I had a good couple of weeks in Shanghai. I worked every day except my last day (Friday) and my last day for real (Saturday). I missed my flight early on Saturday morning as I was cutting it close and everything took extra long. I made the same flight this morning though.

The expo was fun and interesting. France was the only major pavilion that I entered. I’m told that if I get back, I need to get into Chili and Italy.

So here are a few pics from Shanghai. Hopefully I’ll get a chance to add some from the expo soon.

Classic Shanghai Skyline

Great graffitti outside the hostel

Some of the buildings are huge TV screens

In Asia, LG sells food too!

Behind the hat guys are motorcycle taxis outsite the metro

The shopping area near the Bund

Some guys asked to take a picture with me reaching for this sign

So here are a few pics from Tokyo. My best shots I took in RAW format which my work laptop can’t decode, but there are a couple of just-bumming-around-town pics that I have in JPG format and am able to share now.

Sitting at internet kiosk in Tokyo airport trying to find a place for the night.

Visited the National Garden in the early morning

Went down to the fish market and had nigiri / tea / miso soup at tiny restaurant

Tried a few varieties of the yogurts and drinks with fat straws and stuff at the bottom

Snack at starbucks in the Ginza shopping district

There are a lot of nice stores in Ginza. I visited Apple, Coco Chanel, and others.

Crowd walking along Ginza. Love the sun umbrellas!

Coco Chanel had a wonderful photography exhibit honoring women

Self portrait in the Coco Chanel elevator.

Stopped again for some great sushi and nigiri at Tokyo airport

I have yet to take any significant pics in Shanghai as I’ve been too focused on work. But hopefully I’ll get some pics soon and will get to upload them as well.

If you’re looking for some great new worship music or a CD to pop in the car stereo and bop around town to, you should pick this one up today.

This collection of songs is Vicky’s personal favorite so far and for good reason; here artfully-simple and passionate lyrics are well-paired with catchy and powerful music. The result is both uplifting and challenging. These songs attest to a pure and consuming love of Christ, and will encourage others in that pursuit.

The songs that bookend the album celebrate salvation; the first (Salvation Day) is new for this album, the last (The Wonder of the Cross) a bonus track which is already well known and loved.

Here are some brief comments on a few of my personal favorites.

“Deliverer” is a beautiful prayer for God to come into our broken lives and world along with a proclamation of His power to change us.

“Breath of God” is proclamation of and prayer for the power of God to breathe His life into us.

“Blessing and Honor” is a vivid and exciting portrait of the transfixed worship in heaven and a joining into that from earth.

“Break Our Hearts” is a prayer for transformation that minces no words: “…change the way we think and how we spend.” I can identify with this, as so often I am wasteful with the resources of time/talent/treasure that I’ve been trusted with, not taking full advantage of the opportunities I have to bring life to others.

“Emmanuel” is a reflection about Christ’s sacrifice for us, and a prayer for the purity and freedom that He offers through this.

“Listening” is a song about not needing another song; a creative reminder that we would be well-served by some silence and waiting to hear God’s voice.

Finally, “Undivided Heart” is an acknowledgement of the evil inside of us, and a passionate request that this be replaced by purity of purpose through an overwhelming love for Christ. Amen.

Vicky Beeching just asked on Twitter for opinions about Bono’s recent NY Times article, “Ten for the Next Ten” which suggests holding a “Festival of Abraham” to bring together people from the three major religions with common roots in Abraham.

Here are my thoughts. I’d love to hear yours as well.

If you believe Christ’s claims not only to be God but also the only way for mankind to be saved from sin, it would be nonsense to celebrate any other belief which could only separate someone from God for eternity. However, showing respect for other people (including whatever they happen to believe at the time) is very important, and what better way to open hearts and minds than displaying the kindness, gentleness, and love Christians are called to?

The first time I got a chance to travel in Europe, I met an Islamic man in Barcelona and we shared a meal together. After that, he invited me into a nearby mosque with him to pray. I respected their traditions of removing shoes and ceremonial washing and we went to an upper room where it was quiet and we could be alone. He nodded when I asked permission to pray for him. I put my hand on his shoulder and asked that as he searched for truth he would find it and that God would come into his life in a very tangible way and change him. My new friend told me that he understood what I was praying for and his face brightened as he thanked me.

I think that both of us demonstrated a wholesome ability and willingness to truly connect across backgrounds which at times have had needless enmity and discord between them.

What are your thoughts on the subject?

