Spiritual Advantage with Sam Stone

Legend has it that when John Lennon was in kindergarten, his teacher asked the class what they wanted to be when they grew up. Each kid stood up and voiced their dreams. “I want to be a doctor!”  “I want to be a teacher!”  “I want to be an engineer!” “I want to be a firefighter!”
When it came to John Lennon’s turn, he said, “I want to be happy!”  The teacher said, “John, that’s not my question. What do you want to BE when you grow up?” Lennon said, “I want to BE happy!”
“John, you don’t understand my question,” the teacher said disappointingly, but Lennon replied, “Yes, I do, but YOU just don’t understand my ANSWER.” (End quote).
One important thing we need to learn from children is their confidence and lack of doubt. Doubt is a big killjoy and takes away our sense of humor and creativity. Doubt also hinders our potential. The Bible says,
“For the doubter, being double-minded and unstable in every way, must not expect to receive anything from the Lord.” (James 1:7-8).
See, that’s serious! Doubt can deny us our wishes from God. Doubt is not unbelief but between belief and unbelief. That’s why James said they are double-minded and unstable, wasting mental energy on ambivalence. Jesus wants us to pray with faith, not with doubt.
Children are happier because they don’t have doubt, but as we grow older, after encountering disappointments, setbacks, and tragedies, we begin to doubt the possibility of the pursuit of happiness. I wonder how many people have developed crippling doubt after the prolonged pandemic.
Now and then, you hear people say, “You cannot pursue happiness. Chasing happiness is vanity.” I was curious about why they came up with such a conclusion. Our national motto includes the God-given rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, distinguishing us from the rest of the world.
After some research, I discovered that those who discourage you from pursuing happiness are mostly unhappy. Misery loves company, so they don’t want you to have what they don’t have. They cast doubt on you, putting a stumbling block on your pursuit of happiness. Ignore them.
The Scriptures reveal that God wants you to be happy. Over and over again, the Bible says, “Rejoice always, and again I say rejoice.” Christianity is the only religion that sings at the funeral. Nowadays, some other religions try to copy us, but they are just copies.
When our children are unhappy, we parents feel like a failure. It’s the same with our heavenly Father. Jesus came to rescue us from this sea of suffering to the place of true happiness called heaven. He also teaches us how to live in heaven on earth. Jesus said,
“These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.”  (John 15:11). 
Jesus has joy despite persecution and wants us to have the same joy to the fullest.
Today is the third Sunday of Advent, and we light the candle of joy and sing “Joy to the Word.” If you want to live with joy, you must eliminate doubt. Maybe that’s why Jesus wants us to be like children to enter the kingdom because they don’t have doubts but are full of joy.
We doubt when tragedy strikes or when we hit a setback. When he was in prison, John the Baptist began to doubt whether Jesus was the Messiah at all. That was a big deal because you would expect, out of all people, John must be the last one to doubt Jesus’ identity.
The good news is, based on Jesus’ answer to John’s doubt, we can discover four ways to overcome doubts. So, let’s begin!

As we entered December, I heard people talking about their New Year’s resolutions already. Even though I’m a last-minute planner, I admire those who plan early. Some want to eat healthily in the New Year. That’s a great habit because food is medicine, and if you eat right, you will prevent many troubles down the line and save a huge amount of money on medical costs.
Some want to quit a bad habit, and some want to develop a good practice. Gym memberships usually increase at the beginning of the New Year. Whether we can keep our resolution is another matter, but it tells us something about the human desire to change for the better.
It’s a paradox. We all want to change for the better, but at the same time, we also fear change because we don’t want to leave our comfort zone. Some people buy a smartphone because dumbphones are no longer available. As for me, I don’t like to wear new shoes because old shoes are the most comfortable. I liked to wear them until my wife secretly threw them away.
Here’s the paradox: people desire and fear change at the same time. As a result, people don’t change until the pain of staying the same is greater than the pain of change. We often call it hitting rock bottom. For those who resist change, hitting rock bottom is a good thing.
The question is, do we have to really wait until we hit rock bottom to change? What if it turns out to be too late when we hit rock bottom?
In 1988, when the entire nation of Burma rose up in protest for human rights and democracy, I told people with excitement that we had finally hit rock bottom, and the only way from then on was up. But a friend told me, “No, no, no! We will dig a hole under rock bottom and keep going down the abyss.” He was joking, but sadly it turned out to be true.
