Every new year, we reflect back on the year before to see how have we fared. We measure how much have we done, or like many other people, wish we had done to achieve the goals we set for ourselves. It is very much like a self-appraisal, although this appraisal does not give you a pay increment, but certainly a greater degree of drive to be a better person this year.
I would like to propose something a little bit more radical. Instead of the usual how many kilos I should have lost or how much time I should have spent on the tracks, let's reflect specifically on a certain part of our body. You would have guessed it by now I am talking about our knees.
Why our knees?
I believe many of us never gave thought to to whom do we exactly knelt down to from time to time. I remember, as the only child growing up in a traditional Chinese family, kneeling down in front of the ancestral altar was a punishment as I would have deemed to have disgraced my ancestor and needed to repent and seek forgiveness from my ancestors. As a young boy I was taught how sacred the act of kneeling is.
As Asians, we generally know that we usually only kneel down in respect for our parents and elders. And as a man who has found his life partner, we would kneel down on one knee to ask for the hand of our love in marriage. But most of us are fortunate enough never to have to beg or plead for something on our knees. Think of the family whose only house is threatened to be repossessed by the bank. Think of the father who is the sole breadwinner being retrenched, having no savings to support the family. Think of the widowed mother whose only hope was for her son to have a proper education but denied of the opportunity.
As I reflect on these things, I began to understand a simple truth about daily prayers and communion with God. Kneel before the King of Kings today, and you may never need to kneel to beg or plead for your life from the evil one.
God bless!
Guy down the street...
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