Theatre of Dreams

Its almost unbelievable, and its been tweeted the whole world over..
Brazil, the soccer greats, 5-time world champions, beaten squarely and convincingly by a German side which displayed real teamwork, I mean, look at the replays, there was no one-man show by the Germans, 7 goals, but by 5 different goal scorers, certainly no Golden Boot priorities here. Team and country above self it was. 

But as with all competitions, along with the complete and thorough manifestation of the German dream, comes the ending of Brazil's. Definitely there was much more hope as they were the home and host country, but as some of us may have learned, when there is more hope, there will also be more despair and gloom when that hope is not met with the desired/expected results. And so it was, Brazil was knocked out at this stage (last 4) in this fashion at a place called Belo Horizonte (beautiful horizon) in their own country. What an irony really!

And yet, when I heard the news, somehow, 1 other place came into my mind. One may recall that their recent season was also an irony as they fell from being EPL (English Premier League) CHAMPIONS to literally being NOBODIES, not even qualifying for next season's Champion League, and similarly their homeground, their famous and regal stadium nicknamed the Theatre of Dreams became "a setting for a tragedy" as this article puts it.

http://www.theguardian.com/global/blog/2014/apr/23/old-trafford-ferguson-moyes-manchester-united-tragedy

Of course, you may say that this is life with all its ups and downs, and you are right. But how then do we react? How then can we react if we were put in the same position, when we face the same 'shattering of dreams' in our life like Brazil and Manchester United?

Well, I too had a mini 'shattering of dreams' before.

For my university degree I had decided to study computing, and I had great expectations from it, because my computing grades in 'A' levels (or grade 12 exams in other places) were great. And this was despite the fact that I took up computing only when in JC, so I only studied computing for 2 years, yet I did better than English, Physics and Math, which I had studied longer and had excelled in before. Somehow, computing just clicked with me in JC. It was still hard work, but it was interesting and fruitful hard work. Much like how Brazil and Germany both worked hard to get to the World Cup semis.

But as mentioned before, with much more hope comes much more despair. Because by the time I finished over 2 years of National Service, my aptitude, knowledge and skill in computing had become outdated and almost obsolete. Although there was slight consolation in knowing that "almost everyone is an idiot" with Java (cue string tokenizer and software engineering UML for those in the know of computing), yet of all people, I struggled more than others.

So for 3 years, rather than a fulfilling of dreams, it was a battle for survival and to pass. My forte became my weakness and something familiar became something very, very foreign. Really, I couldn't even qualify for honours, and I didn't even pass with merit for my Bachelors, so this was really quite humbling. 


But then, this makes me ponder, what is our life all about then? Is it just about doing well in the system? The system which modern societies like Singapore, Hong Kong, USA, Japan, South Korea etc. have setup for its people to supposedly excel in.


The way I understand this system, it seems to be:- do well in school, earn enough money to have a comfortable and fulfilled life, and learn to be wise about decisions concerning your job, home and family. And in the end, die with your family about you. 
But is that all that life is about?

However, I'm thankful that my life isn't just defined by my grades and whether it is meaningful is not dependent on sustaining a result or expectations from other people. Its based on contentment because after I started working at my first job, I realized that the skills needed to survive and excel at my job is nowhere to be learned in any university.

That's what I have discovered. And here's to what God says

⁶ But godliness with contentment is great gain. ⁷ For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. ⁸ But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that.

Just as people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, ²⁸ so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.

¹³ Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” ¹⁴ Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. 

to be continued..