Oh Beautiful Sunday!

I ought to blog about yesterday simply because I felt great about it. And simply because it felt great to go to church and worship the Lord! And also because I experienced something which I haven't felt in a long while--productivity.

We went to Times Square Church in the morning. The church had bought over this old and intricately-designed but well-kept theatre off Broadway (at least it didn't have any musty smell and the seats were not Hole-y!), and converted it into a sanctuary for believers from different denominations to come and worship the Lord. There were throngs of people streaming into the church. Apparently, the church, located in the heart of Manhattan (Duh! The name of the church explains itself yah), is home to approximately 8000 members. There were people from different ethnic groups swarming the church. It was a beautiful sight seeing African Americans, Caucasians, Hispanics and Asians (I hope I didn't leave anyone out) forming this multiracial congregation and praising the Lord in one accord. It was a breath-taking sight!! Perhaps this is what Heaven will be like! 

When service started, the curtains were drawn and this massive choir appeared before us. It comprised people of different races, but predominantly Black and Caucasian, with a few Asians among them. For the whole time, the worship leader led while playing the piano. His voice was good, but what amazed me more was his style of singing. Haha, he was African American so it was very gospel and very spontaneous. He would begin each song and the choir would just join him once he gave the cue. And the way he sang certain songs (and my, they were really old songs; 1990s, 1960s, 1950s and one from 18th century!)....woah!!! I wish I could describe it but you really have to experience it for yourself. Like the song "Righteousness, Peace and Joy" from Integrity music, he began singing it very playfully and out-of-sync with the original melody but it sounded entertaining and mellifluous. I liked it! And for many songs, they just went on and on repeating the choruses in a way that didn't sound at all draggy. You would feel the music just rising up within you and you would end up singing with more and more gusto. I really enjoyed myself. I could just sway, dance and clap. It was really joyful worship!

Haha I could go on and on about worship but I shan't. You really need to be there to fully comprehend and experience what I'm getting at. Some of you are probably very envious right now...heh. I hope to join the choir in the near future and sing Black gospel style. That'll be so cool and I'll be so glad! As for the rest of the service, the Senior Pastor gave a sermon on "Pentecost went outside" (you can find it at this website: http://www.tscnyc.org/sermons.php?hl=1094). He spoke about how our practice of Christianity should model that which transpired 2000 years ago during Pentecost when spirit-filled people just took to the streets prophesying and speaking about Jesus. In essence, he was encouraging believers to allow their lives to be a living testimony of the Word of God, and not to be closet Christians. 

After service, we met up with someone to buy stuff, and to me it was pleasant. It is nice being in the company of someone else rather than simply the two of us all the time. After shopping, we parted ways with our friend, and walked down 50 streets!!! Ha ha we just walked and walked and walked. Halfway we stopped to grab a bite...then we continued. And then we thought, maybe I should get some shoes. So we walked down Broadway and found a couple of shoe stores. I settled on a pair from Aldo, a good pair of walking shoes which cost me USD 70. I think it was a good buy (or at least it serves me well to think that way since I spent that amount on it, which is not too bad actually...heh, I'm doing the self assurance thing again). And before you know it, we were approximately 20 streets from campus? And so, we thought we'll just walk all the way back. Hee that's how we ended up walking 50 over streets...the weather here is fine for walking though it can get a little hot because of the sun. And there are so many stores, you can just pop in to check out stuff you need. Or you can just go into any Starbucks along the way to have a cuppa--every couple of streets there will be one!!! They have even more outlets along Broadway than McDonald's has. It finally dawned upon me why everyone walking in the streets wore flats. I was wearing a pair of heels before I bought that pair of shoes from Aldo! What was I thinking??!!

That night, we met up with one of Rachel's ex-interns at her workplace, Ted, for dinner--a fellow Singaporean studying in Columbia. Again, it was nice being in the company of another, especially someone you feel totally comfortable with speaking your own native accent. We had Cuban food at this place called Havanna Central. After the usual introductions, our conversation revolved around New York culture, Americans, and heh the food places around Columbia, those worth trying and those that you wouldn't want to spend your money on. After dinner, the three of us walked down Broadway for a while before we went back to our apartments. And then I went back to my room to skype with my parents. 

Orientation starts tomorrow!!! And classes start this week. I'm looking forward to studying again and hopefully doing some research soon. And meeting new people!!! Hopefully I will step out and not be a social hermit. Haha, took the MBTI personality test and realized I've become an "I" (Introvert), and have relinquished my "E" (Extravert) self from almost a decade ago. Last time I did that test was probably before or during 1998!