Hopeful New Year 2022

 

Selamat Tahun Baru rekan2. ❤️ Hari ini angka 2021 resmi menjadi masa lalu. Tertunduk penuh hormat karena hanya Tuhanlah yang jelas telah membawa kami melalui tahun yang kini harus Saya beri embel-embel "tersebut". Tahun kedua dalam pandemi COVID-19, pelajaran tatap muka yang sudah dimulai sempat terhenti karena lonjakan kasus transmisi dan pengetatan mobilitas kembali, meski akhirnya dapat dimulai kembali menjelang akhir tahun, ditambah anugerah tambahan kesempatan berkat kerjasama dengan Rhapsodie. Bangga pula dapat membantu aransemen musik salah satu klien dari kilang LNG di Indonesia.

Media online virtual semakin dimaksimalkan, murid yang "tersisa" dari awal 2020 plus yang apply ditengah pandemi terus maju meski tanpa tatap muka. Kerusakan salah satu device (setelah 6 tahun setia menemani), memaksa alih perangkat. Di tengah bergabungnya Saya ke komunitas RLST, pekerjaan tugas membaca menulis jadi terbantu, plus dalam pelayanan media untuk IESNorthwest 

Bersyukur untuk kesempatan dan kekuatan yang masih diberikan untuk menyelesaikan akumulasi 2500 km lari bersama aplikasi Nike Run Club selama lebih dari 5 tahun terakhir.

Awal 2021 (Februari) menjadi tonggak berdirinya komunitas "Let's Read Hebrew", diawali bersama Dessy Wijoyo David Prabowo Halim Yani Ellyz Ferdinand Ricky , kemudian melalui support Ptr Tommy Cabalquinto Pacatang Jay-r Sarsadiaz dan para anggota baru lainnya dan para guest speaker plus mentor, Pdt Decky Pendowo, M.Th, Finki R. Kantohe, M.Th, Pdm. Chandra Julianto, M.Th, kami bersiap merayakan 1st anniversary.

Bangga menyaksikan pencapaian studi kecendikiaan Ptr Oyan Simatupang , Ph.D, Pdp. Angga Sunjaya, M.Th., & Finki R Kantohe, M.Th

Saya terus melanjutkan belajar berbagai hal terkait bahasa Ibrani, Yunani, teologi dan biblika secara mandiri, dengan berbagai tanggung jawab di pundak, dengan berbagai masalah kesehatan yang datang dan pergi, kesalahmengetian maupun dukungan hangat, melangkah perlahan, rindu mengenali Yesus semakin dalam, perlahan menaggalkan berbagai "kemasan" keakuan, kesukuan, kebaratan, dsb, rindu menyambut Dia yang telah datang bagi mereka yang tertinggal, tertindas, tersingkir dan tanpa harapan. Semoga 2022 kita semua menjadi tahun yang menyelamatkan dan mempersatukan. #bukan9best

Video dan Mobile Games, Petaka atau Peluang?

Baru-baru ini Saya melihat video proses pembuatan sebuah video game genre aksi laga dari franchise yang dulu amat Saya gemari, kini sequel terbarunya baru saja dirilis untuk platform PS5. Meski sekarang Saya menggeluti banyak hal dan tanggung jawab, once a gamer always a gamer. Wow, desain permainan ini terbilang sangat prima dalam banyak hal, setidaknya yang Saya amati, detail visual yang dihasilkan oleh "game engine"-nya, kualitas directing mulai dari voice acting dan motion capture-nya yang semakin lifelike.

Salah satu alasan mengapa video/mobile game membuat ketagihan adalah bagaimana mereka dibuat secara amat serius dan skala besar (seringkali dgn SDM dan budget mendekati Holywood blockbuster).

Mulai dari audio-visual, musik, jalan cerita & alur cerita/level yang seolah bercerita & berdialog dengan isu-isu mental-emosional, sosial aktual dan "nyambung" dengan masa kini dari kita yang memainkannya. Makanya tidak aneh juga kalau mereka yang kecanduan game umumnya juga mrk yang mengalami bullying atau suasana komunitas/keluarga yang kurang kondusif. Kebutuhan utk merasa senang, hebat, diakui, menang, dan lain sebagainya. Sedih memang kedengarannya, namun meski semu, games menawarkan hal-hal tersebut. Hikmahnya, kita ditantang untuk lebih engaged dgn komunitas & keluarga ketimbang memberi instruksi, opini, apalagi larangan semata yang sifatnya satu arah, kita ditantang untuk rendah hati & sungguh mendengarkan angan-angan dan kegelisahan generasi yang lebih muda.

