Hihi my good old friends!!!!! welcome back for another round of the rare christian Ivan! Ok today i have mode of entry. The usual whacky one and a slighty very serious one. But heres the whacked out one first.
Youth started slightly.... late again. and because of my little jamming session with someone b4 worship, i forgot to practice with mavis. so pretty much jamming session 2 for worship. And mavis broke down during worship... I guess mavis, you are such a sensitive person ( yet extremely violent and scary sometimes! NOT CUTE AR!!!!!)
After youth, had to teach guitar for a while. Seriously i think i must find a way to teach somewhere quiet and as little distraction as possible. haha everyone gathered in the self control room, become a party. how to teach? lol
And oh haha lunch time, you guys were there too right? The wanton mee stall. The hawker was flipping noodles and to round the noodles into a nice ball to serve, he would toss the noodles into the air. Haha, I went to order a second round to try and see him do it again. But he told me he cant toss Hor Fun. haha figures. But josiah so happened to come and order wanton mee. FUUU! Darryl and I took out our phones...
After youth and lunch, the fantastic 4 bored people ( Myself, Zhen Wei, Mavis, Josiah ) bummed in church for almost an hour wondering of wat to do... So one of the things we did were...
And At the station... Mavis Tried to pit her strength ( and body weight ) against Josiah... And haha, I did not manage to catch it but Josiah lifted mavis by holding on to her head. haha some one call the SPCA!!!!!!!
Then we decided to go to JP cos when we were discussing where to go... someone went jumping up and down saying " I wanna eat ice scream ". Jo was like "I wanna go gym" and I prefered the gym to the ice cream idea ( i dun want the extra cals...) Haha but you can see her satisfied face when we finally found a nice little shop, called "Scoop" at the basement area. Cheap and filling.
ok. whacky part over. Partly why i wanted to rush it because i wanna talk more about something else. After the ice cream and a little arcade, we went to Subway for dinner. Partly cos its Zhenwei's BD! happy birthday bro! But then we talked about politics... haha mavis was slping... and it turned into the question of church structure and systems.
The is this sadness i feel for churches that preaches prosperity. Their Focus on God is based on presumptive faith as Josiah puts it. People are taught that they should give as much as possible because God promises riches to those who receive. Churches are market place and its filled with Christians who seek wealth through the church by networking and business. And there are the faithful ones who fall under the mindset that they must give as much as possible...
Here's a poem i wrote today on the way to school... (yup school started T.T )
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Flip Side Of The Copper Coins
One early Sunday Morning
You entered with life's despair
Among the midst of thousands
You hope there's a seat to spare
The music rocked and the ground shook
You're standing in a Holy place
Till one man, up there he stood
And gently asked, 'Please give freely in grace'
You shake your head in worry
cause you have God to please,
So the man prayed a simple prayer,
for us to give the biggest piece
He tells the tale of the two copper coins
You could not hold the tears anymore
Reaching for your only fifty dollar bill
Your knees touched the floor
You closed your eyes, looked up and prayed,
' Dear Lord, this I humbly give '
And in the end , the man proudly said,
' The generous shall receive! '
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I wanted to turn it into a song, but i think its good as it is now. I might wanna do a part 2 soon as i know of other cases as i know a few stories why people leave prosperity preaching churches.
tomorrow is the worship leading course for care group. In the sense i still need the training. though i doubt i may learn anything new, its always good to go for refresher course...
Wenxin smsed me asking me whether i wanna do the first session ( everyone has to prepare a sample worship for evaluation ) and i was telling her. "haha you want a good example for wat not to do right?" She replied saying that everyone else is not experienced. Hmmm there was pride but it quickly deflated cos i knew i might be helping more than learning... I rmb she called me once, she asked me whether i want to lead sunday offering every 2nd week. I was telling her " Huh, my style can meh? I think better get ready some ambulances ar ", She said " haha dun frighten the old people can liao lar ". I frighten old people? thats the first... ( not actually, my grandma always say i give her a shock because my footsteps cannot be heard... )
About tomorrow, I have prepared a few songs. the requirement is 4 songs to open session and 2 closing songs. I pondered for a while... And There was a great desire to play this song...
