanding of happiness emerged as fundamental to his materialist understanding of the world. He observed happiness to be “a problem of satisfying a person’s instinctual wishes.” Consequently, the possibility of attaining happiness was met with pessimism. Freud recognized that the human appetite is never fully satisfied. … Sadly, Freud’s life itself reflected his definition of happiness. His letters were increasingly filled with pessimism and depression, even mentioning drug use as the only effective mood-lifter he could find.

What makes C. S. Lewis a fascinating point of comparison is that like Freud, he too was intensely pessimistic about the possibilities of happiness early in life. And yet as emphasized by many biographers and close friends, his life was profoundly transformed in his early thirties, following a dramatic shift in worldview. … Happiness, for Lewis, could not ultimately be met in the material. As he found himself approaching a worldview shaped by something beyond the material, Lewis first thought he was coming to a place, an idea, and found instead that he came to a Person, one within the material world and also beyond and behind it. In fact, it was the surprise of finding a Person that first redefined the notion of happiness for him—happiness from within this source of joy that marked his life even during times of pain and loss.

In this new year of potential promise, ultimate sources of happiness may be as worth considering as each possible option or hopeful resolution. The psalmist writes of a creator as a source within and beyond the material. “You have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.” There may well be a connection between our capacity for happiness and our understanding of life. In the Christian view, Christ stands in flesh and blood calling you nearer that your joy may be transformed by a present and enduring love.—Jill Carattini

You reap from what you sow

Blaise Pascal was an influential French scientist who lived in the 1600s. He completed important works on mathematics and experimental physics. Pascal was also a devoted Christian. He wrote books on grace and the life of Christ, as well as other Christian works.

Through all this Pascal realized that his faith, though intensely personal, could not be merely individualistic.

His love for God drove him to love for the poor. “I love poverty,” he said, “because he (Christ) loved it. I like wealth because it gives a means to assist the needy.” Increasingly Pascal deprived himself so that he could give more. He sold his coach and horses, his fine furniture and silverware and even his library in order to give to the poor. When he received an advance of 1,000 francs for his bus [a horse-drawn carriage that could carry several passengers], he sent the money to the poor in Blois, who had suffered from a bitter winter. He then signed over his interest in the company to the hospitals of Paris and Clermont.

When Pascal died at the age of 39 on August 19, 1662, his funeral was attended by family, friends, scientific colleagues, worldly companions, converts, writers, and the back of the church was filled with the poor, each and every person there someone Pascal had helped during his life.—Charles Hummel

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We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.—Author unknown

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Do all the good you can,
By all the means you can,
In all the ways you can,
In all the places you can,
At all the times you can,
To all the people you can,
As long as ever you can.
—Attributed to John Wesley

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Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.—2 Corinthians 9:7

Shining Light Into the Darkness

I learned about the work of the artist Pedro Reyes. His musical project titled “Disarm” transformed 6,700 guns that were turned in or seized by the army and police into musical instruments. The guns came from Ciudad Juarez, a city of about 1.3 million people that averaged about 10 killings a day at the height of its drug violence. In 2010, Ciudad Juarez had a murder rate of about 230 per 100,000 inhabitants.

Reyes remarked of the guns he used that this is “just the tip of the iceberg of all the weapons that are seized every day and that the army has to destroy.” But rather than succumb to the despair, Reyes took the very instruments used for violence and created instruments for music

Reyes was already known for a 2008 project called “Palas por Pistolas,” or “Pistols to Shovels,” in which he melted down 1,527 weapons to make the same number of shovels to plant the same number of trees. Reyes stresses that his work “is not just a protest, but a proposal.” His proposal is to take objects of destruction and transform them into objects of creation. It is not by accident that Reyes’s creative work hearkens back to the ancient vision of the prophet Isaiah when on the great day of the Lord “they will hammer their swords into plowshares.” … So instead of objects of destruction, they become objects of creation. Art, for Reyes, is about transformation; about shining light into the darkness. 

(Margaret Manning Shull)

Patience and God’s Plans

Recently I feel like that too: "don’t know what God wants you to do here and now"

Suppose you … simply don’t know what God wants you to do here and now. Don’t give up on yourself or God. God is answering you, but his answer for now is: Wait. God will fulfill all his promises, but in his time. He gave us promises, not timetables. He’s a lover, not a train.
Patience is the art of waiting. It is not necessarily the art of waiting patiently. Job is a famous example of patience, and of the distinction between patient waiting and waiting patiently. Poor Job cannot discern the meaning of his sufferings. He does not know what he has done (to provoke God to let him suffer so), nor what he can do (to find God or to understand his situation). He searches for thirty-seven agonizing chapters, without finding God, or answers, or comfort. Yet he holds on, and hopes. That is his patience.
I used to think that only those who never read his book could call Job patient. I thought Job was the most impatient man in the Bible. But then I realized that the Bible itself calls Job patient, so I had to rethink what patience meant. I concluded that it did not necessarily mean a calm emotional state, for Job certainly didn’t have that, yet Job had patience, according to James. So patience has to be something deeper than an emotional state.
I think patience is simply waiting, enduring, holding on. This is all some of us can do. But it is enough. When you can do nothing but hang on and keep trying and losing, or suffering and dying, know that that is something more precious than winning—that is patience.
God had patience with us. He stuck it out with us. He stayed with us, even after we rejected him. It’s the least we can do for him when he seems to forsake us, as he seemed to reject Job, because he has promised us that he will never leave us or forsake us, no matter how much our situation seems to tell us that he has. Faith believes God’s promises, beyond appearances. Faith holds on, like an anchor, even in the murky depths, even when discernment and light are not possible. Discernment is not always necessary, but faith is.
On the last day, when God calls the rolls, when he gets to your name he will ask, like your old grade school teachers, Present? Are you still here? Are you still with me? If you can honestly answer yes, if you are “present,” if you are still seeking God and his righteousness, then you will have all other things added unto you, including the gift of discernment. All the things you failed to discern during your time on earth, you will discern in the light of eternity. In this life, discernment sheds a little light on the future; in the next life, it will shine God light on the past.—Peter Kreeft

