Musings on early mornings, and god parades

        What an interesting day I have had so far. Its only 7:30 in the morning and I can already say that. But, let's start and the beginning. I have not been sleeping well this week, partly because I am showing signs of getting sick. While I have been going to bed early, I am not sleeping through the night. Last night, I decided to stay up late in hopes of being extra tired and therefore getting a full night's sleep. Boy was I wrong.
         As I was getting ready for bed last night (at 1 AM), I heard some drums outside my window. I looked out to see over 8 buses, countless cars, and just as many trucks. All the makings of a large god parade. It looked to me like this god parade was either over, or going to set up somewhere. else. God parades are not unfamiliar to me, I have seen and heard a couple of small ones, but this one that drove by last night looked quite big.
        Now I bring you to my morning, 7:22 AM and wake up to-the god parade. It is loud and long and disturbing my sleep. However, in the future that is not what I will remember. I will remember it as a reminder of how lost Taiwan really is.
       I live in rural Taiwan. People say it is steeped in tradition. I say, its so lost, they can't see a way out. These people believe everything they have been told growing up. You may not upset the gods, you need to worship the gods, you need to pray to them, give them offerings, and provide food and money for them in the afterlife. You also celebrate with them. This parade is a celebration of sorts.
       This parade what the largest I have ever seen. It contained, costumes, puppets, drums, other instruments  and the actual statues of the gods being carried on the shoulders of the people. These people looked tired and uncomfortable, but the do it because they want to appease the gods. I believe they walked from the main road, down my road, and to the temple that is behind my apartment. It sounds as if they are now walking back. While at the temple, I could hear drums and firecrackers. The firecrackers are to scare off the evil spirits. I am not sure of the reason for this parade(not that they need one), but if I had to take a guess, I would say its because Chinese New Year is next week. Another guess would because Farmer's day (whatever that is) is on Monday. Since I live in a farming community, it could be the community seeking blessing over their jobs and harvest.
       I have always found it interesting how fearful the Taiwanese people are. They need firecrackers to scare off the evil spirits, they build ghost walls into their homes to keep out the roaming ghosts, they are regular about their prayer and worship so as not to upset, clean the tombs of family to keep their spirits happy, and make sure they never forget any religious activity. Not to mention keeping shrines in their homes is order to keep their ancestors with them. It breaks my hear to see how lost they really are.
       I am so glad that I do not have to do any of these things for the one true God. I find it amazing that while there are people around the world searching for a god and a way to be happy in the afterlife, my God has done all the seeking. He found me and died for me so that I can be with him. I don't know of a single religion that offers a relationship like the one I have with God. It is such a blessing to know that I can pray for anything (like the lost people outside my apartment) and he listens. I don't have to give him money, food, blood, or any other form of payment. Just love, and willingness. Its a beautiful and freeing thing to know.
        I have included some videos for you to watch in order to get a better feel for what I woke up to, and what it may be like to live in a country so steeped in tradition, they don't realize that this tradition is what is keeping them from learning about the True Lord.

 The Temple that is behind my apartment that the parade walked to.

 First video of parade. It is a little choppy and shows my balcony at the end. Notice all the horses, they are rare here so I am curious of the significance of them in this parade.

 Second video. This one is a little  longer, but I wanted you to get a feel for my morning. The parade lasted about 30 minutes while I was awake ( probably significantly longer). Notice how they are almost dancing with these heavy gods on their shoulders.

Last video of parade. This one has the dancing of the dragon. However, I wanted you to see the buses they use to bring all the people out.  These people are either in or walking along to watch the parade. Those watching, sure thought it was a site to see a white girl watching from a balcony up on the 6th floor. (Sorry it is a little sideways.)

Something to share

So my dad is REALLY good at forwarding emails. Sometimes they are funny, sometimes inspirational, sometimes, junk, and some, like this one, are thought provoking. Oddly enough this was an email of a blog post. I have no idea where it started so I can't give the credit to the real author, but I hope it makes you stop and think about how you live your life. I know I did. 