Oooh i like the impromptu solo ending i gave the song... I changed many chords because the chords i found were like so wrong. But its tough to sing this song... its so high... if Jasmine or Andrea sing this song (or you mavis... ) glass will shatter...
In school, my good friend ( who extremely resembles Norman's personality ) was telling me " I've got a girlfriend now ". ok... Then we talked about how his hols was and he said he was busy because of internship and GRL Phren... Then it came to his dream to go overseas to study and pursue music, but now he wants to stay local because he has a Kurl Flan. I mean WATS UP MAN. you giving everything up? your dreams and aspiration because you have a Ghirl Flend? ARGH! dun give up man.... you can make it. I know. I have seen thousands of lousier singers than you man...
Not sure to feel sad or happy now tat i am single. My friends are getting attached or are attached. Argh wats this!!!!!!! Is it so wrong for me to remain one for the while till i go to work, stabilize my future then find my future God send?
Nvm, i will find greater pleasure in other things for now. I must not let girls over take my life anymore. Sigh... Though how much i desire for the one... i have to wait.
BUT I MEAN WATS UP MAN!!!!!!!!!!!!@*&^#@*&$^*&^@#$%!@$
" I have a girlf.... "
@#%$@#&%$&^%@&#%$^&@%#&$%@#%$@#%&$ ARGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
just leave me alone lah loverboy. haiz i wanna give you my blessings but ARGH!!!!!!!
..............................................
.................
1... 2.... 3... 4..
ok much better now. ARgh... man...
I must make it while i still can. I must make my dream. I must prove to myself that i could do it. And i think that everyone of you should clearly think of your paths ahead. Or soon you road will laid with tons of humps called regret.
But for now we should try and at least contribute something to our future. like i read a book that said if we saved a dollar a day and put it into a bank for 66 years, we would have our million dollars. Whoopie doo doo. I wanna save a dollar a day too!
And so you hardy boys and girls out there. plan well and live smart, May the good Lord shine His gracious hands on you ( imagine the line spoken through a old cowboy grandpa ) haha
Alright i have spent alot of time on this entry, see ya soon!
Leave a tag!
Monday, April 14
Sunday, April 13
Welcome back everybody! Thanks fer reading. Some of you may wonder " wth, why he so thick skin can type til like that?" my answer to you is... You can go write diary ar. Blog is meant to crap none stop and meant for Victims ( just like you HAHA ) and hopefully put a smile or crap their pants for the rest of their day.
Woah, I just need to address this. To me, The planetshakers concert ROCKED mY tiny Japanese SOCKS!( forgive my kua zhang ness ). to put it plainly, IT WAS MAD!!!!!! People were jumping up and down like Salmon desperate to lay eggs by swimming up the river, and people were singing ( or screaming/shouting/yelling/whistling/etc ) like its the last thing they would say! Wah Josiah reached like 100+ decibels and he's sitting next to me lah. sounded more like a warcry then a cheer or something. I dun blame him, cos i followed him after that. HHAAHAHA
Alright Alright dun get me wrong. Yes it is a rock concert. I mean its PlanetShakers man... you want soft music you should have known. And you dun go into a concert where you have not heard their songs before. I suggest to you softies that cannot stomach songs like that to go a Don Moen or Matt redman concert.
I feel like some people went in with a stubborn mindset on how worship should be. Like Pastor normally said, if we dun mean the words we sing, its just song singing. But ultimately worship is not confined to song singing, Its how we live out our lives.
The concert rocked... I worshiped like i never worshiped before in a long time. The music or more likely the fellowship of Gods people and The Holy Spirit joined in unity to bring praise to God. Tim Hughes delivered A powerful worship as well, the silence that was so quiet you could hear only the aircons, a silence so reverent and awesome that it penetrated the hardest of hearts. It was beautiful... And they had to play ONE WAY after that. HAHAHA so comical.
