15 ^th January 2007

Dear Lord,

In Hong Kong, new things tend to be valued just because they are new, and older things thrown away without thought.This applies to clothes, technology such as mobile phones, furniture and even buildings.

Of course, a lot of this has to do with money.Manufacturers want to sell as many of their products as possible, so they put pressure on people through advertisements to buy the latest of everything.

Rich and powerful developers want the best places to build high-rise, profitable buildings.Until now, it has been the practice to allow them to pull down old buildings and replace them.However, more and more people have been realizing that these buildings tell a lot about the history of Hong Kong.Therefore, the government is now making some moves to protect some of these old buildings.

Lord, let us all realize that we have abundance in our lives, and be grateful for that.Let us understand that we do not need to fill our lives with new things in order to be satisfied.We can value what we already have, and appreciate the effort that has been put in by our parents and our ancestors to make our lives so comfortable.Let us preserve some of the past as a reminder of that effort, which is our heritage and history.Let us understand that contentment arises from gratitude, and that we should be grateful every day for the abundant gifts given to us.

Lord, hear our prayer!