The Connect by Steven Teo

ISSUE #1 • VOLUME 44:1

ASIAN BEACON YOUTH WALL

theconnect

I Don’t Want To Eat Other Dogs! KEDRIC KWAN, 18, gives his twosen’s worth on Higher Education

“Aiyo I want you to be successful and make lots of money mah!” thus sayeth my parents whenever we ask why we must go to uni. “If you wanna make a lot of money and don’t wanna sleep by the roadside, make sure you go to university, ok?!” they always chant. I don’t blame my parents. My mum’s mum probably told her and her mum’s mum most likely said the same. But since when is success all about making money and nothing else? I know, I know. Education is a must. Education is non-negotiable. Start work too early also no point. Yes, yes, I understand. But there’s no harm (and may even reflect good education?) to occasionally question all these “dogmas”, right? For starters, what about the debt that higher education burdens us with? Nowadays, a college degree can range anywhere from RM30,000 to RM100,000 and all the way up to RM1 mil! Picture yourself as a pony dragging a huge wagon of debts for years. Ok, so maybe our parents pay but the point is that there’s a huge sum involved, and haven’t we troubled them enough already? Also, higher education tends to plug us into the big superficial glitzy mirage called the “Malaysian

dream”. This dream goes something like this: Arrive on earth as a baby, endure torture from kindergarten til high school and university, go out to work, have kids and give them education, then die. Sounds boring? Heck yah. It’s the dog-eat-dog life, which is sad because real dogs don’t even eat other dogs, duh! If we are studying just to make money, then our career will never be focused on anything more than getting big bucks. Forget about impacting the world around us. All we do is work work work, thinking that would make us “rich” but the truth is that that kind of life isn’t “rich” at all. Far from it. Breathing every day and having blood pumped through our veins are not living; that’s staying alive. To me, living is going out there and making a difference to the world around me, living my dreams and helping others achieve theirs. It’s

about being salt and light. Ok la, enough of punching formal education in its face! Of course there’s a place for formal education in life and that happens when we are studying something we’re passionate about. That way, we will actually apply what we are studying and not waste our parents’ hard-earned dough. Let’s think about it this way: Studying is like eating. When we study for the sake of studying, seeing university as simply the path to cold hard cash, it’s like eating food and then puking it all out. Hey, isn’t that what we do during our exams? Memorise, then regurgitate. And anyway, the information we puke out is the same as everyone else’s. Puke is puke no matter where it comes out from. However, when we study something we are passionate about, we eat the food, savour, digest and use it, and then it becomes a part

of us. In short, if we study stuff we don’t enjoy, it’s going to feel like poop. If we love what we’re studying, the food builds us. People always tell me, “I wanna be successful, that’s why must go college.” It’s not wrong thinking about being successful, but what does success really mean? For me, it’s simply doing what makes me happy, which is making a positive impact on the people around me. Does that require any formal education? It depends. I’m not saying you should follow me; what you should do is define your own meaning of success and before embarking on your journey of formal education, dig deep and find your passion, then do it. Like what Chow Yuen Fatt – sorry, I meant Confucius! – once said, “Choose a job (in this case, a course) you love and you never have to work (in this case, study!) a day in your life.”

“GREAT MINDS SOLVE PROBLEMS. GENIUSES PREVENT THEM.”

R U BOOK SMART, STREET SMART OR SOMETHING ELSE? BY ALWYN LAU

It’s really too bad that “book smart” is pumped up by our system. It’s like if your exam results are colourful (you know what I mean), you’re a failure. Some countries have realised that smartness is not just confined to the academics. (Looks like they’ve become smart .) Instead, there are different kinds of smartness in people. So, it’s not about how smart you are but what are you smart at? This approach is called “multiple intelligences”, i.e. there are many ways of being smart. You can be word-smart, i.e. you can write and speak well. This means you enjoy reading and your

