Kristus yang pertama punya teknik magis untuk menarik hati orang, sehingga terpikat. Tetapi demikian juga kita bisa punya teknik magis untuk menarik orang lain.
Hubungan dalam Allah Tritunggal dari satu sisi bisa digambarkan dengan dansa/tarian di antara pribadi-pribadi tsb. Silakan baca dari artikel ini: Perichoresis – The Divine Dance of the Trinity.
Karena itu, ide tentang dansa/tarian, khususnya dansa/tarian kelompok sangat menarik perhatian saya, khususnya dalam aspek penerapan dalam hubungan antar orang dalam satu komunitas.
Hidup bersama dan kebersamaan dalam Kebenaran/Kristus adalah keseluruhan dinamika kehidupan dan misi hidup kita. Ada daya dorong, pertahanan dari kehancuran, inspirasi, visi, dst banyak hal indah. Di luar itu, waduh celakanya.
Berdua lebih baik dari pada seorang diri, karena mereka menerima upah yang baik dalam jerih payah mereka. Karena kalau mereka jatuh, yang seorang mengangkat temannya, tetapi wai orang yang jatuh, yang tidak mempunyai orang lain untuk mengangkatnya! Juga kalau orang tidur berdua, mereka menjadi panas, tetapi bagaimana seorang saja dapat menjadi panas? Dan bilamana seorang dapat dialahkan, dua orang akan dapat bertahan. Tali tiga lembar tak mudah diputuskan.
Pengkhotbah 4:9-12
karena Allahlah yang mengerjakan di dalam kamu baik kemauan maupun pekerjaan menurut kerelaan-Nya.
Fil 2:13
Tersedia daya hidup, daya dorong, kalibrator, sustainer, … yaitu Kristus sendiri sebagai Kepala.
Jika ada luka dalam hubungan dan dinamika itu, akan ada kesembuhan… dan seringkali memang perlu waktu. Tenang saja….
From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.
Eph 4:16
Sebagai ilustrasi, bentuk “dansa/tarian” lain yang saya lihat misalnya aerial dance seperti di AGT berikut ini:
Suatu gerak langkah yang begitu harmonis dan hidup.
Banyak lagu pop yang berhubungan dengan dansa, misalnya: Dancing Queen, Sway, ….
Ini salah satu versi, dengan klip tarian
Ada beberapa kata dalam lirik lagu Sway yang sangat menarik:
Other dancers may be on the floor Dear, but my eyes will see only you Only you have that magic technique When we sway, I go weak
Make me thrill as only you know how Sway me smooth, sway me now
Kristus yang pertama punya teknik magis untuk menarik hati orang, sehingga terpikat. Tetapi demikian juga kita bisa punya teknik magis untuk menarik orang lain. Be a blessing.
Catatan lain dari sesi di JakTim, 12 Agt 2023: Catatan ttg Komunitas. Penjelasan-penjelasan dari catatan ini bisa dijelaskan di artikel terpisah.
You call out to God for help and he helps—he’s a good Father that way. But don’t forget, he’s also a responsible Father, and won’t let you get by with sloppy living. Your life is a journey you must travel with a deep consciousness of God.
Usai rapat Pimsubreg di Bandung 2-5 Sep, kami meluncur ke Surabaya/Sidoarjo tanggal 6.
Pertanyaan “berapa lama” tidak relevan… yang penting menikmati perjalanan dan aman. Titik kotak adalah perhentian (ada 8, termasuk 3 kali tidur, karena malam sebelumnya hanya tidur 3 jam)
Tujuan nomor satu adalah mengunjungi kel mas Jarot-Melva yang baru pindah awal tahun ini dari TBK. Jadi landing kami di Sidoarjo, tempat tinggal mereka (sementara). Dulu, Jarot ini kuliah di STAN Bintaro, tetapi rajin ke Depok, maybe tiap weekend ya, untuk PA, olahraga dan menikmati waktu dg teman-teman.
