—————————————————————————————————————————————————–

Most of you probably would agree with me that communication is a skill and is very important, especially when you are talking with youngsters. The other day, I had a chance to explain a math problem to my son that he couldn’t comprehend. After half an hour, he still couldn’t get it and he kept saying, “It does not make sense to me”. I got frustrated and told him that, “you can ask your teacher or classmates tomorrow, maybe the way I have learned from my teacher is different from what you were taught in school.”

Have you ever heard an acronym called “KISS”?  Initially, I thought it was some kind of joke. Later I find out it stands for “Keep It Simple, Silly (or Stupid)”. In fact, there are many variations of KISS now. Preferably, I like the version of “Keep it Short and Simple” better. The situation I had with my son is a reminder to me that my explanation could be excessively complex to him. In addition, I may have problem in my communication skill too 🙂

To keep something short and simple is always desired when you are explaining something to others. A lengthy and complex explanation would tend to confuse people even more unless it is intended – like the arena of politics. 🙂 Under my working environment, oftentimes, we were required to include a so-called “executive summary” in our presentation – to convey our message or points in the presentation, succinctly. In this moment, the principle of KISS is needed because it is what the management is interested most.

On the other spectrum, however, sometimes you would hear someone says, “Sigh, it is a long story…..” At this time, I bet you are prepared to listen to him attentively as it implies a kind of situation that could be difficult to explain. In the path of our life, there could be many hard to tell “long stories” and many “short and simple” encounters or events. Overall, it is a journey that God has prescribed for us – it is a journey of faith in reality. Without faith, we would have no strength and no will for the journey when we encounter hardships and difficulties.

Is Bible a long story to tell or to understand? It could be, if you read it persistently chapter to chapter, book by book, it will take some time to complete it since it has 66 books – it starts from describing God’s creation in the book of Genesis and ends with God’s eternal plan in the book of Revelation. Is there a short and simple introduction of the Bible? Yes, I think.  From my limited understanding, we can use the attributes of God to summarize the Bible: God’s holiness, God’s righteousness and God’s love. Because of the sin of Adam and Eve, we were separated from God. Apostle Peter indicated to us that, “without holiness no one will see the Lord 非聖潔沒有人能見主 ” (Hebrews 12:14b). And, Apostle Paul said, “just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned. 這就如罪是從一人入了世界，死又是從罪來的，於是死就臨到眾人，因為眾人都犯了罪‧ (Romans 5:12).”  The wage of sin is death, as apostle Paul indicated, because God is righteous. As God is love – He wouldn’t let us, the sinners, to be perished – He sent His only begotten son, Jesus to pay the price of our sin. This was clearly taught by the Apostle John, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 神愛世人，甚至將他的獨生子賜給他們，叫一切信他的，不至滅亡，反得永生‧因為 神差他的兒子降世，不是要定世人的罪，﹝或作審判世人下同﹞乃是要叫世人因他得救‧ (John 3:16-17).”  What a great love!

I hope my explanation of the Bible followed the principle of KISS 🙂 Please let me know if you have any trouble to understand it. Please remember that the only path to reconcile with God is through our Lord, Jesus Christ, as it is promised in the Bible (John 14:6).