Hmmm, yeah and this morning it was my first (could be my last) meeting with a group of christians who posted on soft.com.sg, looking for jamming buddies, to jam. I filled in the place of the missing drummer and went there feeling partly nervous.... but guess wat! the bassist is my good old friend from SP campus crusade and from Jurong Christian Church! UBER COOL! ((99 hits combo!)) I was so relieved and its really such a small world. not really sure whether he was happy to see me... but i kinda missed talking to him for a while... and now he is a better musician than b4 too. Ok back to jamming. We randomly played songs that we know. I was the drummer so its was less stressful on me. And i think i played fairly well. The singer whos a Filipino said that my drummings good. haha of course!!!!! (head inflating fast) I could use the double pedal now man.... bwa hahaha
Later was meeting feng nan for guitar lessons. haha cant help him... he expected me to teach him tabs... i also not that pro yet ar... saded. need to stay focused on my guitar!!!
I wanted to write more, but now that i have a new game, "Crisis Core", Final Fantasy 7 prequel game, My slping time is limited and have church later, why later? cos its 1.33 am on my clock now.
So before i go, as promised. Here's the vid of Elsie wishing Josiah Happy Birthday in the train. SO embarassing...
Good Night, stay off the drugs ar... but panadol and Coke can. lol!
Woah, I just need to address this. To me, The planetshakers concert ROCKED mY tiny Japanese SOCKS!( forgive my kua zhang ness ). to put it plainly, IT WAS MAD!!!!!! People were jumping up and down like Salmon desperate to lay eggs by swimming up the river, and people were singing ( or screaming/shouting/yelling/whistling/etc ) like its the last thing they would say! Wah Josiah reached like 100+ decibels and he's sitting next to me lah. sounded more like a warcry then a cheer or something. I dun blame him, cos i followed him after that. HHAAHAHA
Alright Alright dun get me wrong. Yes it is a rock concert. I mean its PlanetShakers man... you want soft music you should have known. And you dun go into a concert where you have not heard their songs before. I suggest to you softies that cannot stomach songs like that to go a Don Moen or Matt redman concert.
I feel like some people went in with a stubborn mindset on how worship should be. Like Pastor normally said, if we dun mean the words we sing, its just song singing. But ultimately worship is not confined to song singing, Its how we live out our lives.
The concert rocked... I worshiped like i never worshiped before in a long time. The music or more likely the fellowship of Gods people and The Holy Spirit joined in unity to bring praise to God. Tim Hughes delivered A powerful worship as well, the silence that was so quiet you could hear only the aircons, a silence so reverent and awesome that it penetrated the hardest of hearts. It was beautiful... And they had to play ONE WAY after that. HAHAHA so comical.
Hmmm, yeah and this morning it was my first (could be my last) meeting with a group of christians who posted on soft.com.sg, looking for jamming buddies, to jam. I filled in the place of the missing drummer and went there feeling partly nervous.... but guess wat! the bassist is my good old friend from SP campus crusade and from Jurong Christian Church! UBER COOL! ((99 hits combo!)) I was so relieved and its really such a small world. not really sure whether he was happy to see me... but i kinda missed talking to him for a while... and now he is a better musician than b4 too. Ok back to jamming. We randomly played songs that we know. I was the drummer so its was less stressful on me. And i think i played fairly well. The singer whos a Filipino said that my drummings good. haha of course!!!!! (head inflating fast) I could use the double pedal now man.... bwa hahaha
Later was meeting feng nan for guitar lessons. haha cant help him... he expected me to teach him tabs... i also not that pro yet ar... saded. need to stay focused on my guitar!!!
I wanted to write more, but now that i have a new game, "Crisis Core", Final Fantasy 7 prequel game, My slping time is limited and have church later, why later? cos its 1.33 am on my clock now.
So before i go, as promised. Here's the vid of Elsie wishing Josiah Happy Birthday in the train. SO embarassing...
Good Night, stay off the drugs ar... but panadol and Coke can. lol!
Friday, April 4
Good morning everyone! thanks fer reading, come support this website, and a million blessings upon you. lol. And if you dun intro this blog to another 15,000000 person you will break up with your BF/GF, or if you are not attached, you might turn homo.