Tujuan kedua, yang sama dengan itu, adalah ketemu Yuli (Binus98)!!!! 🙂
Kapan terakhir ketemu? Tidak ingat, mungkin karena begitu lamanya… Yang jelas pernah ketemu di sekitaran Binus (tempat kuliah mereka, tempat kost si koko Jemmy -UI97- usai lulus UI), ketika saya antar Jemmy pindahan dari Depok ke Kemanggisan.
Kata Yuli, dia pernah main ke rumah kami yang di Beji Timur (itu berarti tahun dalam tahun 2001-2004. Yuli kuliah di Binus tahun 1998).
Makan nasi rawon yang terkenal, tetapi kurang recommended 🙂
Yang ketiga ini enggak sengaja. Rupanya Imelda Sitinjak barusan landing di Surabaya untuk studi S3 di Unair. Dulu S2 di UI Depok. 🙂 Begitu tahu dia di Surabaya, ya kami meluncur lah.
Bapaknya lagi di Siantar ini kayaknya.
Tampaknya anak-anak antusias juga. Tinggal bapaknya gimana nanti. 🙂
Rupanya Imelda sebelah rumah ama bos Handy-Endah ya… punteun….
Yang ini bonus, baru kontak-kontakan mendadak, beliau langsung menyediakan dirinya dikunjungi. Dan seperti orang Jawa klasik: suguhan ndlidir (mengalir), padahal suguhan dari tetangga sebelah (alias warung-warung)… siomay, gado-gado, rujak cingur.
Beliau adalah mas Kristyan, teman SMA yang belum pernah jumpa seusai lulus SMA. Itu berarti tak pernah jumpa fisik lebih dari 35 tahun! Sekarang beliau bekerja sbg dosen PNS yang ditempatkan di Univ Moestopo.
Demikian laporan singkat kunjungan teman-teman lama khususnya UI Connection di Surabaya/Sidoarjo. Maaf waktu singkat, masih ada kel Anung, kel Yudi. Nuwun sewu gak sempat jumpa.
Teman-teman lain di Surabaya, kami gak bisa jumpai, karena seperti kata mas Hari: kalau gak bawa oleh-oleh, enggak usah bilang-bilang!!! (sementara oleh-oleh kami hanya cukup untuk beberapa orang di atas :))
Pelajaran. Tanpa bermaksud menarik pelajaran, tetapi tetap saja ada pelajaran bagi saya. 🙂
Pertemuan darat adalah segalanya. 🙂 Banyak hal indah ada di sana.
Terlalu banyak koneksi hubungan kita, tetapi koneksi lokal (darat) adalah utama. Dimana pun saya pergi/menetap, apakah saya terhubung dengan komunitas tubuh Kristus lokal? (Apakah juga ada komunitas Nav lokal?)
Koneksi kita juga dengan semua orang yang Tuhan berikan di sekitar kita. Koneksi yang membuka kasih mengalir dan berkat Abraham sampai kepada semua orang.
Tuhan yang pada akhirnya kita tahu paling care dengan kita yang begitu unik dan mobile serta rentan (apalagi dg kejadian covid kemarin). Tuhan beserta kita dimana saja.
Pergumulan-pergumulan hidup kita adalah nyata: anak, karir, hubungan dengan teman-teman lama, dst…. Dengan segala keterbukaan dan keriangan, mari kita menyambutnya, melewatinya dan memenanginya. 🙂
You call out to God for help and he helps—he’s a good Father that way. But don’t forget, he’s also a responsible Father, and won’t let you get by with sloppy living. Your life is a journey you must travel with a deep consciousness of God.
I’d better focus on how to make these words a behavior or way of life in practical daily life.
I was born and raised in a non-Christian family, the fourth of five children. However, my parents sent their children to Christian primary schools because they wanted us to get a good basic education (at that time, which means Christian school).
While in Christian elementary school, I attended Christian religious lessons/class and of course also Christian worship and celebrations such as Sunday school, Easter celebrations, Christmas and so on. All my teachers and most of my schoolmates are Christians. I really enjoyed Christianity in my elementary school days.