Melarang tanpa solusi/alternatif sepertinya kurang bijak dan tak akan banyak berpengaruh. Sebaliknya mungkin kita bisa mencoba mendorong anak-anak atau remaja untuk tertarik pada sisi kreatif di balik games yang mereka sukai. Banyak sekali skill yang terlibat dalam pembuatan games, terutama yang "rating"-nya tinggi. Mulai dari kemampuan sastra untuk merancang karakter dan jalan cerita, seni akting, computer/electronics utk teknologi motion capture dan lain sebagainya, skill musikal dan tata suara, desain visual, programming/coding, hingga marketing, managerial, teamwork & leadership skill.

Atau .. mungkin membuat hal lain semenarik dan semenghibur games.

It's Only a Key Lock

We messed up big time, and God still wants us..

A take from Psalm 149:4

I used to think that "forgiving & loving ourselves" isn't biblical because I was more brought up with the stories of sacrificial faith even martyrdom both from biblical figures and the saints across Church's vast history.

It wasn't until recently that I was convicted by this sentence, "God takes pleasure in his people". Being sometimes too obsessively careful in sharing my takes, I stopped for a while due to historical gap surrounding this word "rotzé" used in v.4 for "to take pleasure in".

Rotzē רוֹצֶה is one of those words that I managed to learn through _Duolingo_ and in modern context it simply means "I want/he wants", (the not so simple : verb, 1st&3rd person masculine singular, present/participle, simple active form).

After a rethinking, I decided to share it anyway, vulnerably. 

There have been countless times of shock realizing I was just being "overkill" in my scolding on the boys. I was seemingly aware yet almost unable to control my reactions whenever one of them neglected instructions or if things were lost or broken under their watch. It grievens me deeply that I haven't been able to keep my promise in not repeating physical and verbal assaults I've received from my parents, especially my Dad, even after my Mom was "born again" and immediately showed tremendous change in temper, Dad didn't seem to slow down. It got even to the point where my wife had to stepped up to mediate our worst fights back when we're still dating. I was wrecked and disoriented to realize that all these times, amongst all others hardships I had become my worst enemy.

Then one moment of grace came from unexpected direction. I have been attending weekly lesson zoom (3rd month now) with RLST community, and this month's topic is "Treasure from The Old Testament", the mentor was also one of GSJA "Pdm" (associate pastor)*, in his 30's, with a (bibl.)Th.M under his belt and 400 pages thesis for his Th.B, arguing against the "misuse" of the prophetic office in our times.

Long story short, in that session (lasted around 2.5 hours), his one statement stayed in my mind.. "after the siege of Jerusalem by the Babilonians, there's no more mention about the Ark of The Covenant, until The Book of Revelation".. They've lost it! Up until today there's no hard proof besides countless conspiracy theories surrounding the findings of the Ark. Whether it's carelessness in safekeeping or in maintaining allegiance to Yahweh which would prevent such tragedy to occur in the first place, Israel messed up.. big time.

I nearly burst to tears when strangely fragments of little Felix being beaten or yelled at for more than an hour swooshed through my mind. I haven't forgiven myself for things lost and broken, I hated myself for not being good enough, for not being perfect, and later on, for not being "successful". And when I realized the gravity of Israel's mistake, and how God has been showing that not only He's forgiven them, there's this little voice in me saying, "It's only a key lock that you lost, forgive yourself, if you want to obey God, forgive and love yourself, learn to unashamedly rejoice." Being realistic, there are going to be series of spiritual and mental detox which I gladly go through, my children healthy growth is afterall paramount. Yet, I'm thankful for that moment of grace, and also to you, I suspect (and I'm usualy quite sharp with this 😅) that you've also been praying for me. 💕🙏

Should there be comments or responses, my *I will* (which I forgot to say yesterday) is that : I will learn to receive God's forgiveness by being ready in forgiving myself and others.

Many times the problem of fault and forgiveness are highly subjective, proven by how many people hold on to bitterness even though one party might not realize the fault of simply also to bitter or "thickskinned" to care. So as Ptr Tommy (IES Northwest Jakarta) often preached, it should always start with me, cause my Father in Heaven have started it through Jesus.

The word "rotzē" isn't what it used to be, when you search "רוצה", there are less than 10 appearances in the OT, and it usually means "to desire" or to "favor highly", because the Bible, especially older English uses "want" for different meaning which are either "hunger" or "being needy". But that just get even better. To know that God wants me, as if He won't be complete without me, that's already something that will cause me to die smiling, then how much more to know that He delights himself and takes pleasure in me? That means the whole world. 💕

Note:

* Currently moved to become the teaching pastor of Reformasi Liturgi Church, a local community ecumenical home church under GMII (Evangelical Methodist Church in Indonesia), and in process of continuing to theological doctoral study.

Party Hard?

Redefining "Party Hard", "Play Hard", and self fulfillment through the reading of Joshua 5:9 and Luke 24:2 from the lens of Hebrew root גלגל (gimel lamed gimel lamed).

