In the past three weeks, I've been to two weddings; in the past three months, I've been to three. In the next month, I'll have gone to two more; in the next four months, I'll have gone to three. In the span of eight months, I'll have attended six weddings and missed out on several more. It is the season of mass weddings, and though it is taking a toll on my already limited budget, I couldn't be happier for my friends who have tied or are tying the knot.
All these weddings have obviously got me thinking about my own status. Though I do wish I could at least be in a relationship, I am thoroughly content in my singleness in my current state. I've got enough immediate concerns with graduate school; but then again, if God were to make it abundantly clear to be in a relationship, so be it; I'd embrace that additional responsibility in a heartbeat for sure.
With that thought and fresh from Dave and Sarah's wedding this past weekend, I listened to a powerful and convicting sermon dealing about relationships/marriage given by none other than Pastor Mark Driscoll of Mars Hill Church out in Seattle. I'm telling you, the man is anointed. He spoke about how men in the church fall into two extreme camps: chauvinism or cowardice. Falling into either of these categories distorts the institution of marriage, and at the end of the day, the fault lies with the men. The sermon wasn't necessarily a new topic, but God used it powerfully to speak to me about my flaws as a man and how much more I need to grow in my character before I'm called to be responsible for another person in my life.
One thing that I've heard him often say is guys tend to think that marriages will make them men, and he rips that philosophy apart. I have to agree with him. As I'm learning what it means to be a man of God, it starts with taking responsibility for my own life. It starts with spending time with God daily. It starts with loving my neighbors as myself. It starts with basic responsbilities like getting a job, cleaning after myself, being organized. How could I expect to take responsibility for another person when I'm having trouble taking care of my own affairs?
I vouch for men like Dave, Moses, and Paul. I respect men like Pastor Jimmy, Yohan, and Davis. They, among others, are good men, striving to be like Christ. I believe God will bless their marriages abundantly as they love their wives as Christ loved the Church. I'm excited for them, and I hope that God would continue to grow me so I can be with someone who I will lay my life down for as Christ gave up His life for the Church. But until then, I will work on the plethora of flaws I find in myself (not including the many others that other people may find in me).
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Cool to be a Nerd
Let's get the facts straight. I'm a nerd--not a dork and not a geek. There's a huge difference among the three terms. What that is, I cannot tell you. But there is a difference. I promise. And I am a bonafide nerd. I swear being a nerd is better for the social status than being a dork or a geek. I stand by that.
I wear this badge with honor. Coming to the nation's capital, I've quickly learned that the coolest people in this part of the country are the nerds. The talking heads on cable news, the so-called experts of their fields, the ones with a billion letters after their names; the bookworms who devour obscure journals for lunch; these are the cool kids on the block. It's a weird thing in actuality. In most places the cool cats are the ones who are fashionable, who are rich, who are fun, etc. But not here. And I want in on this club.
Being in graduate school forces one to be a nerd. That is my opinion. I should run a statistical analysis to confirm this hypothesis. On second thought, I barely got through stats this semester, so maybe I shouldn't. But in any case, reading hundreds of pages of scholarly articles and books a week for class and research papers make it pretty easy for one to become a nerd.
I wonder if I'll ever get to the level where news reporters, industry leaders, world leaders, community leaders, and others will come to me for advice on a matter I would specialize in. Not that that would be a specific goal of mine. But it would certainly be cool, no? Okay maybe not.
In any case, I love what I'm studying. If I can get paid like a real salary on which I could live off comfortably, I wouldn't mind being a student for life. I could sure live with becoming an expert on North Korea, an expert on nuclear proliferation, an expert on counterterrorism, an expert on human rights, etc. I have one more year, two more semesters with my program. Then it will be on to bigger and greater things, or so I'm told. Choices will lie before me. And I want to take the proverbial road less taken, the road of becoming a real life nerd in Washington D.C., a road full of white men in their suits walking around downtown looking all important. Okay maybe it's not the road less taken according to the standards of Washington D.C.
But regardless, I like being a nerd. I don't care what people say. It's cool to be a nerd in my book.
I wear this badge with honor. Coming to the nation's capital, I've quickly learned that the coolest people in this part of the country are the nerds. The talking heads on cable news, the so-called experts of their fields, the ones with a billion letters after their names; the bookworms who devour obscure journals for lunch; these are the cool kids on the block. It's a weird thing in actuality. In most places the cool cats are the ones who are fashionable, who are rich, who are fun, etc. But not here. And I want in on this club.