When I graduated from elementary school, I asked my father for permission to still adhere to Christianity while continuing to attend a public junior high school later. At that time, I felt it would be difficult if I had to learn Arabic or read the Koran and pray that way. Of course, I didn’t tell my parents those reasons openly. Unexpectedly, my parents allowed and even supported me by encouraging me to attend Sunday school at the church near our house and bought a Bible for me. It seemed they wanted me to be a good girl, responsible for my choices and requests. Long story short, it was through Sunday school at the church that a few years later I repented, believed, and accepted Christ as my personal Lord and Savior.
Shortly after my conversion, while continuing to a public high school, I joined a Bible study group organized by the student ministry at the school. I was helped to grow in Christ by having a personal relationship with God through prayer, quiet time, and Bible study and so on. It is becoming clearer and clearer who Christ is according to the Bible and in my life. Truly my heart and mind were filled with such great joy and peace.
At the same time, there was a great feeling of sadness knowing that my family, especially my parents, who I thought were very good, loved me very much, even allowed me to become a Christian and were willing to attend the church building when I was baptized, actually being under God’s punishment because they had not believe in Christ. At that time almost every night I cried and as if arguing, bargaining with God about it. Until one day I got tired and gave up, surrendered, entrusting everything to God. That He and His words are “yes and amen”, unfathomable far beyond all my feelings and thoughts. My part is just to believe.
Aside from that sadness, the struggle that I experienced was the realization that when I was at home the words of God that I learned I couldn’t seem to be shared directly in words. My words may not make sense to them because I am a teenager, still young at home, so it is not appropriate for me to teach them or advise them. This made me feel guilty at first. At that time God helped me with understanding that my daily life is an open word that my family can read anytime at home. These truths really encouraged me to apply what I learned in the Bible to my daily life. Instead of me being busy looking for words to testify to them, I’d better focus on how to make these words a behavior or way of life in practical daily life, that they can see and read.
Within six months I was OFF from all ministry activities… It was like entering a period of “eating grass in the field”…
This testimony was prepared as an introduction to sharing lessons at ILG, June 2022, on the theme: Leading by Influence: Leading from Brokenness. Translated by Google, refined by -mostly- Elsa Siahaan.
In 2007 I was in great enthusiasm for the growing ministry, both local and regional and national ministries. By then I had been on the staff (with The Navs) for over 13 years. And in 2007 I was about to be 40, the age that is said: never dies… or like the Sia’s song: Unstoppable – like a porsche, don’t need batteries to play. 😊
At that time, during a final trip to Kuala Lumpur/KL in March 2007, as usual I visited one or two cities beforehand: Batam and Singapore. I traveled alone. It was in Singapore that my journey came to a halt.
—
While walking with a friend on Orchard Road (afternoon after lunch), my vision suddenly disappeared (I experienced a blackout), not dark but actually white. And I was about to fall unconscious, but was supported by the friend. Without heeding the traffic signs, my friend carried me across the road and we went into the nearest hospital: Mt Elizabeth Hospital.
My pulse/heart beat seemed very irregular and very fast, maybe 200bpm on average. That was what made me want to faint earlier, because the oxygen supply was not smooth. I was injected with medicine and monitored for 24 hours. About 5-6 hours later, my heart rate returned back to normal.
That night I was offered sleeping pills, but I didn’t take them, just because I’m not used to taking medicine. I’ve never been hospitalized before, and am the type who doesn’t like to take any medication.
I apparently couldn’t sleep that night which made it a long night and full of inner struggles. My mind drifted away to new things, some were the little things I have missed as the time went by. I incidentally did not bring a notebook, because I usually write down what I meditate on. Then the hospital tissue was the medium to write down the main thoughts that came to mind that night.
I was only hospitalized for one night where the next morning the doctor discharged me. The doctor said: you can go home, you can exercise again as usual, continue your trip, and so on. …. But I have become a very different person since then.
Thanks to you all. You are awesome.
I felt both unable to continue the trip to KL nor to return to Indonesia. I felt very weak physically, very down and a bit confused with my condition. Then I stayed with one family of Nav Indonesia alumni. My strangest condition at that time was feeling mentally down, experiencing fear and panic easily. At that time my friend was working (at his office), while I was at home alone… and out of panic, sometimes I called him at the office asking: when are you coming home? I felt that I couldn’t seem to be left at home alone.
