The economists tell us that times are going to get harder and harder for us here in Malaysia. But amidst inflating prices, competition is only going to be more rife than ever with more people fighting to get a piece of the ever-shrinking pie. So the only people who would ultimately survive this boiling economic climate are the fittest of the lot.

This is precisely why society speaks a lot of the survival of the fittest. Those who are not tough enough eventually show themselves to be losers. We are nurtured to exalt mottos like "Born to win" and "We are the champions". Nobody likes the idea of being only second best. Strive to always be the best because nobody dares to mess with the best. If you fail to be the best, you will gain no respect.

One might say that humility ceases to be a virtue when survival is an issue. Of utmost importance is success, and only when one is successful that the virtue of humility can be cultivated. In success, you show yourself to be humble only to be even more respected.

One of the types of places I love visiting for a holiday are mountains. I love driving up mountains (not climbing them!), firstly because I love cold temperatures. The other reason I love being on mountains is that the sheer height gives me a sense of transcendence. Whatever the stress I may be experiencing at a particular point of my life journey, being on a mountain gives me a sense that I am able to transcend all these stresses life has brought me.

The transfiguration event seems to point to a similar kind of experience that the disciples went through when they ascended the mountain with Jesus.

For some of us who have a deep love and affection for the Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, our Lent this year might have begun rather prematurely. I remember the evening five days ago when the news was released, I was having a short nap and was awoken by a series of successive text messages on my phone from people enquiring if it was true that Pope Benedict XVI was going to abdicate the Chair of St Peter. After all, this was an unprecedented decision in the past 700 years of the Church, and none of us alive today has ever lived to see a Pope resign. Until now.