More Than Words

"It's annoying, but Justice and Equality are mates..... Justice always wants to hang out with Equality, and Equality is a pain in the a**....."

"A number of years ago, I met a wise man who changed my life. In countless ways, large and small, I was always seeking the Lord's blessing. I was saying, you know, I have a new song, look after it… I have a family, please look after them… I have this crazy idea…And this wise man asked me to stop. He said, stop asking God to bless what you're doing.... Get involved in what God is doing—because it's already blessed."

- Bono

Love

We all need some reminders every now and then ;)

Hari Raya!

Today is Hari Raya Puasa in Singapore, a festival that marks the end of the Muslim fasting month. Families of Muslims in their baju were all over town in a celebratory mood, especially in the housing estates.... Awhile ago, I was walking around my town's bus interchange, when the sight of families decked out in their Hari Raya finery reminded me of the day I was in Japan during a cultural festival. Here on my island, we were having a festive day that echoed a similar sentiment.

The things we take for granted. I stood around and soaked in the cultural sights and sounds of the day, appreciating the solidarity of national dress and traditional festival.

And I was glad to live on an island with a wealth of cultural heritages to behold.

Cold Blood

Reading the newspapers on an eventful day is, for me, quite a poignant experience.

My compassion and grief get stirred up pretty easily, and all it takes is a line or two of descriptive words for me to find meaning and conviction.

Today:
The story of terrorist mastermind Noordin Top's death. It was headlined as a violent end, yet smirking with a heroic and satisfied tone. I wondered why the papers painted this cold-blooded shoot-down as though it was a great victory to be lauded and celebrated. Sure, his elimination is significant, yet does who he is and what he did warrant the kill? As I read how he was shot, with details of his bodily wounds and shattered head from explosives, I paused and thought: HOW SAVAGE. HOW COLD-BLOODED. Did anyone deserve that? Did he deserve to die such a violent, merciless death? It was done in cold blood. It reminded me of Che Guevara's bloody murder in Bolivia and how he was hunted down, gunned down.

And I was brought back to the time when I was preparing lesson plans for the topic of capital punishment during my General Paper teaching days. I had a graphic video that documented those controversial capital punishments done in various nations - stoning of women in the Middle East, ethnic slayings in Indonesia.... all captured on video for my eyes to witness. It was gory, stomach-churning, and disturbing. When you see a real-life taking of a life - whether it was that of an innocent or guilty man/woman.... you will know that nothing qualifies another human to take the life of another. What one has to summon, or grow cold to, in order to kill.... is unimaginable.

At the end of the video was a scene of a gun squad executing a murderer in a Southeast Asian country. It was done in the forest, with many witnesses. As I saw bullet after bullet enter this man's body, limbs, face, nose.... slowly, one-by-one, as he lay on the grass ebbing away...... it didn't matter that he killed someone else in whatever manner. It mattered how numbed I had become to the frequency of reports, the media, the existence of the human soul and spirit, and the commonness of such suffering. When the scene was done, a line from the Bible flashed across the screen - "Let he who has no sin cast the first stone." And I finally understood what Jesus was talking about. The reality of God's heart on violence, murder and humanity had been imparted to me.    

Yes, I showed it to my students.

Now, my thoughts turn to Afghanistan, Pakistan, Israel and Palestine, where recently, BBC reports of war killings have gripped me. Detailed pictures of death scenes, violent acts and what bodies looked like have reached my eyes and ears. It is no longer a statistic or report. This is real. Heads sliced off. Bodies cut in half - bodies of children, who were at home in the day when the soldiers came in to finish them off. There is cold-blooded murder going on in droves. We are in the throes of a media-fatigued world emblazoning war violence in the ambiguities. Where is our sensitivity to violence and torture?

And my question is, ARE WE INTERCEDING ON BEHALF OF THE OPPRESSED?
Is there no better way to resolve conflict than petty perpetration, bullying and intimidation that escalates in gruesome murder? 
What kind of people/world have we become?
Where is forgiveness and laying down of rights?
Where is our trust in God's sovereignty over conflict situations, that enables us to lay down our power and control?