Weekly Story

The Law of the Garbage Truck 

Adapted Web Reprint

One day I hopped in a taxi to go to the airport. We were driving in the right lane when suddenly a black car jumped out of a parking space right in front of us. My taxi driver slammed on his brakes, skidded, and missed the other car by just inches! The driver of the other car whipped his head around and started yelling at us. My taxi driver just smiled and waved at the guy. And I mean, he was really friendly.

I asked, “Why did you just do that? This guy almost ruined your car and nearly sent us to the hospital!”

This is when my taxi driver taught me what I now call, “The Law of the Garbage Truck.”
He explained that many people are like garbage trucks. They run around full of garbage, full of frustration, full of anger, and full of disappointment. As their garbage piles up, they need a place to dump it, and sometimes they’ll dump it on you. Don’t take it personally. Just smile, wave, wish them well, and move on. Don’t take their garbage and spread it to other people at work, at home, or on the streets.

The bottom line is to not let garbage trucks take over your day. Life’s too short to wake up in the morning with regrets. So love the people who treat you right. Pray for the ones who don’t.

Life is ten percent what you make it and ninety percent how you take it.

From: Tommy's Window

– Living is about learning as you go. Living is risky business. Every decision, every interaction, every step, every time you get out of bed in the morning, you take a small risk. To truly live is to know you’re getting up and taking that risk, and to trust yourself to take it. To not get out of bed, clutching to illusions of safety, is to die slowly without ever having truly lived. Think about it: If you ignore your instincts and let shallow feelings of uncertainty stop you, you will never know anything for sure, and in many ways this un-knowing will be worse than finding out your instincts were wrong. Because if you were wrong, you could make adjustments and carry on with your life without looking back and wondering what might have been. --Angel Chernoff

Women's gifts

We can't smile or laugh often enough. This story shared by LeeRoy Garrett should get your week off to a perfect start:

One morning, the husband returns the boat to their lakeside cottage after several hours of fishing and decides to take a nap.

Although not familiar with the lake, the wife decides to take the boat out. She motors out a short distance, anchors, puts her feet up, and begins to read her book. The peace and solitude are magnificent.

Along comes a Fish and Game Warden in his boat.
He pulls up alongside the woman and says, 'Good morning, Ma'am. What are you doing?'

'Reading a book,' she replies, (thinking, 'Isn't that obvious?').

'You're in a Restricted Fishing Area,' he informs her.

'I'm sorry, officer, but I'm not fishing. I'm reading.'

'Yes, but I see you have all the equipment. For all I know you could start at any moment. I'll have to take you in and write you up.'

'If you do that, I'll have to charge you with sexual assault,' says the woman.

'But I haven't even touched you,' says the Game Warden.

'That's true, but you have all the equipment..
For all I know you could start at any moment.'

'Have a nice day ma'am,' and he left.

MORAL:
Never argue with a woman who reads.
It's likely she can also think.

Benefiting from laughter

 Laughter is a great mood elevator. Being able to laugh, especially at myself, turns things that could be discouraging into something more positive. For example, one of the challenges for some of us is the faltering of our short-term memory and the funny things we sometimes do as a result. These little faux pas can give you some great “conversation starters,” and keep you humble at the same time.

Some of the things I do sometimes are quite humorous, such as picking up something, intending to take it into the other room, but then getting there and wondering what happened to it. Then returning to the other room only to realize that I had picked it up, gotten distracted by something else and put it down in the same spot instead of bringing it into the next room. Or, have you ever been looking all around for your phone when it was in your hand? I have!

Occasionally I can forget whether my glasses are on my face or not, or where I just put down my pen, or whether I sent that file off a minute ago or not.

Laughter is a great stress releaser. Laughter is also good for your health. It relaxes the whole body. A good hearty laugh relieves physical tension and stress, leaving your muscles relaxed for up to forty-five minutes afterwards. Laughter boosts the immune system. The Mayo Clinic says, “When it comes to relieving stress, more giggles and guffaws are just what the doctor ordered. Here’s why: whether you’re guffawing at a sitcom on TV or quietly giggling at a newspaper cartoon, laughter does you good. Laughter is a great form of stress relief, and that’s no joke. … When you start to laugh, it doesn’t just lighten your load mentally. It actually induces physical changes in your body. Laughter can stimulate many organs, activate and relieve your stress response, soothe tension, and more.” (Maria Fountain 1946 -- )