Here’s a few lines from my journal today.

~~~~~

I heard the best of religion
was in helping the innocent, destitute.

Tell me you’ve done at least that
and you’ve got my ear.

Don’t tell me about your great God;
show me face to face,
where things can get messy.
That is where life is the most.

So I went to Synagogue yesterday with a Jewish friend I’d met a few weeks back on a flight into Seattle, and then she ended up going to church with me today. We’ve also been getting together in a small writing group on Sunday afternoons. Here’s a small piece of writing that stuck out among the stuff I’d written this past week and shared during our time today. The idea is related to part of a discussion we had after the Saturday morning service during a small study group that afternoon:

When we’re testing love
To try its strength,
It takes faith to believe
That love never fails.

~ ~ ~ prior to the group, the first draft I brought in was… ~ ~ ~

The days when we’re pushing back every love
To try its strength,
It takes some faith to believe
That love never fails.

Thought I might as well share what I ended up with. It’s kinda stream of consciousness, but there are some nuggets that I should be able to glean and use elsewhere. My track record is much better for churning out first drafts than for refining them, but but I plan to reverse that trend in the near future.

Anyway, here it is. I’ve grayed the parts I don’t like as well. If you happen to like any of the lines, I’d love to hear which ones stood out to you.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Tell me stories you’ve heard

About cities so bright

You have to cover your eyes

Tell me only the parts you believe

No, tell me everything

Give me your news of the light

The morning has already gone

Bue I haven’t seen the sun

Don’t be afraid 

 We’ll make it through
 

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Don’t keep on using words like they don’t matter

Spend them carefully

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Sometimes the stories that help

Are the hardest to hear

Open the door very wide

So the outside comes in

I’m still on eggshells

I can’t be myself

Why don’t we open up

Even the slightest bit

Let me inside of you

Sometimes the stories you hear

Are hand-me-downs

Tell me your own

And please don’t leave anything out

You could infer many things

and you might be so close to the truth

But can you believe your own stories?

I can’t be forced to do anything

Even the things that I’d want

There are times we can’t be friends because

You want to be something else

You thought the truth wasn’t easy

What about lies to yourself?

Don’t make it worse than it’s got to be

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

When you are a vagabond

All that you own is a burden

Tied up to store on your back

And I’ve been a stranger

Lived in this strange land so long

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

This is my day to begin one more time

Life comes up sudden but slowly

Give it air, give it water and light

I want to relax

But my tightly clenched heart

Won’t let go easily

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The truth is, we aren’t very close

But I’d hate to lose even such friendship

Is it true that life always moves

And if we hold still we are dying

Whether we like it or not?

Don’t leave me behind

I worried about you

It was days between breaths

And I couldn’t hear heartbeats at all

Don’t lose hold of your thoughts of summer

While you’re still in a winter scene

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

What if so much of your thoughts just weren’t right?

Are you prepared to leave home and start over?

That’s quite a piece of ground to give up

Quit your complaining – why not start packing instead?

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

If you can’t give me life

That’s better than what I was dreaming

Don’t bother waking me up

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Maybe I ought to know this by now

But I’m wondering

How much of life is a show?

Have you noticed

The silly things we take notice of?

So much that won’t matter a long time from now

But does that mean it isn’t important?

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

If only I could have everything

I’d get so much more done

With the life of my youth

And the wisdom I’ve traded it for

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

I know what the problem is

But I’ve got so much practice at this

How can I keep from avoiding you?

How can I stay without hurting you?

I love that you love me enough to be rough with me

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

When I start the flow

Orange comes out of these pipes

for a second or two

I love the comfortable creaking

of this old house

When the stars come out

with the light from so many years ago

The world’s slowing down

but it’s spinning enough for now

I love this comfortable house

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

I imagined someone but I couldn’t see any face

I thought you might be very different from me

Maybe that’s why I didn’t walk very fast

On my way to you

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

I’ve seen some of the future

But that doesn’t mean

That I know what to do

And if I did

It’s not always easy to do

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Did you win?

Did you beat them all?

And are you happy now?

Sometimes we just don’t know when to quit

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

If I’m closer to empty

that might make more room for You

But I’m such a pack rat

I’m cluttered with so much I really don’t need

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

What if you have permission

to make every mistake in the book?

Would that help you to move

from that place you’ve been standing for days?

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

I almost forgot

But it’s been burning in some corner of my mind

Maybe I don’t know what I want

But I thought that I did for a while

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Our mothers said, “Don’t be afraid”

But they shook while they tried to hold still

They rocked our cradle and sang songs of peace

While the world, they themselves, were at war

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

It seems I’ll stand

‘Till I can’t stand anymore

Though I’m aching to run

I’ve been training for months

Stretching all day

Maybe it’d help

If I just started walking

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

I’m working on my own short story
I started it not long ago
I’m trying to make a good ending
And there’s more of the middle to go

It takes fits and takes starts
and sometimes it’s hard to keep the plot moving along
But if I do this just right
it might almost sound like a song

Still it wants something else…
Would you like to write some of the lines?
It won’t take all that much of your time,
every little bit helps
And I think that you’ll find,
you’ll make yours while you’re working on mine!

I’m waiting to board a flight from Seattle to Grand Rapids, and was spending a few minutes on Facebook. My friend Elizabeth posted this quote there on her wall:

“Few delights can equal the presence of one whom we trust utterly.” ~George MacDonald~

It got me to thinking… A Christian’s mind can easily go to the obvious example of God as one we can trust utterly (though I know there are plenty of people who would question that). It’s harder to find absolute trust among humans though… Here on earth, trust seems to be more of a process and continuum. It sure is nice when you get further along that scale with some folks! And I think it’s important to try always to trust others, even when they don’t make it easy… Of course there are times when we probably just need to be a little self-protective.

What do you think? Any thoughts on how to find the balance between trust and prudence?