A Mind-Blowing Parable

Know about the butterfly effect? Well it’s the theory that a small thing like the fluttering of a butterfly’s wings can lead to large consequences later like a hurricane. I haven’t fully understood the mechanics of how that happens but I feel like I am experiencing the butterfly effect in my life right now, where a small seed that is planted in my mind is sending ripples that are ever expanding and could lead to dramatic life change later on.

Ok so what happened was this – I facilitated the parable of the shrewd manager last Sunday, and as I prepared, I found out that I had misinterpreted this parable all along, or rather had just had a very superficial understanding of what it meant – something about Christians being more shrewd in the world and not getting conned. I never thought very much about the parable and some sentences definitely didn’t link with my explanation. Well, turns out the lesson of parable is nothing about that. In fact, it is a very relevant, very hard teaching that goes against the grain of what society espouses and lauds, and against what our flesh wants, teaching us about the best way to manage our money.

In the parable, a dishonest manager who is going to lose his job, used whatever time he had left while he was still manager to cancel huge debts owed to his master, so that he would have friends who would help him later when he was jobless. Firstly I was like what? Was what he did even legit? Cancelling his master's debts without seeking approval (sorry if my government side is showing - can't shake it off) and why wasn't his master angry? The passage says that the master commended him for his shrewdness!

Ok so first, my research reveals what he did was legit - as he appointed manager he did have some authority over the finances, much like how if you are a Director in a company you can sign off certain checks and approve expenditures up to a certain level. So I can accept that. And at that time he wasn't kicked out yet, just informed he would lose his job in the future. So while what he did was not to the master's benefit, it was not against the law. Another fellow facilitator (the one who went to theological seminary) added that in their society at that time, people were highly reciprocal, so he would expect these people to return the favour later, perhaps in about the same amount. And combined with how he doubted he could find another job after being laid off - the amounts he can cancelled ensured he could live off the favours for life. Pretty shrewd move on his part.

So one lesson we could learn from this is that we should use money, while we still have it, to maximise the benefit or advantage to us in the Long term. In fact the definition of shrewd is to have a good grasp of the situation, using it to one's advantage. Ok so far?

But Jesus says we ought to apply this type of shrewdness to the way we manage our money as Christians, so it's a bit odd. Are we to similarly "con" our Organisations of the money for our own benefit? Are we to provide for ourselves and accumulate wealth at all costs? Well turns out the objective of Christian life and the reward system set up by God are very different from the world's. God wants us to depend on Him and not money (ie not trust money or huge bank balances), and to be like Him (ie kind, compassionate, merciful and abundantly generous). And He rewards people who do that well with eternal treasures in heaven.

Which essentially means we ought to use temporal money to bless others, help the needy, and the more we do it, the more treasures we store up for ourselves in heaven that do not ever fade or disintegrate or lose their shiny newness (like buying freehold land except we get to enjoy it forever and not just for our lifespan). Sounds like a good investment doesn't it? We just don't know the exchange rate :)

So, any selfish Christian who only cares about ourselves and “preparing for our retirement” should do that! In fact the more we can outgive others, the better off we are. Another commentary said we should always manage our money in a way that ensures our dependence is on God and not money, which means not trusting in huge bank balances (akin to barns and huge storehouses of grain).

Ok hard teachings (this trader in our midst kept exclaiming to himself this was very relevant to him) but I am definitely going to accelerate my rate of accumulating heavenly treasures. Gonna set some limits to what I intend to spend and save, and give the rest away…. Gotta be shrewd and not naive!

The Immense Satisfaction of Cooking

I am always on the lookout for moments of true pleasure in my life, either the temporal fleeting kind like “that was such a good cup of mocha” (Laaf cafe at Katong) or the more deep-in-your-belly satisfaction that also warms your heart, reflecting true enjoyment, and which brings back remnants of that feeling whenever you think about it (like writing a blog post I am proud of, or having prepared a very good bible study materials!). Well, turns out, cooking a wholesome, healthy meal for the whole family that does not take a lot of time, uses up food that is soon going bad (reduce food waste!), and costing less than if we ate out, gives me that deeeeep satisfaction I was describing earlier.

Let me describe a recent example that sparked this post – this was a Saturday, when my in-laws were out of town and so we had the whole day to ourselves. After eating out for lunch (yucky fatty Wee Nam Kee chicken rice), I had the idea of making cold noodles for everyone, using instant noodles instead of soba, and adding shredded carrots, cucumbers (which we had plenty) and I just had to go to the supermarket nearby to find some frozen salmon belly or similar meat that I could fry up in a jiffy to serve a delicious satisfying meal.

I managed to buy 2 packets of frozen halibut fillet (5.90 each) but after googling several recipes on how to fry halibut, which all seemed too difficult (need lots of oil to deep fry, or a big oven to bake them), I decided to just improvise and do it with the least time (as dinner time was fast approaching). So I cut up some carrots, the wilting vegetables in the fridge, lots of onions, a little garlic and some oyster mushrooms (to add some protein in case the fish wasn’t enough for so many people), cut up one halibut fillet and started cooking. I opted for noodle soup, which was faster than cold noodles, used the mi goreng instant noodles. So I fried up the garlic and onions, then added water and started cooking the carrots. Then I added the mushrooms, noodles, fish and lastly vegetables and when it was all done, I added the powder seasoning.

The end result was a very yummy (thanks to the seasoning) colourful bowl of noodle soup with lots of vegetables and also rich buttery cubes of fish. I was pleased though the fish wasn’t completely thawed, and I didn’t know the exact amount of time I needed to cook it, it turned out exactly right. I cooked several batches for kids, myself, maid, husband and mom and they all liked it. And they had fibre (unlike when you eat outside), and I only used 1 halibut fillet and half a pack of oyster mushrooms, plus used up those vegetables that we’re going to get thrown away if they didn’t get cooked soon. I think this meal appealed to the healthy-eating, reduce food-waste, economical side of me. *Smile*

80-20

It's that time of the year again, December, when no one (well at least me) really feels like working and after slogging at an insane pace in Oct and Nov (and pretty much all year round), I really feel like slowing down and spending more time with my kids and family and friends. And to take some time off for myself. But alas, work never stops and the two days that I spent back at work turned out to be quite busy and I still haven't managed to clear those few large pieces of work I had been meaning to. Sigh... One way is to take th advice of the nice octogenarian I spoke to at a recent farewell dinner, and to stop vetting everything in great detail (which is what I feel passes my own standard) so that the work can at least proceed and I am not a bottleneck. 80-20 and that sort of thing. Well I think I finally need to do that because I have quite a bit of admin still to do and that dratted work and other urgent but not-important stuff to clear! Sigh...