The lesson is we can’t rely on hitting rock bottom. For those who resist change, there is no bottom! My counselor gave me a word of wisdom on change, “If not now, when?” The “when” will never come; now is the only time to change. If you have something to change in your life, do it now. Don’t wait until the New Year. Figure out a way to overcome resistance right now.
Do you know the spiritual term for change is “repentance?” We often think repentance means regret, but it’s more than regret. The Hebrew word for repentance, “naham” means “regret and change.” Coincidently, the Chinese word for “repentance” is composed of two words, “悔改” (huigai), meaning “regret and change.”
Furthermore, the Greek word for repentance, “μετάνοια” (metanoia), also means “changing of heart and mind.” So, in conclusion, regret without change is not repentance.
The human desire to make New Year’s resolution reveals a deep spiritual longing for repentance—“regret  and change.” In today’s scripture lesson for the Second Sunday of Advent, John the Baptist, the greatest man ever born of women according to Jesus, said,
“Bear fruit worthy of repentance.” (Mt 3:8).
It means fruitfulness is evidence of repentance. Don’t you want your New Year’s resolution to bear fruit? We all want change to live our divine dreams. Your desire for a New Year’s resolution is God’s whisper to you to live a fruitful life. Let’s nail it once and for all so we don’t have to make the same resolution over and over again year after year. Let’s begin!

There is a Burmese idiom: “Drinking the Bitter Rain.” It came from a fable about a man in an ancient village who somehow foreknew that the upcoming rain would be poisonous. It would taste bitter and cause insanity if people drank it.
In that village, every home collected rainwater for drinking. So, he announced his forecast and warned people not to collect the upcoming rainwater and never drink from it, or they would become mentally sick. However, they ignored his warning and went ahead to drink it like they always did. As a result, the entire village lost its sanity.
He was very upset to see everyone go crazy and wished they had listened to his warning. The problem is, now everyone thought he was insane. Of course, when you are the only lucid person among loonies, you are the one that appears lunatic because you behave differently.
His anxiety intensified as everyone pointed their finger at him every day, laughed at him, and called him a fool. After a while, he became lonely and felt if he didn’t join them, he would lose his mind. So, he drank a cup of the bitter rain and joined the party.
So, when you hear your Burmese friends say, “I drank the bitter rain,” they mean, “I went with the flow,” or more precisely, “I surrendered to the peer pressure,” or “I drank the Koolaid.” The subtle difference is that they gave in, knowing it was harmful.
Would you drink the bitter rain? I am sure you wouldn’t, but when the pressure is high, will you give in? What’s your threshold for drinking the bitter rain? I think this fable speaks to our times.
Before Jesus left for the cross, he warned his disciples that the world was heading to insanity and his followers would face a great deal of pressure and temptations to give in to drink the bitter rain. Otherwise, they wouldn’t fit in. Jesus said,
And because of the increase of lawlessness, the love of many will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. (Mat 24:12–13).
It’s easy to talk about love, but your love can grow cold when you see too much lovelessness and lawlessness around you. You will appear insane to practice love in a ruthless society. Just watch the news, and all you see is a dog-eat-dog world.
It becomes worse when they take advantage of you. You would be tempted to retaliate by becoming like them.
Jesus wants you to endure to the end. That means not giving in to drinking the bitter rain even if the whole world ridicules you. He said things would become worse as we approach the day of his return. He teaches us to be alert but not alarmed at times like this.
So, today, we will learn from Jesus how to resist drinking the bitter rain and keep our body, mind, and spirit awake and endure the trying times with light, love, and lucidity until he comes. Let’s begin!

This week, everyone has heard the news about Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF), formerly known as the youngest billionaire in the world, suddenly being exposed as the biggest fraud, dragging down over a million investors with him.
Let’s analyze this case from a spiritual perspective on this Reign of Christ Sunday because there’s a life lesson for all of us to learn. Rember no one is an island. One man’s fall is everyone’s shame. So, let’s be humble and not judgemental because we gain wisdom only in humility.
When I was young, my grandma said it was bad luck to become wealthy before 30. I didn’t understand what she meant, but now, half a century later, I have seen enough young people ruined by their windfalls of fortune—with few exceptions.
Confucious said that people become established by 30 and unwavering by 40. Maybe that’s why people say life begins at 40. A friend told me that life begins when children move out and pets die. Well, it depends on what they mean by “life begins.”
Each time one of my children move out, I felt a part of my life has left. Each of them took a piece of me with them. You have heard of the empty nest syndrome. But I understand they need to learn to fly by themselves.
