China was an amazing experience. First, I think because we have been third world for so long and this gave us a bit of a break from the harsh realities. Second, it is always good to be with old friends. Third, there is a big difference between our stays with His family, and our visits to other friends. We jumped in with both feet the moment we landed there and between meeting friends, trying new foods, babysitting, holding sick babies, exploring the city, and singing together it was immediate and continuous fellowship from start to finish. Truly God is good to give such connection in so little time. We look forward to continuing our friendship with this family, and to sharing more about our experiences here when we get home.
Our time in Beijing was sweet. The hostel we stayed in at first had me pretty concerned. “Walk down this alley, turn at another alley, go further into another alley” at which point just take your money and valuables and leave them at the front door and back away slowly J. But after navigating these side streets you walk through a non-descript door into the world of an intimate Chinese garden. The hostel is Templeside and if you are ever looking for a place to stay in Beijing we highly recommend it.
I hate steps. They kill my out of shape legs, hurt my knees, I hate steps. The one part of the Half Dome hike in Yosemite that bothers me are the steps up the mist trail. So you can perhaps imagine how my knees felt about the great wall. But to quote President Nixon, “I think, Mr. Secretary, you will have to admit that the wall is indeed great”. The views are breathtaking and you can feel the age of the land you are walking through. The only reminder of the present day is that every few hundred kilometers you meet a person selling cold beer, coke, t-shirts, and post cards. I wonder how often I have been the person to step into someone’s experience and abruptly remind them of reality. I wonder how often the church steps into someone’s experience with God to sell them a new book, CD or program, so that they can experience God.
Summer Palace was gorgeous and we saw it in the rain and fog. Meaning we didn’t see that much of it, but what we saw was beautiful. I am always amazed at the creativity God has given man when it comes to architecture. The master craftsman has given his creation a wonderful gift. The palace grounds make for a beautiful and serene walk along the hills overlooking Beijing. The oddity is that this palace was made possible by the misuse of funds. An empress took funds allocated to help her people and built herself a giant playground. The great wall has it’s darkside as well. 300,000 people were forced to work on the wall as slaves and if they refused were buried alive in the wall itself. So while we have been given the gift of creativity, our “creations” are never completely separated from our sinful humanity.
And we are landing in Bangkok. The flaps are up, the wheels are down, the plane is moving very slowly. We can see the city below us as we prepare to land thanks to the monitor from a camera mounted on the nose of the plan. And then. Complete acceleration, full throttle, no flaps, wheels come up, nose comes up and we are climbing in a banked turn like a roller coaster at Magic Mountain. My finely tuned brain reached deep into it’s verbose quiver and came up with the phrase “What the crap?”. Everyone is looking around at everyone else, we are at the brink of a chaotic melt down. Rioting could begin up and down the aisles at any moment. There will be looting of the peanuts and crackers, first class alcohol will be consumed by economy class passengers, someone will light a cigarette in the bathroom. And then. The pilot comes on to announce that there has been an unidentified aircraft that crossed our landing point and the tower has asked us to circle round and try landing again. Oh, okay. Circle once and land again. And we did. And the landing was soft. And Chaos was avoided … How often do we have unidentified objects cross our landing path, forcing evasive maneuvers and throwing us into the potential for chaos. Things are going smoothly, suddenly life gets very tense, your sense of vulnerability is exposed. In my experience most of these diversions are in reality easily explained and rectified, if not a purposeful part of our Father’s plan. At the brink of confusion I hope that I am willing to regroup before my Father, circle around and try again.
1 comment:
I really liked that little adventure of yours. I liked the way that you said it, the details you used, and the way that you were able to take something meaningful from it. I hope that I will be willing to do the same.
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