A local flavoured painting of Jesus calming the storm.Monday, February 23, 2009
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Monastery @ Korea
Such signpost speaks louder than word. This particular one leads to Holy Tranfiguration Monastery at Ka-Pyung, Korea. I am hoping that it will lead me there someday.
Monday, February 9, 2009
Firstfruits Offering
Mandarin oranges are symbols of wealth and abundance in the local chinese tradition. It is popular during Chinese New Year and given out as well wishing gifts to relatives and friends.
They are normally used as offerings to the local deities and extensively during the various sacrifices to the gods.
We offered mandarin oranges to God this Chinese New Year after a year of abundant blessings. We are giving thanks for our health and being united for another night of reunion dinner. And we simply offer back to Him what He has blessed us.
They are normally used as offerings to the local deities and extensively during the various sacrifices to the gods.
We offered mandarin oranges to God this Chinese New Year after a year of abundant blessings. We are giving thanks for our health and being united for another night of reunion dinner. And we simply offer back to Him what He has blessed us.
Tradition
In our local chinese tradition, the teachings of our elders (normally the patriach of the family) are passed from generation to generation by means of story tellings. The electronic media was beyond the reach of the commoners and owning a family radio was about the only thing. I remembered walking to the temples during the festive seasons for a show, opera show that is.
Our forebears told us plenty of stories, some mythical, some religious, some family history and occassionally tong san (old country ie. China). My granpa has a peculiar love for his homecountry and village where his father came from, Lo Teng, now assimilated into the larger metropolis of Guandong.
The passing down of our family history and chinese traditions were done purely by oral tradition. As we were young, our minds absorbed the moral, ethical, religious lessons without much difficulty. These knowledge informed and formed who I am today, a chinese.
Just a couple of days ago, I had the opportuniy to witness perhaps a new beginning of passing on tradition(s) to my children. I had always requested that Jon and Joel to pray out loud the mealtime prayer before dinning together every night. Jacinth being the youngest, is exempted. To my surprise, she mumbled the same prayer one evening, imperfectly though. I was thrilled because she had done that voluntarily.
It was an indirect form of passing down the tradition where she had absorbed and remembered the prayers. By simply listening and observing, she is being discipled. We formally teach Jon & Joe during our evening prayer compline and they have memorized all the prayers in no time.
In the Orthodox Church tradition, the idea of paradosis is central. The process of passing down, transmitting traditions are consciously carried out from one generation to the next. I feel at home immediately with this universal practice. Chinese strongly believes that good traditional teachings are transmitted best in the grandfather-grandson relationship, as most fathers are busy working. Perhaps it is time for our modern society to seriously look into strengthening the normally weak grandfather-grandson link, for the happiness of our future generations. And we should pass down more than our religious convictions, our children have to learn our way of life.
Our forebears told us plenty of stories, some mythical, some religious, some family history and occassionally tong san (old country ie. China). My granpa has a peculiar love for his homecountry and village where his father came from, Lo Teng, now assimilated into the larger metropolis of Guandong.
The passing down of our family history and chinese traditions were done purely by oral tradition. As we were young, our minds absorbed the moral, ethical, religious lessons without much difficulty. These knowledge informed and formed who I am today, a chinese.
Just a couple of days ago, I had the opportuniy to witness perhaps a new beginning of passing on tradition(s) to my children. I had always requested that Jon and Joel to pray out loud the mealtime prayer before dinning together every night. Jacinth being the youngest, is exempted. To my surprise, she mumbled the same prayer one evening, imperfectly though. I was thrilled because she had done that voluntarily.
It was an indirect form of passing down the tradition where she had absorbed and remembered the prayers. By simply listening and observing, she is being discipled. We formally teach Jon & Joe during our evening prayer compline and they have memorized all the prayers in no time.
In the Orthodox Church tradition, the idea of paradosis is central. The process of passing down, transmitting traditions are consciously carried out from one generation to the next. I feel at home immediately with this universal practice. Chinese strongly believes that good traditional teachings are transmitted best in the grandfather-grandson relationship, as most fathers are busy working. Perhaps it is time for our modern society to seriously look into strengthening the normally weak grandfather-grandson link, for the happiness of our future generations. And we should pass down more than our religious convictions, our children have to learn our way of life.
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Memory Lane
I came home from a routine yearly Chinese New Year visit to my 2nd Uncle's (or the upgraded "Yee Sook Kong") home with this find :
It was taken circa 1970s in front of my parents house. What was I doing with the bear ? I don't know, probably to match my outfit.
Wonder why I didn't pursue to be a pro-bike rider ? As a teen, I knocked down a flower pot and smashed it quite badly and my father decided that I'll never ride again. But I do recall countless rides with 7th Uncle (aka Chat Sook Kong) on his "Scrambler"
It was taken circa 1970s in front of my parents house. What was I doing with the bear ? I don't know, probably to match my outfit. Wonder why I didn't pursue to be a pro-bike rider ? As a teen, I knocked down a flower pot and smashed it quite badly and my father decided that I'll never ride again. But I do recall countless rides with 7th Uncle (aka Chat Sook Kong) on his "Scrambler"
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