However, we are not talking about when life begins but about when people become mature enough to handle prosperity, power, and prestige. As my grandma said, it is a curse, not a blessing, to wield prosperity before maturity.
A few weeks ago, I mentioned the Eight Winds of life constantly blowing at us, representing the eight stressors of life. In case you missed it, here’s the slide I have presented. There are four sour stresses and four sweet stresses.
The four sour stresses are Scorn, Slander, Setback, and Suffering. I call them “overt stresses” because you know when they hit you, and you feel the pain, but at least you can deal with them since they are overt.
The four sweet stresses are insidious. They are Praise, Prestige, Profit, and Pleasure. Everyone loves these sweet stresses, but they kill you covertly from the inside, like eating sugar and processed carbs that taste yummy but slowly ruin your internal organs. When the symptoms surface, it’s usually too late to reverse.
Sam Bankman-Fried has been knocked out by a massive sweet storm. His parents are law professors at Standford University, and he graduated from MIT. People trusted him and invested in him because of his impressive background. It was a perfect context for an ignorant young man to invite a perfect storm.
Remember Bill Clinton’s famous line, “… just because I could”? If you are unfamiliar with his case, Clinton confesses on CBS News that he cheated because “he could.” That is a profound confession because it reveals a major flaw in humans.
Given a perfect opportunity, everyone could do the unthinkable. Jesus taught us to pray, “Lead us not into temptations,” because he knows we are too ignorant when facing temptations. So, it’s better to ask to stay away from them than to resist them.
Jesus prayed on the cross, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” He says ignorance is not innocence. The crucifixion is a scene of utter injustice done by human ignorance. They did it because they could—with the power they wielded.
So, let’s use this opportunity to reflect on our tendency to commit injustice out of ignorance and how to avoid it. I am not talking about you; of course, you are not ignorant; I am talking about the one sitting next to you or your next-door neighbor! Let’s begin!

Recently, I watched an inspiring Standford GSB (Graduate School of Business) interview with Eric Yuan, founder of Zoom—the video conferencing software. Many companies collapsed or faced a crisis during the pandemic, but Zoom blossomed into a ubiquitous communication app by turning the crisis into an opportunity for exponential growth.
I am sure all of you have used Zoom for family chats, business meetings, church gatherings, and global conferences. Many school classes went on Zoom, and even many couples married on Zoom during the pandemic. It grew from 2,000 employees to 6,000 in 18 months. Now, it’s worth $25 billion.
When Eric Yuan looked for investment as a startup company,  no one wanted to invest in it, saying it was a competitive field. We already had established companies like Skype, Google Meet, and Microsoft Teams. But Yuan wanted to prove them wrong, and he succeeded beyond anyone’s expectation.
Eric Yuan is a Christian, and his company culture is simple: “Delivering Happiness.” He said every employee is encouraged to maintain happiness within themselves so that they can deliver happiness to the world. Their company value is also in one simple word: “Care”—caring about Community, Customers, Company, Teammates, and Selves. You can see his focus on simplicity.
The mission of the company is to “Make communications frictionless and secure.” That’s why Zoom has won worldwide usage over competitors because it removes the friction of the video conferencing process. Zoom simplifies people’s lives.
Yuan says he treats every problem as an opportunity to grow. The Chinese word for “crisis” has two characters: “Danger and Opportunity” (危机 wei-ji). Leaders sense the opportunity when most people only see the danger during a crisis. In fact, Jesus wants you to focus on the opportunity during a crisis.
Jesus says when you hear the news that the world is going to hell in a handbasket, don’t panic, but turn it into an opportunity for expansion. In today’s scripture lesson, Jesus teaches us how to turn a crisis into an opportunity. So, let’s learn from the greatest servant leader in human history, the Son of God himself, how to take advantage of a crisis for a fruitful future. Let’s begin!

When I was in college back in Burma, some of my friends loved to tease me about my faith. They asked, “You guys believe God is almighty? Can God make a giant rock that he cannot lift?” Without realizing it was a trap question, I said, “Of course, He can since he is almighty.” They said, “If so, can he then lift it?”
Seeing I was trapped, they laughed at me. If I said, “Yes, He can,” they would say, “Then, your God is not able to create a rock that he cannot lift, so he is not almighty.” If I said, “No.” Then, he is not almighty at all. Since then, I have been thinking about how to solve this puzzle. Do you know the answer?
Later, I thought the problem was not in the answer but in the question itself. How could you ask someone to create something they cannot lift and then ask them to lift it? The question itself is illogical and unfair. But they said if God is almighty, God should be able to do everything. I was pretty dense to get trapped.