Disclaimer: this is a personal commentary instead of thoroughly defended academic observation.

Double Gimel-Lamed גלגל is one of few Hebrew 4 letter root (3 is more common) mostly associated with things that are circular and cyclical.

Galgal גַלגַל is "wheel" or "pulley".

Gilgal גִּילגָּל is place mentioned 39 times in the תַנָ'ך Tanakh, 15 of them in יהושע The Book of Joshua, including a story of how the name is given..

Joshua 5:9 And the LORD said unto Joshua, This day have I rolled away the reproach (shame) of Egypt from off you. Wherefore the name of the place is called Gilgal unto this day.

Whether it's a divine arrangement, the writers' intention or both, we can spot the unique selection and depiction of removal as the act of rolling a (tomb) stone away. I guess it's normal to associate shame with a person's demise (death), but to associate death as the direct logical consequence of leaving God's presence, of spiritual death, and later to imply that the God's ultimate act in wiping of sin is the undoing of death, this is a revelation ahead of its time. Again, this idea is highlighted in The Gospel through the writings in Luke 24:2 ..

הֵן רָאוּ שֶׁהָאֶבֶן כְּבָר "נָגֺלָּה" מִן הַקֶּ

And they found the stone "rolled away" from the sepulchre (tomb).

And this reminds me of my Christian conviction through the Spirit that as משיח Christ was risen, the work of salvation is done, the shame of Egypt (biblical symbol for sin and worldliness) has been נָגֺלָּה rolled away.

As I ventured to compare various form of the word "rolled" in its construct form, the words which sound identically with #Gilgal is the ones attached to "I" and singular "you" (both male & female equally)..

Gilgalti גִּלְגַּלְתִּי (I rolled), at this point I was imagining God saying these words. (Both in Joshua & Luke)

Gilgalta גִּלְגַּלְתָּ (you rolled - man)

Gilgalt גִּלְגַּלְתְּ (you rolled - woman)

So as confusing as it is for us "average" people regarding Soteriology, "grace vs works". This #Hebrew reading hinted a form of partnership. Doing the opposite of righteousness, becoming an opposition to God's character and works, all these are a sign of rejecting the grace. God's way of saving is a self emptying paradox. Though He's infinite, it takes "you and me" to pull this off.

And finally, I couldn't help but rethink the "boring" eternity where we sing and float among the clouds to the kind where we'll be loving Him for all times through serving one another, no longer due to needs but out of the abundance of love .

Let's think of these the next time the worship service is ended and we're sent back to our daily responsibilities. A life of service is what's depicted in our celebration of praise. The "party" is just the image of joy, the "work" is the real thing.

Finally, everyone needs holidays and parties, but one can never expect to find ultimate meaning & fulfillment as those found in working and serving others for there we can see and contribut to the full display of self denying and purest love.

Musical Portfolio of Icarus30soundtracks

This blog serves as a portfolio of projects I've completed. Feel free to explore to get be informed on our service characteristics. Enjoy and God bless.

~Felix Zhao~

"Come On", our jingle composition in partnership with SoundMark studio for the launching of FaFa, a character by Kanimals.

"No Journey Too Far", a musical background for animation project "The Boy and The Red String" by Silvia Meiliani.

"Forever In Love", a song project requested by Sisca Kosasih, a memoir to her departed father.

"Kita Bhinneka Kita Indonesia", re-arranging music for 2018 Passover flashmob "Kita Bhinneka Kita Indonesia" (We Are Many/Diverse, We Are Indonesia)  was a currently popular & socialized lent movement song in Jakarta diocese (KAJ), promoting national awareness & integrity.  As Christians, Catholics are also called to love, to contribute & to pray for their nation, this is from the heart of the song writer, Fr. Reynaldo Antoni.

"Rendahkanlah Hatimu", a client asked me to make the minus one version of the song she recorded on her cellphone (Low Quality) for her child's competition performance, I only had that material to listen to as a clue to the project and the other half of this audio is the finished re-arranged version.

"Calling", a trailer for a seminar entitled "CALLING" also a book launching, "Calling: More Than Just a Dream" written by Lie Seng Cuan, the director of PT. Smart Personality Indonesia. I interpreted the content of the book into a musical arrangement, a narration, and video presentation, all displayed in this clip. It was a meticulous and thrilling 3 days project starting from music composing, narration dubbing, audio mastering, and video composing. The clip was presented on the event, on May 18th, 2013, at Estubizi Setiabudi Building 2 Fl.1, Jl. HR Rasuna Said Kav.62, Kuningan, South Jakarta.

"I Giorni" personal rehearsal.

Really?