Being in graduate school forces one to be a nerd. That is my opinion. I should run a statistical analysis to confirm this hypothesis. On second thought, I barely got through stats this semester, so maybe I shouldn't. But in any case, reading hundreds of pages of scholarly articles and books a week for class and research papers make it pretty easy for one to become a nerd.
I wonder if I'll ever get to the level where news reporters, industry leaders, world leaders, community leaders, and others will come to me for advice on a matter I would specialize in. Not that that would be a specific goal of mine. But it would certainly be cool, no? Okay maybe not.
In any case, I love what I'm studying. If I can get paid like a real salary on which I could live off comfortably, I wouldn't mind being a student for life. I could sure live with becoming an expert on North Korea, an expert on nuclear proliferation, an expert on counterterrorism, an expert on human rights, etc. I have one more year, two more semesters with my program. Then it will be on to bigger and greater things, or so I'm told. Choices will lie before me. And I want to take the proverbial road less taken, the road of becoming a real life nerd in Washington D.C., a road full of white men in their suits walking around downtown looking all important. Okay maybe it's not the road less taken according to the standards of Washington D.C.
But regardless, I like being a nerd. I don't care what people say. It's cool to be a nerd in my book.
Friday, May 15, 2009
The Soul-less World of Politics
It seems as if politicians these days have no integrity, no soul. The political pandering to interest groups never gets old, and promises of government transparencies are being found hard to keep. Voters are regarded as fools for believing messages of change, while elected officials on both sides of the aisle keep posturing to do whatever they can to keep their seats in the Senate and the House.
One GOP senator jumps ship, citing ideological differences with the more conservative elements of the Republican Party. But in a state that is increasingly becoming more Democratic, was it just mere coincidence that Senator Arlen Specter switched affiliation to the Democratic Party with his re-election season coming up?
The man who said that we can, and promised a new wave of transparency in the government, has recently upset his friends to the left when he decided this week to prevent the release of photos from Abu Ghraib. What happened to transparency, Mr. President? Keeping electoral promises isn't so easy now, is it? And now today, the White House confirmed that the US would continue to employ former President Bush's controversial military commission to prosecute detainees in Gitmo. That sure does look like change to me. Yes, we can.
And then there is the first madam speaker of the House of Representative from California. Nancy Pelosi, the vocal critic of the Bush administration, finds herself in a bit of a sticky situation. The madam speaker is adored by those on the left for her outspoken objection to the use of torture during the Bush administration. I sincerely applaud her stance on that. But you see, Ms. Pelosi forgot to mention that in 2003, she, along with other House Intelligence Committee members, were briefed by the CIA on its interrogation methods during the war on terror. Today, she disputed CIA records that listed 40 briefs that the committee received from the intelligence agency in which members of the committee were allegedly told the use of waterboarding during interrogation. A record of 40 briefings in which she was told that the CIA was torturing detainees in 2003, and she waits until 2007 to formally decry the CIA's methods of interrogation. Does Ms. Pelosi really think we're idiotic enough to actually believe her?
So in conclusion, politics is a soul-less world, void of any meaningful convictions and integrity. Flip-flopping around is the norm, and doing anything politically expedient is to be expected. But hey, at least in America, people like me who publicly criticize officials expect to live after wielding such criticisms unlike in other countries. I have that to be thankful for, right?
read more here and here and here and here.
One GOP senator jumps ship, citing ideological differences with the more conservative elements of the Republican Party. But in a state that is increasingly becoming more Democratic, was it just mere coincidence that Senator Arlen Specter switched affiliation to the Democratic Party with his re-election season coming up?
The man who said that we can, and promised a new wave of transparency in the government, has recently upset his friends to the left when he decided this week to prevent the release of photos from Abu Ghraib. What happened to transparency, Mr. President? Keeping electoral promises isn't so easy now, is it? And now today, the White House confirmed that the US would continue to employ former President Bush's controversial military commission to prosecute detainees in Gitmo. That sure does look like change to me. Yes, we can.
