There is an Absolute

Dear Diary,

Earlier watched the “High School Musical II” on TV. Nice little show there, can seriously consider watching the “Part III” of it at the movies, haha… I will still try to find some way to catch “Tropic Thunder” first. That’s high up in the movie priority list. =) My muscles are still sore from the more-than 8-km tactical route march with about 20kg worth of load including rifle and dummy equipments loaded upon me on Friday (24-10-2008). Except the gluteus maximus muscle, most of the muscles below it including the gracilis, femoris, gastrocnemius and soleus muscles are hurting. Sigh… I tried a short jog around the estate this evening and I had to give up after less than 2 km. I guess the muscles do not recover as quickly now that I am older. Can’t imagine how the cast in “High School Musical” can dance with such rigor, flexibility, agility and synchrony! Do they get aching muscles which last for days too? =S

Thursday (23-10-2008) was great. I took half-a-day off, went home to watch “The Devil Wears Prada” on VCD (Anne Hathaway is really in a class of her own), shopped along Orchard Road (bought two shirts) and then met up with one friend to play some arcade games. It felt strange to be sauntering into an arcade on a weekday. Almost everyone there was a secondary school or college student. Challenged my friend to a car race game. He won one and I won one. Then on our decisive third game, a young boy popped his token in and challenged us. My friend came out the winner amongst us three. The young boy took him on again and defeated my friend soundly. We gave him the thumbs-up when we left. What a competitive bunch of kids these days, haha…

We then met up with three other ex pharmacy classmates for a meal at Swensens (Plaza Singapura). It was a wonderful time of interaction and food! Incidentally, it was also a farewell dinner for one of them as he would be returning to his hometown in Malaysia to practise pharmacy there. I realise that as we grow older, some of our friends depart and our social circle inevitably shrinks. I gotta look into some avenues to expand a rapidly shrinking social circle!

Friday was army training. We trekked for about more than 5 hours in the jungle. Then back in camp, there were some administrative blunders resulting in a delay of our release. Got a little hungry and pissed off. Thank God for a car… at least, I got to “zoom” home with a GPS navigator, alighting two friends along the way. There was one army friend who isn’t handsome, isn’t eloquent (at least in English), isn’t academically inclined and… what I was trying to say is that he is brave. He courted his boss’s boss and he married her early this year. His wife is a Masters graduate, a regional manager and earns more than 4 times that of his monthly salary. Sometimes, it is not our “specifications” but our confidence. I really need to buck up on that. Everyone seems to be married or on the way to the altar soon. =P

Saturday was Young Adult Ministry. My cell group was kinda in a crisis because of non-committal members. I encouraged my cell-group leader that we will make it and the strategies came out, haha… most importantly though is to be praying to God for providence, guidance and wisdom! We strive to meet up more often… errrr… hope that is sustainable over time. Then I caught up with a college friend over dinner and a stroll around the Esplanade area. He wanted to check out the library, so I brought him there. I saw a Caucasian man who was telling stories to his audience. Unlike the usual audience of children, the crowd were adults. They were listening intently to the animated stories of this man. I couldn’t help pausing and listening to him for the next 15 minutes or so. He has passion for his work and obviously relishes his job, something so absent in the life of a typical Singaporean young adult. I thought I saw a fellow pre-reg colleague but couldn’t actually recognise her in her tube top. Wasn’t too sure if I saw her or maybe her sister? Cousin? Messaged her and gosh… it was indeed her. What coincidence. Anyway, my college friend and I then watched a very interesting 45-min Sumatran dance and music item at the Outdoor Theatre along the Esplanade walk. It was actually part of the “Pesta Raya” Malay Festival of Arts program. So that item “Semarak Muara” was performed by the “Langkan Budaya Taratak” of Indonesia. Their “Tari Piring” (Plate Dance) by a 57-year-old man was unique indeed! Had a long chat with my friend at the Merlion Park, sitting at the steps and watching the waters lapping. It felt like the old days, at least for a short moment.

Recently, in the news… there were discussions of Euthanasia and organ-trading. Then, there are other discussions on whether we should be emphasizing abstinence or safe sex. For all these controversial issues, man can debate but there will always be two sides of the coin. There is always a “true” part in any argument depending on the emphasis and angle-of-view. Yet there is, in reality, absolute truth. Relativism is very much a modern idea. Tell people that there is only one right way and they will accuse you of bigotry. Even a pro-Baptist priest from my church had to admit that in the midst of all the “false gospels” being preached, discernment is very much about whether a church teaches the apostolic truth, which is absolute. We can debate about how we interpret the solutions to social problems but the bible tells us that the Church is and always will be the pillar and foundation of Truth (1 Timothy 3:15). It is in this apostolic truth which we can know in absolute terms what is right and what is wrong. The only problem is that which Church is the one which Christ left on Earth as that infallible teacher? Even if we know which one it is, will we ever follow her doctrines which dated two millennium ago? Or do we succumb to the relativism and the spirit of the new age? Truths are dogmatic. We cannot twist scriptures to fit our perception of homosexuality, fornication, euthanasia and so on…. In God’s view, there is no such thing as a grey area.

God Bless,

Andrew