Welcome back to another episode of the rare christian ivan. Been a while i have been typing like this, always wonder why i lose readers, cos my entries are too boring? haha. I mean why do i need to encourage people to read my blog, you waste time and brain energy to read my entries. I mean i could be typing this...
" Today sooooooooo boring, i went to school... class was like so normal lah, wish something interesting will happen... so i snatched my friend's handphone when he is not looking and hide it in the teachers desk. Haha he soooooo stew-pit, never chk one. when the next class started, i secretly called his handphone, oh yeah i forgot i set his handphone to some weird obsene sounding... "
Talk about trying to get a life man... haha my friends used to be like that. oh wait i remember something like this...
" Hi everyone, well done on todays activity, hope we can do it again next year!
Ok going to slp now... haha lazy..."
I mean WAT THE>>> !@#!&*^ ( dun mean anything ). Its not that its a stupid entry or anything, but write more...
" and i watched "enchanted" with my darling baby for the 1212934798 to power of 2138472 times. I lurve my darling baby woochie moochie smoochie. XxSMUACKSxX _n.n_ "
disgusting...
" I hate him... that #&$@%, I hope he can go and die, for all i care! blah blah...
( emo crap... haha but wait theres more )
blah blah... okok i am so sorry i said all those earlier... i love you.... dun leave me... "
haha the comedies of life. Talking of which, I was concern for my friends relationship cause they were fighting... until i realised its over some online gaming issue...
well I am not saying wat you should or should not put in blogs, but i mean do anyone wanna know what you had for breakfast, lunch and dinner? Nope i am not interested. I think your blog really defines who you are i guess. So you think i am a random person? maybe... i had a little to drink b4 typing this entry. Am I full of angst? Bet I am! haha i am typing like someone now.
The purpose of life? My purpose? I wanna rule the world. haha, I am gonna place a flag on every country national monument with the face of Jesus Christ. I am gonna flood every young innocent soul with the Gospel and Rock and Roll. I am gonna change everybodies eating habits and ban NAPHA or IPPT. I am gonna put a jamming studio and place " christian music only" posters all over it.
Yeah, thats wat i am gonna do if I am president of Singapore. Vote for me yeah? Nothing better than to have a God fearing guy in the parliament. I will lower GST, Ban gambling and smoking, raise welfare policies, provide better academic opportunites for the lower income groups, pump funds into the arts scene, L1 R5, L1 will be music and english and chinese will not matter. All national day songs will be head bang-able, and pop stars will be invested heavily.
okok, nonsense, but think about it, it might be a better place for you kids to grow up in. Rock, is the foundation for life. I cannot imagine a life where people did not realise that they can clap, or the word percussion did not exist... i rather have concussion.
stage 4 cancer... i heard from my nurse friend that its a matter of time before she leaves us... Life is so cruel... God I hope you really have something up your sleeves this time... You are gonna make alot of people very very sad....
But ultimately, its your will that will be done. We are truely insignificant to your cause... but have mercy dear Lord to those who serve you...
Welcome back to another episode of the rare christian ivan. Been a while i have been typing like this, always wonder why i lose readers, cos my entries are too boring? haha. I mean why do i need to encourage people to read my blog, you waste time and brain energy to read my entries. I mean i could be typing this...
" Today sooooooooo boring, i went to school... class was like so normal lah, wish something interesting will happen... so i snatched my friend's handphone when he is not looking and hide it in the teachers desk. Haha he soooooo stew-pit, never chk one. when the next class started, i secretly called his handphone, oh yeah i forgot i set his handphone to some weird obsene sounding... "
Talk about trying to get a life man... haha my friends used to be like that. oh wait i remember something like this...
" Hi everyone, well done on todays activity, hope we can do it again next year!
Ok going to slp now... haha lazy..."
I mean WAT THE>>> !@#!&*^ ( dun mean anything ). Its not that its a stupid entry or anything, but write more...
" and i watched "enchanted" with my darling baby for the 1212934798 to power of 2138472 times. I lurve my darling baby woochie moochie smoochie. XxSMUACKSxX _n.n_ "
disgusting...
" I hate him... that #&$@%, I hope he can go and die, for all i care! blah blah...