An observation and proposition on the Book of Jonah and the Hebrew root אמת (Aleph Mem Tav)

You can say "Be'Emeth" בֶּאֱמֶת? For "Really? Seriously?", and it literally means "in (the) truth". The issue of truth is what should bother many when they argue against God, it would need tremendous courage and "faith" to consider moral, justice and love as purely brain chemistry, to waver the possibility of an entity which sets all in order and give that same sense & urgency in us.

Many have read the "unresolved" story of Jonah יונה as a symbolic warning so that the dove (yes, same word, יונה) symbolizing God's people, born out of אמתי "Amittai" (faithfulness) won't miss the mark and fail the task, fail to notice God's work as it happens and as mercy falls to those seemingly undeserving in front of our very eyes.

I've been raised around the premises that God's important characteristic is חסד ואמת "Khesed V'Emeth" (Mercy and Truth / Righteousness). "Ammitai" (sincerity) alone  just won't do. We can be sincere & wrong at the same time. We need open hearts to contain God's חסד "Khesed" (mercy) and open minds to God's wisdom and presence in others.

The same question is asked in our faith practices & spiritual services. Are we enriching & facilitating one another rather than cultivating discriminative & elitist cultures? Are we really & genuinely following the footsteps of ישוע The Word incarnate, being one with the lowest in their struggles, identifying with their concerns and thus lifting them to shared divinity? How do we share Christ with the ones with less voice nor influences, the small and weak? It's time to pose a loving question to the pulpits, stages, heavy symbolism & primordialism, "Be'Emeth" בֶּאֱמֶת?

#weekday #חסד #linguist #אמת #theologian #theologystudent #polyglot #עברית #learnhebrew #speakhebrew 

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It's All Good (Even When It Isn't)

Can you believe that? The Hebrew word for "to form" and "sad" are from the same שׁוֹרֵשׁ root!

O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? saith the LORD. Behold, as the clay is in the potter's hand, so are ye in mine hand, O house of Israel. (Jeremiah 18:6)

But he knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold. (Job 23:10)

Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered;

And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him; (Hebrews 5:8-9)

If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable. (1 Corinthians 15:19) 

This revelation I stumbled upon is truly a Good Friday miracle.

As our Jewish brethrens are observing a week of פֶּסָח Passover, remembering the deliverance, we also celebrate a groundbreaking fact that today, thousands of years back, the second matzah bread was broken, a crook, nearing his death, was accepted to be with God in paradise, and so we'll all be. This fact alone, God became flesh and died in our place, endured the worst עצוב "atsuv", as darkness מעצב "me'atzev" Christ to perfection. This had marked for all times an immutable joy to those supposedly no longer with hope. 

Today I learned to read the story in John 18-19 as a part of humanity whom for some reason were "set aside" and forgotten, those trodden by this strength and wealth worshipping society. I read about a God who is victorious not after death, but starting even in it, so that He can continually be the lifter of those incarcerated, despised and forgotten. That He later was risen as God's final word against the discriminative and oppresive nature of our sinfulness. In this kind of reading, there's no place for discriminating those lacking with faith, there's solidarity and not merely superficial compassion with the misfits and outcasts.

Today we remember that in ישוע Jesus, everyone in their lowest and darkest has Him to perfectly belong to and to partake in. Because it's a remembrance of deepest grief, it has also become the celebration and source of our perfect joy. Death has lost its sting, it has become a gateway of our perfecting, freedom, a warm embrace and a homecoming.

And for us still entrusted with the ability to ascend, should we really follow Christ, should we genuinely identify ourselves with Him, then we would consider that this finally risen and absolutely reigning Christ was asking Peter, who later taught all of us not about the "getting even justice", not about making a Christian political comeback, but this perfecting question before we're to properly serve and function , "Do you love Me?".

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It's Not The End

A reflection on the "terrifying", all round love and perpetual mercy of God.

 

Hate moday? Hate life? Hate that gossiper? We have so many reasons and we'll never run out of objects to lash our frustrations on and judging from personal experience, this is no exclusion to the people of faith.

I admire the fact that the Hebrew word, קורבן "qorban" (which amazingly has very proximate prononciation and meaning with the word "korban" in Bahasa)  has much deeper and wonderful meaning than simply mean rituals of slaying animals, but way deeper. I hope this reflection would inspire and provoke us to rethink and to revise our definitions and pursuits of what matters in life.

But before we continue, just so there won't be accusation that I'm forcing the "shoresh" שׁוֹרֵשׁ (root word) קרב (qof resh bet) for a wild spin 😂, I've also shown parallel view of KJV & HRNT of Ephesians 2:13-17 (above pic). I've also included a search for variants that stem from קרב here.

