Running

Ran, (ok, casual jogged) 10km just now at East Coast with my unit. Clocked at a time of 60:02. I think its still acceptable, lah...mai hiam buay pai. And back at cookhouse, all ravenous and hungry and famished, our brains telling us that we need to eat right now, I realized something. Sometimes I thank God for the food with much more appreciation, when I am really hungry, than when I'm not. Why this hypocrisy? Another word came to my mind: Situation. God gives different situations because Man responds to them. Sometimes a 'bad' situation will bring us to a better appreciation of God's graces. It's simple truth really. But sometimes we all need to re-learn it.

I have been asking a serious question seriously to some of my friends. They give me answers as though I had not done any slight thinking, or applied any slight logic to it (or at least this is what appears to me). Sorry to those I bothered with my rigid questioning. Without questions, there are no answers, without which no basis, without which, no consistency. Many things sound so simple (too simple, and if something is too simple, there is chance we have been taking it for granted), yet profound truths lie behind them.

And something very interesting happened in camp. A platoon mate was delivering a speech about his 'universal and invariant theory of self-interest'. Of course, he was half-joking, and it was the manner we took it. Universal because it applies to everyone across all cultures. Invariant because the theory can withstand the test of time. Self-interest, he claims, is the driving force of the humankind. He then argues that everyone has self-interests, and this phenomenon can be used to explain things like double standards (which happens very frequently in army). While almost everyone jeered at his idea, trying to oppose his theory of self-interest, I merely smiled and listened, realizing the unintentional and uncanny resemblance to the doctrine of sin. Sin, is like self-interest. Sometimes sin is defined as self-centredness. Sin is universal, and surely it is also 'invariant' as in it has affected, affects and will affect mankind. Interesting, isn't it?