It was good to hear Gareth having some fun on his “keyboard” today while talking to May Chin. I miss them tremendously and wish I could be home especially when they are physically not well. Apart from the phonecalls (with special rates Thank God!), email and chatting online has helped us keep the connection closer during this long trip away. WiFi access here has helped a lot .. Thank God for Wifi! 🙂

I’m glad I decided to bring the notebook for other reasons too… right now I’ve already uploaded about 1000 pictures in it. And will be looking forward to the Luther sites tour, I’m sure I’ll look like a typical tourist taking photos but as many of you might know. it’s usually more than that for me. The photos don’t just capture the places I visited but becomes a kind of spiringboard for reflections and deeper spiritual growth. This is enhanced with the stories behind the pictures or the commentaries our German hosts so graciousy offer.

There’s so much to write and reflect on … the official stuff is already “rich” enough, and then there’s also the “unofficial” stuff. The coffee conversations, the long talk I had with a friend a while ago, little observations here and there, surprises too, sometimes irritations, and a whole lot.

I suppose there’s a lot of “raw material” when it comes to what’s going on around us. So often we’re just too busy to notice, or we don’t want to be bothered. or other matters are more urgent. But, for me having this break “stengthened” the existing hunger for “depth” and sensitivity to people and life in general.

Today’s special “localized” historical study on Wilhelm Löhe and Neuendettelsau really made me appreciate the efforts made by people here to “remember” and “document” their roots and development. Often. I feel we in busy Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia are so caught up about the future and lost that connection to our personal past as well as corporate past.

There’s few of us who can tell the stories of our city or country or even the people who were very much part of its development. And yet these stories are part of who we are today. The stories we form and grow right here and now will be “absolutely crucial” for the “tommorrows” that await us.

Again … a fresh appreciation for the subject I hated in school … “History”. Now it’s one of my favorites! It’s more than recalling dates and some events, it’s about the places where these events happen, it’s about the people who played their part in these stories, it’s about the sense of plot and purpose in the whole journey.

In the past, the penned it on parchments, wrote in on documents, or nowadays recordings, videos, etc. For me, it’s here with the notebook before me … tools change, but the desire to keep something that will last longer than today is still there!