My ancestral belief systems are popularly known for circling around the "jinxing" attempt or to avoid misfortunes (fengshui, zodiac, etc),  afterall, being intoduced as a knowledge of universal balance, we're known for adopting and applying things because they are dealing with areas of our interests and concerns (Matt 6:21). Judaism, on the other hand, has it in their traditions and writings all along (most striking in Isaiah 53). They say that המשיח The Messiah is a king yet also a suffering servant. This is clearly seen when you consider a קורבן "qorban" as a victim. And minding who and what Jesus Christ has been, isn't he a "qorban"? A קורבן "qorban" hit by the worst disaster & misfortune anyone could ever have, God incarnated, living humby, died miserably, a kind of victory so subversive it isn't easily digested. But in this "qorban" we find a way to be קרוב "qarov" (close, "karib" in Bahasa), even become God's adopted and family/relatives with one another. 

Judging happenings (others' and ours) as "luck" or "misfortunes" are simply an egoistic  and divinely disconnected way of relating and making sense of life and of projecting that ignorant mislead expectation to God Who's in fact consistently "khesed" חֶסֶד, abundant in selfless and faithful love, mercy, and compassion.

He's a father who runs to meet and hug the lost prodigal son, even when that son is still meditating what was actually a defective, sad kind of remorse and "repentence" mostly because he's starving (Luke 15:11-24). He decided to teach a prophet from his chosen people a lesson just because the proud fellow won't go preach to a savage powerful "enemy" whom so he taught was also God's enemy.. so he taught (Jonah 4:9-11). God always initiate the search no matter how lost we are.

Celebration and reflection to such liberating truth is what our new lives are all about, in Christ, what we once avoid (sacrifice, prioritizing peace, service to others) are what's now our source of joy and  sustenance, just as Jesus, our food is now doing God's will. This new celebrative and continuous thanksgiving is what's know (theologically and etimologically) as Eucharistic.

He is coming בקרוב "beqarov" soon, The One who has given all to be "qarov" close to us is drawing nearer everyday, and on that day, we'll be inseparable! ❤️❤️❤️

PS:

*Don't bother, jinxing isn't Chinese, it's from the root "jinx" 😅

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ALEPH ~ 1

A reflection on the power of simple beginnings

Allow me to start our journey to the wonderous world of Hebrew by sharing at least two points. 

Firstly, Hebrew is the language of the ancient manuscripts, later compiled over millennials, and later become the Tanakh (Torah/Book of Laws, Neviim/Prophets, and Ktuvim/Literatures or Poetry) to Judaism  and The Old Testament of the Christian tradition.

Learning and understanding Hebrew language (still with the fact that there are striking differences between ancient or biblical and modern Hebrew) is still your best option in undoing the altered nuance and ideas, even the loss of such during transliteration to English or any of your native version.

Secondly, as we begin to learn Hebrew we will find that being the language of the original manuscript, Hebrew is indeed something that "lives up to the title". You will literally see a deeper presence of God in every aspect of life, in the world and whatever context you're living in, if you're familiar with some degree of Judeo-Christian worldview or that it has been providing you with a window to make sense of the happenings throughout your life's journey, and if with all that you haven't been exposed to any previous studies of Hebrew, then I am for once can vouch that you're in for an unforgettable and most fulfilling adventure so much that you'll wish you've done this way earlier.

Yes, we are almost in the front gate. And as I'm about to turn the knob, allow me to be clear, this is not a 100% scholarly nor linguistic, nor a pure mystical writing on Hebrew, this is Felix's take on Hebrew, thus sharing from my context, this blog will certainly be open for later updates. As the door swings open you will see how I see Hebrew and this will also be a starting point of your own personal take on it.

picture by pixabay.com

Aleph א is the 1st letter in Hebrew.

It's a silent vowel, meaning it will sound differently in different words. Hebrew native speakers and advanced students know the sounds by heart, but for us, the ניקוד niqud will help us determine the vowel. (Enter here for more about niqud/nikud).  I'll be using Bahasa vowel version throughout examples in our group.

"A" like in "sardines"

"E" like in "evangelize"

"I" like in "inject"

"O" like in "open"

"U" like in "super"

We'll gradually get familiar with the ניקוד nikud (see below, the nikud name is in brackets), their names and the vowel sound they make as we move on ..

"A" → אָ (qamatz/long vowel) or אַ (patach/short) or אֲ (hataf patach/very short)

"E" → אֶ (segol/long) or אֵ (tseré/short) or אֱ (hataf segol/very short)

*By this time we might consider "hataf" as "half" for ease of memorizing, however, a sigh of relief, both the distinction of vowel length and hatafs are rarely used in moder Hebrew, but still very much needed in Biblical Hebrew reading.

"I" →אִ (chiriq or khiriq)

"O" → אֹ (cholam or kholam)

"U" → אֻ (qubutz), rarely found outside Biblical Hebrew. The more common "u" sound is usually made by the letter vav with (shuruq) → וּ

Aleph א is also used in numbering to represent the ordinal "one" (#1, 1st, I).

