Music Concert

昨天過得很充實。中午騎腳踏車到褒忠找同工禱告。下午回到家裡時，腳很酸，人很累！運動有點太過渡。

到了晚上，我載一些鄰居和他們的孩子去虎尾參加音樂會（車上有七個人）。樂團從北京過來的。有傳統古典音樂，也有現代化的。唱歌，跳舞都有。舉辦的單位：台電。晚餐也很豐富。我們一起吃牛排。Benz請客。

Yesterday was a rich day. At noon I rode my bike two townships over for a prayer meeting with coworkers. By the time I got home, not only were my legs exhausted, I was also suffering somewhat from over-exertion.

In the evening I picked up a number of neighbors and their kids to go to a concert they had invited me to. There were 7 of us in the car altogether. The musical company was from Beijing. They played classical Chinese as well as some modern music on classical Chinese instruments. They also danced a lot while they played. The evening meal before the concert was also very good. My friend Benz (named after Mercedes Benz-- that's what he and many other people down here drive) picked up the tab.

Those Annoying Swallows

For the past several weeks I've been battling a pair of swallows who seem intent on building their mud nest inside the overhanging ceiling in the car part area in front of my house. I really would prefer not to have them there as my pet birds also spend a lot of their time there in their cages below. Plus, I don't want my car pooped on any more than is already the case (a lot, I'm afraid).

First I used a broom handle to poke down the remains of nests that were still up there from last year. When they had almost rebuilt them, I knocked them down again and then sprayed both areas with insect spray. That hasn't done the trick as I've had to destroy their work at least another 2 or 3 times, complete with more roach spray, the most recent effort having just been completed this evening.

I'm almost to the point of letting them have their way. The mother must be getting desperate for a place to lay her eggs! And I certainly don't want to do anything to threaten the new life that God wants to bring into being through them.

"Mouth of the Lake" Presbyterian Church

A few weeks ago I was a little down about some developments (or lack of) in our work here. After a noon meal with a coworker for mutual encouragment and edification, I had originally planned on taking a few hours off for rest and rejuvenation at a local swimming pool. However, before I entered the complex, I observed the place was smaller and more crowded than I had anticipated. I wanted to relax; not be the foreigner everyone was staring at! So I hopped back on my scooter and headed down to check out an oceanside wharf about an hour away known for its pretty scenery and all its offshore fish farms. 

After enjoying the scenery for a while, I took a western route closer to the sea back up to where I live. Quite unexpectedly I passed by the one and only church in the neighboring township of "Mouth-of-the-Lake". I knew there was a church there and had even looked for it before, but this was the first time I actually saw it. I believe stumbling into it that day was firmly due to the hand of God.

In previous years, I visited lots of local pastors when I was doing research for the future direction of our work. So I knew I'd definitely benefit by meeting the pastor of this church as well to hear how God had been/was at work. That Sunday, as I headed down to attend the church service, I noticed once again that the building was huge. But huge church buildings do not necessarily imply that there is life or the love of God inside.

What I discovered to my surprise was a vibrant yet small group of believers worshipping God in a part of Taiwan where very very few people do. There were many young people and children there, and the pastoral couple have a strong vision not just for local evangelism but for leading their church to reach their "Samarias" and "Ends of the Earth" for Jesus Christ. I was truly moved by the love of God I felt there that Sunday morning in the worship, preaching, and fellowship, and even more impressed when I went back the next week to see what God is doing on Sunday afternoons in their outreach to neighborhood children. I think out of all the children's events I've seen over the years here in Taiwan, this must have been the most carefully planned and executed. Furthermore, the presence of God was obvious.

(By the way, why are there so many places down here that have "lake" in the place name when in fact there are no lakes? Several hundred years ago, the situation was obviously different)

Age

In society here business owners are well-known for forcing employees to take early retirement in order to save on high salaries later. The fact that the government is presently seeking to institute a later mandatory retirement age is largely a useless measure as this private business tactic will not be challenged in any definitive way in the courts.

A second perceived violation of personal rights here (from the western perspective) is that when one interviews for a job, it is necessary to divulge your age, making it very hard for middle-aged persons to find work once they are laid off or find themselves in transition. Like elsewhere, many companies only want the young hires. This too, to an egalitarian westerner, feels like an injustice.

Earlier this week I experienced  a situation which, though unrelated to interviewing for or losing a job,  felt just as much an encroachment upon my personal privacy. A number of persons in a certain setting insisted on knowing my age, absolutely refusing to back down. Though they were very polite, I felt like the information was being extracted out of me forcibly. For that brief moment there were absolutely no smiling, kidding faces asking the questions.

On the one hand, perhaps I am not comfortable enough with the realization that I'm not as young any more as my 40+ years. Under more comfortable circumstances I would have been more than happy to divulge the information. But it felt for a moment almost like I was being interrogated.   However, seen from another angle, this is maybe just an example of living in a culture where people are placed in an orderly fashion within the larger group/community/social context. Individual components must be designated appropriately and accorded their proper place/status/position within the larger group.

Although I understand and appreciate this fact, it can still feel like a violation of personal privacy. "Must....(not) use... banned telekinetic powers... to neutralize threat...." (Asok from Dilbert)

Dream in the Night

I deleted this post and moved it to a new blog:

http://meismarkdream.blogspot.com/


Be sure to take the dream poll!

We dream dreams all the time.... but few people are able to recall them the next day. I believe God has wired us in such as way so that dreams are a way for the brain to resolve outstanding issues we confront during the day.

As a follower of Jesus Christ I believe some dreams are simply a product of what we had for dinner, although others can sometimes be directly from God and still others result from demonic oppression.

Years ago when I was once asked to give a talk on dreams, I cultivated the habit very quickly of remembering and journaling several dreams a night, usually by training myself to get up and write them down immediately after they concluded, or by asking myself and God before I got on with the day if I'd had any dreams. Then, to reflect and pray to God about them a few minutes.

However, in more recent years I've rarely remembered my dreams. Maybe I can start retraining myself how to remember and interpret them again. The new blog will be an attempt.