God's Not Fair...

You never see able-bodied basketballers play against those in wheelchairs and in sports like golf, there is something called the 'handicap' in order to level out the playing field. But if you really think about it, is it really 'fair'? I mean who is to judge whether this guy was actually putting in his best effort or not? He could have gotten on the wrong side of the bed or maybe the wind was blowing the opposite direction? Communism tried and failed to bring about equality in society simply because 'a man's heart is deceitful about all things'.. and greed ultimately prevails despite the best humanistic effort to change that!

But God is JUST. So what's the difference between the two? Huge indeed! God holds us accountable for the things we already HAVE and not we DON'T have. If you don't have hands, He doesn't expect you to clap but you can jump for joy.. if you don't have a voice, He doesn't expect you to sing but rather be still and know that He is God.. If you don't have eyes, He still wants you to hear His words and obey them.. Basically God calls us to worship Him with ALL our heart, soul, strength and mind.. the 4 elements we need in order to live and survive.. no matter how much or little of each there may be...

Wealth:
The Bible has many comparisons between the rich and the poor.. Jesus Himself was born into a poor family at the stables.. a carpenter by trade and an itinerant preacher. His initial disciples were mostly poor and uneducated, with the exception of Matthew the tax collector and Paul perhaps? He said, 'The poor you will always have with you' (Matt26:11).. which meant there would always be a discrepancy in the distribution of wealth in the world. Jesus praised the poor widow who gave all she had albeit it was only 2 copper coins (Mrk12:41-44), while the rich folks gave out of their abundance (we're talking about percentages here.. 100% vs 1%?). In the end, the tables were turned in the case of Lazarus and the rich man (Lk16:19-31).. the former suffered briefly on earth but was comforted for eternity in heaven. The rich young ruler couldn't do Jesus asked of him (Lk18:18-30).. therefore, always REMEMBER that 'it's HARD for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven'...

Talents:
Does the Parable of the Talents (Matt25:14-30) mean that those who have more will be blessed with even more? 10 become 20, 5 become 10 but the 1 measly 'talent' becomes zero? If you think about it carefully, the ONE talent had the potential of becoming 2.. 4.. 8.. 16.. 32.. 64.. in due time IF it had been used instead of buried in the first place??? Ultimately, we will have to answer for every ability and every bit of wisdom and time God has given us..

Health:
This is probably the most difficult one cos it hits where it hurts.. literally. I wonder if I could remain strong like Job when his body was ravaged by disease, all his children died and he lost everything he had. Would I have faith like that of blind Bartimaeus (Mrk10:46-52) or the paralysed man's friends (Mrk2:1-12) and expect healing from God? I guess there are some things which will take a life time and beyond to understand? So if we ever were to ask God the question 'Why me?'.. be prepared to stand speechless before the Almighty when He answers us out of the storm.. 'Where were you when I laid the earth's foundations? Who marked off its dimensions? Have you ever given orders to the morning? Have you ever seen the gates of the shadow if death? Do you send the lightning bolts on their way?' (Job38-41). I pray my response will be.. 'My ears have heard of you but now my eyes have seen you. Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes' (Job42:1-6)...

2 Hours as a Hair Dummy..er..Model?

So there I was.. on my way home from work.. and about to catch the train at Orchard MRT.. when this gal approached me. Although the words 'No thanks' were already on the tip of my tongue when she asked 'Can you help me?'.. I decided to listen to what she had to say. Basically, she needed a someone to practice styling on before doing REAL models' hair tomorrow for a YSL fashion show. Apparently she had been trying to persuade someone (with long hair) to be her model for over an hour! So I thought.. why not help out a poor soul who's trying to make a living?

And that was how I ended up sitting in the chair and gazing into the mirror for the next 3 hours.. while they curled, ironed, yanked, combed, waxed, sprayed, powdered, tied and bunned up my hair. What did I gain from all this? I learnt that speed and precision matters (although not quite F1 pit stop standard) when you have to create a different look in 20 minutes.. and I did get good wash and blow dry at the end. These were the 3 styles (wish I had taken pictures)..

1. Tight high bun with wig ala Marge Simpson hairdo.. this one was quite painful cos they had to pull my hair back real tight before tying it up. They also slapped on large amount of shiny hair wax to hold everything in place.
2. Flatten top, side-parting, tapered around the face and curled ends at the back.. the stylist used this V-shaped thingy (not unlike the wires used for floral arrangment) to curl my hair and hold in place with the hot iron.
3. Casual bun with bouncy top.. They used powder to matt out the earlier shiny effect and combed out the front to make it look fluffy. I think this was my favourite and maybe I will try to DIY one of these days?

Justin's Half-Full Glass...

I think I'm experiencing what I would call the Post PSLE Stress (PPS) now.. especially with the incomprehensible Maths questions posted on blogs and ongoing debates on Razor TV etc. But my son who actually sat for THAT exam seemed pretty cool about the whole ordeal...

On the day before PSLE:
Me: Justin, I think you should revise your Maths formulas
Juz: No need lah.. I know them like the back of my head!
Me: You mean.. like the back of your hand?
Juz: Oh yeah.. hand (laughs)
Me: Ok, NOW I'm worried about your English paper

Right after the Maths paper:
Me: So how did it go?
Juz: Chicken feed.. I mean Paper 1
Me: Then Paper 2?
Juz: Ahh.. I tried all the questions but I don't think I got the right answers for the last few
Me: How many questions?
Juz: Maybe 3 or 4? But I should pass lah...

The night before the Science paper:
Me: Do you understand what are boiling and melting points?
Juz: Kind of...
Me: Explain which of these would be in liquid form in room temperature?
Juz: Dunno...
Me: This sentence is incorrect!
Juz: Hai ya.. this is Science not English exam lah!
Me: Eh.. you still have to use the right words to describe the experiments
Juz: My teacher said no need...
Me: * Faint* (Maybe I should have gone for the PTA meetings?)

A week after PSLE:
Me: Justin, you remember the chocolates and sweets question? Do you know the answer?
Juz: Yeah 68
Me: You mean you GOT 68??!! (Almost jumping for joy)
Juz: Ah.. no.. I got 60 something.. maybe 64 like that? I forgot already
Me: Oh.. (Hmmm.. close.. hopefully he will get a couple of marks for the workings?)

The culprit questions:
Jim bought some chocolates and gave half of it to Ken. Ken bought some sweets and gave half of it to Jim. Jim ate 12 sweets and Ken ate 18 chocolates. The ratio of Jim's sweets to chocolates became 1 : 7 and the ratio of Ken's sweets to chocolates became 1:4. How many sweets did Ken buy? Ans: 68 sweets

Mei and Lin were in a bicycle race. Mei was travelling at a constant speed of 20km/hr and they both did not change their speed. When Lin completed half the race, Mei was 3.5km ahead. Mei completed the race at 10.45am. What time did Lin complete the race? Ans: 11.06am