About Christianity

have you ever played micromouse before? it is a game where a small robot mouse (micromouse) navigate around the maze and then once it discovers the 'cheese' which is the center of the maze and its optimal route, it goes back to the starting point again and tries to get to the cheese in the shortest possible time. for more information, please go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Micromouse for more details about the game.

when i was in high school, i represented my school to compete in the inter-school micromouse competition. i was the second in-charge of my team. preparation is usually split into 2 major areas - the algorithms and the calculations. for the algorithms, a person has to set the programme to instruct the mouse what to do if it came to a crossroad. for example, if the mouse comes to a crossroad in the maze where there are more than 1 paths to choose from, the algorithm programmed into it will instruct it where to go. algorithms will contain different instructions as to where to turn at different parts of the map. your mouse's speed of exploration of the maze depends on the algorithm.

as for the calculations, well the mouse has wheels, of course. so during my time, one revolution of the wheel contains 424 steps. my job as the 2IC is to make sure the mouse don't crash when it runs. for example, when a mouse do a right turn, the right wheel will move lesser than the left wheel. my role is to calculate to as accurately as possible how many steps to take for a right and left turn for both sets of wheels. it is tedious, as a tiny error in the number of steps, no matter how small it is, shows itself when the mouse is running and turning at high speeds.

what am i trying to say?

i think, we are like the mouse in the maze. the cheese is our final goal. and when we are born we start our journey towards the cheese. the problem is, if we are the mouse, then life must be the maze. some of us get lost in life, some of us hit the wall wherever we go. some of us crash, and some of us go in circles before we get to the cheese.

a lot of people don't like the idea that God has a plan for our lives and we are to follow it. it is almost like saying we are puppets, with no free will. i used to think like that too. i used to hate the fact that i, a human with intelligence, is unable to control my life. but if you look at it from another point of view, it might be a little different. God's plan is like the algorithm, only that it is the perfect algorithm. He knows the maze perfectly well (we don't know the maze until the day of the competition, after all the programming had been done) and knows which set of algorithm is for us. in fact, all our plans are customized, don't you think so?

what about trials? why do we face so much nonsense in life? why can't we have a peaceful life? i want a peaceful life too. but trails are like the calculations. without them, we will crash into every turn we encounter. just like how the calculations have to be very precise, the trails are there and they fit into our lives such that we would need them in the future. i am sure you learn things from well, the mess you had gone through? only after the trails are inserted into our experiences, like how the calculations are inserted into the programming, then we can run faster, run longer and will not crash at every single turn. we get to the cheese faster, the cheese meant for us to take when we are born.

i had a friend, who was a christian, but became a fallen christian. he rejected God. he believed there is a God, and that God will send him to hell if he rejected Him. he knew all these, and he believe it. but he still rejected Him. why? because he is very disappointed with God. i remembered once he told me, 'When i die, i am going to ask God, 'are you done playing with my life?'' if you are a christian, you may think he is a fool. or maybe he really is. but the fact was he was very disappointed. everyone runs into problems, some big some small. if you are still keeping your faith, congratulations. it is either your problem are small or you are given enough strength to cope.

like i said, we are just like the mouse in the maze. the problem is, if we depend on ourselves, we get lost. sometimes we see the cheese, but we cannot get it. because the way is blocked. sometimes we ended up going one big round. it might look like a darn big round, but it might well be the shortest route available. who knows? the other shorter routes might end up having a dead end.

God gave us the algorithm and the calculations. all we need to do is follow. of course we have a choice of following or not. if we follow, does it mean we are puppets? i don't think so. because we are getting help from Him when we follow Him. think of it this way: if you are lost in a city and you ask for directions, and the man you asked told you to walk straight, turn right, walk straight and finally turn left. you have 2 choices: follow or don't follow. if you don't follow, does it mean you are in control of your life? if you follow, does it mean you are a puppet?

like the maze, our life is full of bends and turns. we cannot really see what is ahead of us. who knows, walk another step, and there appears a crossroad. walk a few more, there appears another turn. this is the very nature of the maze. life, like maze, is never straight. even if there is a straight line, how long can it go? eventually, to get to the cheese, we need to make turns, need to come to crossroads. but the problem now is, we don't know the maze, because we are inside it. God knows the maze. but He does not want us to know the maze. He wants us to follow Him faithfully. if we do that, He will guide us to the cheese.

many of us, at one time or another, feel lost. we walk and walk, and we follow instructions. we take the trails. but that's all we do. it goes on and on. it doesn't really feel like we are nearing our goal. we are still on the outside of the maze, far away from the cheese. when can we get to it? maybe, preparation is not yet done. or maybe, the time is not right. we see many opportunities past by, and yet we did not get hold of any of it. we are frustrated. but what if, we are on one end of the maze, and the correct entrace is at the other end, one full square perimeter away? we are being guided, told faithfully to follow the algorithm (the plan for our lives), and told to go through every turn (the trials) we encounter, and go one big circle. along the way, we may, like the mouse come to many openings that seemed to lead inside the maze to the cheese (opportunities), but the algorithm says no. go forwards, follow the circle to the other end. after one long time, we are still outside, and seem to travel in one big circle. not accomplishing anything, not getting anything, while the others all go ahead and take the cheese.

how many of us are like that? i think, all of us. some were like that in the past, some are like that now, some will be like that in the future. maybe, my friend saw so many opportunities go by, or maybe there were just too many turns to take. follow the plan, it don't seem to lead us anywhere. follow our own plan, use our own intelligence, we crash into the wall. why? you experienced that before? no matter what happens, everything is in a mess. you are disappointed with everything, with everyone, with God.

but we are just a mouse. we need an algorithm, we need calculations. it is not enough to have only an algorithm, nor is it enough only to have the precise calculations at the turns. both need to come together. people have different sufferings, many are worse than mine. many went through tragedies. maybe because i have not went through such drastic turns, that's why i am not yet disappointed. that's why i can see it more objectively. that's why i am more willing to accept what God showed me.

we are the mouse. to get to the cheese, we need help. the plan and the trails are not meant to make us puppets, nor is it meant to play with our lives. they are neccessary to get to the cheese. when we are lost, when we feel like not moving ahead, when we don't know what to do, always ask God for help. He can see the maze, we can't. follow Him faithfully, and you will get your cheese. just like asking a stranger for directions, remember, following directions does not mean you have no free will. you know you will crash into the wall on your own. and that, is not free will. unless you said to yourself, i want to crash into the walls.