Sorry is the hardest thing to say

An expatriate in Singapore sneered at “poor people” – the suffering plebeians in public transport, and triggered a storm in the social media. 

Public fury never seemed more futile and impotent.

Insulated in his fast cars, luxury housing and privileged social circle, what does it matter to him that the 99% hate him? Maybe he would find this furor childish, laughable even. He issued an apology through a public relations firm. I never knew that saying sorry so hard that it takes a professionally paid team to help one do it. 

I guess I became envious of the rich, the powerful, and the bullying. It is hard not to be, strap-hanging in crammed buses while porsches zip by. Though the Bible promises that God loves the humble, and that the meek will inherit the earth, daily life certainly does not always feel that way. How gratifying it would be to see everyone get his comeuppance or reward instantaneously. The fat of the land should go only to those who deserve it, and everyone pays an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. At that time, surely it would be a no-brainer to choose to do good, in order to merit rewards.

Yet patience is perhaps the greatest test of faith. God’s word is indubitable on the ultimate outcomes for who honor him, and those who mock at him. Each of us then get to choose our path accordingly to how much we believe in these promises. In this sense, we are truly walking by faith and not by sight, whether this faith is in His word, or in the worldly rules that often reward greed. I think that it is His mercy which is delaying the immediate consequences of our actions. We have many decades to discover the results of our choices, and to change our minds. For the sneering man in his Porsche, maybe the public condemnation could be a wake-up call, before the eternal one. That too, is his choice to make.