“SKILL IS SUCCESSFULLY WALKING A TIGHTROPE OVER NIAGARA FALLS. INTELLIGENCE IS NOT TRYING.” AUTHOR UNKNOWN

language skills are very terror wan! Secondly, you may be numbersmart. Your Maths good or not? You can tahan difficult calculations and formulae? Then this would be you! If you’re number-smart, then sure your friends will be asking you to explain how you got the correct answer in algebra. Of course it’s fine to be word- or number-smart. The problem is that our schools always feel these are the ONLY kinds of “smart” available. But people like Jackie Chan and Jet Li prove with their amazing kungfu that they are body-smart. If you are like them, then chances are you cannot sit still and study! You have to move around or else you get restless! And then there are people like Adele, Beyoncé, Justin Bieber and Wang Le Hon who are musicsmart, even though many of them do not have a college degree (never mind that some of you object to JB being put in this category.) If you’re “smart” like them, you are usually extremely sensitive to whatever music you hear and you may even

compose rhythms and melodies to help you learn. Next, there are many of us who are picture-smart, those of us who can’t help but draw and draw everywhere! Graphic designers, interior decorators and, of course, artists fall in this category.

“I DON’T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT MUSIC. IN MY LINE, YOU DON’T HAVE TO.” ELVIS PRESLEY Also, thanks to Astro, we have recently enjoyed the adventures of lion-watchers, snake-chasers, crocodile hunters and so on. People like these are nature-smart (unlike those of us who can’t get very far into the forest before complaining!). If you know someone who always puts leaves or flowers or likes to study near trees, then this person could be nature-smart.

What next? Ah, the peoplesmart ones. They are the marketing folks, salesmen, negotiators and counsellors. Let’s face it: Some of us are comfortable with people and can work well and with them, whereas some of us just wanna be alone. If you’re people-smart, you probably study best in a group and are always looking to be with people. Finally, those who comfortable with themselves are said to be selfsmart. These are the individuals who can reflect very well on their emotions, work and learn best when alone. Ask yourself: What smart are you? Most of us are a combination of a few smarts but we’ll always find one dominant smart within us. Now that you know there are different kinds of smartness, this doesn’t mean you can throw out your school books. I don’t want parents breathing down my neck. Do your best in school but be assured that if your results are colourful, you have some other kind of “smart” within you. “God wants us to use our intelligence, to seek to understand as well as we can... God’s various gifts are handed out everywhere; but they all originate in God’s Spirit...Each person is given something to do that shows who God is: Everyone gets in on it, everyone benefits.” 1Cor 12:3-10.

ASIAN BEACON YOUTH WALL

ALBERT EINSTEIN

I S S U E # 2 • VO L U M E 4 4 : 2 A S I A N B E A CO N Y OUT H W A L L

Help! I just got Fraped! D igital

devices surround

us. Notebook computers, iPads, iPods, tablets (and, in the future, pills?), smartphones, etc. are almost a non-negotiable part of our lives. And yet most guys and gals tend to be lax about keeping their digital devices secure in one way or another. Have you ever heard of the term ‘fraped’ (short for ‘Facebook-raped’)? It’s the unauthorised access of one’s Facebook account by another party, just one example of unauthorised access to our personal mini-machines. We tend to forget that our beloved digital devices come with varying degrees of integration. That means that one service or function is tied to another service or function, allowing crossservice/platform functionality and convenience (something most folks give a high priority to, e.g. wouldn’t you prefer to have one login for five different websites with varying degrees of functionality, instead of five separate logins for five different websites with full functionality and access to each?) Isn’t this like church, hmm? We want to reach out and

impact so many areas of the world that sometimes we allow ‘unhelpful’ things to kena us? It’s also like love, isn’t it? There is so much risk (yet so much joy) in loving that often we get hurt in the loving. But we absolutely refuse the option of NOT to love, because if we don’t love, we don’t live. Just like how exercising can be stressful, nice cars are expensive, tasty food can be unhealthy – well, integration comes with risks, too. Especially when security is weak. Imagine for a moment that one day, your login credentials for Facebook, e-mail account and online banking account are one and the same (integration can make this happen). Would you want to leave your PC – with Facebook open in one browser tab, and Twitter in another browser tab – lying around unattended? High online security risks also come about because most of us youths have a rather cavalier attitude towards our digital devices. iPhones/iPads and other i-devices with network access, desktop computers in shared living spaces, notebook PCs – all these represent our connection

a S I A N B E AC O N YO U T H WA L L

points to the integrated digital life we lead. Just like how a chain can be broken if just one link is weak, we’ll be in trouble if only one node of our devicenetwork is insecurely ‘open’ to outsiders. The solution? Simple: Adopt a paranoid attitude! Be highly cautious and alert of your own digital devices and its presence/ accessibility to others. You know how people are kiasu about catching SARS or H1N1 from others? Same thing here. Cover yourself all the time. Get the latest security programmes. Have a hundred passwords, whatever! Do something! In the human body, our security agents are known as white blood cells. These little fellas roam our bloodstream and if even one alien threat arises, they will gang up and blow up the bad guys. In the church (also known as the Body of Christ, right?), we also have ‘white cells’ except that we call them ‘fundamental doctrines’ – teachings which are super-important and tak boleh main-main punya. (And the most important doctrine is? LOVE.) Prevent an intrusion into