In addition, I also felt physically very weak. Even going up and down the stairs was difficult/hard.
However, I realized that I had to go home. At that time I did not tell my wife in Jakarta the details about my condition.
The trip home at that time was the most difficult one among other trips. I felt so weak that I was not able to lift my own luggage, so I needed my friend’s help to check in the luggage. At CGK airport in Jakarta, two good friends were ready to welcome me and help me with my luggage (late mas Madyo, and bang Yona).
—
In Jakarta, I still often had a similar physical condition where my heart suddenly beat abnormally and rapidly, only to recover a few up to 5 hours later. I marked my calendar when the arrhythmia attacked, and how heavy. After weeks, months, the situation was getting lighter. But in one month, Nov 2007, another serious arrhythmia attacked again and I had to be hospitalized again for one night. But after that, I started to accept my condition and was ready with the arrhythmia even though it was severe.
Along with that physical condition, it felt heavier that my mental state was very down. Maybe I was not just burnt out… Maybe I was depressed, … but I didn’t consult a professional. There was no such mechanism at that time. 😀 So I had to face it by myself and felt that I was on my own. Within six months I was OFF from all ministry activities… It was like entering a period of “eating grass in the field”…
What had been said about me came true at once. I was driven away from people. I ate grass just as cattle do. My body became wet with the dew of heaven. I stayed that way until my hair grew like the feathers of an eagle. My nails became like the claws of a bird.
Dan 4:33
I used to live on the 2nd floor, but due to my weak physical condition, I moved to the 1st floor. My wife and son (at that time 12years old) were on the 2nd floor. I was mentally very weak. I could often suddenly cry for no reason, loud and prolonged crying… hours. (Now when I think about it, I’m confused about how I could be like that. 😀)
Visits from some friends didn’t seem to have a positive effect at that time. Sometimes I even refused to meet guests or even receive phone calls, because their words often stressed me more.
Those months were the time when I struggled with the difficult situation. Trying to find a comprehensive solution… physically, attitude, emotionally, etc… changing the pattern of life (exercise, food, etc.). Reassess attitudes and outlook on life.
Life experiences have taught me a lot. That love contains in it a sacrifice in various degrees. There is no love without sacrifice. God in Jesus Christ has set a real example in unconditional sacrificial love.
written in 2008
I come from a Javanese family, born, and raised until I finished high school in two cities in Central Java. My father is an Army officer from the ’45 class who has been joining in war since his youth. A man who was firm, and stern, simple, with a profound sense of pride. As a Javanese and member of Army, his sense of tolerance can be felt behind his assertiveness. Meanwhile, my mother used to be a teacher who chose not to teach anymore after getting married and giving birth to children. She is a patient person, endures suffering, has a strong will to learn, as well as someone who always takes care of those around her who are in conflict (as a counterweight).
I was born as the fourth of five children. Even though we are a non-Christian family, 4 children including myself from 5 of us are enrolled in a private Christian elementary school. My parents’ reason at that time was to look for a school with good quality education, and it was found in that school. Of course at that school we received Christian religious lessons and sometimes attended Sunday school and several celebrations to commemorate major holidays in Christianity. My elementary school years went well and I enjoyed it. My academic and non-academic achievements were also quite good during elementary school, although my parents, especially my mother, almost never forced us to study at home.
An Unfair World
One of my worries when I was in elementary school was finding out that the world is very unfair, very unpeaceful. Often I secretly observe everything around me, both inside and outside the family, even within myself. A lot of things that are not true, which is not good I found there. It became a search for answers for me personally.
After elementary school, usually my brothers and sisters began to learn to pray and learn to read our religious/M books. This is because they or we will continue to a state junior high school which will automatically receive our religious lessons. To me it’s a ‘troublesome’ thing, impractical, and the like. Therefore, after graduating from elementary school, I ventured to convey to my father that I wanted to continue/follow Christianity only. So I asked him to fill in the student data in the religion column filled with “Christian”. My parents didn’t refuse, agreeing on one condition that if I really wanted to convert to Christianity, I had to go to one of the churches and obey the teachings of Christianity. I have to be responsible with my choices.
