The Truth About Belly Dance

A group of people from an event-organizer company were discussing on what show to come up with on the New Year's Party, when one of them stood up and excitedly suggested, "Belly dance, of course! What can be more attractive than sexy dancers in dazzling costumes? Men would feel like being ushered into the sultan's harem!"

Well, the above statement really does represent our modern society's conception of Mid-Eastern dance, which we nowadays know as Belly Dance.
And, ironically, it's a totally misleading conception.

Firstly, in the Middle-East, people don't recognize Belly Dance.
The real name of this exotic dance is Oriental Dance, and it doesn't only involve the movements of the hips and abdominal muscle, but the entire body as well.

Secondly, though this dance is performed in the harem, people (especially Westerners) have long misinterpreted the term "harem" itself.

It is best be noted that in Muslim countries, men and women don't mix -- even in the same house.
The mother and daughters have their own private ward, which is called the "harem."
After the mother has finished serving her husband and the rest of the family in the dining room, she would withdraw to the harem and perform her household duties.
It is only open for fellow females; and grandmothers, aunts, nieces, and female neighbors often gather in the harem to do female stuffs: sewing, gossiping, baking cakes, and even dancing.
It was from such female gatherings that the Oriental Dance of the Lebanese and Egyptians first emerged.
It was a social dance among women, done only in the private ward where no man was allowed to enter.
From observing the younger women dancing, mothers with bachelor sons waiting at home would choose future daughter-in-laws and proceed with the process of match-making.

You see, there is no such thing as performing this dance in the presence of a ruler. There is no courtesan-like role of Oriental dancers ever taking place in the Muslim land where it originated.

Oriental Dance is not entertainment.
It's a social dance, and there is nothing overly sensual about it.
The Belly Dance as we know it today has been much too spiced up and mixed with the modern and Western conception of exoticism.
Whether it is praised or disdained, accepted or rejected, it has become so only from the point of view of the culture that adopted it, that had severed it from the root of its origin.

The Choice

There was a lesson I learned yesterday from reading Mark 5:1-20.
Here's how the story goes:

One day, Jesus was sailing in a boat with His disciples. Arriving on the other side of the lake, He was met by a demon-possessed man dwelling in the graveyard.
The man was so infamous for his violent behavior, everyone in the village was afraid of him. But Jesus commanded the evil spirits to come out of him, and they did.
The demons went out from the man and went into a large herd of pigs. Instantly, they ran down the steep bank and were drown in the lake.
The men tending the pigs hurriedly ran into the village to tell:

1. What Jesus had done to heal the demon-possessed man.
2. What happened to the pigs after they got demon-possessed.

So, all the villagers went out to the site, and found:

1. The man was already dressed, sitting by the feet of Jesus, and in his right mind.
2. The pigs were really drown in the lake just as reported, two-thousands of them.

Their response?
They begged Jesus to immediately leave their region!
His act of miracle just caused them to lose a great deal of fortune!

Well, doesn't the above story quite typically represent our generation?
We don't mind accepting salvation as long as we don't need to pay for it.

Alright, Folks, here's the news:
To receive the new life, we need to let go of our old lives!

Salvation is offered for free.
True: there's no amount of gold or treasures in this world that we can give the Lord in exchange for eternity.
But there is something He demands that exceeds the value of money by far.
He desires our soul: one thing that is far more precious than any earthly treasures.

Once we accept God's all-precious redemption, He expects us to give up our former lives and follow Him in full devotion.
There is no way we can achieve eternal life without severing our ties to the vanity of the transient one.

The problem with the villagers in the above story is that they clung too desperately to the material world, their eyes were blinded to see the everlasting mercy of God.

One lost soul was saved from the Devil's clutch.
To God, it was invaluable beyond all matters.
To men, who would care if the man lived or perished?

Once again, they followed human standards, not God's.
And we know what humans are: mortal, vain, imperfect, and transient creatures.

For us, the story serves as a reminder.
Two roads diverge before us: either we choose to live by God's way, or the way of the perishing world.
Truly, we can't decide to travel on both.

May we learn to choose wisely.
Amen.

Understanding God

Understanding God is one extremely unfathomable subject.
Due to His infinity, perfection, and holiness, we, frail, imperfect, mortal creatures have difficulty comprising full knowledge of our God as much as a bloodhound trying to understand its master.

Many times, we fail.
Even God's servants fail.
Even prophets and holy men failed!

For one thing, God is invisible.
Whereas we tend to measure many aspects of life based on what is visible.
It's simply human.
And that's exactly the reason why we can't measure up to His standard.
How can we possibly use human standard to analyze God's greatness?

Nevertheless, we must be thankful for His great compassion, immeasurable love, and understanding of our weaknesses -- without which, we would all perish.
Only by God's grace, we live and have our being.

But how do we understand God?
Honestly, we can't.
It will be so much easier if we take ourselves as bloodhounds, and God is our master.
We can never understand our Master's thoughts, but we may well understand His commands.
That is what He provides us the Bible for.
Listen carefully to what He says, read the instructions He has inscribed, and we won't stray from His perfect way and will.

Then, perhaps one day, when we reach the invisible realm of infinity, we shall get the whole picture -- and understand Him as much as He understands us.

How to Use Milk in Your Beauty Routines

Everyone knows milk is beneficial for health, especially for building strong bones and teeth. And not only so; for centuries, milk has been known as an amazing beauty agent.
Applying milk face-mask regularly proves to:

- Lighten your face complexion.
- Soften your skin.
- Eliminate blemishes.
- Prevent aging.
- Heal inflammation.

To lighten your complexion, mix 2 spoonfuls of powder milk with 1 spoonfuls of honey and 1 spoonful of warm water. Stir well. Apply on face and neck, leave to dry. After several minutes, wash and towel dry.

To soften your skin and scrub-off dead cells, mix a cup of milk with 3 spoonfuls of oatmeal. Scrub on your face and body, leave to dry. Then, wash with warm water.

To prevent aging and eliminate blemishes, mix 2 teaspoonfuls of vitamin E with 2 spoonfuls of yoghurt, and half a teaspoonful of honey and lemon juice. Stir well. Apply on face and leave for 15 minutes, then wash clean and towel dry.

To heal inflammation and allergic reactions, apply some milk, either buttermilk or cream on the affected spots, and leave to dry.

By regularly using milk in your beauty routines, soft, unblemished, radiant skin is easily achievable.
Try it out, Ladies!

Maternal Instinct

My dogs, Chocho and Doggie, have five adorable 3-months-old pups (well, six, actually -- one died). It's wonderful to watch our pets have a loving family of their own.
But I also surprisingly learn something from watching this family of canines interact among themselves.

On one occasion, I was cleaning up the kitchen and burning soiled newspaper on the backyard. I let it burn on the ground, and out of curiosity, the puppies came rushing to it: barking, approaching, and surrounding the burning newspaper. I saw their mother watching from afar.
Then, all the sudden, she ran into the scene, and snatched the flaming thing away.
"Doggie! What are you doing?!" I shouted. "It's on fire! You can burn yourself!"
But she ignored my yelling and carried the burning newspaper to a safe place by a shadowy tree, far from her pups.

I was entirely dumbstruck.
It was pure maternal-instinct!

From that incident, I learned that:

1. A mother's instinct of protection toward her young is far greater than her instinct of survival -- or even fear.
2. Naturally, even animals instinctively know how to recognize the cause of the problem, and act to solve it. Perhaps humans have already become too artificial to see and realize the core of problems in our modern civilization.

It's marvelous how nature can teach us many things, even the things our latest high-tech discoveries can't offer.