Community

I decided to keep my entries to once a month. After all, one amazing revelation a month is enough, right? Joke, joke. This one is going to be a culmination between Joint Summer Retreat (JSR) reflections and a wedding that I attended just yesterday! I'm not sure how I'll tie them together, but I'll try to make it seamless.

The Reverend Doug Boulan was keynote speaker for our annual summer retreat along with several other Tri-State area Taiwanese churches. Something he said on the Friday night keynote was really striking to me. He was referring to a part in the scripture when Jesus was predicting his death and Peter makes his stand to stay with Jesus, saying to the effect of "where else could I go?" I was beating myself up over not getting the exact passage, but I might have found it in John 13:33-37 NIV. In this, Peter asks where Jesus is going, and Jesus says that where He is going, Peter cannot follow right away. Peter then asks why not, and proclaims that he lay down his own life for Jesus. That's the context.

On Saturday night of the retreat there was a period of reflection in solitude allotted for us. I meditated on these words of Peter. I thought upon my own relationship with God. I mean, where else could I go, really? I meditated on those words while in the middle of that wide, open field. And I came to a conclusion. Where else could I go, but under God's will? Where else could I be, but by His side? There's no where else to be! Christ is the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6 NIV)! So among all this I found my re-devotion to God and whatever he wants to do with my life and my calling. Finally, though this comes from a passage on sexual immorality, I know that these words are true about all aspects of my life. It says in 1st Corinthians 6:19-20 NIV that "You are not your own; you were bought at a price." How true that is! My life was bought with Jesus' blood, and thus does not belong to me but to God. Amen.

I was wondering just now how to connect this to what I wanted to write about next. I'll just have to try it and see what comes out onto the screen! Here goes. I thought a lot about my calling to ministry, to be a missionary to other countries. I know in these other countries that Christians will not always be around to sharpen me up. I'm going to be in some places without any tangible connections to God but the Bible in my hand. This work will be difficult, it will be trying, but it's all for God's greater glory, that "every knee will bow [..] every tongue will confess to God," as it says in Romans 14:11 NIV. So that is what everyone in my field that I am called to strives to do, to gather them up so that every nation will praise God, every voice will cry out, all peoples will recognize the glory of God, making true community.

Now what reminded me of community this weekend, I wonder. On Saturday I was privileged to attend a wedding up in Plainfield, Massachusetts of my aunt and uncle. It was a very intense drive of something like four hours, with breaks of course. Following the wedding we had the reception, and I just remember my grand-uncle (father of the bride) saying that while we were all there, all the extended family, that we were a true community. To that, everyone clapped and cheered and hoorah-ed. And I know that there were many beliefs among us, many races and people groups, but yet still those words made sense to everyone. This is what we must all seek for as believers, a community that stretches over every border and comes together with a unification by the Holy Spirit. Yea, those are some of my thoughts.

Some pictures from the cheer. I chose twelve.

The wedding was at their home (they were married 3 years ago but with no ceremony, so that's why). Multiple call failures. Cell signal reception null.

Wow. Greenhouse on left not pictured. Pond on right not visible.
The setup for the wedding. Many more chairs surrounding not pictured. Beautiful bridge.
Two photos to capture this one. Have you ever seen so many flowers in one place?
Yes, I used it. Hand washing station, too (bucket of water + soap, towel). There's actually a shed there with real TP.. just no flush.
There's a house in the tree.. I mean a tree in the house. Very ornately decorated.
The invitation said to dress comfortably. I dressed up much compared to some people.
Cute. There's a piece of glass there over some pictures and it's set into a bench made of what looks like clay (but not?).
Well, rain happened as predicted. Chairs moved henceforth under gargantuan tarp.
(Clockwise) My granduncle; Gopi Krishna Donald Shelton; Aunt Bi-Sek Jeannette Hsiao
Standing at the originally planned ceremony location.
Here we have the err, wedding cake. It's a turtle. Had to leave before this though for the long drive back to Joisey.

That concludes this entry. The Facebook/AIM fast continues (circa 8/1/08)!