When we see a beautiful painting, we know an intelligent painter is behind the masterpiece. When we see a brick house, we know builders have built it. And when we talk on the phone, we are grateful for its invention.

But when we see a blossoming rose, a rainbow after a refreshing rain, and the soaring eagles amid blue skies, why do many of us deny a Creator of these magnificence?

Do these wonders far surpass the inventions us mere humans have created? Therefore, how could these fine-tuned creations, from the smallest bacteria to the gigantic universe, have come into existence on their own by chance? How could have they thrived and continue to flourish? How could they come in such multitude of kinds, and each kind reproducing after its kind? How could the universe exist in such harmony, without having the planets and stars bump into one another in a cosmos war? And how could living creations have the ability to think, to reason, to love, to hate, when they came by chance?

Think of your body. Each and every part beautifully serves a unique purpose. It regulates itself by digesting the food you eat, keeping you in a comfortable temperature, and healing you with fighting white blood cells. Do you agree that your body is a fantastic and complex machine of intelligent design? If so, how could there not be a highly intelligent designer?

When we deny a designer for the designs, we in turn are taking the creations for granted. Because what purpose is there to these inventions? What purpose could they serve if they all came by chance, out of thin air? (Where does air itself come from? Air coming from thin air?) Inventions that do not serve any purpose are valueless.

People build computers to help many of us today for personal and business uses. We make coats to keep us warm during the winter. We engineer cars so we can travel much faster, more comfortably and conveniently. So we make things to serve purposes. Not many would so extraneously create something we do not need, agree?

So therefore, shouldn't the natural creations we see all around us—even our own selves—serve a purpose? If they do indeed serve a purpose, then wouldn't there be a designer behind these creations? How could things that come into existence by chance possibly serve purposes?

Many seasoned and well-known scientists ask the same questions, and they come to the conclusion that there must be a Creator. They are dissatisfied with the theories of evolution and the meaningless, spontaneous existence. But their peers laugh and shrug, and blindly say, "Things just came into existence on their own." So I guess, when I come to a house next time, I can shrug and say, "Oh, it just got built by itself." Those scientists who believe in a Creator is correct—there is a Creator.

Do you know the Creator by name? Would you want to know? Wouldn't you want to know the names of your parents? When you read a good book, wouldn't you be curious to know its author?

Just as everyone and everything has a name, the Creator deservedly has a name, too, but sadly, many do not know Him by His personal name. They instead label a generic title on Him, like "the Lord." How would you feel if someone did this to you? If people who read my books call me by "the Author," I'd not tolerate it. Which "Author" are they referring to? How could people differentiate this particular "Author" from other authors? So a personal name must be used. They should refer me as Shirley Cheng in order to truly mean me and in order to let people know who they are really talking about.

A prayer is like a personal letter you write to a specific person. And just like a letter, it needs to be properly addressed to the right recipient. If people only address their letters to me with "Dear Author," that letter will not get to me. So a prayer needs to be addressed to God in His personal name. Who would you really be praying to when you say "Dear Lord"? Heck, Satan may hear your prayer; after all, he's the lord of this world and of all evil.

Therefore, we must call our Creator by name for those reasons and to show respect and honor. God personally told us His personal name in His holy scriptures, the Bible. If He did not want it be known, He would not have shared it; yet He shared it, in both writing and in speech. (The original Hebrew scriptures mentions God's name about 7000 times!) False gods are named by people, whereas God's name is told to us by God Himself.

What's God's name? His sacred name is Jehovah.

Jehovah is the one and only true God. There are millions of false, manmade gods, so referring to Him by name will help rule out Him as our Creator.

But His name must be glorified and kept strictly holy. Never use His name, or "God" in a meaningless, disrespectful, or silly way. Unfortunately, many have used His name disrespectfully, either out of ignorance or sheer disrespect. Therefore, I do not say "God bless you" when people sneeze, or exclaim, "Oh, my God!" as a common interjection. I also do not swear in God's name—"yes" or "no" is enough.

So now we know that we do have a Creator, and that His name is Jehovah, would you want to learn more about Him? Since He created everything, He has a purpose, right? Indeed, He does, and in my next issue, you will learn what His great purpose for our world is, so stay tuned to November!

Q & A with Shirley

Last month, I said that I would start a Q & A section in this newsletter, addressing questions people send me about life, and I have already received a batch of questions. I will address them in the order I receive them. So our first set of questions comes from Tyson Chaney, who is a southern California-based freelance writer and the creator of Politics 2000 (http://politics2000.today.com) and Sports 2000 (http://sports2000.today.com).

Question: What should Senators Obama and McCain know about people with disabilities and what should the man who becomes president do for those people?

