Thoughts on Good Friday from as I sit in my church's Bible study room waiting for service to start

Today is Good Friday and Francis Raj shared the old "Watch the Lamb" video with me. It's very moving. Thank you Jesus for your love and sacrifice.

And then "Thank You for Giving to the Lord" autoplayed. Another great song. Very moving. Puts things into perspective.

It reminds me to examine WHY I do things.

And why is that? Why am I doing insurance?

I'm doing insurance because:

1.I really believe in it and

2.I really love my friends.

So, because of this love for my friends, I want to empower them with as much insurance cover as they can afford. Because, as much as we want to keep safe and healthy, "Malang tidal berbau," as the Malay proverb goes. Tragedy visits unannounced. That's why it's a tragedy. If we were prepared for it, it would only be an inconvenience, not a tragedy.

Insurance is all about managing risk so that in the event of a loss, insurance would indemnify the insured - that is, to make whole, to bring the insured back to pre-loss financial standing.

So, because I love my friends so much, I want to make sure they're covered with insurance protection to the tune of hundreds of thousands or even millions of ringgit, in exchange for premiums of onlyhundreds or thousands. That's a return of hundreds or thousands of times. I love leverage. I love using OPM (other people's money) that's why the insurance industry turns me on so much. I had previously read about strategies like OPM. Now I'm actually in the arena, doing it for real.

There are few certainties in life... But death is one of them. So, everyone should leverage this certainty with a kick-ass insurance policy. I almost feel sorry for Prudential. They have to pay out millions of ringgit while collecting hundreds or thousands of ringgit in premiums. Ah, well, I only almost feel sorry for Prudential. They're a large corporation with many prudent actuarial scientists working behind the scenes (pun fully intended). Besides, they're collecting those premiums from hundreds of thousands of people. Mathematics is magical!

Anyway, it really turns me on that for premiums of hundreds or thousands, people can set their future offspring up for life, when they take out a life insurance policy on themselves, or even an insurance savings plan.

Turn your job into an instant estate with assets of your own for your Legacy! You can do this by taking advantage of the leverage of insurance.

You can work hard to make a million bucks, or you can take an insurance policy to turn what the devil meant for evil into a windfall for your family.

"Into every life a little rain must fall,"goes the old lyrics. It's not certain that everyone will be struck with a critical illness. But it's probable, especially as age takes its toll. So, first of all, stay healthy. Eat well, sleep well and exercise. And guard your thoughts and feelings, too. Do all that good stuff and control what you can control. But then, make sure you're covered for things that are seemingly out of your control.

It's interesting how you can live each day fully when you're prepared for your death. That's the Stoic philosophy for you. "Memento Mori."remember you will die. In the old days, the Roman soldiers would keep a literal _memento of death, such as an enemy human skull, to remind themselves that they will die.

The Epicureans believed that meaning was found in the full experience of life's pleasures.

The Spartans believed that meaning was found in embracing hardship and toil.

The Ascetics believed that meaning was found in the denial of all life's pleasures.

But the Stoics believed that life is inherently meaningful, and that the remembrance of one's own death freed one's day-to-day life up in unimaginable ways, to live freely, unencumbered by anything: To live a life of service to one's own dependents and society at large.

It's amazing, the freedom you experience and the enjoyment in everyday life you feel, when you're aware that you will one day die, embrace that fact and prepare for it. "You're already naked" is the way Steve Jobs put it in his famous Stanford commencement speech.

Such are my thoughts, this Good Friday evening as I sit here in church listening to the singers and band get ready out in the sanctuary. Not forgetting the sound technician as well. I can hear the production crew preparing as well. Everyone tends to forget the soundman. I remember when the Integrity Music team came to town many decades ago, and conducted worship workshops. There were sessions for worship leaders, musicians and soundmen.

"You're worms," the workshop leader said to all the soundmen gathered. "If not for you, the whole show would go down. But nobody remembers you - except when something goes wrong. Then the whole congregation would turn around and look at you."

As much as soundmen are overlooked, I imagine that soundwomen have it worse. Nobody expects a woman to do three sound.

So, on this Good Friday where we remember that Jesus washed his disciples'feet, join me in applauding the soundmen. And doubly so for the soundwomen!