I didn't write this. Mike Yaconelli wrote this. And I realize this is the second blog entry in a row inspired by heroes of mine, both of whom died in car accidents. I didn't do it intentionally. And I apologize if I'm breaking any laws by posting this. I had to re-type it all, because I can't find it on the web, anywhere. He wrote it years ago, in a now-defunct magazine, and I made a copy of it (another law violation?) and stuck it in a box in my garage. When I read it on the air today, we were inundated with requests to see it, so here you go.

I highly recommend Mike's book Messy Spirituality, by the way. He was a game-changer for me.

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It's Time to Party, by Mike Yaconelli

Recently, my wife and I were having our devotions and reading our favorite devotional guide, Cosmopolitan. In it was another one of those mindless quizzes. (You know the ones: How Responsible Are You? How Sensual Are You? Do You Have ESP? Will Your Marriage Last?) One of the questions caught my eye. It said:

Which would you prefer?

a) a wild, turbulent life filled with joy, sorrow, passion, and adventure - intoxicating successes and stunning setbacks, or

b) a happy, secure, predictable life surrounded by many friends and family, without such wide swings of fortune and mood?

I thought the answer was obvious. Everyone, I thought, would choose the first option. I was shocked to discover that a good majority would choose the second option. And then it occurred to me: I have been working with adolescents for the past twenty-nine years. And, when I ask them to describe adults, one word always comes up - borrrrrring.

As I began to think about it, I realized that most adults I know are boring. They don't have fun anymore. Oh sure, get a few drinks under their belts and they act alive for awhile. But that's not what I mean. I'm talking about being and acting alive all the time.

The truth is that games are wasted on the young. Little kids don't know how to play games. Remember when you were seven years old and you played hide-and-seek? You'd hide behind a telephone pole with half your body hanging out. No, hide-and-seek isn't for children. It's for people like you and me. Now that I'm 46, I know how to hide. I'm a darn good hider.

I have suggested a game of hide-and-seek to many adult audiences and I am always amazed at the response. I see adults all throughout the group nudging each other, quietly discussing a great hiding place they just thought of, secretly planning a game with their children. It doesn't take much to make most of us realize that we have become too serious, too stressful. The result is that we hae forgotten how to live life. It seems like the older we get, the more difficult it is for us to enjoy living. It reminds me of a description of life given by Rabbi Edward Cohn:

"Life is tough. It takes up a lot of your time, all your weekends, and what do you get at the end of it? ... I think that the life cycle is all backward. You should die first, get it out of the way. Then you live twenty years in an old-age home. You get kicked out when you're too young. You get a gold watch, you go to work. You work forty years until you're young enough to enjoy your retirement. You go to college; you party until you're ready for high school; you go to grade school; you become a little kid; you play. You have no responsibilities. You become a little baby; you go back into the womb; you spend your last months floating; and you finish up as a gleam in somebody's eye."

It's hard to imagine we were a gleam in someone's eye once. What happened to the gleam in our eye? What happened to that joyful, crazy, spontaneous, fun-loving spirit we once had? The childlikeness in all of us gets snuffed out over the years.

A.W. Tozer once said, "This society has put out the light in men's souls." He had it right. The more pagan a society becomes, the more boring its people become. The sign that Jesus is in our hearts, the evidence of the truth of the Gospel is...we still have a light on in our souls. We are alive, never boring, always playful, exhibiting in our everydayness the "spunk" of the Spirit.

The light in our souls is not some pious somberness. It is the spontaneous, unpredictable love of life. Christians are not just people who live godly lives. We are people who know how to live, period. Christians are not just examples of moral purity. We are also people filled with a bold mischievousness. Christians not only know how to practice piety. We also know how to party.

I believe it's time for the party to begin.

Never say never

October 17, 2011

When I was younger there was a song that was a hit on the radio about summer. One of the lines was “Chinese food makes me sick”. This was my favorite part of the song because I hated Chinese food and the smell of it really did make me feel sick. For some reason this song has been on my mind today. I am not sure why but it has really gotten me thinking.

