Give Thanks

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OK, today's the last day of my annual break. Tomorrow's back to work; my first work day for 2008. Frankly, I do not really look forward to going back to work because I just do not know what awaits me at work after a long break like that. Though the break seemed to just have zoomed by so quickly and I could do with more rest, I nonetheless still thank God for being able to have this break and to also have this job. It's a wonderful feeling being able to remain home today even though it is the first work day for 2008 for most people. Maybe that's why I had taken leave today, so I can rest one more day and rejoin the fast-paced working life again one day later than everyone.

Nothing much happened today and I stayed home the whole day. I literally spent the whole day in front of my laptop playing different games and resting my hurting leg (yes, it still hurts). Anyway, it seems that this season seems to be on thanksgiving. Last Sunday's sermon wasn't fantastic, but one thing that struck me is how blessed I am despite all the bad things that I lament about. Elder Freddy Boey reminded us, we can really thank God for life because our life circumstances here in Singapore is relatively better, with life expectancy of about 78-80 years old compared to some other countries with life expectancy as low as 39 years old. So I give thanks to God for my life (though I will most probably complain and lament very soon again). Then, I chanced upon a few other games which have kept me busy today and set me thinking more about my blessed life:

Ayiti: The Cost of Life - Playing Ayiti has helped me realise how difficult a life others are living, having to make ends meet and provide for their families. In this simple (but yet meaningful) game, you are given 4 years to help the Guinard family survive, get educated while remaining healthy. And somehow, it was an easy sight seeing members of the family die because of poverty and having to work hard and yet being denied medical treatment when they are sick. Visit the game site at http://ayiti.newzcrew.org/ayitiunicef/.

Global Conflicts Palestine: I think the whole year of reading the Old Testament has somewhat made me a little interested in the present Middle East conflict, with roots from the biblical past. And as I played the demo for the game, I started to see how the Middle East conflict is something which is really a tough tussle. In the game, you play a freelance journalist who will be assigned to cover different assignments, interview the people and put together a newspaper article for the assignment. In the demo, I was to cover the story about life at the checkpoint and as I played the game, I began to see the complexity of the whole conflict; causing pains on both sides of the border and yet, trust is a big issue because you will never know who you can trust, and whether the pregnant lady who fainted at the checkpoint queue is indeed a terrorist with a bomb. An interesting game which helps people understand the agony of the conflict on both sides as you interview people and take down quotes for your article. Visit the game site at http://www.globalconflicts.eu/.

Peacemaker - While Global Conflicts Palestine dealt with understanding the Middle East conflict from the eyes of a journalist "on the ground", another "serious game" called Peacemaker deals with the Middle East conflict from a macro perspective. You play either the Prime Minister of Israel or the President of Palestine and you try to bring peace to the region, making decisions such as clamping down on extremist leaders, removing walls, adding checkpoints, increasing trade restrictions while dealing with world, UN leaders. You will soon find it not easy to bring peace when attacks, shootings, smuggling of weapons, suicide bombings keep taking place. But trust me, in the end, if you succeed and peace comes, it is quite an emotional sight to see people who once fought one another coming together once again. While other games promote violence, war and destruction, this game promotes peace. Visit the game site at http://www.peacemakergame.com.

The morale of the story is that, playing these games and with the sermon last Sunday, I have come to realise how much I have been blessed with and how much I can give thanks to God for. Decided to get everyone to do a listing of thanksgiving items for 2007 and a listing of spiritual resolutions for 2008 for cell meeting this week.