Dear....
At the location of Emmaus Walk, where the risen Christ joined two of his disciples in their journey, the last day of a very insightful trip to Israel, we met a Caucasian nun who spoke Cantonese. And this sister who was manning a small souvenir shop had the nicest yet lowest priced handmade jewelry we had seen in the entire twelve days of the trip. If only we had found her at an earlier stage of our trip! Would that same exclamation be even more compelling if it is about finding Christ as our Lord and Savior.
Today's State funeral for Mr Lee Kuan Yew(LKY) concludes a week that has brought a new kindred spirit in most of us. The impatient and demanding ugly Singaporean was no where in sight.
Maybe this civic display could be due to the sense of loss for a man who is deeply ingrained in our psyche yet for too long we just believe that his indomitable self will be with us for some time more.
This blessed nation has experienced a moment of epiphany. Weaning babies we are not, but it will take some getting use to the vanquished presence of the once omnipresent LKY.
But in watching the playback of LKY's life and that of our fledging island state, as a child of the last years of British colonialism, memories of what we once were, and where we are now has been brought back into sharp focus for me. Contentment today is a rare commodity in our rarified environment of First World prosperity. A thankful heart needs to take center stage in our perspective again.
God the author of our nation's being has given us a great pen, the late LKY, as our Heavenly Father scripted the impossible transformation of an entrepôt port, to a wealthy developed country.
Yet this is not new for our Lord.
The Lord worked great miracles through His servant Moses. Moses had a direct line to God.
But Moses never entered the Promised Land. God allowed him a view of it and took him home.
Our prayers are with Mr Lee. Much as he professed not to be a Christian, and great merit is not the basis for the salvation that God gives freely to all. Belief in Christ is.
With God all things are possible, and may we continue to pray for our founding father, that indeed by the grace of God, he has a place in His mansion.
and Jesus saith unto them, Believe ye that I am able to do this? They say unto him, Yea, Lord.
Matthew 9:28
I was at the Garden Tomb, where Christ rose from the dead. Last Wednesday I was there when the hoax on the demise of Mr Lee was rampant on the web. At that point, I was reminded about what Mr Lee had stated about his rising from the grave, if he sees Singapore at great risk. An anecdote that his son, our present PM shared in today's eulogy.
I and I believe many people prayed for his salvation. And God indeed answer prayers for he lived a few more days. And did that few extra days made a difference to his salvation. I believe so, for the prayers of the faithful avails much.
At this juncture, to some my imagination has gone too fertile. But if it is from the Lord, everything is possible much as by man's finite understanding, it is implausible.
Israel we are not, though as a nation, we do have intertwined interest with her. And there are many parallels including our geopolitical environment.
A thought just came to me. Israel is the promised land of the Old Testament.
Is Singapore the land of milk and honey of the New Testament? And God has transformed us from an almost stillborn new island state, to a vibrant storehouse, where globally, we have the most millionaires per square meter, and a well educated, well traveled workforce.
For those whom much is given, much is expected. LKY has clearly lived that dictum, if one were to measure his stature both within Singapore and globally.
What about the rest of us in Singapore?
It is my belief that we, that is the world is entering a new season. One that will be increasingly extreme, and volatile, and not likely to be pleasant. It is not just because of what history has to offer whenever we experience the four blood moons. But rather, the evil of this world is intensifying. God will respond. And when He does, only His people who invest in His gold, that is, our character as refined by Him will be able to stay steadfast. To buy gold as refined by Him, this was the word God gave me in the early days of the subprime crisis.
Think not with thyself that thou shalt escape in the king's house, more than all the Jews. For if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time, then will relief and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place, but thou and thy father's house will perish: and who knoweth whether thou art not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?
Esther 4:13-15
God has used His servant LKY well and has taken him home. As a nation, we are now provided through the stewardship of LKY with the resources to do God's will. The time has come for us in Singapore to look not upon our own interest, but rather the interest of our neighbors.
We are the Antioch of the East. Jerusalem we might not be, but Tower of Babel we must never be, for lust for materialism and pride must not be the common lingua franca.
Continue to tarry in disobedience and like the warning Mordecai gave Queen Esther when for good reason, she hesitated on his request to seek clemency from the King for the Jews, let the same be heeded.
I am a crossover child from the 1961. You could say I am a finished product of LKY's transformative stewardship. Pigs, chickens, outdoor community toilet and brown water wells for drinking, washing and bathing were the companions of my formative years. And who can forget the robust aroma of that bar of multi purpose Lam Soon soap,
Will we ever regurgitate to these seemingly nostalgic days? I pray not unless you love to have a few hundred tapeworms make your bowels their residence.
But it is possible that one could be where the Japanese are today. From their arrogant prime in the late 1980s, where Tokyo property per sq meter was worth it's weight in gold, today, it has taken 25 long years for some nascent recovery. And in the mindset of the general Japanese population, most look upon property ownership as a consumable, with expectations of losses.
Quite a sharp contrast to what was back in the boom days of 1980s. Will we property obsessed Singaporeans suffer the same ignominy, if we do not lived out our calling?
For the Israelites, after Moses, God appointed Joshua to lead them into the promised lands.
We are already in our promised lands. Are we meant to be more like John the Baptist?
' He said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as said Isaiah the prophet.'
John 1:23
God blesses
Eng HIEANG
29 Mar 2015
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