Thazaang Laksalnak Tongkam

By San No Thuan

Na Hnatuanmi ah Na Thasia le thanau in na um pang le, a tanglam ih cahi siar aw, thazaang a lo petu ah a cang ding. Thazaang ka lak daan ka lo hlawm ve sihi.

1. Pathian hrangah ka tuahmi a si ti na thei maw? Cazoh le cazuam cu Pathian hrangah hnatuan ka thok rero zo a si ti thei aw. Fimthiamnak na neih asile Pathian in a lo hman thei daan a thuk sang ve ding. Ziangkim hi Pathian sunlawinak hrangah ka zuammi le ka tuahmi a si thei ringring aw. Colosian 3:23 “Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people.”
2. A tu in Pathian hnatuan ka thok maw? Pathian in hmailam lawngah a hna tampi ka tuan ding a ti pawl a rinsan lo. A tu (FROM NOW) hrimhrim ah amah kha na thinlung, na thazaang,  le na ruahnak zate thawn na duhdawt ding hi a duh bikmi a si. Israel pawl ramcar lak ah kum 40 sung a retnak cu kum 400 sung Egypt sal sungah an taang ih Pathian an thei nawn lo. Curuangah, thluasuah a pek hlan Canaan ram an thlen hlah ah an thinlung, ruahnak le thazaang zatein, amah lam ih an hoi kirnak ding hrangah a hruaimi a si. Canaan ram an thlenhnu lawngah Amah duhdawt ding a duh lo. Pathian in thluasuah a pekmi pawl ih um daan cu, ramcar lak hrimhrim ah a thu a ngai ih amah a rinsantu Joshua le Caleb lawng Egypt ram in a suakmi lak ah Canaan ramnuam a thlen ter (Number 14:26-30).
3. Na tuahmi na duhdawt maw? Na tuahmi kha duhdawt aw. Himi na tuahmi in a ra lai dingmi ah na nunnak le midang nunnak ah a thlen ter dingmi pawl ruat ringring aw. Steve Job cun, hlawhtinnak ih hram cu maih hnatuannak duhdawt khi a si a ti. Na duhdawt lawngah a hrangah a tha bik in na tuah thei ding.
4. Nomnak ah na ruat maw? Na tuahmi kha harsatnak thilrit (suffering) tin ruat hlah, nomnak (fun) tin ruat aw la zuam zet in tuah aw. Jeremy Lin cun, basketball ka cinh tikah, nomnak (fun) in ka tuah ih harsa tin ka ruat lo.
5. Nehnak cu Pathian ta a si ti na thei maw? Ziangkim ka tuah tikah, ka tuahmi le ka thazaang ih leengah, Pathian ih pekmi thazaang a tumpi a um ringring ti thei aw. Cumi thawn ziangkim ka tuah thei ding ti thei aw (Phil 4:13). Asinan, Pathian ih cahnak a langh ter duhnak cu nangmah na si. Pathian ih kutcak lang thei ding in, na neihmi thazaang le na ti thei tawk in tuan ve aw. Exodus 4:1-17 sungah, Moses in a neihmi kianghrol te a hmang ih Israel pawl Egypt ram in hruai suak ding in a pok. Asinan, cumi kianghrol kha rul ih a can tertu, tipisen a tan tertu, lungpi ti a suah ter tu, Amelekites ral pawl nehnak ah Pathian in thluasuah a pek ti kan hmu. Na neihmi kha hmang aw la, Pathian ih huham a lang mei ding.

Things Change: Changing Directions

But Jonah arose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the LORD.

Jonah 1:3a

Recommended Reading Jonah 1:1-17

Nothing's more terrifying than seeing a car racing toward you going the wrong way on the freeway. At that moment, everyone's life is in danger. According to the most recent figures, over 1700 people die annually in America from crashes caused by drivers traveling the wrong way on a highway. Statistically, two-thirds of those wrong-way drivers were drunk. Others took the wrong ramp onto the highway. Maybe some were fleeing the police.