( emo crap... haha but wait theres more )
blah blah... okok i am so sorry i said all those earlier... i love you.... dun leave me... "
haha the comedies of life. Talking of which, I was concern for my friends relationship cause they were fighting... until i realised its over some online gaming issue...
well I am not saying wat you should or should not put in blogs, but i mean do anyone wanna know what you had for breakfast, lunch and dinner? Nope i am not interested. I think your blog really defines who you are i guess. So you think i am a random person? maybe... i had a little to drink b4 typing this entry. Am I full of angst? Bet I am! haha i am typing like someone now.
The purpose of life? My purpose? I wanna rule the world. haha, I am gonna place a flag on every country national monument with the face of Jesus Christ. I am gonna flood every young innocent soul with the Gospel and Rock and Roll. I am gonna change everybodies eating habits and ban NAPHA or IPPT. I am gonna put a jamming studio and place " christian music only" posters all over it.
Yeah, thats wat i am gonna do if I am president of Singapore. Vote for me yeah? Nothing better than to have a God fearing guy in the parliament. I will lower GST, Ban gambling and smoking, raise welfare policies, provide better academic opportunites for the lower income groups, pump funds into the arts scene, L1 R5, L1 will be music and english and chinese will not matter. All national day songs will be head bang-able, and pop stars will be invested heavily.
okok, nonsense, but think about it, it might be a better place for you kids to grow up in. Rock, is the foundation for life. I cannot imagine a life where people did not realise that they can clap, or the word percussion did not exist... i rather have concussion.
stage 4 cancer... i heard from my nurse friend that its a matter of time before she leaves us... Life is so cruel... God I hope you really have something up your sleeves this time... You are gonna make alot of people very very sad....
But ultimately, its your will that will be done. We are truely insignificant to your cause... but have mercy dear Lord to those who serve you...
Tuesday, April 1
Hi guys, thanks fer visiting
Today I just wanna ponder on this statement I found in a book in the self-help section
"life is suffering"
and it goes further on to discuss on the matter on how you should live your life.
The principle?
" accepting the basic principle that life is not a bed of roses, will open new horizons and you will live a better life "
when i read the statement, i felt a cold rush in the spine... Life is suffering... The cold hard truth, and yet i am living in denial... I've always seen hardwork and discipline a form of guaranteeing your success, but seeing this statement just makes me wonder...
Thinking about this, i should read the verse in Genesis where man is condemned because of sin
Genesis 1:17
17 To Adam he said, "Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which i commanded you, 'You must not eat of it,'
"Cursed is the ground because of you;
through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life.
18 It will produce thorns and thistles for you,
and you will eat the plains of the field.
19 By the sweat of your brow
you will eat your food
until you return to the ground,
since from it you were taken;
for dust you are
and to dust you will return "
From this it seems that man was condemned to work til he dies. In modern perspective, this is ideal. Not only it delays senile dementia but it gives you more meaningful ways to live your last days. In my internship company, the head all wanna work til they die. Cliche but ironically true. Our church motto, coincidentally my secondary school motto revolves around being man worthy of God and man, and in modern terms, a man who is able to advance mankind one way or the other.
So in the end it all points down to work. Life is suffering. How does work fit in? almost everything. We study a quarter of our lives so we can happily rot the rest of it. Thats a pessimistic approach, but maybe heres a more optimistic one, Pastor gave a statement last night at a wake, " We are dying the moment we were born "
How true. I still cant handle this truth... I checked my study bible index and found this.
Ecclesiastes 3:17 - 23
" So I hated life, because the work that is done under the sun was grievous to me. All of it is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.
I hated all the things i have toiled under the sun, because i must leave them to the one who comes after me
And who knows whether he will be a wise man or a fool? Yet he will have control over all the work into which I have poured my effort and skill under the sun. This too is meaningless
So my heart began to despair over all my toilsome labor under the sun.
For a man may do his work with wisdom, knowledge and skill, and then he must leave all he owns to someone who has not worked for it. This too is meaningless and a great misfortune.
What does a man get for all the toil and anxious striving with which he labors under the sun?
