Seoul & Sabah

My soul finds its rest in God. As there was no rest for me in Seoul it was good that for a whole week I have not thought much about my future nor the events of the past weeks. But returning to Sabah will bring back memories of recent past and my waiting period will begin afresh. I met someone at the SBL conference from Malaysia and he has been doing the same job for 30 years and he kind of sympathised with me when he heard I had left Singapore (old news) and now back in Sabah but without a ministry position. It is difficult to know where to begin if I had wanted to tell him of my experience of 18 months in Ranau and Namaus. This is an God ordained break for me. I will for sure read more of the Bible especially Hebrew and Greek versions which is always a good thing, no matter what the circumtances.
Second,  I might just have the time to finish off my book project and write my Ranau chapter, finally. Then if time permits I might just visit my son in New Zealand though at the moment that is not a priority. My 5 days of mixing with scholars around the world has been a tonic in one way and eye opener in another. Tonic because it is always good to be among intellectuals. It is easy talking among members of the same guild despite language limitations among most Korean scholars though some of them speak good English.  Eye opener because in about 30 seminars I attended in 4 days, only 4 or 5 stood out. Perhaps  I was looking just for the adademic or scholarly but pastoral and spiritual as well. Aren't most of the NT Gospels and letters written to churches in a pastoral manner and meeting some spiritual need? The Bible is not to be dissected as if it is a corpse having its autopsy performed but a living book where God's Word is spirit and life. Thus I was most glad that in my second and last letter yesterday one Hong Kong professor emailed soon there after and told me that my paper was also pastoral and edifying. The same was said of my first paper by a Western scholar serving in Malaysia.