It's always dangerous to go the wrong way. It didn't work out very well for Jonah, and it won't work out for us. Is your life headed in the wrong direction? Has Satan gotten the better of your judgment? Do you need to make some changes?

Don't be like the man who said he was making a 360-degree change. Turn exactly 180 degrees. Repent of any and all entrapping sin. Rededicate yourself to Jesus Christ in body, mind, and soul. As Ezekiel 33:11b says: "Turn, turn from your evil ways! For why should you die, O house of Israel?"

Let the Lord help you get out of the wrong lane today.

Repentance is one of the most positive words in any language. It tells us we can change direction. It assures us God will help us improve.

Robert J. Morgan

Source: Dr. David Jeremiah, Today Turning Point. Wed 18, 2013. 

My Faith: What people talk about before they die

Editor's Note: Kerry Egan is a hospice chaplain in Massachusetts and the author of "Fumbling: A Pilgrimage Tale of Love, Grief, and Spiritual Renewal on the Camino de Santiago." By Kerry Egan, Special to CNN As a divinity school student, I had just started working as a student chaplain at a cancer hospital when my professor asked me about my work.  I was 26 years old and still learning what a chaplain did. "I talk to the patients," I told him. "You talk to patients?  And tell me, what do people who are sick and dying talk to the student chaplain about?" he asked. I had never considered the question before.  “Well,” I responded slowly, “Mostly we talk about their families.” “Do you talk about God? “Umm, not usually.” “Or their religion?” “Not so much.” “The meaning of their lives?” “Sometimes.” “And prayer?  Do you lead them in prayer?  Or ritual?” “Well,” I hesitated.  “Sometimes.  But not usually, not really.” I felt derision creeping into the professor's voice.  “So you just visit people and talk about their families?” “Well, they talk.  I mostly listen.” “Huh.”  He leaned back in his chair. A week later, in the middle of a lecture in this professor's packed class, he started to tell a story about a student he once met who was a chaplain intern at a hospital. “And I asked her, 'What exactly do you do as a chaplain?'  And she replied, 'Well, I talk to people about their families.'” He paused for effect. “And that was this student's understanding of  faith!  That was as deep as this person's spiritual life went!  Talking about other people's families!” The students laughed at the shallowness of the silly student.  The professor was on a roll. “And I thought to myself,” he continued, “that if I was ever sick in the hospital, if I was ever dying, that the last person I would ever want to see is some Harvard Divinity School student chaplain wanting to talk to me about my family.” My body went numb with shame.  At the time I thought that maybe, if I was a better chaplain, I would know how to talk to people about big spiritual questions.  Maybe if dying people met with a good, experienced chaplain they would talk about God, I thought. Today, 13 years later, I am a hospice chaplain.  I visit people who are dying – in their homes, in hospitals, in nursing homes.   And if you were to ask me the same question - What do people who are sick and dying talk about with the chaplain?  – I, without hesitation or uncertainty, would give you the same answer. Mostly, they talk about their families: about their mothers and fathers, their sons and daughters. They talk about the love they felt, and the love they gave.  Often they talk about love they did not receive, or the love they did not know how to offer, the love they withheld, or maybe never felt for the ones they should have loved unconditionally. They talk about how they learned what love is, and what it is not.    And sometimes, when they are actively dying, fluid gurgling in their throats, they reach their hands out to things I cannot see and they call out to their parents:  Mama, Daddy, Mother. What I did not understand when I was a student then, and what I would explain to that professor now, is that people talk to the chaplain about their families because that ishow we talk about God.  That is how we talk about the meaning of our lives.  That ishow we talk about the big spiritual questions of human existence. We don't live our lives in our heads, in theology and theories.  We live our lives in our families:  the families we are born into, the families we create, the families we make through the people we choose as friends. This is where we create our lives, this is where we find meaning, this is where our purpose becomes clear. Family is where we first experience love and where we first give it.  It's probably the first place we've been hurt by someone we love, and hopefully the place we learn that love can overcome even the most painful rejection. This crucible of love is where we start to ask those big spiritual questions, and ultimately where they end. I have seen such expressions of love:  A husband gently washing his wife's face with a cool washcloth, cupping the back of her bald head in his hand to get to the nape of her neck, because she is too weak to lift it from the pillow. A daughter spooning pudding into the mouth of her mother, a woman who has not recognized her for years. A wife arranging the pillow under the head of her husband's no-longer-breathing body as she helps the undertaker lift him onto the waiting stretcher. We don't learn the meaning of our lives by discussing it.  It's not to be found in books or lecture halls or even churches or synagogues or mosques.  It's discovered through these actions of love. If God is love, and we believe that to be true, then we learn about God when we learn about love. The first, and usually the last, classroom of love is the family. Sometimes that love is not only imperfect, it seems to be missing entirely.  Monstrous things can happen in families.  Too often, more often than I want to believe possible, patients tell me what it feels like when the person you love beats you or rapes you.  They tell me what it feels like to know that you are utterly unwanted by your parents.  They tell me what it feels like to be the target of someone's rage.   They tell me what it feels like to know that you abandoned your children, or that your drinking destroyed your family, or that you failed to care for those who needed you. Even in these cases, I am amazed at the strength of the human soul.  People who did not know love in their families know that they should have been loved.  They somehow know what was missing, and what they deserved as children and adults. When the love is imperfect, or a family is destructive, something else can be learned:  forgiveness.  The spiritual work of being human is learning how to love and how to forgive. We don’t have to use words of theology to talk about God; people who are close to death almost never do. We should learn from those who are dying that the best way to teach our children about God is by loving each other wholly and forgiving each other fully - just as each of us longs to be loved and forgiven by our mothers and fathers, sons and daughters. My response:  The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Kerry Egan. Ref: http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2012/01/28/my-faith-what-people-talk-about-before-they-die/comment-page-77/#comment-1030821

