About Christianity

cameras are a wonderful invention. it allows us to capture moments of our lives which our memory may not be able to store. it tells us the life we had. the pictures we had reminds us of the memories we had and bring a smile back to our face, if we use them correctly. i am not telling you to use a camera and take pictures of other people's private life. so, what has this got to do with what i am saying today? actually... nothing.

i got my camera, finally, after days of searching. it is a nikon s52 camera. 9 megapixel. i know you are not interested to know that.

ok so here it goes. i want a camera, and researched on the web. canon, olympus, sony, nikon. these 4 brands are the most popular brands and most recommended by others. after going through hours of selection and research, i had decided on one. that is the nikon s52. it was released in april. now it is june.

also, there is this great singapore sale going on. everything is going on at a promotional price. so what i did was go out happily, thinking i could come back with the camera i wanted. crap. no stock. one retailer chain said they did not take in any because there are too many (other) stocks they could not clear. the other retail chain had no stock. what made me mad was they put it on the advertisement saying they are selling it and what? no stock and did not even take in any stock? i was kind of pissed. everywhere i go i could not find it. of course maybe other small shops at the street did sell, but i did not really trust them.

i went all over the retail chain stores to look for it (because they don't answer their phones!!), but there were no stocks too. i was asked if i wanted other models. i said no. i only want the one i want. back in my office, i did a bit more research on other brands. i know what you are thinking. personal research during office hours? shut up. don't say a thing.

i thought if this model is so hard to get maybe i should get other brands or models. i researched more into others, but could not find one that can match the model i want. forget it. either i get that model or i will not get anything. it is my money. i want to buy what i want.

what i did finally is i went through a list of authorized dealers in singapore nikon has. there were large retail chains as well as small shops. i did not trust small shops, but if the advertisement put the name of the small shop there and said it is authorized to sell, i guess i would go for it. and there, i found it at a small shop. hooray x 1/2. where did the other 1/2 go? different colors of the camera were available in different countries. for example america has green, i think. i hate green, so i don't care. but i was kind of disappointed that singapore did not have black color. i had to go for silver, out of the 3 colors - silver, gold and pink (i think, i forgot). and i got it at a discounted price because that shop imported too much stock.

moral of the story? our christian belief is just like this search for the camera. only that we have searched and found it. i knew what camera i want and would not go for any other. i searched long and wasted time, but in the end i got it, and at a discounted price. what about our christian life? we knew Jesus is the Way. we have to follow Him. it is hard, tedious and we have to spend time. we cannot go for any other alternatives, because we all know where it lead to (bad cameras). just like how i thought i might search for alternatives, there may be times we are tempted to go for alternatives in our christian life too. but remember, just as i could not find any other cameras that i like and suited for me, there is only one Way for you and for me and for all others. but if we have patience, and preservere, in the end, we will get a much better reward (discounted price). so, don't give up if it is hard. the end result is worth it. or should i say, you definately don't want to try hell.