Then one day, it dawned on me that if God is almighty, then the answer is simply “yes” to both questions. Can God create a rock He cannot lift? Yes, He can. Can He then lift it? Yes, He can. It’s not contradictory because God is almighty and transcends limiting human logic. Jesus said,
“What is impossible for mortals is possible for God.” (Luke 18:27).
He said it after saying, “Indeed, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.” (Luke 18:25). So, people asked, “In that case, who can enter the kingdom of God? How do camels enter the eye of a needle?” Jesus answered, “What is impossible for mortals is possible for God.”
The entire teaching of Jesus is about making the impossible possible. Jesus said,
“For truly I tell you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.” (Mat 17:20b).
That answers the trick question above. Is a mountain heavier than you can lift? Yes. Then can you lift it? Yes, with only a mustard seed size faith. Can humans fly? No. Can people fly today? Yes. We have airplanes. Amazing things happen because of those people who have risen above limiting beliefs.
Most importantly, our limiting beliefs make us suffer more in this fallen world. Every day we face the reality of this sea of suffering. Just turn on the TV, and you’ll see crimes, wars, diseases, depression, family feuds, media lies, corporate corruption, murder, rape, terrorism, disasters, and you name it.
The only way for us to survive, thrive, and not become part of the statistic in this suffering world is to rise above our limiting beliefs. I’m not talking about wishful thinking but about possibility thinking. Angel Gabriel told Mary about her pregnancy. Mary asked, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?” (Lk 1:34). The angel said,
“For nothing will be impossible with God.” (Luke 1:37).
Jesus came to liberate us from our limiting beliefs. Everything about Jesus was beyond plausible but possible. His life on earth began with the virgin birth and ended with resurrection. Some Christians don’t believe in virgin birth because it is unscientific, illogical, and embarrassing. It was their limiting belief.
Anyone is free to deny the virgin birth but to their own detriment because their limiting beliefs would make them suffer deeper in this fallen world. Suffering is inevitable here, but you need hope to cope. When you rise above your limiting beliefs, you see the light at the end of the tunnel.
Those who deny virgin birth cannot genuinely believe in the resurrection either. There is a group of people in the first century Israel known as the Sadducees. They didn’t believe in the resurrection. They thought it was absurd, illogical, and unbiblical.
They had limiting beliefs and tried to make fun of Jesus by asking a logical questions, but Jesus answered them gracefully. Today, we will learn how to liberate ourselves from our limiting beliefs and enjoy life to the fullest with unlimited possibilities based on Jesus’ response to the Sadducees. So, let’s begin!

I’m sure most of you have heard Elon Musk closed the deal with Twitter this Thursday. You might have also seen the video of him carrying a sink into Twitter’s headquarter in San Francisco, tweeting, “Let that sink in.” People like him because he is hilarious and down-to-earth.
He bought Twitter for 44 billion, but many experts believe he had overpaid—at least about 20 billion. His purpose is to allow Twitter to be the global town square for free speech. As someone who came from a country that controls free speech, I appreciate his intention. It’s seriously needed in a divisive time like this.
Some people think he is naïve because it’s an impossible dream. But we must remember this is not the first impossible mission Elon Musk has attempted—for example, Tesler, SpaceX, Starlink, and the Boring Company.
Most importantly, his Starlink satellite internet service has saved Ukraine from getting cut off from communication. Can you imagine how Ukraine could survive and resist for so long without the Internet? I know some ideologues hate him, but what’s new—the Pharisees have been around since Jesus’ time.
The main problems of the Pharisees are a lack of humility, humor, and hospitality. They are so uptight and critical of everything and eventually crucified Jesus. A lack of humor can make a person heinous. Do you know the words “human, humility, and humor” came from the same Latin root word, “humus,” which means “earth?” A person without humility and humor is not a human—not down-to-earth.
After buying Twitter, Elon Musk changed his Twitter profile to “Chief Twit.” We all know a twit is a silly or foolish person. That means he is making fun of himself. You need humility to make fun of yourself. Maybe from now on, the word “twit” will have a new meaning. Humility is also a source of creativity.
We know children are creative because they are humble. Maybe that’s why Jesus wants us to become like children to maintain our humility, humor, and hospitality. Never grow up and become like the humorless Pharisees.
Today, we will look at another billionaire in the Bible who was humble, humorous, and hospitable. His name was Zacchaeus. What’s amazing is that, within a glance, Jesus connected with him, and they became buddies despite the grumbling and sneering of the ideologues.
