Bonhoeffer

Working part-time is not really a "choice" for me, in the sense that the opportunities came knocking on the door one day out of the blue, by providence, at a time that we'd much appreciate them. I do not see much point to say whether I find working harder than staying at home, or vice versa. They're just different kind of work, and tenacious in their own ways. The difference for me is that when staying at home, I was only consumed by one kind of work, but now I feel a little bit polarized between giving myself to my students and giving myself to my family. It also posed the challenge for me to participate in church life and service, since I'm always working on lessons or reading up on teaching methods during my "free" time. But by all means, it's not novelty that leisure is scarce. It is yet another transitional time, and I reckon when things are more settled, I will be likely to take on new momentum. Bonhoeffer has always been my great source of encouragement and guidance in times like these.

"To be a Christian does not mean to be religious in a particular way, to make something of oneself (a sinner, a penitent, or a saint) on the basis of some method or other, but to be a man—not a type of man, but the man that Christ creates in us. It is not the religious act that makes the Christian, but participation in the sufferings of God in the secular life."

"Cheap grace is preaching forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, Communion without confession. … Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate."