This Too Will Pass
I was listening to Class 95FM (a Singapore English radio station) just few days ago when I came to know that Michael Jackson was going to have a concert in London next month. Oh, he’s making a comeback! - I thought. Then a couple of days after that, I was shocked when I learnt about his death from the same radio station. I thought I heard wrongly at first - I wished I did. I felt so sad suddenly and this was the first time I felt so for an artist (so much that I wished that I could attend his funeral).
Actually I’m really a fan of Michael Jackson. I only like some of his songs, but somehow he made me felt this way. Perhaps that was because his songs were the first few that I first listened way back when I was still in primary school. At that time, I loved the song “Heal The World” so much and the school’s choir had been singing it so often. It was brought me a great sense of aspiration. Today, my all time most favourite Michael Jackson’s song is still ‘You Are Not Alone’. When I listened to it on yesterday’s midnight, I felt so much of the pain. I really hope he would not be all alone in heaven and that his soul will always be blessed.
This clearly shows how fragile life is when it comes to diseases like cardiac attack (or heart related diseases). Suddenly I felt thankful that God didn’t take my mum away when she was diagnosed with stroke early this year. It just happened so sudden, without any warning and was not due to any very obvious causes - just like what happened to Michael. It was unexplanable, yet we still have to accept it. The same goes to the current financial crisis and the attack of the Influenza A-H1N1 virus. I guess being patience is what everybody has to learn in order to live a life full with challenges and uncertainties like these.
Do you remember the article ‘This Too Will Pass’ that I mentioned in my last two post? I’m going to share it with you here. The story goes like this:
Once, there was a young emperor who inherited a large kingdom. Unfortunately he did not quite know how to rule his empire. In times of prosperity, he rejoiced. However, in times of disasters, he would go into deep depression. The ministers of the kingdom were worried and came together to work out a plan to teach the emperor an important lesson. They gave him a beautiful ring. On it, ‘This Too Will Pass’ was carved on it. They told the emperor to wear it at all times.
The young emperor took the ring and began to understand the engraved message. He understood that good times and bad times form the cycle of life. Bad times never last; the same goes for good times. It is important to ride out the bad times by practising some patience. On the other hand, it is crucial to be prudent during good times and plan for the rainy days.
This is a takeaway at times when financial fears loon large. We should be reminded that disease, recessions and misfortunes do not last forever; they were part of the cycle of life. Rather than being occupied with worries, we should instead fill ourselves with hopes that they will be over. If we choose to be positive it is more likely that the good outcomes will take place sooner. There is opportunity in every adversity. They may just be gold nuggets that we can pick from the ground, if we stay alert.
Let us pray that the bad times will leave us soon …