I am sure Jesus was drawn to him because they share similar personality traits reflecting God’s image. As we know, Jesus personifies humility, humor, and hospitality. Jesus said to him, “Today, salvation has come to this house.” He reveals that humility, humor, and hospitality signify salvation.
So, today, we will learn from this lighthearted story about how to live a life that attracts divine attention and draws eternal blessings. Let’s begin!

There are two kinds of stress or anxiety in life—Overt Stress and Covert Stress. Overt Stress is easy to recognize because it bogs us down and troubles our hearts. I also call it “Sour Stress.”
Covert Stress is “Sweet Stress” but more insidious. It makes you feel good and proud but sabotages you from the inside. For example, we all have seen many successful people in life destroyed by their own prosperity. In other words, prosperity is equally, if not more, harmful to our spirit than poverty.
Maybe that’s why the wise King Solomon asked God not to make him poor or prosperous because poverty could make him break the law, and prosperity could make him forget God. He knew that the moment we forget God, life becomes vanity. He wanted to avoid Covert Stress.
Covert Stress is like sugar. You know sugar tastes good and makes you happy, but it stresses your inner organs without feeling it and could eventually cause type II diabetes or other serious diseases. Type II diabetes is known as a silent killer because it doesn’t show any symptoms for a long time. By the time it shows symptoms, it’s often too late. In the same way, Covert Stress is a silent killer of our spirit.
The ancient sages call these sources of stress the Eight Winds of Life, which constantly blow at us from eight directions. The overt winds might be like storms of life, but the covert winds might feel like pleasant breezes. Because it is constantly blowing at us, we must always maintain our spiritual fitness to stay in the fruitful state.
The top four Overt Stresses are Scorn, Slander, Setback, and Suffering. When someone scorns you, you feel belittled; when people slander you, you feel outraged; when you encounter a setback, you feel worried; and when you face suffering, you feel pain. Overall, Overt Stresses give you anxiety.
The top four Covert Stresses are Praise, Prestige, Profit, and Pleasure. When people praise you, you feel elated; prestige makes you feel successful; profit makes you feel victorious; pleasure makes you blissful. All these stresses make you proud, but if you are not careful, it could lead to arrogance. They are silent killers.
If you think you can handle these winds by yourself, you are still young. There’s a story of Su Dongpo, about whom I told you a few weeks ago. A highly gifted person in history, he was like Benjamin Franklin of 11th-century China—a statesman, a scientist, a poet, an artist, and a military strategist.
His childhood playmate, Foyin, became a zen monk. As a bright and competitive young man, he wanted to beat the monk in mediation. One day, he felt he had achieved total stillness in his meditation. He immediately jotted down a poem to illustrate his spiritual achievement and sent it to his friend, Foyin.
稽首天中天， 毫光照大千， 八風吹不動， 端坐紫金蓮
“I bow my head to the heaven within heaven;My halo illuminates the universe;The eight winds cannot move me;Sitting still upon the purple golden lotus.” ~Su Dongpo
Notice he said, “the eight winds cannot move me.” The last sentence, “Sitting still upon the purple golden lotus,” means he is comparing himself to Buddha. In other words, he had achieved Buddhahood. It’s the highest achievement a zen practitioner could wish for.
He ordered his family servant to cross the river to give his poem to the monk at the monastery. Upon reading it immediately, the monk wrote a remark on the paper and sent it back. The remark said, “Breaking wind!” meaning passing gas.
When Su Dongpo received it, he was furious, “Dirty monk! How dare he ruin my beautiful poem.” Immediately, he got on a boat and crossed the river to confront the monk. A little boy came out telling him that the master was not at the monastery.
He thought, “I knew it! The guilty monk had gone hiding.” But the boy said, “My master wants me to give you this note.” The note said,
“Eight winds cannot move you, but a breaking wind blew you across the river!”
It’s not just humorous but also a lesson on arrogance. His rage reveals that he couldn’t even handle the wind of “Scorn.” He failed the test. So, his poem shows his arrogance, self-deception, hypocrisy, and spiritual pride.
How do you overcome the winds of life that are blowing at us constantly from eight directions? In this week’s scripture lesson, Jesus teaches us the secret to overcoming the overt and covert winds of life, mainly the covert winds that cause spiritual pride, which could destroy us from the inside. So today, we will learn the secret weapon against the danger of spiritual arrogance. Let’s begin!