We Miss You, Fr. Jason Ke (懷念柯牧師)

#2023-0510

即使來到了花蓮，我們依然思念著柯牧師。

~ Even in Hualien, we still miss Rev. Jason. ~

In order to attend the diocesan synod (5/11~5/12), Jean and I came to St. Luke's Church in Hualien again; I'll be one of the lay representatives from our church, St. James' Church in Taichung, and she will be an "observer."

She told me this morning that our rector the Rev. Lily Chang just sent me a LINE message and I should read it and reply right away. "We'll have a memorial service for Fr. Jason Ke at St. James' on May 20," the message says, "Would you please read a Bible lesson during the service?" Certainly, I would like to. Like many of my church friends, I will miss Fr. Jason terribly in the years to come; so if I have the opportunity to do something at his memorial service, I would very much like it.

And tonight, I thought of Fr. Jason again; I even thought of collecting some photos of him (alone or with our church friends) from my previous blog posts. I put these selected photos below as a special album, so I can easily recall the good times we had with Fr. Jason. 

Note: Underneath each photo below is a caption 

indicating the date and something 

I think is worth mentioning.

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相關文章：

1)  "柯牧師時間" -- Time Set Aside for "Spiritual Food"     (2020)

2)  拜訪敬愛的柯牧師     (2023)

3)  The Funeral Service     (2023)

2018-0325 Palm Sunday at St. James

2018-0812 Photo taken at Coffee Hour

2018-0923 When Rev. Robert Martin visited St. James

2018-1125 English Congregation Retreat

at New Era Arts & SPA, in Puli

2018-1125 English Congregation Retreat 

at New Era Arts & SPA, in Puli

2019-0401 Spiritual Retreat at 三育基督書院

(Taiwan Adventist College)

2019-0401 Spiritual Retreat at 三育基督書院

(Taiwan Adventist College)

2019-0401 Spiritual Retreat at 三育基督書院

(Taiwan Adventist College)

2019-0401 Spiritual Retreat at 三育基督書院

(Taiwan Adventist College)

2019-0401 Spiritual Retreat at 三育基督書院

(Taiwan Adventist College)

2019-0401 Spiritual Retreat at 三育基督書院

(Taiwan Adventist College)

2019-0401 Spiritual Retreat at 三育基督書院

(Taiwan Adventist College)

2019-1007 A group photo taken 

at Chong Yang Festival

2020-0510 When our new bishop came 

and celebrated at St. James...

2020-0510 When our new bishop came 

and celebrated at St. James...

2020-0705 at Coffee Hour

2020-0705 at Coffee Hour

2020-1025 Coffee Hour

2020-1025 Rev. Jason Ke Time 

（柯牧師時間）

 

2020-1025 Rev. Jason Ke Time 

（柯牧師時間）

2020-1025 The Double Ninth Festival

2020-1025 The Double Ninth Festival

Date unknown - A photo shared 

by Ms. Helen Chiang

Date unknown - A photo shared 

by Ms. Helen Chiang

2014-0713 Photo taken after a farewell 

prayer for Lauren Maclean

2016-0403 Coffee Hour

2016-0411 at the Paper Dome (紙教堂)

2016-0411 at the Paper Dome (紙教堂)

2016-0521 at Peter Chu's wedding banquet

2016-1002 at St. James' Church
(photo taken by Catherine Lee)

2018-0107 Group photo taken at St. James

after Craig M. Long was baptized

又到花蓮 -- Hualien! Here We Are Again...

#2023-0509

Women dacheng "puyouma" (The Puyuma Express) ziqianghao lieche, cong Taizhong dao Hualian, yi tang xialai xuyao si ge zhongtou zuoyou. Lucheng hao yuan a! Danshi xinqing que shi huanyude, xingfengde, yinwei you keyi gen ersun zhaoxi-xiangchu, weiqi yi ge libai, xaingshou tianlun zhi le la!

