19.3.26 - 75 - Passing through

-

Watching the video the boys made for Pa

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FsUTGznPuqw

We are all only passing through life. I know that the whole world tries to convince us that this is untrue, that what matters is titles and achievements, productivity, whatever, but I am pretty certain that for the vast part of human existence we were mostly concerned with how to survive the next minute of the next day, and then after that, how to survive as a small collective - say a family or a village.

For the vast majority of our history, all our efforts were focused on survival, and as the most pathetic creature on this planet, so wholly without skill like speed or strength or camouflage or diet, we evolved to adapt and this enormous creative effort was then suddenly freed up when our adaptation efforts meant that we not only survived, but we thrived. 

Then in the twinkling of an eye this capacity to help us survive was no longer needed and we turned it to doing all kinds of things - being remarkably creative and then deciding that it wasn't enough to derive a sense of satisfaction from survival, but we also needed awards and indicators of success. Wealth, possessions, titles - these things were then the reason we lived and in all that it began to obscure the real thing we should now have preoccupied ourselves with, now that survival was no longer required - to create a world with love. A world of love. All of those things which we have designated as indicators of success are like the shite with which we hoard and clutter the otherwise beautiful home with. A home infused with love does not need shite to make it feel better. I'm not saying it doesn't need anything, I'm just saying that it doesn't need to overly egg the pudding to make life worth living.

So back to the passing through of life - we are only passing through. Literally nothing we have is permanent - not even our bodies. Not the titles we are awarded, the monuments we build, the possessions we gather about us - the only thing we have is love and the good memories which we leave behind. That's all. If you ever wonder what you need to cut out of your life there is an excellent test: are you flexing it on social media? If you are, then there is a good chance that maybe you are either doing it for the wrong reasons or you should just stop doing it all together.

It's all detritus. But your motivations, whether you made a real difference to the lives of others - that's what really counts. Really.

In the end, what we need to thrive is so little materially, we have now released this ability, this skill, to do so much good.

So like that lah. 

We are only passing through. I don't know why people don't seem to understand this and can't live so that they are able to deeply live the good life which they were meant to live.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Geylang sepaku Geylang

-
Image
Geylang Serai is the place i feel most at home in Singapore. Possibly because a vast majority of the population are still Singaporean and i speak the language they speak there - Malay. Also, it hasn't changed that much. OK, it has, but i'd like to think it hasn't. We ate at the new market there which used to be a little better than an open sewer. But it was our open sewer and we loved it. Geylang was heaving with people getting ready for Ramadan. On the table we have sup kambing, otak-otak, nasi padang and rojak. Drinkswise we have lime juice, Kickapoo and teh. It is hot - really hot. We are all pespiring and we can feel our clothes stick to our skin and bellies and thighs. Our hair is continuously in our faces, dripping and sticking too. The only thing that brings relief is a soak in the pool or a shower and an airconditioned room. No wonder when the boys came back, the first thing they said was, ah, it's great to be back in th cool weather again!. Singaporeans love th...
Read more

19.3.26 - 74 - Eulogy: What will survive of us is love

-
Image
I wrote and read this for Pa at the service. It was in long hand, but I have it here typed out now. It is peppered with verses from the New Testament, because I was asked by the priest to refer to Jesus occasionally, so I made that concession. Big shout out to Ben and the Christian Community whom I spent many a delighted evening reading and discussing the Bible during Bible study class. =========================== Thank you everybody for coming here to honour the life of husband, father and legend which is Eric Sim Chin Seng. Pa crossed over on the 16th of March at 7.30 am. He went peacefully and gently. He breathed his way slowly past this life and on to the new one, leaving his bark, his body, which carried him and his indomitable spirit and endless capacity to love, for 81 years, to say farewell to one last time. This tribute is to you, for you, Pa, who always walked in the sacred steps of Jesus Christ and lived the best life which could be lived. Part I: John 1:14 "The word be...
Read more

The Central Business District

-
Image
The Thinker in the OUE building Yesterday i attended a talk which was organised by some environmentalists here. It was held in the NTUC building which was in the middle of the business district. It has been years since i have been here, so i set out early to walk about the place. Everything is very very large  I arrived during rush hour and people were simply pouring out of the MRT. The crowds were swarming down escalators and out of offices - but they were not overground. No, they were underground, at the MRT. In fact thee was no one above ground. For the business district at rush hour, above ground was eerily quiet! There must be dozen of buildings which look like these To think that hundreds of thousands of people work in places like this. I used to work in a place like this. Admittedly these buildings are far more swishy and very sleek. It was like being in some espionage film set in the future. There were rehearsals for the National Day Parade and Sarah...
Read more