So beside their own "ekhad, shtaiim, shalosh (אחד, שתיים, שלוש)" for 1,2,3, the alphabets are also used in combinations (much like roman numbers I II III IV, etc).

The above picture is my chapter list for תהילים Tehilim (The Book of Psalms) in Hebrew, Aleph א means Chapter 1, Bet ב means Chapter 2, and so on. The verses also written in such order, or more modern Hebrew Bibles are already use modern number 123 to mark their verses, but still using אבג to mark the chapters.

Bible names started with Aleph א :

Adam אָדָם (Adam)

Aharon אַהֲרֹון (Aaron)

Avram אַברָם (Abram)

Avraham אַברָהָם (Abraham)

Avimelekh אֲבִימֶלֶךְ (Abimelech)

Avigail אֲבִיגַיִל (Abigail)

Akhaz אָחָז (Ahaz)

Akhazyah אֲחַזיָה (Ahaziah)

Avshalom אַבְשָׁלֹום (Absalom).. so sad, he's David's son and his name  means "father of peace" ("av" אב is the shortened version of Abba אבא), he rebelled and died tragically.

Exclusions ..

* Amos עָמֹוס isn't begun with Aleph א, but with Ayin ע.

Common/daily, words started with Aleph א :

Abba אָבָּא (dad)

Adam אָדָם (human, mankind)

Adom אָדוֹם (red, masc.)

Adama אָדָמָה (ground, soil)

Adon אָדוֹן (master, boss)

Adoni אָדוֹני (Sir)

Adonai אָדוֹני (My God, OMG)

Ahava אָהָבָה (love, noun)

Akh אָח (brother)

Akhi אָחִי (my brother, bro)

Akhoth אָחֹות (sister)

Akhoti אָחֹותִי (my sister, sist)

Anashim אֲנָשׁים → people, men (interestingly, Nashim נשים is women)

Anakhnu אֲנַחנוּ (we)

Arieh אָרִיֶה (lion)

Arokh אָרוֹך (long, lengthy)

Arukha אֲרוּחָה (meal)

Asher אֲשֶׁר (which, that)

Aviv אָבִיב (spring-season, first month in Judaism)

Avoqado אָבֹוקָדֹו (avocado)

Ananas אָנָנָס (pineapple)

Adrikhal אָדְרִיכָל (architect)

Achath אָחָת (one, fem.)

Amen אָמֶן (amen, yes)

Aval אֲבָל (but, however)

Now, here are another Aleph א with non "a" sounds ..

Ein אֶין (there's no/ don't have)

Eish אֶישְׁ (man)

Ekhad אֶחָד (one, masc., ordinal)

Emunāh אֶמוּנָה (faith, trustworthy)

Im אִם (if)

Ima אִמָא (mom)

Isha אִישׁה (woman)

O אֹו → or (those familiar with Spanish would find this pleasant to remember 😁)

Or אֹור (light)

Okhel אֹוכֵל (food, eat)

Omer אֹומֵר (say, speak)

Ulai אוּלַי (maybe, perhaps)

By the time I was writing this blog, I was already sharing about the first seven Hebrew letters in my collective learning social media channel. As the sharing developed I also incorporated spiritual and philosophical aspects of each letter, but since Aleph is the very first one there was hardly any of those. However, I do believe that it serves a purposes, so that Aleph א can also enrich my spirituality.

If you look up to other Hebrew letter portals you would find many description on the spiritual aspects of Aleph, the most widely known is the evolution of Aleph from the picture of an ox, symbolizing strength. To comment on that, strength is something I seemingly haven't been able to currently amass.

I was in this marathon, fighting to maintain my provisional admission status for an online MA. course in Biblical Studies. This marathon had eventually also turned into a wrestle and a juggle between the routines of my freelance career, raising my kids, and started 2020, our wrestle in surviving covid19 pandemic. So whenever I read or write the letter Aleph א, I was constantly being reminded of the reality of weakness. But the story didn't end there because reading and writing the letter Aleph א, I was also being reminded of my God Who is eternal and Almighty, also in the power of his Word. The paradox of coexisting weakness and strength in me is actually revealing The God of love who consider the relationship, the process of my self emptying, the continuous relearning and rewiring from my way to His way, they matter the most and I have faith that they are ones that would eventually bring significance in lives of every person of faith.

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“Go down to the potter’s house, and there I will give you my message.” 

So I went down to the potter’s house, and I saw him working at the wheel. 

But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him.  

Then the word of the Lord came to me. He said, “Can I not do with you, Israel, as this potter does?” declares the Lord . “Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, Israel.

(Jeremiah 18:2‭-‬6 NIV)

For the Kingdom of God is not just a lot of talk; it is living by God’s power.