By Reuben Yeong

your integrated system and spare yourself headaches (and possible embarrassment). It is one thing to have your Facebook account hijacked by a bunch of college friends and have hilarious statuses put up, but totally another to have your reputation smeared by a jealous, vengeful collegemate. This is the effect of integration: it simplifies things via convergence, but it also amplifies potential problems. Unless you absolutely trust a person or a group of people with a significant level of access to your virtual/online presence, it’s best to limit access to just yourself. Think not of how trustworthy each one of your friends, family, or colleagues is, but how you can reasonably and realistically fix the damage of malicious access. The digital journey is exciting, yet scary. Many treasures. Also many robbers. Before you take one more step on your way out, check your locks. But remember this journey is also like the journey of love: Don’t ever turn back. dc

Caution!

Read with care

By Gabrielle Low

GHOSTS, vampires ,

werewolves, witches, Grecian gods and even angels – they seem to be everywhere in the “young adult” (YA) section of our bookstores these days. Should novels such as JK Rowling’s Harry Potter series, Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight series, Lauren Kate’s Fallen and L.J. Smith’s The Secret Circle be allowed in your library? Many parents worry that these books will influence teens to explore the occult. The easiest thing to do is to remove books that contain supernatural elements or creatures from your reading list, but is this the wisest move to make? As a lover of literature, I personally believe that everyone should be exposed to the wonderful variety of books out there. Although I wholeheartedly agree that young children shouldn’t be allowed to read any book out there and that not all books are good for the soul, I believe older teenagers should be allowed to form their own opinion about the books they read. Rather than shut ourselves protectively away from these books’ supposedly terrible influence in the spirit of fear, there is a better path. Fantasy has always been a powerful tool for authors to convey important themes. Christian writer C.S. Lewis’ Narnia series is full of talking rodents and lions, evil witches and cupboards that lead to a different world. J.R.R Tolkien, a devout Catholic, did not shy away from talking about

Read with caution.

life’s dark side – wars, torture, betrayal, extinction – in his epic The Lord of the Rings, which is full of frightening and wondrous creatures such as dragons, orcs, elves, dwarves, hobbits and trolls. The one thing we should pay attention to is not the creatures in the story but the messages that the books are trying to convey. Lewis cleverly intertwined the message of the gospel in the Narnia series. Tolkien highlighted the importance of sacrifice and suffering in Frodo’s perilous journey through Middle Earth to destroy the One Ring. Banning these books from your life would have been

shortsighted. Not only would you have denied yourself the opportunity to experience these rich themes through the lens of a different world, it would also be very difficult to avoid books with such elements all the time. Most importantly, it would have also denied you the opportunity to learn an important skill: to read with discernment. There comes a time in a Christian’s life when he has to stop protecting himself from the evils of the world. He will have to learn how to hold on to his faith despite the seductions and dangers out there. So, as a Christian teenager, how should you approach books such as Becca

Fitzpatrick’s Hush, Hush or Margaret Stohl and Kami Garcia’s Beautiful Creatures? First, arm yourself with the Bible’s truths. The Bible is the most important book that you can ever read. It may seem like such a terribly difficult task. After all, the Bible is filled with customs, words and people that seem so far away from our world that is filled with iPads and video games. However, it contains truths that will guide you through life; it is God’s love letter to all of us. Study the Bible diligently and absorb its messages thoroughly – this will help you discern what is right and wrong in the books that you read. Imagine yourself as a cultural observer in a foreign land. The book is the foreign land, and you’re a visitor. People in foreign lands have different customs and way of doing things and some of them may seem unpleasant to you. The key is to observe in a detached manner and not be afraid of it. With this mindset, you’ll be able to read the book more critically. Read books with a critical eye and remember – the creatures in there will not jump out and eat you! Some Christians do approach these books with a fearful heart, thinking that reading them will somehow taint their souls. Put aside the fear and ground yourself in the Bible instead. Then you’ll be ready to read a book with a critical eye. Be aware that the book may not convey messages that are in line with the Word of