A Mother's Love

This is a true story of Mother’s Sacrifice during the Japan Earthquake.

After the Earthquake had subsided, when the rescuers reached the ruins of a young woman’s house, they saw her dead body through the cracks. But her pose was somehow strange that she knelt on her knees like a person was worshiping; her body was leaning forward, and her two hands were supporting by an object. The collapsed house had crashed her back and her head.With so many difficulties, the leader of the rescuer team put his hand through a narrow gap on the wall to reach the woman’s body. He was hoping that this woman could be still alive. However, the cold and stiff body told him that she had passed away for sure.

He and the rest of the team left this house and were going to search the next collapsed building. For some reasons, the team leader was driven by a compelling force to go back to the ruin house of the dead woman. Again, he knelt down and used his head through the narrow cracks to search the little space under the dead body. Suddenly, he screamed with excitement, "A child! There is a child!" The whole team worked together; carefully they removed the piles of ruined objects around the dead woman. There was a 3 months old little boy wrapped in a flowery blanket under his mother’s dead body. Obviously, the woman had made an ultimate sacrifice for saving her son. When her house was falling, she used her body to make a cover to protect her son. The little boy was still sleeping peacefully when the team leader picked him up.

The medical doctor came quickly to exam the little boy. After he opened the blanket, he saw a cell phone inside the blanket. There was a text message on the screen. It said,” If you can survive, you must remember that I love you.” This cell phone was passing around from one hand to another. Every body that read the message wept. ” If you can survive, you must remember that I love you.” Such is the mother’s love for her child!!


Ref: http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=222013277856354&set=a.135137789877237.23911.100001430500768&type=1&theater

Tihnak In Luat Thei Daan (Freedom From Fear)

By San No Thuan

I John 4:18

Duhdawtnak sungah cun ṭihphannak a um lo; a famkimmi duhdawtnak in ṭihphannak cu a hlohter ṭheh. Curuangah ṭihphannak a neimi sungah cun duhdawtnak cu famkimin a um hrih lo, ziangah tile ṭihphannak cu hremnak thawn a pehtlai awmi a si.