(1 Corinthians 4:20 NLT)

Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God [set aside self-righteous pride], so that He may exalt you [to a place of honor in His service] at the appropriate time,

(1 Peter 5:6 AMP)

Aleph א instills within us that because the all powerful God has our best interest in mind, every small and humble beginnings is a powerful thing, not because of how small it is, but because of our willingness to begin.

But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.

(2 Corinthians 4:7 NIV)

That experience is worth boasting about, but I’m not going to do it. I will boast only about my weaknesses. If I wanted to boast, I would be no fool in doing so, because I would be telling the truth.

But I won’t do it, because I don’t want anyone to give me credit beyond what they can see in my life or hear in my message, even though I have received such wonderful revelations from God.

So to keep me from becoming proud, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger from Satan to torment me and keep me from becoming proud. Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away. Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.”

So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me. That’s why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

(2 Corinthians 12:5‭-‬10 NLT)

While this world sticks to the norm of celebrating the successful and powerful, what a great joy to know and be know by such "subversive" Savior who demonstrates His glory and divinity by relating and lifting up the weak and needy. We might be just beginning, but with The Father every walking lesson is up deemed great, wonderful, and up for all out cheerings.

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Grown Ups Kind of Love

Understanding that part of Christian life where maturity means not messing up.

There's an expression in Bahasa, "tahu diri", meaning: don't be arrogant, knowing our place, don't get cocky, take nothing for granted, be thankful.

We had a "sobering" reading , sharing and discussion on Exodus 34 yesterday evening in our online prayer fellowship. It showed two sides of the coin in which we can always put our hopes and trust in God. 

Firstly, יהוה Yahweh, The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is just. He's all for righteousness and justice. God has no confusion regarding moral compasses, He's the way, truth and life. So whatever kind of injustice, wrongdoings, mistreatment, or malpractices we've experienced in this life, especially when the perpetrator seemingly got away with it, while you're left hopeless and powerless, and even when nobody would stood for your cause, God is and He will. At the very end of all things justice will be served. As we ponder and rest our souls in this, let's consider the next truth.

Secondly, God is feared even more because of his mercy and his faithfulness in keeping that covenant of redemption. That is even truer because He has no confusion between His rooting for either justice or mercy. Regardless of our admittance & acknowledgment, it's us who desperately need the live-giving grace of God.

Now, Khesed חֶסֶד (mercy/lovingkindness) as mentioned in Exodus 34:7 is never a sign of weakness. Just as it is mentioned in Lamentations 3:23, God's Emunah אֱמוּנָה  (faithfulness, which by the way shares the same "root" as Amen אמן) is something we, the prodigals can go home to, to be rest assured of.

The fact of us being saved from sin presents us with a much needed tension rather than a naivety of wanting to cling to our limited understanding on "salvation by grace". Being human & instinctively manipulative as we are, knowing God's justice is better for health. Our limited understanding would conclude that salvation can be lost just because we hear a passage to "work" on our salvation with fear and trembling, so be it, may our flesh be crucified so we can rise with Christ rather than to cling to false sense of salvation "by grace" and live carelessly.

God's said to מֹשֶׁה Moses, "I will make a covenant before all your people". Observe closely, the word translated as "before" in this passage was not לפני "lefnei" nor לפניך "lefanekha" (a common word to be translated into "before or in front of you"), but rather נגד "neged" (against you), still in front in position but with the opposite spiritual atmosphere.

While לפני "lefnei" suggests a neutral or friendly mood, נֶגֶד "neged" is something one would use when he/she is dealing with an unknown entity, showing neither trust nor support. Have you noticed already, "your people" (not My people), addressing the Israelites in a "neged" negative manner, all these are just like making a legal agreement to prevent breach.

However, there's a duality through which we can read neged נֶגֶד. In Gen 2:18, there's another form, כְּנֶגְדֹּו kenegdo which can mean placing something against someone at extreme proximity so that the person is embraced/covered thus he's protected.*

Neged and Kenegdo, The commandment of love is fulfilling the demands of the previous testament. Mercy and lovingkindness which often translated as "kasih setia" in Bahasa, meaning "a faithful consistent love", is never weak, permisive nor baseless, instead it is firm and infallible, established on the purest, most sacred thing there is, God himself who is (pure) love, binding Himself with humanity, turning sinners into saints, outcasts into beloved.

God has been clarifying time and again His unprecedented unparalleled mercy. We're untrustworthy yet He's decided to love and save us. Christ's coming and sacrifice are clarifying our sinfullness that is a breach against Himself, that sin won't have a getaway, and -at the same time- the cross is clarifying His decision to safely embrace us by letting death engulf Him, Jesus, The Word incarnate. There's this continuous mysterious entanglement between God's gracious gesture and the intercession of those graced with hearts that are drawn to Him, creating two way streams of intercession and redemption throughout the course of mankind's history.

