The Chaos-Knight Journal

 "The journal of one who is walking in the Realm of Men, yet always facing towards the Realm of Heaven and Glory
  Of a Knight who follows the path of what is true, living in the hope of a salvation by grace alone and not by works
  Living not by fear of men, but by fear of God, setting his sights not on the earth, but on the things which are above"
 

Well, thankfully, despite the lack of resting time and my still in healing throat infection, the choir practice yesterday managed to turn out just fine, and we practiced a lot of songs in one day, maybe about 7 songs, although we have previously managed to master about 4 of them, so the 3 songs are new.

Here are the songs that the choir will sing during a crusade on October, 8th - 10th:

• Children Of God, How Blessed You Are (Dr. Cainan Mui)
• Gloria In Excelsis (W.A. Mozart, E.M. Byro)
• Our Great Saviour (Rowland W. Pritchard, Wilbur Chapman, Bob Krogstad)
• Praise Him (Craig Courtney)
• Worthy Is The Lamb That Was Slain (G.F. Handel)

And we will also hold a Christmas Opera in December. There will be about 5 songs in the Opera, but so far we have only practiced 2 of them (listed below). The stage will be set on a little family in Europe, in the middle ages, so we are going to wear costumes like those European 18th century clothes (imagine Columbus, George Washington etc). I think it will be interesting and different from what we have previously performed during all these years. When the final date and place are confirmed, I will post it here as an announcement. These two songs are arranged by Joseph M. Martin.

• The Promise is Near (from a traditional Welsh hymn, ST. DENIO)
• Good Christians, Now Rejoice (from a 14th century German Carol, JUBILO)

Since I was sick last week, I didn’t go to practice that day. Well, it turns out that last week they managed to perfect Worthy Is The Lamb and started to learn Good Christians. So when I joined again yesterday I feel a bit left out because I can’t sing Worthy Is The Lamb perfectly, and I don’t even know where to start on Good Christians. Fortunately I have friends who are willing to teach me from the beginning, and I managed to chase up and sum up yesterday with a new understanding of three songs: Worthy Is The Lamb, The Promise Is Near and Good Christians. Hmm… I can’t wait until December but until that day comes, I’ll just have to practice and practice until I can sing the songs perfectly (or just as good as I can actually, because the songs ARE difficult… you know, classics, they are just never easy to learn).

I was planning to go to first Sunday Service at 6.30 am today, because at 12 pm I will be celebrating my parent’s 23rd wedding anniversary, and I think it is better that I finish my duties in the morning first. I can’t go to to the second Sunday Service which starts at 8.30 am because it finishes at 10 am, and it will be too late for me to pick up the guest. Actually I can go to the third Sunday Service on 4.30 pm, but considering that I have to leave home on 4 pm and won’t be back until 9 or 10 pm because of the choir practice, I might not be able to get enough rest after the lunch before I go to church.

But it seems that I have trouble sleeping tonight, which is why I am writing this and fixing the blog. I guess I will have to settle waking up at 9 am today, and going to the third Sunday Service with little or no rest before I leave home for church at 4 pm (maybe I’ll only have time to take a bath). I hope I won’t sleep during the Sunday Service or the choir practice, heh. That would be really bad. The most I can do is conserve some energy during the choir practice so I can spare some energy and not get too exhausted. I haven’t fully recovered from my throat infection last week, after all, so singing loudly would be harmful to my vocal chord.

I miss the days when I could wake up in the morning about 5 am to spend time with God. Enjoying the fresh air, looking at the painting of sun and clouds (and sometimes slight rain) He made in the sky, having a conversation with Him and reading the Bible. But those are days past from last year, which I have not been able to do again since my 6th semester where I got very busy (now I’m in my 8th - actually will be 9th since next Monday). When I have graduated and I enter the working life, maybe the time for God will also dissipate, and I do not want that. I am trying to rework my schedules and my body timer so I can go to sleep about 10-11 pm and wake up at 5 am in the morning. Right now I go to sleep about 1-2 am and wake up at about 8 pm, which is not good.

The best time to be with God is in the morning, to share the new day He has created. I will try not to miss more of these opportune moments in my life. I’m 21 years old now and my life is ticking away, now that maybe I have used one third of it. I will try to wake up in the morning, and fulfill my two commitments I’ve made long ago to God and have not been able to fulfill until today…

1. Wake up every morning and spend time with Him.
2. Go to the first Sunday Service - on the day especially made for Him as it begins, before I do anything else. Resorting to third Sunday Service makes me lazy to go sometimes, especially after a long and tiring day.