Life – One Lone Star Light

Posted by kairospix (Singapore, Singapore) on 28 May 2007 in Cityscape & Urban and Portfolio.

Yesterday, I mentioned about the Merlion Park. Here is a shot of the Merlion’s silhouette against the rising sun light! On the right, next to the sun you can see a ferris-wheel that is still in the midst of being constructed. It’s called the Singapore Flyer which is supposed to be the next biggest after the largest in the world currently the Star of Nanchang in China. I used to think the largest was the famous London Eye but not any more apparently. Likewise come 14 February 2008, Star of Nanchang will no longer be the largest in the world as it will be superceded by the Singapore Flyer by 3 meters. You can find out more about the Singapore Flyer at this site or here.

Anyway, it’s the start of another week. As I look at this shot, the sun looks like one lone star light rising, lighting up the earth bringing it warmth and making it day.

Sometime back I shared in one entry about how there are some people who colour up your life because of their positive outlook to life and how this rubs on to you.

Today, as I ponder over this one huge lone star it reminds me of those people in history who made an impact because they stood their ground and shone brightly in the midst of more popular, and sometimes darker, way of thinking and living of the masses.

There is Mohandas Gandhi or later Mahatma Gandhi (Mahatma means Great Soul), who believed that each man has the right to be treated equally and that you can insist on this right without resorting to violence. His non-violent way of protest was the foundational backbone of the freedom movements of Martin Luther King Jr of USA and later Nelson Mandela of South Africa. Gandhi once said, “An eye for eye only ends up making the whole world blind.” Simple logic but makes so much sense. Violence only begets violence, hate only begets hate, unforgiveness only begets unforgiveness and in the end everyone loses, especially the one who cannot forgive, who must hate and resort to violence. You can read more of his quotes here.

Then there is Mother Teresa who showed us how to love people, even your enemies. She once said, “The most terrible poverty is loneliness and the feeling of being unloved.” And this simple small-sized nun showed the world what it means to love the unloved, the unwanted and the undesirable. Again you can read more of her thoughts here.

Lastly, I want to mention about Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Not many would know him as he didn’t live long in this world. He was executed at the young age of 39 after being caught for being involved with members of the German Military Intelligence Office who were planning to assassinate Hilter. He was one of the few Lutheran pastor and theologian who stood up and spoke up against Hilter and his Nazi regime when many churches and clergy in Germany embraced Hilter’s teachings and thinking, even though it was wrong and evil. Many, with a herd mentality, decided to blindly follow Hilter and Nazism because they knew if they didn’t they will have to face his wrath and maybe lose your life. And that was the price Dietrich Bonhoeffer paid to not only speak the right thing but to live it as well. Here is a quote from him, “Action springs not from thought, but from a readiness for responsibility.” He was responsible and took actions to do the right thing. There are more quotes by him here and here.

All three remind me that there’s evil in this world we live in. We can chose to ignore it, embrace it or we can choose to be like that one lone star light to shine in what is right and true.

I leave you with another quote that has often been attributed to Edmund Burke,

“All that's necessary for the forces of evil to win in the world is for enough good men to do nothing.”

Have a good week ahead!

Camera - Canon Powershot G6
Lens - Canon 7.2 - 28.8mm (approx. 35 - 140mm)
Capture date - 19 May 2007
Aperture - f 8.0
Shutter speed - 1/800 sec
Shooting mode - aperture priority
Exposure bias - 0EV
Metering mode - Pattern
ISO - 50
Focal length - 7.2mm (approx. 35mm)
Stablization - Hand-held
Cropped? - Yes
Post-processing? - PS LRoom processed
Lighting? - Outdoor Natural Light

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