Dear Senior Brothers and Sisters In Christ,
I am indeed very pleased to welcome you all to the ‘Land with Kites and Tops’ or ‘Tanah dengan Wau dan Gasing’. I noticed that some of you have traveled a great distance by air, by rail and by road. I salute your bravery and passion to meet together. You have certainly shown great examples to many. With you as our senior members of the church, we, the Anglicans in West Malaysia, can stand tall. Your legacy of commitment and passion for the Lord and for each other will go down in the history book with bold letters.
WHAT TO TRANSFORM?
I have often heard from some seniors complaining saying, “I am old and useless”, “I am weak and weary”, “I am feeble and good for nothing”, etc. If this is the case then what sort of Transformation is possible? There is also a common saying, “A family with an old is a family with richest unfold.” No one is useless except for the one whom he thinks so.
Experience
There is a necessity for the Transformation of Experiences. A senior person is like a history book. It teaches us to learn from the past mistakes and successes. In every lesson, there are always two things to learn. One, we must learn all the good things and implement them over again. Two, we must learn all the bad things and refrain from repeating them. Our seniors can do the followings:
1. Write down all their experiences and testimonies and share them with the young ones.
2. Relate their struggles and pains on a positive note so that others can learn from them.
3. Record down all their skills and expertise before their memories fail them.
4. Register the pitfalls in life so that the younger ones will be warned and encouraged.
5. The Diocesan Golden Circle interviews one or two seniors and put them in the Anglican Messenger each issue.
All of us travel this life once only. After that nothing can be repeated except by others. The legacy of passing down one’s life treasures is like walk into an antique shop, full of admiration and bewilderness.
Passion
I often heard of the ‘good old times’ been talked about. How wonderful if this ‘good old times’ can be repeated in every generation. Many people pass down their assets, possessions and money to their next generation but few do pass down their passion and aspiration in creativity, durability and resilience. The former road was tough and rugged and they all have successfully trod on it. It is precisely this training that has made them who they are today. There were not so many conveniences and supports then but they have survived and have made it at last. The modern world and generation has no comparison at all with the senior given the same circumstances and opportunities. The seniors have the sense of ‘fighting to the end’ and ‘never give up’. Because of this, we can see many nations achieving independence and winning many wars. We cannot see with the same today instead there are full of riots, chaos and brokenness.
There must be a ‘way’ to transmit this Transformation of Passion that has taken place long ago in the seniors to the young ones of today. The pursuit of this ‘way’ is a high calling for all seniors. Apostle Paul has once invited us to ‘be transformed by the renewing of [our] mind’. (Rom 12:2) I can identify at least 10 ways to this Transformation of Passion.
1. Walk the second mile. (Matt 5:41)
2. Look at the interest of others first. (Phil 2:4)
3. Count others better than us. (Phil 2:3)
4. Count it all joy when you meet various trials. (1 Peter 1:6)
5. To be servant of all. (Matt 10:26)
6. Rejoice always, Give thanks always, Pray always. (1 Thess 5:16-18)
7. Love God and love man. (Matt 22:37,39)
8. Seek first the Kingdom and His righteousness. (Matt 6:33)
9. Bless the Lord and all those around. (Ps 72:15)
10. Be filled in the Spirit of God. (Eph 5:18)
These are secret weapons and are anti-laws. With them, we don’t need any law at all. This legacy was passed down by our Lord Jesus Christ to our fore fathers and to our seniors and now to us. These ways cannot be learn by having the theory but by mentoring and walking side by side with the mentee. Too much emphasis has been given to paper qualification. This has caused the imbalance of the actual learning, thus we are reaping the aftermath of non-sustainability and shallow foundation in facing the real world. This cannot be done by scolding and reprimanding the young ones instead it should be done with love and encouragement by walking with them and standing by them in their practice.
Joy
There is also a Transformation of Joy to be included. Why are the seniors feeling unwanted or rejected? This trend can be reversed. My earlier quote: “A family with an old is a family with riches unfold”, actually tells that the seniors are precious diamonds. Why are these diamonds not sought after by the younger ones? All the more, we have to rediscover the secret of Transformation of Joy. I wish to recommend some insights, perhaps, how we can achieve this Transformation.
1. Be a friend of the young ones, not as an advisor.
2. Be a partner in their walk, not as an instructor.
3. Be a comrade in their struggles, not as a commander.
4. Be a father/mother to the young, not as a teacher/master.
5. Be a fellow amateur in their new game, not as a coach.
6. Be an encourager in their journey, not as a stumbling block.
7. Be a confidante in their growing pains, not as a surgeon.
8. Be an equipper and trainer in their pursuits, not as a set of equipment.
9. Be an elder brother who can give him a hand, not as a stranger.
10. Be a blessing, not a curse.
This 10-Be’s may remind us of the Be-attitudes. How often we have known so well of such 10-Be’s but our inner nature do only mostly show the reverse in our approach? A constant and conscientious effort to reverse this phenomenon is utmost important and it has to come from a deliberate action from within us. This calls for a serious reconsideration and re-examination of our own actions and intentions. Can we do this? Surely we can, with the help of God.
Finally, I wish to thank all of you for the patience to hear my long-winded message. I thank the Rev. Reuben Daniel and the members of St Martin’s Church for hosting this grand event.
With great pleasure, I wish to announce that I have appointed Mr. Simson Muthiah as the Chairman of the Diocesan Golden Circle for this new term (2009 - 2012) and Mr James Chee as the Vice- Chairman. I sincerely wish to thank Mr. Dhanaraj for his leadership and faithfulness as the immediate past Chairman of the Diocesan Golden Circle.
May the good Lord continue to bless and watch over all of you daily!
Shalom,
Bishop Moon Hing
10 August 2009
