Friday, December 29, 2006

December blessings

What a wild month this has been. The customary preparations for Christmas as always took up a chunk of my schedule, but then, I’ve made peace with it a long time ago. As much as I yearn for a quiet month of Advent reflection with family (and preferably away from home) my present circumstances make that pretty impossible. That’s not necessarily a burden; there’s much to be thankful for inspite of a demanding workload. The joy of Christmas, the universal appeal of its carols, the air of festivity (somewhat sadly diminished in recent years in Malaysia), the incredible thot of “God in flesh appearing” and its accompanying message of peace and hope and salvation – who can resist? So how did December come and go so quickly?

2 December Annual Thanksgiving Night: Both congregations came together to praise God for His faithfulness. We don't always get together so it's always something to look forward to when it happens. Had to help Ethan put together a slide presentation for the evening. What a history! I was much humbled by Mdm Mary Au-yong who came out to thank the Lord. The lady who is in her late 70s has had an eventful life. She was recently granted welfare status by Bandaraya and a monthly stipend. Speaking in Cantonese, she named individuals who stood by her in her time of need, and even drove her all the way to meet relatives in Ipoh. Since then she has faithfully brought fruits for refreshment during Worship, and never stops to say how grateful she is to the Lord to anyone who asks about her health. She may not have much compared to so many of us, but she certainly knows how to show her gratitude with what little she has.

3 December: We screened L’Enfant as part of our Prima Film Club programme. Internationally acclaimed Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne are 2 brothers who have consistently made brilliant movies. They struck gold again with this thoughtful meditation on loss and hope in postmodern Europe. Beautiful, unpretentious, and provocative. In a land of plenty, how much is a baby worth? L’Enfant won the Dardenne brothers the Palm d’Or at Cannes Festival 2005.

14-17 December:
Elliot’s debut as cellist in the newly formed KLPac Sinfonietta’s Christmas production ‘Candlelight Christmas’ made for a delightful family outing. Proud Mom (see pix) made sure the word got out and volunteered to buy tickets for everyone. After all, she had been chauffeuring Elliot back and forth to KLPac for close to 2 months of rehearsals (not to mention performance nights as well) after he got the audition. Conductor Brian Tan did well with enthusiastic flair while the La Voce Choir added even more life to the proceedings. Heads turned as the lights dimmed and the young singers trooped down the steps onto the stage, each child with candle in hand. Fantastic harmony unfortunately terribly let down by their poor enunciation. The performances were nevertheless a fantastic effort and everyone put on a great show!

22 December: Another International Night. Nearly 30 students joined our CG members for a Christmas Party that Friday. Except for 2 from Yemen, the rest were Chinese, Koreans, and Japanese. There was no room at the inn for Joseph and Mary on that first Christmas, so sharing Christmas cheer by opening our home to others is a way to exercise hospitality and kindness to ‘strangers.’ All in we had over 40 people for an informal evening of food, fun, and laughter. Oh yes, the obligatory turkey was there, purchased the day before from EuroDeli.

24 December Worship Service: I’m really glad at the initiative shown by our youths who put up some fine performances that morning. Christmas always draws crowds and it’s hard not to be caught up in the rush. You hear of mega preparations going on in megachurches 6 months before and the stress folks must go through every year. So I wonder. “Jesus is the reason for the season” but who’d want to be the wet blanket and insist on quiet worship minus all the song and dance? We aren’t a big church, but our folks go thru the wringer too all the same - because we want to (?) or need to (?) Hmm. Then again what’s a celebration without some seriously joyful display of exhilaration? Read more at Journey of Hope.

25 December Hari Amal: Now that was nerve-racking. But thank God things went incredibly well at our community service event. We don’t want it to be a flash-in-the-pan or once-a-year thing and my prayer is that the last 3 or 4 years of fellowship culminating in this biggy will open more doors for us to do good. It may be possible to choose where in the neighbourhood you want to locate your church premises, but we can’t choose our neighbours I think. And our neighbours are the ones who are in need.

