O Happy Day! (聖靈降臨日, 2023)

#2023-0528

~~ 聖靈降臨日 / The Day of Pentecost ~~

讀福音 (in different languages),

獻詩 O Happy Day, etc.

It's the Day of Pentecost today. Also known as "Whitsunday" -- I was curious about the original meaning of Whitsunday, or Whit Sunday, or Whitsun. So I checked Wikipedia for explanation, which tells that the word Whitsun literally means "white Sunday."

Here are two similar language notes that I've just found:

1. ME whitsondei < OE Hwita Sunnandæg, lit., white Sunday: prob. from the white garments of candidates for baptism.
2. [bef. 1100; ME whitsonenday, OE Hwīta Sunnanæg white Sunday; prob. so called because the newly baptized wore white robes on that day]

But in our church, the altar, candles, pulpit, lectern, etc., had been decorated in red (in addition to white!) to celebrate the Day of Pentecost. And many people who came to the service today wore red clothes and/or accessories to celebrate this important Christian holiday.

In addition to the visible cheery red, today's celebrations were audible (= can be heard) in two other ways:

1. The gospel for today was read in different languages -- for example, in English (by Rev. Lily Chang), French (by Jesse Simmons), Mandarin (by Doris Chang), German (by Hans Geiger), Hakka (by Jack Feng), Korean (by Pecky Park), and Spanish (by D. J. Wang).
2. The choir sang such beautiful songs -- (1) Down in the River, (2) God's Holy Spirit, (3) O Happy Day, etc.

What a happy day it is today! Thanks be to God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Amen.

If you click the video clip below, 

you'll see how happy we were today. 

~~ 歡迎點閱下面的影音片段 O Happy Day ~~

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相關文章：

1)  The Day of Pentecost     (2022)

2)  The Day of Pentecost, 2020     (2020)

3)  The Day of Pentecost, 2018     (2018)

O Little Egret: 又見白鷺鷥！

#2023-0527B

This evening, when I was walking on the Democratic Lawn (霧峰民主草坪) with Jean and our neighbors Rev. Sam Cheng and his wife, I was surprised to see a huge excavator (also known as "digger") in the ditch next to the lawn park.

The excavator was apparently being used to "shovel" the weeds in the waterway -- It is said that a series of typhoons are coming this season, bringing heavy rainfall. The overgrown weeds in the ditch (as you can see in photos) should be removed as soon as possible, because they can block normal drainage.

But then my focus was on the beautiful egret: It was gracefully searching for food, here and there! I did enjoy seeing such a bird, pure white, so pretty!

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相關文章 (See also)：

1)  《誰能捉拿》     (2022)

2)  The Lawn Has Been Mowed!     (2022)

2)  The Sunflowers Became Egrets!     (2021)

3)  白鷺鷥、紅蜻蜓：共 3 組     (2010)

華人文化：Why Don't We Share a Pear?

#2023-0527A

華人吃梨，一人一個，不願分享？...... 

文化解讀：不想 "分離" 罷了！😀😋😂😆

Jintian zaoshang laopo di gei wo yige xiyangli (she gave me a pear this morning). Wo shuo, zhi you yige a -- name women fenzhe chi ba. Ta shuo, ni chi jiu hao; na zhi shi yige xiaoxiaode li (it's just a small pear). Ta changchang ba haochide ranggei wo chi; huozhe ta rang wo duo chi, ta ziji shao chi. Wo juede ta jiushi zheyang: changchang weile wo, xisheng ta ziji...

Keshi, zhehui wo jieshou-le tade jianyi, ba zhengge li dou gei chi le, yinwei yizhao huaren de xisu, liangge ren fen yige li zong shi bu hao -- "fen li" (to share a pear) ting qilai jiu haoxiang "fenli" (to separate from each other) ya! 

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相關文章 (See also)：

1)  "八百塊錢" (外一章)     (2022)

2)  Papaya as a Dish (木瓜刨絲)     (2020)

3)  西瓜、柳橙、奇異果     (2016)

4)  Regarding Grapes (葡萄傳說)     (2014)

跟隨流行 "確診" 了！

#2023-0522

Out of the blue, I tested positive for COVID-19, too.

This was my first time to get COVID-19, the very first time in my life! I guess I just followed in my wife's footsteps. She'd felt sick and tested positive on the next day after we returned from Rev. Jason Ke's funeral. And, as far as I can tell, she and Tina (who rode to the funeral in the same car as we did) seemed to have tested positive for COVID-19 on the same night. I was lucky enough to test negative until May 12th, so I was able to attend the diocesan convention as scheduled -- but my wife canceled all her participation!

The process of recovering from COVID-19 was a little difficult for me. Staying in the bedroom most of the time, I tried to "isolate" myself from my children and grandchildren, just as my wife had done. Then she tested negative two or three days before I did. But as her immunity weakened, she developed shingles -- or technically, herpes zoster (帶狀泡疹).

Fearing the long journey, we postponed our return from Hualien. We felt weak as we were on our way home on May 18; then, in order to get more rest, I decided not to go to Rev. Jason's memorial service on Saturday, and we also missed our regular Sunday service at St. James' Church. -- Anyway, thank the Lord for finally healing us!

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相關文章：

1)  I've Received the 2nd Dose of the Vaccine     (2021)

2)  The 4th Dose of the Vaccine     (2022)