Thuhmaihruai:

Tihphannak timi hi milai zokip in kan tong cio. Damlonak maw, thihnak maw, hminsiatnak maw, buainak maw, hlawhtlinlonak maw, hnatuan neih lonak maw tvp. . . a phunphun kan tih cio ding.

Himi kan tihmi pawl hi ziangbik hi ka tihmi a si ti kan check awk ih, luatnak lamzin kan hawl lo ahcun, tihphannak cun kan thin in baang ter, kan ruahnak a hnawk ter, kan thazaang khal a cem ter ih, minung dangah in can ter.

Tihnak phun hnih

Tihnak timi hi a sia theh lo. Tihnak timi hi phun hnih in kan tthen thei. Zokip ih neihmi tihnak (normal fear) le mikip ih neih lomi tihnak (abnormal fear). Sigmund Freud cun hitin a sim. Zaraan tihnak (normal fear) cu hram lak ah rul an um ding ti ruat ih hramlak tih zu a cang thei taktakmi a si ih, kan tih cio. Himi normal fear cu a sia theh lo. A thatnak cu kan sunglam ah tihnungmi tih thiamnak Pathian ih in pekmi daan (system) a si. Camibuai sun kan tih ruangah ca kan zuam ciamco. Nat kha kan tih tuk ruangah sii phunphun a suak. Kan faa le ca an thiam lo le an aa tuk ding tiah kan phan ruangah, tlawng phunphun a suak. United Nation timi tla khi hruaitu pawl in ral an tih ruangah, pumkhat te ih kan um a tul tiah an tiih a cang suakmi a si.

Asinan, zaraan a si lomi tihnak (abnormal fear) ahcun, rul pawl kan tokheng tangah an um ding ti ruat ih tongkheng tiang to ngam lo ih tihnak khi a si. Cumi cu mah le mah kan tthih awknak in a suakmi ttihnak a si. Nauhak thinlung lam zingzoitu pawl in, “Zaraan (normal) nauhak cun, kan suahsem ihsin tihmi pahnih lawng kan nei: tlak ding (falling) le awringmi (loud noise) lawng kan tih. A dang kan tihmi pawl cu kiangkap ih zirhnak ruang ih kan neihmi tihnak an si” tiah an sim. Kan tokheng tangah rul a um thei ti ih, kan kiangkap ih in ttihmi kha a taktak ah kan ruat sual pang ih kan tih cihcihmi men khi a si sawn tiah an sim. Laimi kan ral a hrutnak cu kan nauhak lai, tihmi zianghman kan neih lo lai ah thu si lo lo in, kan tthih awk ruangah a si. Mirang nauhak pawl khua thim sung khal ah zianghman tih lo in, an um ngam. Cucu ziangahtile, an nauhak lai in an nulepa in an tthih lo ruangah a si.

Tihnak thami (normal fear) cun ralrin in thiam ter. Tihnak tha lomi (abnormal fear) cun, kan thuruah le thiamnak pawl hman theih lo ko a com (paralyze) ter theh. Ziangvek ttihnak khal siseh, ziangtin kan neh thei ding tihi kan thusuh ding mi cu a si?

Tihnak Neh Daan

Tihnak kan neihmi pawl kan neh theinak dingah, tihnak pawl hi khui in an ra timi kan theih a tul. Cumi pawl thei dingah a tanglam vek in tuah aw.

1. Ziangmi khi ziangruangah ka ttih timi sutaw aw. A hrek khat kan tihnak cu khui in a ra tile, kan mah le mah kan thih awk mi men khi a si theu. Curuangah na suhawk dingmi thu cu: “Tih ding taktak ka ttihmi a si maw?” “Keimah le keimah kha ka tthih awmi a si” timi kha ruat aw. Kan tihmi kha ziang a si ti in, cabuai par ah re in zoh aw la, kan ruahnak menmen khi a rak si theu ti na hmu fiang ding. Cu pawl cu tih ciamco duh hlah. Na tihnak hi nangmah te na tthih aw ciamconak ruangih a thlengmi a si ahcun, Saam 34:7 sung ih sim bang in, Pathian ih vaancungmi thawng tampi in in kilkhawi timi kha na mitthlam in cuan aw la, na hna a ngam ding.