29 December: Tonight, old friends (various schools and churches ) from Alor Star get together at a friend’s new home in Mutiara Damansara. Heard Bishop Hwa Yung will be there, so that’s going to be real interesting. He was our school chemistry teacher back then, and this evening is going to be one long walk down memory’s lane.

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Thursday, December 21, 2006

International night

Had a group of international students over the other day – Chechnya, Palestine, Oman, Yeman, Korea, Japan, China, and of course a few from KL. Doing my part for world peace, you could say. These were English language students who'd been in the country no more than 6 months.

We had homecooked Japanese (er, halal) and freshly brewed tea and chocolates from Yeman. We didn’t do much but talked, played monopoly (!), ate, and watched a silly laugh-aloud movie, ‘Mouse Hunt’ (!). Had a most interesting conversation with Bilal from Oman, who's probably the most religious of the lot. Had a muezzin's call on his mobile so he excused himself to pray - in the balcony. I’ll be meeting some of these guys again for our Christmas do.
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Thursday, December 14, 2006

Beyond cynicism

These are cynical times, and there is no let-up in the public imagination as to what the causes are, and where the country is heading. The natural disposition towards self-preservation compels many to talk about uprooting and emigrating. Easy for those with money to say. The rest, well, will have to suck it in and live with their lot.

We’re talking about a post-UMNO AGM meltdown. So space for public discourse and freedom of belief are quickly diminishing in the face of religious/racialist rhetoric and kris brandishing. So it’s becoming intolerable how politicians and religious zealots are running roughshod over law and order and constitutional guarantees. So, now what, besides whining and cursing at the eclipse of common sense, integrity, mutual respect, and Bangsa Malaysia?

There is no paradise on earth, much less a utopia of the French revolutionaries espousing liberty, equality and fraternity. And I have little illusion that humanity will evolve into a higher being living in peace and freedom. This does not mean of course that one gives up trying to make the world a better place. Indeed where there is darkness and decay, there is more need for salt and light.

I was pleased to see Bishop Hwa Yung’s seminal piece on immigration written so many years ago resurface in NECF’s newsletter and KAIROS’ magazine. He drew lessons from Jesus’ parable of the Good Samaritan and asked if Christians were like the Levite and the Priest who ignored a stricken man by the roadside when they choose to leave for greener pastures elsewhere.

While talk about emigrating dominates conversations and blogs, now is the time to review what is truly important. Why are we here in Malaysia? What does God want me to do with the time I have here? While the Church is called to live as Kingdom people our calling is not to establish an earthly kingdom or impose a particular brand of politics. I happen to believe in the separation of church and state so it helps to think a little about where to draw the line. What’s the Christian view of social order and government, and does Scripture say anything about our obligations as citizens?

Sir Frederick Catherwood’s A Better Way rejects both the quietist practice of withdrawal or non-involvement, and nationalism based on radical racialism. He differentiates between ends and means which I believe is a good starting point for thinking Christianly about politics and the messy pursuit of nationhood:

"…Christianity, unlike the current ideologies of Marxism or nationalism, is about ends and not means. It does not lay down a particular doctrine of government or economics. It says what society should be like as a result of good government, not what government itself should be like. So it has few political dogmas to enforce. There must be government and in secular affairs it must be obeyed – no more. A Christian may suggest political solutions, but he does not dogmatize – at any rate not on Christian grounds. And Christianity, unlike Marxism or nationalism, is not a divisive creed. It tells us to love all people, bourgeoisie as well as workers, expatriates as well as nationals. Christianity does not have to erect barriers to defend itself against those to whom it is politically hostile. For it is not politically hostile to anyone. It wants to win those who oppose it by persuasion and it does not despair of influencing anyone, however hostile. Christianity does not seek to suppress opposing views. It prefers to answer them, as Christ did."
The book was written in 1976 in the context of modern western society, but there’s lots of things that are just as relevant today. To live as Jesus did, and to answer as He did never gets outdated - East or West.

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