Zheci lai Hualian, yi fangmian shi yi Taizhong Sheng Yagetang "xintu daibiao" han "guanchayuan" de shenfen, lai canjia 5/11~12 de "Jiaoqu Nianyihui" (Diocesan Convention) -- Women meiyou baoming canjia 5/9~10 de Gongzuofang (Workshop), danchun canjia Nianyihui, que yeshi yi tang "yi gong yi si" (亦公亦私) de gongwu chuchai jia tanfang zisun de lvxing. (This is a business trip plus a trip to visit children and grandchildren!)

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相關文章 (See also)：

1)  聖路加堂 聖誕音樂會     (2022)

2)  [影音檔] Taking Part in the Party     (2022)

3)  老夫妻與海 (The Old Couple and the Sea)     (2023)

4)  We Miss You, Fr. Jason Ke (懷念柯牧師)     (2023)

5)  Taiwan Episcopal Church Diocesan Convention     (2023) 

The Funeral Service

#2023-0508

The funeral service for Rev. Jason Ke was held at Chiayi City Funeral Home today.

Missing Rev. Jason so much, we -- especially the four of us who took the same car from and back to Taichung -- have today chatted a lot about him, our honorable priest. We would even think of him as our own father. (In fact,  in our church Rev. Jason is sometimes referred to as Fr. Jason!)

Attending Rev. Jason's funeral, I couldn't help thinking of my own parents: My father passed away in February 2015 and his funeral was on March 12th (which happened to be our Arbor Day!). A few years later my mother passed away in December 2020 and her funeral was on January 6, 2021 (which happened to be Epiphany!). I do remember those specific times, and I've missed my parents a lot ever since.

And now, at the funeral service, I felt that I should focus on what the Bible reveals about a human being who, with the love and help of the Lord, "returns" to heaven to enjoy eternal life. Yes, the glory of our Heavenly Father has conquered darkness; the love of our Lord Jesus Christ has overcome evil and death. Although no one can avoid leaving this world someday, we Christians with faith, hope, and love in our hearts will definitely have more courage (and wisdom!) to face or cope with various difficult challenges in life.

Thanks be to God! Rev. Jason already set a great example for us to focus on Jesus Christ. Rev. Jason told us over and over again that the center of the Christian life should be nothing but our Lord, Jesus Christ; he even pointed out that a sermon without the Lord's teaching placed on the top (or core) position could not at all be a good sermon, no matter how much information it included or how skillfully it was presented.

Even in his final years on earth, Rev. Jason was eager to teach the truth, the Christian faith and other spiritual things like that. In the meantime, he wanted to share with us the bread he made at home. Rev. Jason was wise and brave, indeed. When some of us visited him in February, he said it might be the last chance for us to see him in person... Having suffered from leukemia for so long, he didn't shy away from talking about life and death.

And today, in addition to Rev. Jason's family and relatives, so many of his good friends came to his funeral to show their love and respect to him. And from St. James' English-speaking congregation the seven of us -- Daphne, D. J, Wang, Elaine, Joy, Tina, Jean and I -- came and attended the funeral service, which was mainly arranged by our rector Rev. Lily Chang and the bereaved family. Emily Cheng, who is a diocesan seminarian currently having a practical training placement at St. James', also came and joined us. And Justin Lin and his wife Spring (who haven't been to St. James for a long time) showed up in a distance; but before I could say Hello to them, they quietly left the funeral home soon after the Cremation Prayer. Too bad I didn't get a chance to greet them!

May the Lord bless the departed Rev. Jason and also everyone who attended the funeral today!