All his days his work is pain and grief, even at night his mind does not rest. This too is meaningless. "
I think you Christians out there find this verse all too familiar. Here lies King Solomon, old and dying reflecting about his life. I think he knows all too well, the terms "life is suffering". Sure he gained almost everything a man ever desired in the world, but ultimately did it fill the void that every person has in his heart?
The void. Its in everyone of us. Those who claim they do not have it, have not matured to the stage or are living in denial. Either way the harsh honesty that the world has for us will crush one day, sooner or later. We might go through dark ages and golden eras of our lives but its all like Solomon's favorite phrase, " Meaningless, everything is meaningless "
So now i think again. Why work if everything is meaningless? Lets debate slightly further on the 2 greatest commandments.
1st
" Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and all your might "
2nd
" Love your neighbor as yourself "
The 2nd is what Confucius also taught, " Do to others what you want others to do unto you".
So what has work got to do with this 2 verses? Basically its this. If we are to love God with everything we have we got to keep his commandments. Or rather his condemnations as well. Remember the verses in Genesis?
2nd verse is primarily on being a burden onto others. I found a verse in 2 Thessalonians which says
" Nor did we eat anyone's food without paying for it. On the contrary, we worked night and day, laboring and toiling so tat we would not be a burden to any of you. We did this, not because we do not have the right to such help, but in order to make ourselves a model for you to follow. For even when we were with you, we gave you this rule: "If a man will not work, he shall not eat." (2 Thessalonians 3:8-10)
Paul and his disciples chose not to accept free meals from the thessalonians even if they offered him. because he wants them to learn to earn their daily bread. Or rather he does not want to be a burden
modern context wise, "a man who accelerates the advance of man" = "a man who does not slow everybody down". Thats a awful lot of pressure dont you think? I mean, in singapore alone where your standing in society depends on the number of paper that claims how smart you are, or you ability to handle business...
You dont need to look far away. Just look at your families, friends, classmates, churchmates, the news. Your success and stature is determined by merits... We are all victims of "life is suffering"
The book where i obtained the quote from rambles on, that discipline and delayed gratification will allow you to excel in life. Solomon will agree to this then tear the books to atomic particles ( our church Solomon looks like he might have the strength to ) and proceed back to his grave. Then again, if he does that there wont be a "self help" or "self improvement" section in bookstores anymore...
More like we are worker ants. We are mostly working not for ourselves but for others. Thats why so many people want to become their own bosses. Not always for the reason of pride, and those who cannot make the climb will tumble back to status worker ant.
Ok, let me try to summarize what I have been talking about the past half an hour. "life is suffering", Its true cos Adam chose to disobey God. We have to obey his judgment and work til we die. Not because we wanna prolong life and suffering but because we do not want to be a burden to man, and we need to eat ( to suffer more ). But the principle of work is meaningless if we dedicate our life to only work. It will be more significant if we are going to do it for God.
Ok tell me wat you think, I am interested to hear. There is nothing wrong in trying to discover the purpose of life. So waiting for some news. See ya!
Today I just wanna ponder on this statement I found in a book in the self-help section
"life is suffering"
and it goes further on to discuss on the matter on how you should live your life.
The principle?
" accepting the basic principle that life is not a bed of roses, will open new horizons and you will live a better life "
when i read the statement, i felt a cold rush in the spine... Life is suffering... The cold hard truth, and yet i am living in denial... I've always seen hardwork and discipline a form of guaranteeing your success, but seeing this statement just makes me wonder...
Thinking about this, i should read the verse in Genesis where man is condemned because of sin
Genesis 1:17
17 To Adam he said, "Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which i commanded you, 'You must not eat of it,'
"Cursed is the ground because of you;
through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life.
18 It will produce thorns and thistles for you,
and you will eat the plains of the field.
19 By the sweat of your brow
you will eat your food
until you return to the ground,
since from it you were taken;
for dust you are
and to dust you will return "
From this it seems that man was condemned to work til he dies. In modern perspective, this is ideal. Not only it delays senile dementia but it gives you more meaningful ways to live your last days. In my internship company, the head all wanna work til they die. Cliche but ironically true. Our church motto, coincidentally my secondary school motto revolves around being man worthy of God and man, and in modern terms, a man who is able to advance mankind one way or the other.
