In pursuit of…?

This came in my e-mail a couple of days ago, a sobering reminder from a fellow Christian:

Recently, if you have read the news, the stabbing cum suicide incident that took place in the place I am currently serving in (NTU). It came as such a shocking and surreal piece of news to the whole staff team. But what struck me most was not only the tragedy of the whole incident – it was the response that people have towards this incident that took me by grief and pain: the boy who committed suicide simply became the talk of the school and the focus of many bad jokes. Suddenly, it seems that the boy's life was only worth the amount of headlines it has made; the value, anguish and pain of a human life tarnished by sin seemed to have been completely ignored. Indeed, it was such a stunning indicator of the indifference towards LIFE among the city-dwellers.

My heart was heavy after reading this short paragraph.
A reflection later in the week brought more questions to light.

What do we use to measure a person’s worth these days?
The answer to these question is apparent when we examine what we pursue today: academic excellence, brilliant CCA record, loads of money, friends’/bosses’ approval, money, cars, property etc. When we become obsessed in our pursuits, we become so absorbed in it, we see our life as just consisting of these. Consequently, we measure other people’s worth based on what we think as important. In doing so, we have (unknowingly?) debased and devalued life.

There are really 2 issues here: What satisfies us today? What do take other people for?

What satisfies us today?
We’re made for eternity (Ecc 3:11), so the things of time cannot fully and permanently satisfy. The world’s satisfactions are too small for us. There’s gotta be something more!! And we know it through the Word!

John 6:35
Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me will not hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst…”

John 10:10
“…I came so that they may have life, and have it abundantly.”

What do we take others for?
In this ego-centred city-world we built for ourselves to live in, in the blind relentless pursuit of impermanent things to stuff in the God-shaped hole in us, we often see others as means to our own ends, others as instrumental to attaining our goals. In doing so, we forget that beyond the walking flesh and blood lies a soul that God deeply loves. Do we see others as aimless wandering souls in our midst?

What can I do?
There could be another guy (just like the NTU student) around you, who don’t speak openly of his anguish and pain, of his desperation to find something worth living for. If you aren’t going to reach out to him, who will? While we have this imperishable hope in Christ, immense satisfaction in knowing God himself, do we desire that others partake in the same grace?

1 Peter 1:13
“Therefore, prepare your minds for action, keep sober in spirit, fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.”

I earnestly pray that we:
will be free from spiritual myopia and not be hardened and oblivious to the needs of others
have the wisdom to know the things that truly matter in life
have the desire to pursue them
have the conviction to help others to pursue them