Draft: 1

In which the author realizes that many of his original ideas were not original, that some sentences which he refined in thought turned out to have been written long (and not so long) ago.

The necessity of reading a lot of literature - fiction and non-fiction is recognized and appreciated. Those who write but do not read are playing but not training; both of which are important to the mastery of any art or skill.

Home

Well, I'm back. Most of us made it to the top of Mount Kinabalu. Then we were stricken by various infirmities on the way down. Not the best of trips, but still worth it in the end. Oh, and due to an unfortunate error in ticketing, some of us are still stuck in Sabah. I was one of the lucky few who got home on time. Poor them.

All my bags are packed...

Though I'm not that ready to go. Hmm...

Anyway, tomorrow I head to Kota Kinabalu to climb this mountain. It will certainly be fun for the masochists. Sigh. Apparently the experience is worth-it.

So I'll be away for the next week. In the meanwhile, familiarize yourself with some of the people I'll be traveling with:

Work, play, change etc.

Have been rather busy as of late. Ended my short work stint, and now am looking for a more permanent job while refining my entrepreneurial plan. Oh, and study.

Mt. Kinabalu is slightly more than a week away. Have to train, although I'm satisfied with my stamina. Still, am keeping my fingers crossed. Altitude sickness strikes randomly.

I said that I have been busy, but now I have somehow found more time for play. Am trying to clear my huge backlog of PS2 games, and the fact that almost all of them are RPGs do not help. Require lots of time, something I cannot invest too much of on such things. Sigh.

I came across this quote from F.F. Bruce (NT Documents - Are They Reliable?) that pretty much sums up my philosophy of apologetics (if I may phrase it that way):

"...history and theology are inextricably intertwined in the gospel of our salvation, which owes its eternal and universal validity to certain events which happened in Palestine when Tiberius ruled the Roman Empire."

And that is the assertion of Paul and by extension of Christianity. And that is the exact statement I keep in mind if I ever were to defend my faith. Not to offer theodicies or to prove the existence of God, but to say that sometime 2000 years ago, a certain person who claimed to be the Son of God died on the cross and rose again after three days. Now what do you think of that?