2. Raltha zet in na ttihmi kha pahsuak (pass/confrontation) ding tum aw. A hrek khat cu thinphan ding le ttih tlak taktak khal a um ngaingai ko ding. Ziangtin kan neh thei ding? Ral thatnak thawn kan pahtlang ding hi a si. Ral thatnak timi cu ka pah-tlang (pass) thei ding timi ruahnak (self-affirmation) khi a si. Cumi in, cahnak le tthansonak a lo ngah ter ding. Thuthimnak ah, mi in hla phuah in rak fial tikah, ka thiam lo nan sak ding an nei nawn lo pang ding ih, mualpho in an um pang ding ti ka phan tikah, ka phuah ka phuah ih, hla phuah ka thiam cihcih ta. Na hrial tum le ttihnak thawn na sungah a khat ringring ding. Cuvek thotho in, mihrek khat cu mirang ca ngan kan thiam lo an ti ih mirang ca an ttih zet. A zir le siar an tum cuang lo ih, a hrial ih hrial an tum. Asinan, cumi in mahlemah rinsanawk ngam lo nak (lack of self-affirmation) a suah ter. Cuvek thotho in, hnatuan ngah lo ding na phan le, hnatuan kha ral tha zet in sioh aw, a tulmi pawl kha timtuah aw. Hnatuannak in cawlh ding nan phan le, a tha bik in hna tuan aw. Na thuanthu tha zet ding in hnatuan aw la, cule, na pu le in an lo duhdawt ding in, an lo baan ter dah lo ding. Ral tha pawl cun, an tihmi kha an nor lawlaw ih nehnak an co, tihhrut pawl cun, an tihmi kha an hrial tum asinan cuih an tihmi in an nunnak kha sal bang in hremtu ah a cang.

3. Tihnak cu duhdawtnak thawng in neh a theih. A hrek khat kan sunglam ih tihnak a neihmi khi khui tawk in a ra tile, huatawknak ruangah a si. Huatawknak ruangih a suakmi ttihnak a si ahcun, duhdawtnak lawng in cuih tihnak cu a neh thei. I John 4:18 sungah, duhdawtnak cun tihnak pawl a dawi hlo theh. Mi na duhdawt le na tih lo ding. A parah duhdawtnak thawn thatnak siar lo zianghman ka tuah lo ding na ti ahcun, mi na ttih lamlam lo ding. Asinan, an par ih that lonak na tuahmi lole, na parih thatlonak a tuahtu cun, ton le pawlkom ding hman an lo tih si lo maw? Tulai san ah, ram khat le ram khat an do awk rero tla hi, Iraq thawn an rem aw lo ih, nuclear a nei tiah US in a puh ih, curuangah a tih ih a va do. Cutin an hua aw sinsin. Tulai ah, ral thuam nei tam deuhdeuh in tihnak a nei lo ding tiah an ti. A taktak ahcun, ralthuam an nei tam deuhdeuh an tih aw deuhdeuh. Asinan, bible in tihnak a hloh tertu taktak cu ralthuam a si a ti lo, duhdawtnak a si tiah a ti. Duhdawtnak timi cu ziang a si? Duhdawtnak timi cu midang zawn a ruat, a thin a tawi lo. Midang ningzah ter ding a tum dah lo (1 Cor. 13:1 in tanglam).

