Just had a wonderful seminar! yes, a feel-good lesson in university! How is that possible? well, it was my Renaissance Poetry seminar with Dr Rosselyn today, and it was my turn to give a presentation, which I did on George Herbert's poem Redemption. Which sparked off a debate on the existence of religion, its purpose, its actuality. One by one, as the seminar wore on, my seminar mates admitted they were Christian, or had attended a Catholic school, though some remain 'stonch' Atheists; at least we had a good talk about God and saving grace, and I hope it was a spring board for some into thinking deeper about life and our God.

I guess some part in everyone bothers what other people think about 'me'. It is a matter of extent. How I look in this outfit, what they thought when I said that, what they see of me when I hang out with this crowd. Aren't they useless thoughts? At the end of the day, we can't control what they think, true or untrue, and neither can it make a difference to the way we are. Of course, one should graciously accept constructive criticism i.e. based on what is right and moral, and change for the better. But otherwise, sticks and stones can break my bones but words can never hurt me. My grandfather used to repeat this when I was young, and all the way while I was growing up. I never believed him, never thought it was true, because I felt words could hurt much more than any physical thing! especially when the words issue from a loved one. And that doesn't change. But otherwise (and for the famous phrase to come in effect) personal power of the mind and heart must be present. Anger and hurt is not a natural conseqence to words that come from 'others' (society at large) as opposed to common belief, thus we can actually exercise such power to withstand non-sense verbal attacks.