I was having dinner at a coffeeshop nearby home. I ordered the food and proceeded to get a seat somewhere. Much to my surprise, there were houseflies all over the coffeeshop and the tables. Why was I surprised? This scene brought me back to the days in the 60s and 70s. With the strict cleanliness laws in Singapore, especially at F&B areas, such amount of houseflies is unheard of. More interesting is the oblivious attitude to the presence of those houseflies. My feeling is that the present young generation does not know the danger of diseases spread by houseflies. What about the older ones? They probably forgot the lessons from the past and desensitized to the surrounding already. Too much faith in the healthcare system in the country.

The situation in the world is definitely getting more complicated. In a way, it is becoming more evil but less obvious. We are too ‘sanitized’ and, therefore, oblivious to the ills in society. No, it is not just from the Christian perspective. Like I say, it is less obvious because we choose “not to see it.” We do not have a problem of hunger in the world, we have the problem of obesity. If we are more willing to share, then both problems can be solved. A certain country can give billions of dollars to another for war but is unable to provide adequate funding to help its own people in crisis. They create troubles in other areas in the world but sells terrible lies and dream to their own people. Unfortunately, many believed them, mainly due to the fact of the great “I” that matters. The world can only solve problems when they really look at humanity as the image of God and return to truth. Then we will have a better world.

Brothers and sisters, in the smaller context – our church and community – we must not be ignorant of the evil that lures in our lives and surroundings. Keep in line with God (by understanding the teachings of Christ through the reading of the bible), put them in to action and keep at it. Our Christian lives, Church and Community will then be one that glorifies God.

God bless.

In Christ’s service,
Barry Leong

我在住家附近的咖啡店吃晚餐。我预订了食物就准备先找个座位。然而我非常惊讶，咖啡店及桌上满是苍蝇。为什么我会惊讶呢？这景象带我回溯到六十及七十年代。在新加坡对整洁环境，尤其是饮食方面的严格管制下，如此数量的苍蝇是闻所未闻的。更甚的是对这些苍蝇视若无睹的态度。我的感觉是现在年轻一代并不知道苍蝇所传播的病菌会带来的危险。那么年长的又如何？他们或许已经忘记过去的教训，因此对周围环境已经不敏锐，也对国家的保健系统过于信赖了。

世界的局势确实是越来越复杂。从一个角度来看，它越来越邪恶却又不是显而易见。我们也过于“净化”，以致无视于社会的病态。这不只是从基督徒的观点来看。就如我所说的，它变得越来越不明显，因为我们选择了“视而不见”。我们没有饥饿的问题，但我们有肥胖的问题。如果我们更愿意去分享，这两个问题就可以迎刃而解了。某个国家可以捐出千万元给另一个国家对抗战争，但是却不能提供足够的经费帮助她自己处在危机中的国民。他们在世界的另一端制造动乱，但是却对自己的国民撒下可怕的谎言及幻梦。不幸的是，很多人却信以为真，主要还是归咎于“自我”的意念。只有当世界以上帝的形象来看人性以及回归真理，问题才得以解决，我们才能拥有更美好的世界。

弟兄姐妹们，缩小范围来看——我们的教会和社群——我们不能忽视恶者在我们生命和周遭的诱惑。遵循上帝（藉着阅读圣经以明白基督的教导），将之付诸行动并持之以恒。我们基督徒的生命，教会及社群就能荣耀上帝。

上帝赐福。

主里同工的，
Barry Leong