Version 7.0

“

Even in literature and art, no man who bothers about originality will ever be original: whereas if you simply try to tell the truth you will, nine times out of ten, become original without ever having noticed it.

”

-C. S. Lewis

It has been a tad more than 3 years since I've started this blog, and I'm glad to say that Version 7.0 is finally here! It all started off when a couple of my friends *cough* Qiong *cough* WeiJia *cough* coerced me into writing an online journal, something which I never had the patience to do. Somehow my folly revealed itself again when my same 2 friends got me to join Facebook. Hmmm...

From its humble beginnings, it has now expanded to a collection of 3 separate blogs; this, Ropheka the Bible Blog, and the Wine Blog, which was once a university project but has now expanded to an on-going dream to catalogue the finest mid-value wines in Australia. ^_^

In my last post I promised that Version 7.0 is gona be Bigger, Better, Faster and Easier on the eyes. Well it's true, kind of. There's that BIG CROSS that jumps out at you as soon as the page loads. It's better because all my posts are now organised by themes. It's faster too because you'll be so busy admiring the beautiful cross that you won't notice the page loading. And finally, it's easier on your blinkers because I finally got rid of the hideous lime-green background! ^_^

When I came across this quote from C.S. Lewis, I realised why I eventually settled on this design. I wanted this version to be original and different so I started playing with different colours and patterns, but they just didn't sit well with my spirit. Then it dawned on me that this blog is meant to be a reflection of my life and a window to my world, not some souped up decorated porthole.

In my world, the truth is simple. It is Christ and Christ alone.

The cross is not Christ, but it represents what He has done for me in my life. The original image is a long exposure shot of a hand-held light captured in the dark. How apt this picture is as a reflection of my life! The glow of light which symbolizes my life was swinging around aimlessly in the dark, not knowing where I was going. When I found Christ, I looked back and realised that my journey, which had been outlined by the glow of light, was actually cumulating to bring me back to the cross. And like how I inverted the dark colours of the image to a white background at a flick of a switch, He changed my darkness into light.

I don't know if many out there realise this, but the cross that we wear around our necks was not meant to be a fashion statement or a fanciful piece of artwork. It was used as a torturing device. Imagine if Christ had died on an electric chair or on the gallows, would we be dangling a metal chair or an ornamental noose around our necks today? However we can take comfort in knowing that the same cross that hung Jesus Christ was the same cross that God used to offer His Son as a perfect sacrifice for us all. The cross that we take for granted today was used to reconcile us back to our Father, having obtained redemption through Christ's blood, by the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace.

It's tragically beautiful! ^_^

Be blessed my friends! May your darkness be turned to light; your sorrows to joy; your tears to laughter; your hopes into dreams, and your dreams into reality...

Love never gives up. Christ never fails...

After an eventful afternoon full of swashbuckling battles with HTML, multiple errors and a couple of painkillers later, i finally got my blog up and running again... So now i present to you Version 1.1 *applause*

The weekend has been pretty interesting... I had a pleasant surprise after church on sunday when i realised that my rear view mirror had decided to follow Newton's Law of Gravity. To add icing on the cake, no windscreen repair shops actually bother to open on a Sunday... So there i was happily driving around "illegally" till i got a neck sprain after all that head-turning... *aww*

Thank God i got it fixed this morning...

I've just added some photos of my family and myself. Those can be found in the section "A Moment in Time". For a certain individual who has been begging me for my baby photos... sorry my friend, u won't find it in here *nah nah nah*

In the past, when i was still young and a dolt (yes qiongz...), i used to think that taking pictures were such a waste of time and energy... I would rather run out and relish in the soft sand than be bothered with setting up the camera. It was only when i came to live here that i realised photos were much more than faces and scenery... Its a memory, a moment, that if not careful, would be lost forever in the sands of time. Now i finally understand why my dad placed so much emphasis in getting us together for that perfect shot... Thanks Dad.

I've finally succumbed to writing a blog... Gota give credit to my friends out there whose blogs have inspired me to follow in their path. And I got to admit... everyone seems to be doing it but ME... *hah*

I've never got about writing a diary - I blatantly conceded defeat after the fourth entry. It's never easy to put to words feelings and emotions, the very things that stretches our minds in dimensions beyond the plane of pen and paper.

Expressions that we take for granted, like the slight tremble of the hand, sudden shift in eye contact, nervous stutter in one's speech and the ever obvious blush of one's cheeks... they're all simply an unconscious reaction to our environment. But when it comes to writing it down, woaah, you finally realise what you've just got yourself into... Just how on earth do u go about describing your life without running the risk of ending up like the script of Matrix Revolutions - where u walk out of the cinema wondering if the popcorn was actually salted or whether it was your tears of sadness, that such a wonderful story ended with a *poof*...

Eventually the diary might just evolve into a self-fabricated story that you want to see - kinda like the news we have these days where bad stuff is actually erm... good! (Oh admit it you American idol fans... you just love to see William Hung sing again right?)

But then I finally realised... this ain't the place to gloat to the world how wonderful your life is *yes yes... rub it in*, or complain to the point that duct tape has a purpose again. This is the perfect place to whine! Yes, I've finally found the one true meaning missing from my diary-life. U can't whine in yer diaries - all u get back in return is the cold hard stare of the horizontal lines on the page. Kinda makes your life worse huh...

Hah, not to worry... whine I shall not today. For a wise man once told me, "my little tum-tum... the hardest part of life is always the first step, the rest just depends on how u fall..." so I'm actually quite happy that I've managed to get this blog running.

Hopefully with all of your support, this blog will fall, gracefully, into the hearts of many.