Emptiness

Tennis star Boris Becker was at the very top of the tennis world—yet he was on the brink of suicide. He said, “I had won Wimbledon twice before, once as the youngest player. I was rich. I had all the material possessions I needed . It’s the old song of movie stars and pop stars who commit suicide. They have everything, and yet they are so unhappy. I had no inner peace. I was a puppet on a string.”
Becker is not the only one to feel that sense of emptiness. The echoes of a hollow life pervade our culture. One doesn’t have to read many contemporary biographies to find the same frustration and disappointment. Jack Higgens, author of such successful novels and The Eagle Has Landed, was asked what he would like to have known as a boy. His answer: “That when you get to the top, there’s nothing there.”
Our Daily Bread, July 9, 1994

SPOILERS ALERT FOR PEOPLE WHO HAVE NOT SEEN PROTEGE






























Yesterday, I went down to Century Square after dinner to watch Protege with my sister. There was this statement made by Daniel that gripped me a lot. He asked this question: I do not understand why people take drugs until now? It is because of the emptiness in our hearts. So the root of the problem drugs or is it the emptiness in the heart?

Till the end, he couldn't find the answer to this question. The two characters dealing with the emptiness in the show were two extremes in society.
One was played by Andy Lau as an extremely rich drug dealer who sought after the riches in life by selling drugs but had problems with his health and his family as a whole. He was rich, yes, but purposeless in his pursuits in life. He lived in self-denial, believing that he was not at fault for selling drugs but it was those who created the demand for drugs that is causing harm to themselves.

The irony about the whole thing is that he could never trust anyone in the show. He spent his life seeking the riches of life but his heart was empty, he was careful not to trust anyone for fear that they might betray him. Like Boris Becker, he had no inner peace.

Many times in life, we sought after riches, love, regonition just to fill up an emptiness in our lives. We try so hard to climb to the top of the corporate ladder just to find nothing up there. Even if we come in 1st in a rat race, we are still rats. Are we missing out something in life?

I believe that the answer lies in serving the greater purpose the lord has for me in my life. My brother once told me that a watch will never know its purpose on earth, only the maker knows that its purpose is to tell the time. The same goes for us, we will never know our own purpose in life on our own. An if we continue trying to achieve a meaningless purpose in our lives, we will never be able to fill that emptiness in our heart which I believe can only be filled with the purpose and love of God.

The other character in the show would be Ah-Fen who takes drugs due to circumstancial problems in life such as a drug addict husband and a lack of money.

Another key problem in our life that we face is escapisim. We are down and out, poor and sick. We feel that there is no way out. Some people in life choose to escape from the problem by filling themselves with other issues in life when the way to solve the problem is to tackle it head on.

I had a friend during my army days. He once attempted to committed suicide when he was younger by taking drugs. He told me that he had no purpose in his life, he had family problems, relationship problems, the only way to solve the problem is to commit suicide at that time. But since then, he had came to know the lord and have been a changed man since.

Jacob faced similar problems in his life, he escaped from his brother and rather be ill treated by his uncle than to face his fear, his brother at home. Fear I believe is the key problem to becoming more than conquerors. Ah-Fen was afraid of her husband, afraid of facing the problem, afraid of rejection from Daniel. She sought help and eventually died of drug overdose due to depression when Daniel would rather help a dog than her.

As for Daniel Wu, he had lost focus on his purpose in life . Initially, he started off as an undercover cop who was supposed to catch Andy Lau. Eventually, it ended up with a false sense of achievement in becoming a 3rd sergent and a handshake for being undercover and putting his life on the line for 7 years and betraying his best friend Andy and his entire family. Eventually, he decided to continue working undercover for the police as a drug lord. He no longer had a meaning in his life. Eventually, he even wanted to inject himself with the drug in an attempt to fill that emptiness in him.

Share with you all a true story of the Taj Mahal:
The Taj Mahal is one of the most beautiful and costly tombs ever built, but there is something fascinating about its beginnings.
In 1629, when the favorite wife of Indian ruler Shah Jahan died, he ordered that a magnificent tomb be built as a memorial to her. The shah placed his wife’s casket in the middle of a parcel of land, and construction of the temple literally began around it. But several years into the venture, the Shah’s grief for his wife gave way to a passion for the project. One day while he was surveying the sight, he reportedly stumbled over a wooden box, and he had some workers throw it out. It was months before he realized that his wife’s casket had been destroyed. The original purpose for the memorial became lost in the details of construction.

Dr. James Dobson, Coming Home, Timeless Wisdom for Families, (Tyndale House Publishers, Wheaton; 1998), p. 122

Sometimes, we are so coped up with the flow of things in life like studying or working that we have forgotton the purpose behind all that. Do we study to gain knowledge or because of the fear of being percecuted by parents or teachers? Do we work to provide for ourselves and our family or is it for our personal fame and false sense of achievement for reaching the top of the corporate ladder? Do we sustain a marriage because of love for each other or because of a commitment to each other and the children?

Sometimes, in life, we should all take a break to reflect and ponder the reasons for pursuing a dream in our life.

There is one of my friends who is dejected as he failed to pass the test for becoming a pilot, he seems to have lost purpose in his life. In order to fill that emptiness in him, he diverts his attention to making money, to earn as much money as possible. What formerly was a dream to soar high in the sky as a pilot has become a dream to own a plane of his own and to earn the money to do so. We should look far, beyond our lifetimes and see that do the will of the lord as at the end of time, only 2 things remain, the Word of God and the Lives of Man. Nothing else in the world matters.

John2:17 And the world is passing away with all its desires, but the person who does the will of God remains forever.

We should look far, beyond our lifetimes and see that we do the will of the lord as at the end of time, only 2 things remain, the Word of God and the Lives of Man. Nothing else in the world matters.

So what is the main cause of tragedy in the show? Drugs which eventually led to to the death of the two people or the emptiness and fear in their lives to face their problems? What is the purpose in the lives of all three?

I believe that only the person who makes the watch truely knows what the watch is made for.

Go Deep, Look Far, Ask Big.