Therefore, Christians who've become too familiar with God's grace upto the point risking to take it for granted and becoming careless with their wonderous gift, risking in becoming not so "tahu diri", they need to know that IF it wasn't because of God's mercy, הוא נגדנו "Hu negdanu" He was (and would still be) against us, as He is with the rest of this rebellious humanity. The covenant (renewed through המשיח Christ) is what makes us (who once far) near, who were not God's people because of sin, now becoming His own inheritance. Remembering what we once were NOT gives us more appreciation and thanksgiving of who we are now in Christ. "Tahu diri" is probably a great expression for us to respond and reflect on our salvation as we present ourselves daily so that our wonderous experience would become others' as well.

Blessings & love from your fellow coming of age Christian :)

* Reflections on "kenegdo", "khesed" and "emunah" was inspired and enriched through the sharing of my dear pastor friends, Rev. Florian Simatupang (IES CTK) & Rev. Decky Pendowo (GBI Khayyalim), also shared perspective by Ptr. Dr. Timothy Athanasios N. ❤️🙏

Thanks to the faithful relentless  ministry of Ptr. Tommy C. Pacatang (IES NW & IES PIK) who's been hosting our heartwarming daily prayer fellowship ever since the wake of COVID19 pandemic. May this reflection resounds and resonate the passion of "Love God, Love others and Reach The World".

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VaYoter Nakhon (And Moreover The Truer)

An insight of living a consistent faithful interpretation of God's providence and promises through an Eucharistic lens (celebration of Christ's empowering sacrifice towards our own sacrificial journey of worship and sanctification).

I was once more blessed through the Instagram chatter with my dear pastor friend, Rev. Decky Pendowo. He was pastoring the GBI Khayyalim, a name which sounds foreign to many but not to my halfly hebrew trained senses. So I was confirming whether the name was taken from the word "Chayyelim" חיילים meaning "soldiers, troops, or armies", not to mention my assumption on general Christian notion, identifying ourselves as "Christ's Armies" against spiritual (dark) forces. Ptr. Decky later confirmed, "זה נכון אחי" or "zeh nakhon akhi" (that's right, brother), a pleasant and heartwarming answer in the midst of my rather solitaire linguistic journey. I replied, "שמחה! תודה רבה אחי" (oh how joyful! Many thanks, brother).

I believe that was divine appointment because I couldn't seem to shake off the thought of this familiar word " נָכוֹן nakhon" (true/right). Although the word isn't exactly related to the expression "כֵּן kèn" (yes), I was feeling led to couple them with these following verses. May this reading of The Word blesses our souls with both deeper thirst and satisfaction in His presence. ❤️🙏📖💬

כִּי כָּל הַבְטָחוֹת אֱלֹהִים "כֵּן" הֵן בּוֹ. לָכֵן הָ"אָמֵן" שֶׁאָנוּ נוֹתְנִים בּוֹ כָּבוֹד לֵאלֹהִים גַּם הוּא בְּאֶמְצָעוּתוֹ.

השניה אל הקורינתים 1:20 HRNT

Ki kal havtakhoth elohim "ken" hen bo. Lakhen ha"amen" shanu nothnim bo kavod l'elohim gam hu bamtsautho.

For as many as are the promises of God, in Christ they are [all answered] “Yes.” ("Ken" כֵּן ) So through Him we say our “Amen” to the glory of God. (2 Corinthians 1:20 AMP)

עַל כָּךְ הֵגִיב בְּאָמְרוֹ: "וְיוֹתֵר נָכוֹן, אַשְׁרֵי הַשּׁוֹמְעִים אֶת דְּבַר אֱלֹהִים וְשׁוֹמְרִים אוֹתוֹ."

לוקס 1:28 HRNT 

Al kakh hegiv bamro: vayoter nakhon, ashrei hashom'im eth dvar elohim vashomrim oto.

But he said, “Blessed ("ashrei" אַשְׁרֵי ) rather ("vayoter nakhon" וְיוֹתֵר נָכוֹן ) are those who hear the word of God and keep it!” (Luke 11:28 ESV)

What a wonderful concept of "vayoter nakhon" (truer). Rather than simply negating the previous premise (v.27; blessedness & joy that come from being in the physical premises & vicinity with Jesus), ישוע our True Vine, identified Himself with God's Word, and "rather" than the former, it is "truer" that the amazing joy and blessings can flow to all people who align their lives with godly things/things of God (דְּבַר אֱלֹהִים).

Knowing that nothing is coincidence, we remember how Matthew 11:28 also taught us to find rest and peace in coming to Christ (worship & The Word) in obedience & eagerness to learn (to apply & to serve) from Him. Learning not to worry about our living is, I believe, synonymous with putting our confidence in Him who relates with all of us, even the least of us. A life that's broken and given is a life that proves its connection to the Everlasting Father, a life that's privileged to be showered by God's "yesses", a life that gives life.

Blessings.

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