I am feeling some level of closure after the funeral for Markus Ng this morning. Maybe I would have some energy to next two days to blog about some reflections. For now, I still want to appreciate one area of his life I only discovered the day after he died.
One of the gifts the late Markus Ng left behind for us was his songs. Thanks to Ee Chia for linking us to one performance. I’ve never heard him sing before, but the last few days his songs have been an amazing source of inspiration, comfort and even challenge to me.
Friends, I present to you Markus, the singer-guitarist-songwriter, the poet with melody. I’d like to dedicate the song Strive to all who have journeyed through this time of grief for his sudden departure, and many of us who are undoubtedly grateful for a life well lived, and know he lives on now with the One who holds him in the palm of His hand, and in some way, his ideals live through us . . .
We are gonna come out stronger!
The Coward’s Run
by Markus Ng
Oh how it envelopes me
Makes me shift uncomfortably
Emptiness; it shivers through my bones
So, so, cold
I’ll do all I can to distract myself
Honest thoughts I shelve
Deny the self pity
I won’t let it get to me
Like the coward, I run
Heart weighs me down like a ton
Tires me so
So tired of waiting, tired of trusting
Take the quick fix
Like the coward, I run
Heart weighs me down like a ton
Wasn’t long before I stopped
To my knees I dropped
I do wanna leave
I wanna believe
I wanna live
Strife
by Markus Ng
Sometimes you have to be broken
to know what it means to be full
sometimes you gotta fall
to know what it means to stand up tall
so when you’re ever there
when life seems unfair
when you’ve hit the floor
remember, the only way to go is up
so grit your teeth
clench your fists
one thing for sure
you’re gonna come out stronger
fix your eyes on the hill
for wisdom, strength and will