a S I A N B E AC O N YO U T H WA L L

10 Tips to Beat the Spending Obsession

7. Don’t buy it because you’re frustrated with life and thus believe that splashing money will make you feel better.

By Alwyn Lau

theme for this A pril / May issue is beauty. Don’t be so vain la, no need to wear so many bracelets, look natural also nice, inner loveliness is also important, no need so many layers of face-paint, godliness is also attractive, let the aroma of Christ overpower the scent of perfume – all these are important, k? But beating the beauty obsession usually means you must beat the ‘spending’ obsession. Vanity and greed are close cousins (if not siblings). This is the wonder and whacky-ness ofthe human spirit: If we excel in one area, it helps us do better in another area. But if we koyak in one area, often other parts of our lives also kena.

So here are are 10 tips to remind us to be moderate in our spending.

T he

1. Don’t buy it because there are 200 points left on your bonus-link card (or whatever card) so you simply must have the free gift that comes when you hit that level. 2. Dont’ buy it because you haven’t bought anything for such a long time and you just gotta spend some money. 3. Don’t buy it because your friends have bought it and you can’t bear being the only one not having it.

4. Don’t buy it because you’re already there in the mall and, sure you’ve got quite a few of those items back home already, but aiyah(!!) since the latest ones look so good, just get la! 5. Don’t buy it because you want to impress people (or make them envious) – you can buy it for others and by all means do so. 6. Don’t buy it because Justin Bieber or Miley Cyrus or Robert Pattinson (or some other perasan vampire or werewolf) say they like it.

8. Don’t buy it because the salesperson is drop-dead gorgeous or hot. 9. Don’t buy it because you’re running out of time and you feel you can’t leave without purchasing something. 10. Finally, don’t buy it because you think you’ll feel empty without it; fill yourself with good things like friendships, love, forgiveness, generosity, learning, kindness. Buy only what you need. And, honestly, we don’t need much. Repeating after me: We don’t need much. Believe this and no obsession will ever control you. dc

BRAIN BRAWL

Have a brain brawl mulling over these questions. Why didn’t Jesus show up on earth as a hot, gorgeous hunk? Now, that would really get the crowd hankering after Him! Instead, He had “no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.” (Isaiah 53:2) What does this tell us about God’s idea of beauty?

Think of 3 people you know who are kind, generous, loving and caring. Would you also describe them as ‘beautiful’? Most importantly, does it matter?

Read Proverbs 31:10-31 that describes a beautiful woman. Is that for real?! Exchange ideas with a friend.

List down all the plusses and minuses of having great looks. Discuss with your friends. Macam mana?

a S I A N B E AC O N YO U T H WA L L

Woo Sze

h t t p : // w w w. f a c e b o o k . c o m /A s i a n B e a c o n Z g

W ith

a hu

I S S U E # 3 • VO L U M E 4 4 : 3 A S I A N B E A CO N Y OUT H W A L L

Blog – a bin to dump emotions? smartphones using

technology and beyond , social media has exploded until

it’s bigger than the morning sky. Just a few years ago, people needed a heavy laptop to access social media. Nowadays, we can do it through our mobile phone or iPad. Anywhere, anytime. I’d like to share about my experiences with social media, particularly blogging. Although I cannot blog as much as I want to, I have been maintaining a personal blog for almost eight years now. Initially the blog was just a space to share my thoughts. I was 22 then and thought that other people’s awareness of me through reading my posts would somehow make my existence more real in this world. But I didn’t know what to write or how to write. And it didn’t matter who read my posts. After years of blogging, I now realise that there is a thin line separating a healthy need for affirmation and an unhealthy yearning for superiority. Instead of writing with grace and thoughtfulness, there were several occasions when I treated the blog as a bin to dump my emotions. There was at least once that I tembak a friend. A few times I wrote to put people down. Why did I blog in that way? Because I needed to feel affirmed? Or I wanted to feel better than others? These are searching questions that have since guided my blogging manner. When I read those posts now, I cringe. No doubt, I have connected with people through my blog, but I have also hurt people through it. A good tool that enhances connectivity has turned into a weapon for ‘destruction’. (Doesn’t this sound like the gift of choice that God has given us? We can use our resources to harm or heal people, nurture goodness or promote evil; yet, it’s a risk God is willing to take with us!) There have been times when I wanted to delete those embarrassing posts, yet I resisted. They must be left untouched to remind me of my past self, to connect the present person that I am to who I was. In this sense, blogging does not only connect us to others, but it also connects us to our past self, as captured in those posts. I can still read verbatim what I thought eight years ago. How cool is that?! Of course one can also connect with the past by keeping a hardcopy diary or private “Blogging blog, or blog pseudonymously. That’s fine. Not everyone is comfortable with open blogging. does not only From my experience of maintaining an open blog, I have discovered that I am connect us to accountable not only for the information produced and shared, but also for how I connect with others through the communication technology. For this reason, keeping others, but it an open blog is risky. People may use what we write to our disadvantage. In this way, also connects open blogging forces us to moderate our writing and to connect responsibly. We can’t us to our simply produce and share data without first thinking through the consequences. Nowadays, I don’t blog irresponsibly out of that urge for affirmation. Rather, past self, as my blogging is inspired by Saunder Lewis’ question, “How do I know what I think captured in until I see what I say?” Blogging has become a journey of self-discovery. Here’s those posts.” hoping it can be the same, if not more, for you. dc

