have I had a mentor-figure in my life?

September 11, 2024

Deaconess Lian Suan recently shared in her sermon that she used to bemoan the fact that there were no mentor-figures in her life. (According to her definition, mentor-figures have to be of the same gender as the mentee). But then she realised that she did have one older female as her mentor – and then, the rest of her experience as a mentee was in a group setting, not one-to-one.

That got me wondering – have I really developed a sense of appreciation for the mentor-figures in my life?

Actually, words don't do them justice – “them” being the complex web of interdependence that I am part of. It is my privilege and joy to love and be loved in return.

Mystics of centuries-past say:

The lover, the beloved, and love – they all become one. And so does the beautiful beings, the beholding eye, and beauty.

Here, then, let me acknowledge the more-experienced humans in my life who have been a channel of Divine Blessing in my younger, more-immature years:

Chris Jensen, who demonstrated the benefits of peer programming
How Wei Keng, who taught me what a LAMP stack is, and how to launch a Web-page from my mind into cyberspace.
Billy Kia, who demonstrated that a barista can be competent and enthusiastic – blurring the lines between work, play and joyful existence – over a sustained, consistent period of exertion, while honouring the dignity of customers, and grappling with the inevitable emotional friction that comes from working within a large organisation of complex, lovably imperfect humans.
Bing Shao (“Kendrick”), who reminded me that there exists experts who can tell the difference between a chord in root position and a chord in an inversion – even if I delude myself into thinking that no one can tell the difference.
countless others who do their work anonymously in a way that has brought blessings in my life.

Of course, I thank God, the Maker of this planet and its fullness thereof, for His forbearance with my frequent shortcomings as a steward of His beautiful garden.

Not to forget my beautiful sisters-in-Christ: Olivia, and Christine.

We are better together, and I thank God for that. I see now: interdependence, paired with healthy interpersonal boundaries, are better than a deluded sense of invulnerability, and better than co-dependence.

have I had a mentor-figure in my life?

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