So in the end it all points down to work. Life is suffering. How does work fit in? almost everything. We study a quarter of our lives so we can happily rot the rest of it. Thats a pessimistic approach, but maybe heres a more optimistic one, Pastor gave a statement last night at a wake, " We are dying the moment we were born "
How true. I still cant handle this truth... I checked my study bible index and found this.
Ecclesiastes 3:17 - 23
" So I hated life, because the work that is done under the sun was grievous to me. All of it is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.
I hated all the things i have toiled under the sun, because i must leave them to the one who comes after me
And who knows whether he will be a wise man or a fool? Yet he will have control over all the work into which I have poured my effort and skill under the sun. This too is meaningless
So my heart began to despair over all my toilsome labor under the sun.
For a man may do his work with wisdom, knowledge and skill, and then he must leave all he owns to someone who has not worked for it. This too is meaningless and a great misfortune.
What does a man get for all the toil and anxious striving with which he labors under the sun?
All his days his work is pain and grief, even at night his mind does not rest. This too is meaningless. "
I think you Christians out there find this verse all too familiar. Here lies King Solomon, old and dying reflecting about his life. I think he knows all too well, the terms "life is suffering". Sure he gained almost everything a man ever desired in the world, but ultimately did it fill the void that every person has in his heart?
The void. Its in everyone of us. Those who claim they do not have it, have not matured to the stage or are living in denial. Either way the harsh honesty that the world has for us will crush one day, sooner or later. We might go through dark ages and golden eras of our lives but its all like Solomon's favorite phrase, " Meaningless, everything is meaningless "
So now i think again. Why work if everything is meaningless? Lets debate slightly further on the 2 greatest commandments.
1st
" Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and all your might "
2nd
" Love your neighbor as yourself "
The 2nd is what Confucius also taught, " Do to others what you want others to do unto you".
So what has work got to do with this 2 verses? Basically its this. If we are to love God with everything we have we got to keep his commandments. Or rather his condemnations as well. Remember the verses in Genesis?
2nd verse is primarily on being a burden onto others. I found a verse in 2 Thessalonians which says
" Nor did we eat anyone's food without paying for it. On the contrary, we worked night and day, laboring and toiling so tat we would not be a burden to any of you. We did this, not because we do not have the right to such help, but in order to make ourselves a model for you to follow. For even when we were with you, we gave you this rule: "If a man will not work, he shall not eat." (2 Thessalonians 3:8-10)
Paul and his disciples chose not to accept free meals from the thessalonians even if they offered him. because he wants them to learn to earn their daily bread. Or rather he does not want to be a burden
modern context wise, "a man who accelerates the advance of man" = "a man who does not slow everybody down". Thats a awful lot of pressure dont you think? I mean, in singapore alone where your standing in society depends on the number of paper that claims how smart you are, or you ability to handle business...
You dont need to look far away. Just look at your families, friends, classmates, churchmates, the news. Your success and stature is determined by merits... We are all victims of "life is suffering"
The book where i obtained the quote from rambles on, that discipline and delayed gratification will allow you to excel in life. Solomon will agree to this then tear the books to atomic particles ( our church Solomon looks like he might have the strength to ) and proceed back to his grave. Then again, if he does that there wont be a "self help" or "self improvement" section in bookstores anymore...
More like we are worker ants. We are mostly working not for ourselves but for others. Thats why so many people want to become their own bosses. Not always for the reason of pride, and those who cannot make the climb will tumble back to status worker ant.
Ok, let me try to summarize what I have been talking about the past half an hour. "life is suffering", Its true cos Adam chose to disobey God. We have to obey his judgment and work til we die. Not because we wanna prolong life and suffering but because we do not want to be a burden to man, and we need to eat ( to suffer more ). But the principle of work is meaningless if we dedicate our life to only work. It will be more significant if we are going to do it for God.
Ok tell me wat you think, I am interested to hear. There is nothing wrong in trying to discover the purpose of life. So waiting for some news. See ya!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)