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| Life Stories |  |
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[Life Stories] >> [Testimony] |
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Topic: What is your dream? Our brother Gerald Lim has been serving as a missions volunteer in Bolivia for the past 10 months and is due to return home next month. He shares his reflections on life's priorities... Do you dream? In your sleep and in your being? Scientists say that we forget much of our dreams upon awakening. I don't think I dream much. However, the past 10 months in Bolivia (a land-locked and also the poorest country in Latin America), I've been thinking about dreams. What is your dream? In your being (mind, body, soul, spirit)? What do you think about? What do you do? What consumes your soul and spirit? A common list would be : to rise up the ranks, to gain an Ivy League MBA, to be my own boss, to provide well for family, to push my children to top scholarships, to have the 6 'C's (cash, career, condominium, car, credit card, country-club). Oh yes, I almost forgot the all-important 'Singapore Dream' ...to have my own private property/house." Isn't that what's being drummed into us through the media, peer/societal pressure, family and/or self-expectations? After all, it makes good investment sense in land-scarce Singapore and so we strive for it -- toiling long hours, sacrificing intangible (hence deemed "not valuable") time, relationships, over-leveraging our capacities (even abilities) and much more to achieve this dream. Almost everyone wants to upgrade from a flat (public high-rise apartments) to a house (private low-rise building). Soon after arriving in the city of Cochabamba, I noticed a flurry of building activities. But why were high-rise apartments (called edificios ) the rage in land-abundant Bolivia? Puzzled, I asked around. Apparently, ' El Sueño de los Bolivianos ' ('The Bolivian Dream' ) is to live in an edificio ! The majority of the population live in the countryside, and struggle for even a meal. But almost all the upper middle-class and upwards want to upgrade from a house to an apartment/flat. I joked that Singaporeans and Bolivians should switch places. What are our 'dreams' and aspirations based upon? What if these changed? Could we have overlooked a critical consideration? In the above scenario, El Sueño (The Dream) varies according to the country, economy, experiences and generation. What am I striving for? Will the sacrifices to achieve it be worth it or will it be for nothing? What dream am I looking at and for? Ephemeral or eternal? Do you dream? What is your dream?" Matt 13:44-46 " The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it."
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