The Harsh Reality

Friends come and go, but enemies accumulate.

Anonymous

Too Proud

For many of us, the older we get, the more life experiences we gain, the prouder we become.

We become too proud to admit our mistakes, often putting the blame on the other party (parties), hoping that by doing so, everyone including ourselves will forget that we are to be blamed.

We become too proud to utter the word 'sorry', often trying to reconcile with the other party by treating the person nicely and pretending as if nothing has ever happened, hoping the other party will forgive us through a sorry-less but friendly gesture.

We become too proud to reveal to others our inadequacy, thus when others willingly share their insights with us, outwardly we pretend to be uninterested to learn, but in reality, we are listening and digesting intently.

We become too proud to share our problems with others, thinking that others will see us as weaklings and capitalise on our weaknesses if we become vulnerable to them.

No wonder. No wonder our wise Master once said that only those who change and become humble like little children are qualified to enter his kingdom. All along, he knew the fatality but commonality of pride among grown-ups.

About Prayer

"The true relation in prayer is not when God hears what is prayed for, but when the person praying continues to pray until he is the one who hears, who hears what God wills."

Soren Kierkegaard

"On many occasions we find ourselves unsure of the specific action that God would wish to do in the situation that confronts us, and so we present our requests, but we qualify them with the condition "if it is your will." This is not a lack of faith; it is a lack of knowledge. We believe that God will do what is best, but we are uncertain what that is and so we ask according to our best wisdom."

Terrance Tiessen

"Be slow to pray. Praying puts us at risk of getting involved with God's condition...Praying most often doesn't get us what we want but what God wants, something quite at variance with what we conceive to be in our best interests. And when we realize what is going on, it is often too late to go back."

Eugene Peterson