The two sides of the coin :D

STUPID HARD DISK!!!! Unfortunately, I seem to be having hard disk probelms. My PC now hangs every other hour..anyone with a spare hard disk out there ? :D I also noticed that Blogger is quite sluggish compared to Xanga. Is anyone using the new Blogger Beta? It looks pretty cool...

Just yesterday, as I was walking out of the school (school's already over at that time of course, I don't ponteng wan :D) with my friends, we were chatting bout last week's school holidays. So yeah, I mentioned to my friend that I was at this conference in SIB KL and didn't do any sort of revision whatsoever during the entire week. Halfway through the conversation he said that "You know ah, you Christians ah, like to gather one oh..You see us Buddhists like to do stuff, like donate blood. So good what? I get paid ten bucks somemore..."

Lest you get the wrong impression of a heated religious debate, we were just chatting casually about it. (And I didn't get paid for MY blood...is A-type blood cheaper?) He couldn't finish his sentence when we came to the gate and he went off to the bicycle shack. I didn't really think about the whole matter but I just let it linger in my mind. At home, I thought about what he said and yeah, to a certain degree his comments made sense. It did feel like we (I'm saying SJGC in general) aren't doing much for the community. I mean, the way I see it the emphasis is more on spreading the gospel and less on community service, what with all the Christian concerts and conferences doing mass evengelisms here and there.

I found myself caught between the two sides of the coin. On one hand, we could really put some effort into giving a little back to the public community around us. It sure is easy to be complacent with our lives. I have many things that I complain about, like how I'd like a new laptop and more pocket money. But everyday when it's time for lunch or dinner, I know that I'd be stoned for such lack of gratitude. My mom's the kind to never let us complain that there's not enough food, so a typical meal could feed many poor and hungry people around the world. I mean, I have yet to see anyone else whose mom makes rice with fried eggs and nuggets for breakfast before going to school in the morning. Most of the people I've asked are lucky to have a glass of milk, let alone cooked rice. And all the time there are people out there who live in such terrible, horrible conditions that you could hardly imagine what it's like to be in their shoes.

But then again the more articulate among you might argue that we should put God first. That God is the one who is able to make things right, so our first priority is to worship him and pray for those who are suffering. Like, how much can you alone do to help other people? How much can one church do? Just sit back and wait for God to save the people. If there's anyone who can do it, it's gotta be God, right?

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Interestingly, because my PC died while I was halfway writing this, I went to look up for some info in my bible regarding this issue. And I came to 2 Peter something..it went "Since everything will be destroyed in this way,what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed it's coming....But in keeping with His promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness." Just like that, my questions were answered. (God must've thought very thoroughly about the questions that we would ask of him when He planned His salvation for us) It says 'holy and godly lives', so I take it that it goes back to obeying God's commands. The first being loving God fully and deeply, while the second loving our 'neighbours' as ourselves. Which means that yes, worshipping God comes first but it is also important that we make an effort to those around us who are not as fortunate as us. Community service, I feel, should come from having a close relationship with God where we realise how much he loves everyone and not just us, that we should feel compelled from our own hearts to spread God's love to other people, especially the non-believers.

I know it's hard, loving others as ourselves brings to mind something that only young children could do, like how they share candy, pillows, toys and what-nots so affectionately, sharing because they want to and not expecting anything in return. No wonder Jesus looked upon children so lovingly....