a S I A N B E AC O N YO U T H WA L L

Connected, yet alone By Kelly Tan

We can be so busy commenting on multiple posts on Facebook with seven acquaintances, rapidly replying Tweets from another three friends and texting a friend, all at the same time. Most of the time, we ‘socialise’ alone, without friends around. Social media can make us more efficient, productive and connected with such convenience. It grants us full control, allowing us to present ourselves as who we want to be. We can edit, delete and polish as we wish to enhance ourselves, ever so conveniently. We do all these to the point that we might even forget who we really are. Real-life conversations soon become awkward because we cannot edit and filter whatever that has been said. We end up thinking too much about the ‘right’ thing that should be said and so forget how to appreciate face-to-face interaction. But online interactions do have their advantages. For example, T his

is what most of us are today .

Still sleeping?

By Gregory Lopez

Y oung M alaysians face a susah future . The price of houses and apartments is sky-high. Salaries are ocean-low. Education costs our parents two arms and three legs. Yet, we often see young adults loitering around, wasting money, over-eating, over-sleeping, under-learning, getting excited for all the wrong reasons. Young people need to wake up to the problems Malaysia’s economy is facing. Today, many graduates cannot find jobs. It was estimated in 2007 that about 4% of Malaysian graduates were unemployed, and of those unemployed, they made up 25.1%. Another study reported that in 2001, unemployment among new graduates was about 12.7% and rose to 24.1% in 2008. Summary: Ah Beng and Ahmad better buck up or they will be producing burgers instead of programming software, cleaning tables instead of clearing accounts. Malaysia’s youth problems echo the country’s problems. Our beloved boleh land is an upper-middle income economy with the ambition of becoming a high-income country. This will be quite susah. Only Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore have achieved this in the East Asian region. It’s like asking Malaysia to qualify for the World Cup, right? But we can be carefully optimistic. Just like how Malaysia can join the other football nations in Brazil in the 2014 World Cup, our country can become a high-income economy if the economy does well. In short, this means more people need to spend, save

they help those who are painfully shy and reserved. As a bashful person myself, I find that real-life conversations are more comfy when I have previously had some form of virtual interaction with the other person. By knowing and learning about the person at my own pace through social media interaction before face-to-face interaction, I feel more assured and relaxed. Many people feel at ease when they are not communicating face to face. And since they do not feel restricted or selfconscious, they are able to express their opinions freely and be more truthful. During online conversations, they do not have to care about what they are wearing, where their hands are, how they are sipping their drink, how they are seated, or whether their hair is in a mess. Is there something between my teeth? Am I talking too loudly? Does my laugh sound weird? Phew… it’s liberating not to have to contend with these needless worries when interacting virtually. Interestingly therefore, online interactions can be both helpful and harmful for authentic conversations. Thus, I’d like to close with a few questions we should be asking continually in this digital age. How can we ensure that social media is always used beneficially? How can we strike a balance? What is the value of social media for promoting a healthy friendship with God? How can we be connected and yet, not alone? Think about these. dc

