The Cooling Stream

Talking with friends and strangers during Christmas days can be real fun and thrilling.

In fact, it is really not that difficult to get to know one another.

A friendly look and a simple smile, a little eyes contact, a timely and courteous talk and manner, some warm handshakes, polite greeting and small talk... can all help to cultivate good friendships and relationships.

Some of us enjoy visiting big houses with large gatherings because they will be left to their own, doing what they like.

Some of us love to visit small families, with less visitors, so that they can have a heart-to-heart sharings.

Bringing children along during visiting can be both fun and stressful, especially in a congested house with not many empty or open spaces.

I enjoy seeing spacious sitting rooms with attractive views over open spaces.

And some houses really make me feel homely, warm, and comfortable.

I enjoy interacting, sharing and learning from others.

God has given us each special talents and skills, and I believe knowledge and wisdom must be shared to help others.

Of course, it will be nicer to have delicious food and drink to go round....

Yeah, Christmas is for love, joy, peace, hope.....

...for giving and sharing,

...for laughter and other good feelings,

...for reuniting with family and friends,

....................

Christmas is for us to know, to experience, and to cultivate our love and our good feelings for one another, under the shelter of God's wings.

Come, the Spirit of Christmas...

It was raining the whole afternoon.

We were shopping in one of the shopping malls.

People everywhere were busy shopping for the Christmas season, buying many presents, clothing, flower, food, decorations and a whole list of other things.

I personally don't enjoy shopping in group.

But for the past many years we had helped and coached the children in shopping.

But lately they are more independent and can buy things on their own.

Shopping in group can help in making wiser and better decisions.

But sometimes it can be a waste of time, loitering around and wandering without purpose.

So we planned our shopping trip before we started.

My wife and my two girls went straight to the women's department to do their shopping.

My son enjoyed himself picking and trying some shirt and trousers in the men's department.

And I entered a few computer shops making a survey on computer accessories... So much changes and so many things to learn.

I asked around and got the information that I needed about computers.

The salesmen and technicians were customer-oriented and efficient.

I really enjoyed my trip and I had made up my mind on my future computer upgrades.

I laughed heartily to myself, feeling very satisfied.

Then I bought some computer accessories and was ready to join my family.

*******

They had all bought their needs and they were happy.

Everyone was smiling broadly and started to share with one another.

Then we made up our mind to go to another shopping mall, this time to shop for our daily needs and wants.

Once again, we assisted one another in the different sections of the hypermarket.

We bought more things because we wanted to celebrate our youngest daughter's birthday the next day.

We paid at the counter and we were ready to make our way home.

Now our van was rather packed, so everyone had to squeeze a little.

We stopped along the way to buy some barbecued meat and chicken.

We had cooked our rice earlier before we went shopping.

Wow! Mouth-watering dishes were waiting for us home....

******

The sky was getting darker, the wind stronger and the rain heavier.....

By evening we were home.

We had our dinner and we had more stories to tell....

My family had bought some clothing for me, and I had some computer accessories for the family.

And that was our family shopping, visiting our familiar stores and remembering one another while shopping.

Yeah! I love family shopping.

Family shopping is fun.

When we are young, with much zeal and energy, we want our lives to be exciting and full of joy.

We think a lot, and spend much time planning, trying and doing.

We are so full of emotion, and perceive life as an expression of meaning and feeling.

We move and travel a lot, seeking, searching, finding, and making use of everything we see, smell, hear, taste and touch.

We are very carefree and adventurous......

Sometimes we are careless, reckless and thoughtless......

We are selfish, self-conscious, self-absorbed, self-pleasing and self-centered......

And we make many unnecessary mistakes and errors.....

And we hurt and harm many others........

We have done many things that we feel ashamed, embarassed, depressed and disappointed to this day.......

*******

When we come to age, some earlier, some later,

We become more contemplative and reflective, and we are more thoughful of others.

We learn to manage, control and conceal our feelings, not wanting to simply hurt others anymore.

We remind ourselves over and again not to be too self-centered, too assertive and aggressive in our approach and doing to others.

We told ourselves to be more tactful, seeking to live in peace and harmony with others.

*******

Sometimes we sigh and mourn for all the wrongs that we have done in our younger days...........

If only we have been more careful and considerate............

*******

It is wonderful to know that we have gone through the same life circle, when we are brought to know that what goes up ultimately comes down.

And now we learn to be more forgiving and forgetting.....

And to treasure life....

And enjoy every single moment of our lives.

We watch our children and our children's children with a hearty smile and a cheerful heart.....

reminiscing our lives..........

Family reunion is great and really fun.

We used to visit one another during festive seasons, some happy occasions or some memorial services.

Most of the time, we will give a call and come in group to visit a brother or a sister.

Then we regroup and "attack" another brother or sister. And the journey continues....

It is really fun when we visit with very short notice... the owner of the house has to hurry to get everything ready fast.

Then the time comes when we ourselves are being attacked in group......

Then all the laughter, happiness and love.....

We will take out all the best things we have to serve one another.

It is really heart-warming to be together after missing each other for so long.

Absence makes the heart fonder and the mind wonder......

But the moment we meet and hold each other's hands, that is all the matters....

The families have multiplied and the children have grown... the physique, the attitude and behavior all have changed...the way of life, the customs... have also changed.

But then we are filled with our many sweet memories and stories.

And after sometimes, we will just look at one another silently... and smile.

All have changed........

Some of us have entered our middle age... and some have hastened to the old age.

Then the stories continue......

We talk about ourselves, our children, our grandchildren, and our great grandchildren...

Everyone seems so different, but we are smiling from ear to ear.

Who would have thought that family reunion was great and really fun?

When troubles come, we often have to resort to ourselves or seek helps from others.

When troubles come, they come in bunches, in a way that can destroy us.

Most troubles start as a result of circumstantial situations.

But sometimes there are people among us who love to create troubles.

They start by generating some misunderstanding and misconceptions among people, then they concentrate on giving and listening to comments and judgments that tickle their ears and delight their senses.

They start the spark of fire that ignites into flames of strife and quarrel, and they enjoy watching people suffer and inflicting more pains.

And I will never enjoy friends of a quarrelsome and contentious spirit.

These people do more harm than good to the people around.

Sometimes I wonder whether it is because of their upbringing or their experiences in life that make them so violent, so rude and so full of hateful rage and racism.

But I must admit that I enjoy my moments of daily troubles.

They spur me on to wonderful discoveries...

They make me analyze my decisions and choices.

They cause me think more cautiously and take precautions.

And they help me see who my true friends are and who do not deserve my time.

When trouble is at hand, it brings much sorrow and pain.

When trouble is over, it brings much happiness and benefits us too.

Maybe what we need to let go is the unwanted and unnecessary ego troubles.

Ego troubles are well known and have caused much harm and pain.

Each day has enough of its troubles.

Yet many of us still cannot let go of past troubles...

... and still many who anticipate more troubles in the days to come.

Let's just deal with the troubles at hand instead of fighting the shadows of troubles and distress.