Soon I joined a church not too far from my house. I regularly attend services for children my age every week, sometimes taking part in other activities such as vocal groups, and the like. My parents were quite supportive, they bought me a Bible and some of my needs related to Christianity were fulfilled. They also freed me to participate in activities around the church.
Feeling Enough and Satisfied
Almost the same as in elementary school, I also went through junior high school quite smoothly and successfully. I really enjoyed this junior high school with many positive associations and activities in various fields. It feels like what I want with a little hard work can be achieved. But in all of that I realized I was growing into a fairly independent and self-satisfied person. Behind my good and polite demeanor is a very individualistic person. I still like to observe everything around me but my heart is hard to be moved/merciful by what I observe. My thought at that time was “we take care of our own business, don’t get too involved in other people’s lives, even if interacting is limited to politeness, living as a social creature”. The thing that sometimes frustrated me at that time was the thought of the fact that no matter how great a human achievement is, he/she will still end up in death. Then what is all this toil and success for, what is this life for? Satisfaction, self-respect, acceptance? It feels too trivial/low if life is just for that.
In the middle of 3rd grade of junior high school, a very significant event occurred in my life. At that time, after going through meditations on personal life and God’s word for several months, a challenge/question from a counselor in the church led me to repent and accept Jesus Christ personally. Being Christian is no longer just a formality in a good life but making Him my personal Savior and Lord of my life. I am really grateful for this experience. Since then I have felt God helping me to see myself and the world in a new light. That God really loves me, that I am truly precious in His sight, there is nothing “accidental” in my life in Him. This kind of understanding and belief has slowly influenced the way I view the people around me and all the events in my life. I also realized my sense of individuality as a more “polite” form of selfishness, which I had to ask forgiveness for and learn to change from time to time. I began to learn to genuinely care for others.
Supportive Parents
A few months after converting, before ending junior high school, I made the decision to be baptized in that church. My parents were still supportive and even attended my baptism. I am really grateful for my parents. The brothers at home also seemed less troubled by my decision. It seems that in my family as long as everything is under control and fine whatever steps the children take, there is rarely opposition. Father once said to us children, “If you make a decision in this life, you will be the one to live it and bear the consequences/risks. If it is good and noble, you will also be happy. But if it is not good and heavy, you yourself will also be ashamed and suffer. We parents can’t do much/meddle in all that.” His words are truly proven in almost every critical period of us children in making important decisions such as continuing further studies after high school, working, dating/marriage, and so on. For me these words mean I have to grow to be a person who is responsible and has integrity.
After graduating from junior high school, I entered a public high school. At this high school, I was invited to join a student ministry in which there was a kind of Bible study group or small group/discipleship. Once again I am grateful that it was through this small group that my basic life was built. I learned to build a personal relationship with God, learned to study the Bible and apply it in my daily life, and so on. Through all that process I learned to understand God’s purpose and plan specifically in my life and how God wants to express it. I learned a lot to apply the truth of God’s word in the context of my non-Christian family. Loving them in very simple and real forms of action without the polish of Christian culture/tradition. It was during these times that I was increasingly exposed to the reality of life, namely that in the ‘calm’ of my family life, there were actually many very complex problems. Likewise, when I learn to have friends, I also see that reality in their families.
The Open Way
My high school years went smoothly and well. It was a beautiful time for me because in it I was built a lot in the word of God. During that time, I also learned to help some of my juniors in a small group Bible study. After graduating from high school, I was accepted at one of the best institute/school of technology/engineering in the country without a test. At that time I did choose a certain field in the institute with a belief in God’s plan for my future. Really grateful that God opened the way to that place for me to continue my study.
It turned out that it was not only the opportunity to gain the knowledge that I wanted that I got at the institute. I also got a lot of mental and spiritual lessons and exercises in that place. In addition to studying and participating in activities on campus, I also joined a Christian ministry on campus and were helped a lot through it. Through all that process I increasingly saw a common thread in my life about God’s plan for me. It was as if I saw from the start how God used my non-Christian parents/family to get acquainted with Christianity through elementary school. Then in middle school, he helped me to get to know Christ more personally and repent. Not only that, after all that, I felt like I was provided with a community to grow through studying God’s word and practice/life experiences from high school until I went to college. It was very special for me who is from non-Christian background.
