Behold, darkness
Today, we celebrate the Feast of the Epiphany. While we remember the visit of the Magi, I am struck by the very end of our Gospel reading: “And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they left for their own country by another road.” The Magi have an encounter with God Incarnate—and then leave. I wonder what encountering the divine means for those of us who cannot leave our circumstances. I think of my family in Hong Kong who have been living in a state of heightened social unrest for the past seven months.
Hong Kong Sojourn
For the purposes of dissertation research, I spent the month of July in Hong Kong. In between the interviews, field observations, and analytical writing was, of course, a time of personal reflection on the very themes I pondered in my previous post: questions of tradition and personal history, of belonging and difference, of life trajectories disrupted by a fiercely independent God that cannot be defined or tamed and yet whose presence is ever familiar and compassionate.
What does Jesus Really Mean When He tells us to Honor our Parents? (Part 1)
Editor’s Note: This piece is sourced from the author's sermon, Honor Your Mother and Father at Forefront Brooklyn on June 30, 2019.
I think by my family’s standard, I am a total rebel. When I reflect back on my life growing up, I feel like I’d find any excuse to rebel against my parents, even if I didn’t do it on purpose. Just by nature, I went against most things they wanted me to do.
