the four right chords can make me cry

I passed my driving test!!!!
Thanks be to God!

i was singing these two songs to keep myself calm

Be still my soul, the Lord is on thy side
Bear patiently the cross of grief or pain
Leave to thy God to order and provide
In every change, He faithful will remain
Be still my soul, thy best, thy heavenly friend
Through thorny ways lead to a joyful end

Be still my soul, thy God doth undertake
To guide the future as He has the past
Thy hope thy confidence let nothing shake
All now mysterious shall be bright at last
Be still my soul, the waves and wind still know
His voice who ruled them while He dwelt below

Be still my soul, the hour is hastning on
When we shall be forever with the Lord
When disappointment, fear and grief are gone
Sorrow forgot, love's purest joys restored
Be still my soul, when change and tears are past
All safe and blessed, we shall meet at last

I cannot tell why He whom angels worship
Should set His love upon the sons of man
Or why should He as shepherd seek the wanderers
To bring them back, they know not how or when
But this I know that Christ was born of Mary
When Bethlehem's manger was His only home
And that He lived at Nazareth and laboured
And so the Saviour, Saviour of the World is come

I cannot tell how silently He suffered
As with His peace, He graced this place of tears
Or how His heart upon the cross was broken
The crown of pain to three and thirty years
But this I know, He heals the broken hearted
And stays our sin, and calms our lurking fear
And lifts the burden from the heavy laden
For yet the Saviour, Saviour of the World is here

I cannot tell how He will win the nations
How He will claim His earthly heritage
How satisfy the needs and aspirations
Of East and West, of sinner and of sage
But this I know, all flesh shall see His glory
And He shall reap the harvest He has sown
And some glad day His sun shall shine in splendour
When He the Saviour, Saviour of the World is known

I cannot tell how all the lands shall worship
When at His bidding, every storm is stilled
Or who can say how great the jubilation
When all the hearts of men with love are filled
But this I know, the skies will thrill with rapture
And myriad, myriad angel voices sing
And earth to heaven, and heaven to earth will answer:
At last the Saviour, Saviour of the World is King!

William Young Fullerton (1857-1932)

Gave me a sense of perspective. And racking my brain trying to recall all those lyrics took my mind off the test. I love hymns. They're so beautifully melodic, but best of all, each hymn can encapsulate an entire theology. So unlike most worship songs today, too touchy-feely. I think hymns are very stirring because they remind you of what you believe in, declaring the facts of salvation in song. as opposed to just focusing on your feelings and subjective experience of God. but there is a time and place for both.

Reminds me of the conversation we had at dinner. I think Justin put into words what I've been feeling about biosem and Christianity. Yup, it IS the whole crux of Christianity! God is not a thing, concepts cannot be applied to Him, He is what we call in class a "not". (don't misunderstand, but then again, i think only ppl in the class will know what i mean) But Christ became God embodied, enabling us to relate to God. wow. that was a profound moment there. Wish i could articulate it better =(

Thai oral went really badly. But I was too happy to care.

Finally went to Couduroy and Finch with mum and dad. I ate Handsome Strawberries. heh. will post pictures so you'll know what i mean, soon. Really really great food there, I must go again! but very expensive...

that was thursday. coming to friday now.

it was awful, at least after breakfast.

yesterday i told chels that i could smile at a million strangers. today, i couldn't even manage to smile at my reflection in the mirror. spent the whole day wholed up in the com lab working on the bioinformatics project. i thought it'd take 2 hours max, but i ended up staying there till the lab closed! SO frustrating. and after veron left, i was alone =( Nevertheless, managed to go for a free health screening sometime in between. well. lets just say it provides me with impetus to lose some weight. hahaha. no startling revelations lah, i'm acceptable weight, but i'm too pudgy around the waist (waist to hip ratio bad), BMI is a little close to overweight (22.2 vs 22.9!!) and percentage body fat is at the upper bound of acceptable. oh dear, how very embarrasing. so tell the whole world over the internet, yes, that sounds wise.

We had a writing centre end of sem gathering, Dr Lo bought SUBWAY! wow wow woo wee! but i felt kinda shy still =( they were busy discussing conferences, but i had nothing to add (nothing smart, insightful to say). gah, i hate feeling like that.

two more projects to clear, ie. start on. better get back to work. but just had to inform regular blog readers whom i didn't sms that yes, i did manage to pass at last, and i'm very happy =)

posted by beckyboo @ 2:55 AM