And then there is the first madam speaker of the House of Representative from California. Nancy Pelosi, the vocal critic of the Bush administration, finds herself in a bit of a sticky situation. The madam speaker is adored by those on the left for her outspoken objection to the use of torture during the Bush administration. I sincerely applaud her stance on that. But you see, Ms. Pelosi forgot to mention that in 2003, she, along with other House Intelligence Committee members, were briefed by the CIA on its interrogation methods during the war on terror. Today, she disputed CIA records that listed 40 briefs that the committee received from the intelligence agency in which members of the committee were allegedly told the use of waterboarding during interrogation. A record of 40 briefings in which she was told that the CIA was torturing detainees in 2003, and she waits until 2007 to formally decry the CIA's methods of interrogation. Does Ms. Pelosi really think we're idiotic enough to actually believe her?
So in conclusion, politics is a soul-less world, void of any meaningful convictions and integrity. Flip-flopping around is the norm, and doing anything politically expedient is to be expected. But hey, at least in America, people like me who publicly criticize officials expect to live after wielding such criticisms unlike in other countries. I have that to be thankful for, right?
read more here and here and here and here.
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Mid Point
It is over.
Eating at odd hours, often at fast food joints; sleeping at the crack of dawn, only to wake up a few hours later; writing and rewriting, always dissatisfied with my efforts; breathing to survive, rather than to enjoy life as it was meant to be enjoyed. The shining sun never seemed more gloomy than those days, holed up in a room of like-minded peers with the ferocious click-clacks of keyboards drowning out the laughs and shouts of frolickers on campus. But it was what it was. And it is now finished.
Nuclear proliferation. North Korea. WMD threats. Insurgency. Counterinsurgency. Al Qaeda. Iraq. Taliban. Muslim Brotherhood. Al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya. Egypt. Xinjiang. Uyghur extremists. Human trafficking. Multivariate regression analysis. Statistics. All interesting topics, some more than others. But I'm ready to move on.
President Obama's inauguration. John Kim-Dave Lee joint-bachelors party in the Poconos. US-Asia Institute Lunar New Year Reception. Paul & Gina's reception in Chicago via Ann Arbor. Spring Break to New York. US-Asia Institute's 30th Anniversary Gala at the United Nations. North Korean Freedom Week. Moses & Julie's wedding in Michigan along with Class of 2009 commencement. An eventful semester outside of school. I'm looking forward to more fun times in the future.
It's scary to think that it was only nine months ago when I was packing the last eight years of my life into my car and driving back to the east coast. Nothing could have prepared me for all the various experiences of the past year: all the struggles, all the crises, all the drama, all the joys, all the fun, all the times spent dreaming, all the steps taken towards making those dreams realities. I would have it no other way. I'm grateful.
Here's to the beginning of my final year in school. Surely there will be more challenges. But as the sun fights through the clouds to shine its light ever so brightly, I know I will need to fight through whatever obstacles lie in the future to do what God has called me to do. It's only the beginning of good things all around, and I'm excited.
Eating at odd hours, often at fast food joints; sleeping at the crack of dawn, only to wake up a few hours later; writing and rewriting, always dissatisfied with my efforts; breathing to survive, rather than to enjoy life as it was meant to be enjoyed. The shining sun never seemed more gloomy than those days, holed up in a room of like-minded peers with the ferocious click-clacks of keyboards drowning out the laughs and shouts of frolickers on campus. But it was what it was. And it is now finished.
Nuclear proliferation. North Korea. WMD threats. Insurgency. Counterinsurgency. Al Qaeda. Iraq. Taliban. Muslim Brotherhood. Al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya. Egypt. Xinjiang. Uyghur extremists. Human trafficking. Multivariate regression analysis. Statistics. All interesting topics, some more than others. But I'm ready to move on.
President Obama's inauguration. John Kim-Dave Lee joint-bachelors party in the Poconos. US-Asia Institute Lunar New Year Reception. Paul & Gina's reception in Chicago via Ann Arbor. Spring Break to New York. US-Asia Institute's 30th Anniversary Gala at the United Nations. North Korean Freedom Week. Moses & Julie's wedding in Michigan along with Class of 2009 commencement. An eventful semester outside of school. I'm looking forward to more fun times in the future.
It's scary to think that it was only nine months ago when I was packing the last eight years of my life into my car and driving back to the east coast. Nothing could have prepared me for all the various experiences of the past year: all the struggles, all the crises, all the drama, all the joys, all the fun, all the times spent dreaming, all the steps taken towards making those dreams realities. I would have it no other way. I'm grateful.
Here's to the beginning of my final year in school. Surely there will be more challenges. But as the sun fights through the clouds to shine its light ever so brightly, I know I will need to fight through whatever obstacles lie in the future to do what God has called me to do. It's only the beginning of good things all around, and I'm excited.
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