After dinner, Susan brought some strawberries as dessert and Amanda wanted to put some sugar in it. Her mother refused because strawberries are sweet enough. However, Amada kept requesting. In the end, Susan conceded. Amanda didn’t hesitate to pour sugar into the dessert. We all laughed. It reminded me of my childhood. At that time, I liked sugar as much as Amanda does. However, as time passing, I kept away with sugar and others tasting sweet. What goes wrong?
I think the reason is that when we are getting old, we gradually know that living is hard. Many dilemmas and difficulties have been grasping us. More often, we fall to the ground rather than overcome it. The truth is life is full of bitter. Hence, we grow up with pains. We learn to tolerate others’ disregards to us and impulse ourselves to be stronger.
In this sense, sweet is an illusion. In fact, we struggle to survive and be better. Perhaps only to children, the world is consisted of happiness. Nevertheless, it is our parents that take the responsibility so that we could spend such a period free from anxiety. Thanks to their sacrifice, we lived in the heaven.
After all, an artificial heaven can’t maintain. With our development, we have to deal with lots of people. Unconsciously, we may be at odds with some of them, whom our parents are unfamiliar with. Their reactions will affect us and destroy so-called heaven easily. Borrow what Sartre said, others are enemies.
Considering above thoughts, sweet is a lie. Thus, adults refused it.
But it isn’t entirely correct. The memory of sweet has been kept in our hearts. That’s why we endeavor to create heaven for our children continuously and treat others well carefully.
Life is a lure. Sweet first, bitter later. Fortunately, we are doomed to have the courage and power to overcome these bad things and to turn life into sweet. With this respect, life is a box of chocolate, but it is made by ourselves.
I come, I see, I conquer.
That’s the right attitude.
I borrowed a simplified book on E.T. (the extra-terrestrial) from NEXSUS last week. E.T. has a big fame, but I hadn’t known what it talks about. That’s why I borrowed this pamphlet.
After reading the book, I was deeply moved and thought of the following question:
How should we treat a stranger?
It was inevitably that we are self-oriented in so far as we know ourselves first. Consequently, we are inclined to perceive our thoughts as the mere correct way and use this standard to judge others. If others have different opinions with us, it was they that must be wrong.
Given we harboring above trend, when we meet an alien, what will we do?
Naturally, we regard it as an object, the same way that scientists deal with E.T. Since it has no relation to us, we treat it anyway we like. We may study it, sell it, prison it, and even kill it.
However, it isn’t the way that Elliott did. E.T. is a member of his family. I am really moved by the imagination that E.T. could have the same thought as that of Elliott. In the movie of E.T. (I couldn’t help watching the movie after reading), Steven Spielberg designed a humorous plot, that is, when E.T. stayed at home watching sweethearts kissing, simultaneously, Elliott did so to his classmates in class. This is a joke; however, I cried when Elliott repeated “E.T. phone home”. He expressed what was in E.T.’s heart. Through this plot, I think the direct wants to convey a piece of important information to us, that is, E.T is part of Elliott.
Can you imagine that an alien becomes part of your life? In other words, we share our existence with others, or we broke the barrier of ourselves. When we do so, the world will extend to the whole universe! In some sense, I argue that E.T. symbolizes the universe because he comes from outside us.
Coming to reality, we have to admit that it is difficult, and it is so rare that it can only happen on children, those who haven’t immersed in the mundane world yet. It sounds too pessimistic. But it is the truth; otherwise, why don’t we take a more glimpse at the poor, the diseased, and the miserable?
As far as I am concerned, if we are cool, the world is cold. In reality, we just put ourselves into the prison by rejecting others. However, if we are open to others, we will harvest tender sentiment. Although it is thin, it is of essence and common. That’s why millions of people are moved by the story of E.T. But is it because we are short of love and care in daily life? If so, we’d better give these to others as much as we can, no matter we can be paid off or not. And this is part of the meaning of Jesus’ sacrifice. In Christian, the whole world is changed by him. I agree.
This morning, I went to the St Andrew’s Presbyterian Church. It is located on 9860 Keele Street and is a 30-minute-walk from my homestay family. I found it on the second day I came here by accident. I insisted God guided me there. At that time, I saw a flyer on the broad. It reads people can do worship here every Sunday at 10:30. Therefore, I decided to go to the church this Sunday.
I arrived there on time. Other Christians were very friendly to me and they were quite surprised to see a Chinese there. They asked me a lot. To my surprise, I communicated with them smoothly. It increased my confidence. After the Manse, they invited me to join their “lunch” so that we could know about each other. At lunch, I met with many new friends. I am really glad to see them!! Hence, I’d like to introduce them to all of you. ^_^
1. Udo
Udo comes from Germany and has been here for 30 years. He lives next to the church. After I ate up a piece of cake, he showed me around the wooden statue of Saint Andrew. There is a secret in it. They are small holes dug by Udo. He used them to drill maple sugar!! How amazing it is! Besides, Udo introduced his English learning experience to me. He suggested me join in the circle of native speakers and make presentations about my hometown, my youth and my hobbies to other believers. I thought these were good ideas and the way that Professor Smith taught us about how to make a 5-minute-speech could be used. : )
2. Robber
Mr. Robber is the minister. He has a beautiful voice. I’m impressed by his preach today. Different from Chinese style, he designed a special prolusion for kids. He brought a plastic box with a heavy brick and asked a child to carry it. The child failed to keep the box for a long time and he told the minister it was out of his capacity. Mr. Robber explained the underlying reason was he didn’t trust he could make it; therefore, if he resorted to God, he would gain help. At the minister’s words, the boy tried again. This time, he succeeded! It was really a miracle! With the help of God, we increase our confidence. In reality, through him, we become as tough as he is. That’s why we should believe in God. I learned a lesson from it and I thought Mr. Robber did a great job.
3. Kim
Kim is the minister’s wife. After lunch, I helped her washing plates in the kitchen. I told her I was an exchange student from Peking University, which was the sister school of York University and I lived on 28 Butterfield Crescent. Especially, I stressed my major was philosophy and I learned several courses about theology. She was very glad to hear that and then introduced me to her husband. I really liked her because she was very patient to my English speaking. This made me feel relaxed and helped me express better. Finally, Kim and Robber sent me home by their car. How nice they are!
4. Ayrn
Ayrn is a 10-year-old boy. He is as active as Alexander. Boys of that age can’t be quiet, can they? He was brought here by his grandmother. We studied the piano for a while, although we didn’t know how to play it. One of his classmates comes from China, too. Therefore, he showed kindness to Chinese.
It is really a nice day today inasmuch as I made so many new friends. I like the church. I will visit there next Sunday! Moreover, I plan to take part in other activities the church offers, for example, alcoholics anonymous meeting every Tuesday and Thursday evenings from 8-9 pm. These activities will deepen my understanding of Jesus and being a Christian.