and invest responsibly in a way that takes the country forward and creates opportunities for everybody. What can youths do? Here’s the good news. Malaysia is a “young country.” Almost 71% of Malaysians are below 40 years. One-fifth of the population is between the ages of 15 and 24. This is a significant proportion. Basically, Ali who has just finished his PMR and Anand who has completed his third year in university are in the largest demographic group in Malaysia. If youths in Malaysia work together to inspire and work for change in the country, things can change. As the largest group, have young people ever thought seriously about what they want and how they can benefit the country? Will the youths of Malaysia stand up, be counted and start to count the number of ways they can influence our country? Have we considered organising societies and clubs to discuss the economic direction of our country? What about attending events which discuss and brainstorm national issues? Or about participating in social media forums about Malaysia’s economy? How about communicating as a group to our members of parliament to let them know what we young people think, want and are feeling? Or get business organisations to tell us what they are looking for in their young employees? Here is where our youths can be more aggressive. Jangan hanya duduk at home complaining about how tough life is. Go out and build bridges! Make your presence felt, and not just in night-clubs or mamak stalls! Let the ‘adults’ know that you, too, are serious about contributing to the country’s overall direction. Takut ke? Remember 1 Tim. 4:12. Quick, look it up. dc

Trekking through the Camino BARBARA ER

went on a

walking pilgrimage in northern Spain last June, travelling 109km on the Camino de Compostela for over four days. The Camino de Santiago de Compostela (a.k.a. the Way of St James) follows the route of St James (son of Zebedee) as he shared the gospel after Jesus’ return to heaven. It is believed that after James was beheaded by Herod, his disciples buried his body at the cathedral which lies at the end of the Camino. This is an Stunning welcome… the cathedral where James’ body is believed to abridged version of my journey be buried. and my wonderment at how of it fine. the gym, I was dying – literally June 11, 2011: Facebook at the end of it all, my two feet – out there. Go back 2,000 Tweet – Barb is sitting in front did not disown me. years and you’re seriously of someone’s house... 6.5 km June 9, 2011: Facebook asking me, at mid-trail, to to go... my feet are throbbing Tweet – Barb is asking for believe that St James did this like crazie!!! prayers. She has never felt on feet, with nothing but his Walking over 40 km on more alone or fearful! leather sandals (if he even had June 10 and 11 brought me As I walked and walked, those on!)? past the mid-point mark and map in hand, I reflected on At that instance, I forgot that how St James must have felt. I must admit I did stop to St James was declared a saint question if the Camino was all Matt. 4:21-22 says, “And for good reasons. And if my just a big tourism hoax. ‘Cos going on from there he saw feet were throbbing like crazy, despite having a very good two other brothers, James perhaps it proved that sainthood the son of Zebedee and John pair of shoes and a month’s was not a ‘walk in the park’. worth of personal training at his brother, in the boat with June 12, 2011: Facebook Zebedee their father, mending their nets, and he called them. Immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.” Was he not human? Did he not have fear and trepidation? Or was life as a fisherman so boring that the sense of adventure with Jesus overtook all logical concerns? Perhaps this is what ‘faith’ is about – leaping (or, in my case, walking) into the great unknown yet knowing (without being sure exactly Nailed to the cross… extra burdens that pilgrims leave on the cross on how) that you will come out the way to the cathedral.

Tweet – Somebody... anybody...text me to keep me going... please... The focus on St James has moved to Jesus and His journey on earth. And it could not be clearer than on the Camino. You could be surrounded by a lot of people doing the same thing as you were and going the same way, and yet in your weariness, the only thing that stared you in your face was really just how alone you were in that journey. Is this not sometimes an outcome of suffering, that you’re somehow closer to Jesus without realising it? June 13, 2011: Facebook Tweet – Barb has arrived at the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela after walking 109 km for 4 1/2 days. Thank you for all your prayers. The cathedral is a huge square that you finally walk into at the end of the journey. This great gate surrounds an even greater cathedral within. It is a stunning sight to behold and I wept as I called home. From sheer exhaustion and amazement. I wept as I walked into the church and hobbled my way to the tomb of the great saint whom I had come to honour. And to this day, a year on, I still weep when I recall the experience. In our world today, with our many comforts and advance technology at our fingertips, it is often easy to experience things without really having to travel very much or exert one’s self. Yet sometimes, you just have to leave all that aside, and meet God halfway. As it was said to me on the way, “The Camino empties you, so that you may be filled new again!” dc

a S I A N B E AC O N YO U T H WA L L