4. Tihnak cu Pathian rinsannak thawn neh a theih. A dang tihnak cu khui tawk in a ra tile, kan sunglam in a rami a si. “Keimah lawng ka si, duhdawttu ka nei lo, rualpi ka nei lo, ka fim tawk lo, ka thiam tawk lo, ka nei tawk lo, ttanpitu ka nei lo, hmailam ka feh ngam lo ding” timi ruahnak pawl ruangah a si. Facebook sungah cangan pakhat ka duh zetmi te a um: “I am not afraid tomorrow because God is already there.” A ra dingmi caan hi ka tih hrimhrim lo ziangah tile, ka Bawipa cu cu tawk ah a rak um cia a si a ti. A tha zet ka ti. Saam 23:1 sungah, Bawipa cu ii khaltu a si tiah a sim. Anih in in taansan dah lo (Heb. 13:5). Kan hnen ah in umpi ringring. Caan tampi ah kan nunnak hi cunu/pa ruangah or keimah ruangah hi dinhmun kan thleng tiah kan ruat aw pang theu. Cuvek ih na ruah ahcun, na duhvek ih thil a can lo tikah, na beidong mei ding. Asinan, Bawipaih ruangah hih dinhmun tiang ka thleng a si timi na theih ih na zum ahcun, ziangvek thil cang khal sehla, ka hrangah Bawipa in lamzin thazet I hmuh duhmi a um timi na thei ding ih, na ruahsannak a cem dah lo ding.  Asinan, zuam theinak, cah damnak, a tulmi lamzin in on saktu hi Amah Pathian a si ti kan ruat theu lo (Dan 8:17). Paul ih a ral that biknak cu, Khrih in ka tulmi thazaang I pe ringring ih, Amai thazaang in ziangkim ka tuah thei timi a hmuh awk tuk ruangah,  “Thazaang I petu Khrih thawng in ziangkim ka ti thei” (Fili 4:13). 2 Cor 12:9 “Ka zangfahnak cu na hrangah a tawk, ziangahtile na tontaih lai caan hi ka cahbik lai caan a si” tiah Pathian in Paul kha a ti. Asim duh bikmi cu na tontaih lai bik caan ah, ka cahnak huham na parah ka lang ter a si tiah a tinak a si.  “Keimah in ka thazaang in ka lo nun ter ding” tinak a si.  Curuangah, tihphannak tisuar pawl na kiang ih an rat tikah, Bawi Jesuh ih duhdawtnak le umpinak kha zoh ringring aw. Ral tha zet in hmai na nor thei ding. Jesuh na lawng sungah a to.

Thunetnak:

Tihnak kan neihmi in kan siding tluk in si thei lo ko in tuah. Tihnak phun hnih  aum ih, zaran ih neihmi tihnak le mah le mah tthihawknak in a rami tihnak a si. Hram lak ah rul a um timi tihnak cu zaraan ih neihmi tihnak a si. Asinan, kan tokheng tangah rul a um ding timi ruahnak ruangih to ngam lo cu a dik lomi (abnormal fear) tihnak a si. Zaanran tihnak siseh, mahlemah tthihawknak ih kan neihmi tihnak pawl ziangtin kan neh thei ding.

1. Na tihmi hi ziang a si ih ziangruangah na tih ti sutaw aw. A dik lomi tihnak (abnormal fear) a si ahcun, na ruahnak kha vancungmi in in kil ti lam ah hoi sawn aw la, na hna a ngam ding (Ps. 34:7).
2. Na tihmi kha tih ding taktak an si ahcun, ral thazet in na tihmi kha pah mei aw. Cami buai na tih le, na tihmi kha zuamnak in neh ko pah mei aw.
3. Na tihmi kha huatnak ruangah a si ahcun, na huatmi parah culole, a lo huatu pawl ih parah duhdawtnak thawn lawng na neh thei ding. Cumi nei thei dingah, minung cu a thleng aw theimi kan si timi thei in, Khrih ih in ngaithiam bang in, ngaithiam mei aw.
4. Na tihnak hi nangmah te na rinsan awknak ih a rami a si ahcun, Pathian rinsannak in cui na tihnak cu neh a theih. Keimah ih thilti theinak ruangah a si lo, Pathian ih umpinak le huham thilti theinak thawn ziangkim ka ti thei timi thei ringring aw.

Ref: Martin Luther King Jr., “Antidotes For Fear,” A Testament of Hope: The Essential Writings and Speeches of Martin Luther King Jr ed. James M. Washington (New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 1991), 509-517.