Answer: The presidential candidates, or anyone else, for that matter, should know that the disabled 1) need kindness and dedication the most, especially those who are dependent on others for life's necessities, 2) are breathing, living human beings, God's creations, and therefore, require respect from others, and 3) need more, and many times, special attention and care than those who are non-disabled. Thus, the president should set up more laws to protect the rights of the disabled, and educate others on how to care for them. Those who break the laws should be penalized. Nursing homes, hospitals, schools, and other places should have loving, educated people for officials to watch over their people, to make sure they are well cared for. They should listen to the disabled when they complain, instead of ignoring their voices. They should screen and monitor any caregivers before and during the care they provide the disabled.

When I attended schools, I had one-on-one aides ranging from incompetent to unloving and everything in between. I also had aides who came to school very ill; one gave me pneumonia. And some were either heavy drinkers or smokers who left me in my classroom to go out to smoke, leaving me without a proper helper. I complained to my schools, they ignored my voice, and I kept on hurting. That is why I am advocating aide/caregiver screening and monitoring for students with special needs and the disabled in general.

Question: Do you ever envision a person with a disability being in a high-ranking political position? What added hurdles would that person need to overcome?

Answer: Of course, I actually do not need to envision it—there have been disabled people with high-ranking political positions. Take Franklin D. Roosevelt for an example—he was our wheelchair-bound president who had impacted our people in wonderful ways. Disabled people, no matter in what position they are in, not only have to overcome the physical hurdles caused by their disabilities but also have to prevail over the psychological obstacles. They have to fight people's ignorance, apathy, incompetence, bias, discrimination, and so forth. Remember the bullying chain from my last month's issue? Well, the disabled are usually the ill fish in that chain.

Question: Which is better: maintaining one's integrity and watching citizens suffer or breaking ethics and/or laws to help people in need?

Answer: Watching citizens suffer is first of all not an ethical thing to do! I would question one's integrity if one permits suffering when there's a solution. But let me answer this question in four parts:

1) Laws are manmade, whereas ethics are God-made, so always let God's laws (ethics/morality/values) govern your actions and thoughts.

2) Your own integrity is valueless unless it is the same as Jehovah's.

3) Helping people in need is among the most ethical things to do, but 4) if it goes against God's wishes (therefore going against the highest ethic), it should be avoided.

In conclusion, if helping people under specific circumstances is what God would want you to do (it is most likely the case), then by all means do so. On the other hand, if this ethic goes against the highest ethic, avoid it. For instance, if your entire family is starving and you murder people for money in order to feed them, that action will not make God very happy. When deciding issues like this, always weigh ethics by using the Bible as your guide. In the Old Testament, Pharaoh asked the Hebrew midwives, Shiphrah and Puahto, to kill the male babies born to Hebrew mothers, but the God-fearing midwives let the male babies live and bravely lied to the Pharaoh about it (Exodus 1). In this example, they have saved innocent people by lying to the evil, and that made God pleased. So helping people in need is definitely better than maintaining one's so-called integrity.

Shirley's Corner

I asked my Vietnamese translator, Nguyen Bich Lan, if I could get a copy of the video clip I mentioned previously in my last month's newsletter about my book feature on the Vietnamese popular show Good Morning, and to my delight, she e-mailed it to me, and I've uploaded it onto my site for all to see! Yes, you can now watch it, too. Just go to www.shirleycheng.com/vietnamesevideo.html

Let me know what you think! For probably the tenth time since my Vietnamese edition came out, I wish I could understand Vietnamese!

Recently, a friend brought my attention to a book called An Ocean to Cross, by Liz Fordred. It is a true story of husband and wife Liz and Pete, who in there early twenties built a yacht, in spite of the fact that they knew that they would need to haul it 1200 miles to reach the ocean because they lived in a poor, land-locked area in Africa. A boat company constructed the hull while they built the rest of the boat. Despite that the people laughed at them and called them crazy, they successfully built the boat and sailed it over 3000 miles alone to reach Florida, surviving a tropical storm. Did I mention that both Liz and Pete are paralyzed from the waist down? Their amazing strength, wisdom, and great abilities despite their "disabilities," are remarkable proofs for what the human spirit can achieve despite all odds. Surely, God must have blessed them with such gifts! They are truly "ultra-abled," not disabled! I highly recommend their book, which should be an international best seller!

So folks, this is it for October. Until next time when we find out what our Creator's purpose for us is, have a moment or two to meditate on His wondrous creations. Jehovah's creations are great, and His purpose is greater, but we first must be in awe and be grateful for His designs. After all, you wouldn't be here today reading these words if He hadn't made humans. So always respect Him and His name.

Take care!

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Best regards,

Shirley Cheng

Award-Winning Author
Miracle survivor, inspiring author and contributing author of 22 books by age 25, poet, motivational speaker, self-empowerment expert, advocate, and a co-author in the bestselling Wake Up...Live the Life You Love book series
Board member of World Positive Thinkers Club
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