Being remembered - 93/94 OCCET

The gathering of old friends, especially old army friends, likely goes much the same around the world.  We marvel at those who have kept fit, laugh at eccentricities of past comrades, and raise a glass to those who have left us.  I recently caught up with my 93/94 OCCET (Officer Cadet Course, Engineer Term) friends for dinner, and it was as good as ever. It beggars belief that it has been twenty-three years since we first stepped through those Jurong Camp II gates!  It was so so good to see all of you!!!

For a while, we amuse ourselves by struggling to remember the actual names of those who we've lost contact with.  Top Gun may have had "Maverick", "Iceman" and "Viper".  But we had Scud (cool), Ice (still cool), Puffy (OK less cool), Kooshkin (um, a 90s puffball toy), Kermit and Sebastian (not so much actual names as references to Muppets' green amphibian and the red crustacean in the Little Mermaid :)).  A Few Good Men may not have been able to handle the truth, but we... well, the less said the better.  Two words.  Deep.  Heat.

What strikes me is that after all these years - many of us remember just about only one thing about each of us.  The guy with the sandfly allergies.  The guy who fell into the ravine.  ALONG WITH A BRIDGE (he survived unscathed.  Wile E Coyote and the Acme anvil have nothing on him).  The guy who didn't wear underwear (TOO MUCH INFORMATION).  The quiet guy who was zen about everything except area cleaning (apparently me!!!).

But of course, we know a few people better.  Our own buddies.  The few of us who were larger than life.  And I wonder if I have made anything more than a fleeting impact on those around me.  What will my wife and children remember about me - the guy who earned money?  The guy who scolded them to study?  What will my colleagues remember about me - the guy who turned up, worked at something or other, then went home?  What will my friends remember about me - the guy who occasionally turned up for lunch?

So here is my resolution for my wife:
Proverbs 31:28 Her children arise and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her: "Many women do noble things, but you surpass them all"  I want to learn to be so good to my wife that my children will see it!  And I want to learn to praise her more!

For my children:
Ephesians 6:4 Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.  May I learn patience with my children, and not be so easily provoked to scold and alienate them.  And I want to make a deliberate and pro-active effort to share with them everything I have learned from Jesus, so that they may enjoy the same joy and peace I have.

For my colleagues and friends:
Hebrews 12:14 says "Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord." I am really not much of a people person.  I feel uncomfortable getting too personal.  My army friends remember me as never being angry with anyone (that's great) but I suspect I didn't make much of an impression other than that!  Not doing harm is not quite the same as doing good.  So I want to be the sort of friend and colleague who is remembered for radical integrity, for actively reaching out, and for genuinely caring. Because without holiness no one will see the Lord.

And as I strive to do all this, I want to remind myself that it's not going to be all smooth sailing.  I will try, fail, but get up and go again.  Just as it was in the physical travails of OCCET (http://pilgrimonearth.blogspot.sg/2016/04/soc-just-keep-running.html), so it is in life.  Hebrews 12:11 No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful.  Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.

Or as my Engineer friends would say.  Advance and overcome!

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