           Back when we were younger, I would sing my favorite part (Chinese food makes me sick) at the top of my lungs. My sister would tease me and tell me that it would be funny if I moved to China and had to eat Chinese food. I used to respond with no way, I could NEVER do that because I wouldn’t have anything to eat. She would respond with “What if God sent you?” my response being “I hope he doesn’t.”
         Guess He has a sense of humor because here I am living in Taiwan and eating “Chinese” food on my couch. The funny thing is that the food here is way better than any Chinese food you can get in the states and I am pretty sure that the smell of Chinese food in the states would still make me sick.

Half days and lots of traveling

October 6, 2011

           Today was a half day at school. The kids get tomorrow off, and half of today off so that we teachers can spend all the time and our Saturday in meetings! Isn’t that the most exciting thing you have heard of ever. I am quite exhausted but I am looking forward to spending time with my family here is Taichung including my dad and grandpa. I am also looking forward to getting together with my job-a-likes and gaining from their experiences.

            Tonight, after rushing to the HSR and running through the station to barely get on in time, we ate a 3 course meal in about 15 minutes. Then, we attended this really interesting meeting about the culture and beliefs of the people in Taiwan. This was followed up by a comparison of the cultures here to the culture of US.

            After the meeting all of us who went to New York together went out to get Bings which are kind like giant snow cones of shaved ice, fresh fruit and condensed milk. By the way-they are really good. Anyway, we had a great time catching up on the lives of people from the Taichung campus and getting to know how their lives are different from ours. I will be spending the next couple days here in Taichung but not sure how much time I will have in between all the meetings to write.

Taipei

October 2, 2011

           I just got back from a weekend with my dad and grandpa in Taipei. What a trip. We spent Saturday touring all the big tourist attractions. I came into town around 11, set my bags down, grabbed some lunch and we were off. We went to a movie, the national museum, dinner at Taipei 101 and up to the top, and then we finally headed back to the room. Don't worry we probably took about 101 pictures too.

            On Sunday, we went to 2 great church services with lunch and a nap in between.  (It really made me realize what I am missing here is Kaohsiung and what I should be looking for.) Then we grabbed dinner at the HSR (High speed rail) station. I was home by 8 and I am exhausted. It was great to see my dad and grandpa but boy was it crazy busy and now I'll see how much grading I can get done before bed.

Amazing People

September 30, 2011

Well today was an adventure. It all started when I was stressed out trying to get everything done before the day was over-I failed. However, a couple of us went out to dinner anyway. We drove to a food court area to get tapenyaki (like the Japanese food they cook in front of you). It was so good. Then I decided I needed a cookie from Subway. I walked over there and decided to splurge on two. Before I paid the girl in front of me said “3 for 45 is cheaper” I of course knew that but figure alright they sold me on it  I’ll get 3 and eat them all weekend.

            We did a little shopping and then decided that it was time to go home. In the elevator the same girl and her mom were there. We joked about how they saved me money and talked me into another cookie. They got off on another floor and we said bye. We went to our car and it wouldn’t start. We tried and tried and then tried some more. Then we started troubleshooting-who can we call? Who is free? Who speaks Chinese? Where do we take the car? How do we get home?

We finally decided to walk into the mall where it was cool when we ran into the same girl (Peggy) and her mom (Anna). They had parked right next to us. They called our mechanic, the towing company and even helped us some with the taxi. The stuck around and visited with us for the whole hour that we had to wait. They were so kind and patient. It was so nice and unusual in Western standards. In the west someone that does that is so kind-here it is normal. Eventually, everyone (the taxi, the tow truck, and our local mechanic) showed up and we got to leave. We finally got back to school and then on to our apartments. Now, I am working on lesson plans and packing because I am off to the capital (Taipei) tomorrow to see my dad and grandpa.

Party, party, party...

September 25, 2011

We did a combined birthday party today. It was low key, and simple but great. It’s definitely the life of a missionary, when you have a birthday party for 5 people and one cake. We played organized games like your basic cake walk with no prizes and soccer, socialized, and watched the kids play basketball. I still can’t decide whether the men being more competitive at the cakewalk than the kids or our ELL teacher Christel sharing her birthday party with 4 kids under 4 and having to play the games with them was more entertaining. Then I went home to do some more grading and meet Danielle, my cleaning lady.