A Good Time in a Good Place

#2013-0913A

Ms. Lynn Baguiwet from the Philippines, Ms. Catherine Lee from the UK, my wife Jean Huang, and I visited Sun Moon Lake together today.

Catherine, who came to Taiwan in January 1999, has been one of our best friends for a long time. She has been accompanying her friend Lynn every day since Lynn's arrival in Taiwan on September 7. I am quite sure that Lynn has become a "mutual friend" of ours after the four of us spent this "ever-changing" day together at Sun Moon Lake.

Oh, just in a single day, we enjoyed seeing the lake in the sun, the same lake in the rain, and the very same lake neither in the sun nor in the rain—when the heavy rain stopped, it became somewhat cloudy but bright enough. Yet, the weather kept changing in the afternoon, rapidly shifting until we left the lake for home. Anyway, we did have a good time in a good place!

We have become good friends now. And I can boldly tell you again, "It's good for good friends to have a good time in a good place."

.                                             --- photoed by Catherine Lee

.                                             --- photoed by Catherine Lee

.                                             --- photoed by Catherine Lee

Just Before Visiting the Sick (相約於中興會堂前集合)

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Tingdao haoyou Yao zhuren shengbing zhuyuan, women dou man jingya de. Ta ke shuo shi "jiankang renshi" -- pingri you guilude yundong, jihu tiantian youyong huo qi-danche. "Ta zenme le?" wo haoqi wendao. Yongcong (wode ling yiwei haoyou) zai dianhua nayitou shuo: "Tingshuo youdian xiao zhongfeng, yijing zhuyuan zhiliao dayue liangge yue le." Aiya! Zenme Yao zhuren bingle zheme jiu, women dou bu zhidao ne!

Women (baokuo Yongcong, Yirui, Rongbin, han wo) xiangyue zai Zhongxing Xincun de "Zhongxing Huitang" jihe, ranhou yitong qianwang yiyuan tanbing. Benlai shuo shi zai Shuli Nantou Yiyuan de Zhongxing fenyuan, jieguo faxian Yao zhuren bu zai nali, ta shi huidao benyuan zuo fujian zhiliao. Yushi, women jiu zhuantou kaiche qianwang Nantoushi . . . . Danyuan Yao zhuren zaori kangfu! Wo momode wei ta qidao. (但願姚主任早日康復！我默默地為他祈禱。)

能量圖說: Pictures of Energy and Power

#2013-0910

The two pictures below were taken on March 21, 2013, when I was on my way home from a hike, passing through the villas Yihui Shanzhuang (霧峰議會山莊).

In the first picture you'll see not only the beautiful sunset but also the utility poles with quite a lot of electrical wires connected to them. This picture reminds me of a valuable passage from The Bible, which I would like to quote as follows:

[Jesus' words] "Remain united to me, and I will remain united to you. A branch cannot bear fruit by itself; it can do so only if it remains in the vine. In the same way you cannot bear fruit unless you remain in me. I am the vine, and you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will bear much fruit; for you can do nothing without me. . . . If you remain in me and my words remain in you, then you will ask for anything you wish, and you shall have it. My Father's glory is shown by your bearing much fruit; and in this way you become my disciples. I love you just as the Father loves me; remain in my love." (John 15:4-5, 7-9)

In the second picture below (or the one on the upper right), you'll see something different. And this picture is significant to me, too. It makes me think of The Book of Isaiah, chapter 35: "The Road of Holiness" -- Here is part of the poetic description from this chapter:

"Tell everyone who is discouraged, 'Be Strong and don't be afraid! God is coming to your rescue, coming to punish your enemies.' The blind will be able to see, and the deaf will hear. The lame will leap and dance, and those who cannot speak will shout for joy. Streams of water will flow through the desert; the burning sand will become a lake, and dry land will be filled with springs. Where jackals used to live, marsh grass and reeds will grow. There will be a highway there, called 'The Road of Holiness.' No sinner will ever travel that road; no fools will mislead those who follow it." (Isaiah 35:4-8)

Hiking on the Hill (小孫子登山健行)

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Being two years and ten months old, my grandson (Little Bee) is now much bigger and stronger. He can walk up and down the hill near our house with very little help from Jean and me.

The photos below show what Jean and I did with our Little Bee this morning. Well, let these photos tell you the story . . . .

I saw Little Bee do this for the first time!

(頭一次看見小孫子吊單槓！)

Grandpa! Grandpa! Come on -- Be quick! 

(爺爺！爺爺！快點 . . . 跟來呀！)

What is he telling his grandma?

(他跟奶奶說些什麼？)

Visual Aids for a Sermon

#2013-0901

Time: Sunday, September 1, 2013 (The 15th Sunday after Pentecost)
Location: St. James' Episcopal Church, in Taichung City, Taiwan
The Title of the Sermon: Two H's and a Special Meal
The Gospel Reading for today: Luke 14:1, 7-14
Part of the Sermon and the Visual Aids: (See below.)

It was an informal sermon, a personal sharing instead of a formal sermon! I had something to share. I asked them to look at the front cover of my home-made booklet, saying, "What do you see here?" [See the "H" in the picture on the upper right.]