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相關文章 (See also)： We Miss You, Fr. Jason Ke (懷念柯牧師)     (2023)

石斛蘭 ● 季春 ● 我們來晚了

#2023-0502

不知從哪一年開始，全球暖化引起的氣候變遷 (climate change) 已悄悄地「搞亂」我對於春夏秋冬月份的認知。

有一說，由四月進入五月，在台灣這裡，正是「春夏相交、季節更替」的時候。那麼，今天 (5/2) 我寫這篇短文的當下，究竟屬於春呢？還是夏？---- 又或是 "春夏交織" 不再分春夏了？

網路上，隨手一查，出現一篇以《四季花開》為標題的文章*，開頭寫道：「花開花落，標誌着季節的更迭交替。四時風光，變化萬千，繁花依時序綻放，各顯美態。」沒錯，四季風光各有特色，美妙不同；只要有心，隨時看景賞花，當可大飽眼福。

我的朋友中，就有好些喜愛「到處追花／隨時賞花」的人。最近發現，住我家對面的鄰居 Ms. Hou 也算其中之一，以 "愛花人" 形容她，十分恰當。而自己的親妹妹，四位中有三位，是道道地地的 "追花女"：什麼地方櫻花開了，油桐花開了，或是輪到薰衣草、金針花、波斯菊、阿勃勒等等，群英盛開之際，又或是［對我而言蠻新奇的］花旗木（桃紅陣雨樹）、 藍花藤（英文稱作 Sandpaper Vine 或 Queen's Wreath 的紫色錫葉藤）繁華綻放的季節，她們都會搶先去觀賞、拍照，享受 "與花相伴" 的樂趣。

約莫半個月前，兄弟姊妹聚集在「林果 ● 探戈」商討家鄉一塊 "共有地" 出售的授權事宜；聚會後，有幾位弟妹就轉往中興新村欣賞「石斛蘭 花道」去了。事後我才聽聞，他們是去看蘭花的。他們說，那兒有條 "光明三路"，兩旁的 "路樹" 上面栽滿了石斛蘭，花正盛開，千百朵各樣的花，一串串地，從樹幹上垂掛下來，彷彿要趁著春天，盡情地爭奇鬥艷。

可惜我跟另一半都很「宅」（名副其實的 "宅男宅女" 啊！），若不是今日想要回 大甲，出門前卻接到電話說我岳母也要出門，大半天不會在家，我倆可能還整日待在 霧峰 呢！既然準備就緒，就要開車出門了，何不另找個去處，來一趟臨時起意的 "自由行"？---- 但要往哪個地方去呢？夫妻思索良久，才決定 "效仿弟妹們" 到中興新村看蘭花。

開車來到中興新村，雖然啟動了Google 地圖以及 GPS 定位系統，依然四處探索，看不見那條「石斛蘭 花道」。倒是中途繞過從前柯牧師 (Rev. Jason Ke) 居住過的 "租屋"（多年前，我倆曾經專程來此拜訪過他！）。時光荏苒，後來柯牧師搬到 草屯 與女兒女婿同住；又過了幾年，他搬回 嘉義 與兒子兒媳比鄰而居。在很長的時間裡（至少十來年）柯牧師總是不辭辛勞，且「義不容辭」地，來到我們的 "台中聖雅各堂" 協助主日崇拜事工 (acting as visiting clergy)，直到他年老體衰為止。我倆路過這裡，不禁為了柯牧師 ---- 他於上週禮拜五 (4/28) 蒙主寵召 ---- 深感不捨。

感念之餘，也要為柯牧師虔誠祝禱，相信主必親自看顧他的靈魂。（感謝主！這些年來，柯牧師在方方面面，已留給大家深刻、美麗的回憶，成為我們 "愛神愛人" 極為美善的好榜樣。So we will miss him forever and ever. May the Lord bless him as always. Amen.）

當我倆最後找到 "光明三路" 時，發現這條「石斛蘭 花道」已然褪色不少。莫非花期已過，我們真的來晚了。不過，我還是 "美拍" 了幾十張照片，作為今日「難得隨興出遊」的圖像補充記錄。

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* 附註：該文刊登於香港的《文訊 Word Power》雜誌，至於作者為誰、刊登於第幾期.....等等，因隨手跳過網頁，我並未記下來。

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相關文章 (See also)：

1)  林果 ● 探戈     (2019)

2)  台灣蘭花大展 (Taiwan International Orchid Show)     (2012)

3)  "柯牧師時間" -- Time Set Aside for "Spiritual Food"     (2020)

4)  Revisiting Fr. Jason Ke     (2023)