Until one day in college I made the decision to continue serving God even though I didn’t know what form it would take. Of course, the main ministry that I believe in is within my own family, especially caring for and building a deeper relationship with my parent. Be available to parent to listen and accompany them in their old age. Testify through my real life everyday.
A Male since High School
I graduated from college and be a teacher. Not long ago I married a man I’d known since high school, but we only had a special relationship about a year before I graduated. He’s a senior in college. In our campus ministry, we interact a lot in the context of general socialization. We agreed and decided to get married after going through a long journey of knowing each other and seeing God’s plan in it. We believe that God has a special plan for the family we are going to build. A vision and purpose at the beginning of the marriage that helped us in living a dynamic married/family life.
A few months after we got married we made an important decision in our lives, namely serving God full time by becoming a worker/staff in the ministry organisation, resigning from our job as a teacher (husband was also a teacher at the time). We serve fellow students at our alma mater campus. About 1.5 years after marriage I gave birth to a son, … the only child then.
After getting married, I/we felt that God was increasingly revealing things that we had not seen or felt as a single about the dynamics and problems that exist in a family. With myself being a spouse/wife and parent/mother of a child, it really helps me to empathize with the situation and condition of my extended family. My relationship with my parent, especially my mother, is getting deeper and meaningful, maybe because she sees that now I am also a wife and mother. We often confide in each other about various things from complicated family problems to trivial things like recipes or kitchen ingredients. Mother was so close with and trusted me that many of her and her family’s secrets were revealed to me seeking input and support. Differences in beliefs did not make her keep distance from me. I also learned to sincerely love her without any hidden ‘agenda’ for evangelization and such. I am of the view that if I learn to live righteously according to the Bible, my life will automatically become a gospel for others, a book that is open to everyone I interact with. The rest that has the power to influence/change people’s hearts is the work of God through the Holy Spirit in people. I really enjoy God’s grace in my relationship with my mother.
Starting Something New
The relationship also opened up a lot for me about the things/lessons that were right and good or not true that I received while I was at home, which could have influenced my pattern of having a family, my relationship with my husband and raising children. I (of course with my husband) learned to build and start something new based on an understanding of God’s word and experiences/lessons learned from our respective families. I realized that there were shortcomings and mistakes that my parent had made while raising us including myself, not on purpose but mostly because they didn’t know and didn’t realize it. They only became parent once and at that time information and people who could help were very limited. They themselves may be the result of upbringing and education that were not entirely correct and good/right in the past. My part in this is to accept them as they are and forgive sincerely. Viewed everything that happened in my past in the family in the understanding and authority of God, and that He has the power to change and restore.
My belief is getting stronger that one of God’s purposes and plans for calling me from a non-Christian family background is to serve my family, especially my parent. This belief really helped me to pursue peace/reconciliation or take the initiative to apologize first when misunderstandings and pressures arise in my relationship with my parents due to several reasons. Not letting the devil with his tricks destroy our relationship.
Not only that, this belief also really strengthened me when I had to accompany my mother in the moments before she died. Between the grief and sadness at the loss of my mother, I felt a rush of relief at having done my part as a child who loved her until the end of her life, relief from a deep understanding that she had made the right decision towards the end of her life. That is a very personal experience between mother and Christ that no one knows including myself, all because of the work of the Holy Spirit.
This belief also strengthened me/us while taking care of our father. After our mother died, our father immediately lost his zest for life, something that further weakened his physical condition. Diabetes, which he had suffered for a dozen years while still being able to live a normal life, became a problem. Previously, in the care of my mother, my father had suffered from diabetes for a dozen years and had never been hospitalized. But as soon as my mother died, my father had to be hospitalized, twice. About 6 months after my mother died, my father also died. Again I grieved.
Sacrificial Love
The life experiences above have taught me a lot. That love contains in it a sacrifice in various degrees. There is no love without sacrifice. God in Jesus Christ has set a real example in unconditional sacrificial love.
