a dual reality of life

Together with many around the world, we feel deep sorrow for those who were brutally killed in the recent days and months past; individuals of different countries caught in the middle of a horrifying war for political power.

They were people just like you and I. And like many of us, they had family and friends who had loved and cared for them, and who now must be experiencing unimaginable grief for their loss. To loose someone through sickness is not easy but to have a loved one's life taken in the manner of beheadings and being burnt alive must be intolerably painful and incredibly difficult to deal with. What does it feel like to imagine the horror of what their loved ones were going through when facing such a cruel end to their lives? It is sickening, it is sheer evil. That's how I feel and that's what it is.

Our world is not getting any better. Bad news is escalating and it's everywhere. Just today, in one day, we have heard of the death of the Jordanian pilot, the Taiwan plane crash, and the New York train crash, and that's not taking into account other news. I have wept much to see what is happening to our world nowadays. Just in one year only, 2014, we had several plane tragedies. And we hear of natural disasters, rapes, killings, wars, people driven from their homes, suffering children...endless, one after another, we get these reports, and almost immediately too, thanks or no thanks to the internet and television; we hear and see all these within the comfort of our homes.

I am sitting here in front of the TV watching the world news. We have just had dinner, my son is playing his guitar in his room; it's just an ordinary evening, like most evenings, for just an ordinary family. I was also thinking of my next day's responsibilities, my list of to-dos...but I was stopped in my thoughts by how surreal is this ordinariness of our life living in a relatively peaceful city and country as my mind was turning to the happenings outside of my ordinary world.

An ordinary world consisting of one where we just had a housewarming party at a friend's house a few nights ago, and one where we plan to have a family reunion and a classmates reunion during the Chinese New Year period, and one where I go to work daily and go about my normal routine. And I realized more than ever that most of us, if we will just stop and reflect, are actually living a life of dual reality.

That is, the reality of the ordinary, the mundane within our circle of family, friends, community; and also the horrible bigger reality of the world out there. We can't be like the proverbial ostrich deluding ourselves into thinking that those news, those images which our TV screen and internet are showing, are too far away to affect us, and that somehow it will all go away, it will get better...

A friend had said the world is on a slippery slope and I agree. We who are alive at this point in time are going to see things getting worse. Yes, I have wept and I still weep for the many lives lost and affected by terrible events. I weep out of empathy but not because of hopelessness. My tears and heartpain are in prayers to my God, the One who created the earth and its inhabitants. In spite of what's happening around us, I am absolutely convinced He is good and has a timetable for this world. Mankind's beginning, history, present and future are in His hands. Those who do not know Him would not understand this and might be offended by what I am stating, but His Word, the Bible is very clear. It tells us what was, what is and what is to come.

There is a word many Bible believing Christians are saying nowadays, "Maranatha!" which means "The Lord is coming" or "Come, O Lord". Surely, the Lord Jesus is coming back very soon, just as He had promised! That's the hope of all of us who have put our trust in Him. I pray that whoever reading this will seek God while He may be found, and be found in Him when He comes back again, very soon.