"H" could be the initial letter of the English words "holy," "healthy," "host," etc., and when I rotated the letter 90 degrees clockwise (or counterclockwise), it looked like "工" -- a Chinese character meaning "work" or "job." May this personal sharing of mine be some sort of "holy work" as well!

If every sermon needs a title, my sharing can be entitled "Two H's and a Special Meal."

My "sermon" was focused on the Gospel reading for today, Luke 14:1, 7-14. What did I mean by "Two H's"? -- The first H means "humility" (Luke 14:7-11) and the second H means "hospitality" (Luke 14:12-14). This was my answer. And I explained that the first H should be in lower case, a small "h," as Jesus teaches the guests to be humble; and the second H is in upper case, a capital "H," as Jesus teaches the host to be hospitable. [See the "h" and "H" below.]

Then, additional meaning of the small "h": [See the picture below.] What does it look like? A chair? A good/bad place? The best place? Or a worse position? The worst situation? . . . . How do you distinguish between good and bad? Between high and low? Between long and short? -- Are you really able to tell one from another?

For us (mortal) human beings, with only limited knowledge and wisdom, it is really necessary to make a comparison to see the difference between two things; sometimes it is necessary to make an analogy for a better understanding of the true meaning of something, esp. something abstract.

A joke (also true story): Mr. Yang, my former classmate, asked me a tricky question, "Who is more important, me or your girlfriend?" -- My answer: "It's really hard to say which one is bigger, a meter or a kilogram." Good and specific definitions are necessary in any discussion (and for further discussion).

The true meaning of a parable: A parable is a short story, which is told in order to make a moral or religious point. (e.g. Matthew 13: The parable of the Sower, the parable of the Mustard Seed, the parable of the Yeast, etc.) In my opinion, a parable is not always a true story, but it is a story of truth, a story regarding the truth. A parable tells something important about the life, or the way, or the truth. -- By the way, who is "the way and the truth and the life"? (See John 14:6)

Jesus used many parables (and made a lot of comparison) to tell about the truth; another example is seen in John 15, Jesus the Real Vine. (This is one of my favorite parables!)

Now, back to the Gospel of Luke: [Read Luke 14:1]. Verse 1 provides the setting (故事背景) of the stories that Luke tells us in Chapter 14, from verse 1 through verse 24.

"Table talk" was a common literary device (文學技巧) for gathering (or putting) several independent units into one place. [See the phrase below.]

In verses 1-24 there are four stories that do not depend on one another for their meaning:

(1) Vss. 1-6, Jesus heals a sick man on the Sabbath;
(2) Vss. 7-11, (humility) Jesus teaches the guests to be humble;
(3) Vss. 12-14, (hospitality) Jesus teaches the host to be hospitable;
(4) Vss. 15-24, The Parable of the Great Feast: When invited to a great feast, many (or all) people find an excuse for not attending it.

Even if Luke is here using the literary device "table talk" for joining pieces of tradition, this is not to say the setting of a meal was an unimportant detail for him. On the contrary, meals were of profound significance for Luke: (1) Bread was important; in fact, where some eat and some do not eat, the kingdom is not present (Luke 16:19-31). (2) Breaking bread was important; in fact, the real test of whether the church included persons who were different was not at the point of baptizing them but of eating with them (Acts 11:2-3). (3) Fellowship meals were central in the church's life together; in fact, the risen Lord "had been made known to them in the braking of the bread" (Luke 24:28b-31a). So then, do not think that Luke's locating many of Jesus' teachings "at table" was only "a nice little touch."

Take today's Gospel reading for example: 

(1) In Luke 14:7-11, Jesus is not simply discussing etiquette, though it includes sound practical advice on social behavior. More likely, Jesus has kingdom behavior in mind, saying that "those who make themselves great will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be made great" (v. 11).

(2) In Luke 14:12-14, Jesus is not giving lessons on social graces. The point is, hosting can be a way of making others feel they are in your debt, so they will "pay you back" when preparing their guest lists. In the kingdom, however, God is always the Host, and we extend God's invitation to those who cannot repay. (After all, who can repay God?) -- From the Song of Mary (Luke 1:46-55) to the end of his Gospel, Luke is careful to remind us that the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind are also kingdom people.

And what do you see in the following pictures?

(1) If each of them indicates several long tables joined together in the shape of ㄇ, where do you think the most important seats are? And . . . . (Cf. Luke 14:7-11)
(2) If this shape (ㄇ) represents a door or a gate, then are you going through the narrow door/gate? (Cf. Matthew 7:13-14; Luke 13:24) It is said that the door to the everlasting life is always a little lower than your height, so if you want to enter it, you'll have to bend your head . . . .

In conclusion, I mentioned that we were to have Holy Eucharist soon, and that our approaching the Altar to be given the bread and the wine is re-acting the holy drama The Lord's Supper. -- In so doing, we can once again experience and feel that Jesus is in us and that we are one in him. (Holy Eucharist is a holy form of meal.)

And, as it is the first Sunday of the month, we had a Potluck brunch right after the service today. I thought that the Potluck would be another wonderful meal, with plenty of food and drinks shared by members of the congregation. So I said, "Let's enjoy the meal, in the physical/corporeal sense and also in the spiritual sense."