Tag: Faith

Taiwan Episcopal Church2 Comments

Advent Word 2017, Day 2 ‘journey’

Catherine Lee

#AdventWord #Journey ‘Is the JOURNEY this Advent about our daily routine lives from point A to point B? Or is the JOURNEY about our earthly travels to the “land of heaven” where we will be speechless with gratitude? Our JOURNEY is both/and. The JOURNEY to God is now. Holy paths we travel.’ Arriving at Songshan Airport, Taipei! The Taiwan Episcopal Church welcomes new companion diocese, the Episcopal Diocese of Upper S. Carolina (EDUSC), visit to Taiwan 台灣聖公會, October 1965.  Left to right, back row: Bishop John A. Pinckney (Bishop of EDUSC 1963-72), Bishop James C. L. Wong 王長齡主教 (Bishop of Taiwan … Continue reading Advent Word 2017, Day 2 ‘journey’

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Advent Word 2017, Day 1 ‘awaken’

Catherine Lee

Happy Advent Sunday! #AdventWord #Awaken ‘The Psalmist says: “Wake up, my spirit; awake, lute and harp; I myself will awake the dawn.” In Advent, we prepare for what God will do with our spirits, not what we will do. A certain church website offers the wonderful message, “…walk in the Way; widen the walls; wake up the world.” AWAKEN for others.’ AdventWord Global Advent Calendar 2017 starts today – a project of the Anglican Communion with the Society of Saint John the Evangelist Brothers SSJE and Virginia Theological Seminary VTS. Each day there is a theme word and meditation. My … Continue reading Advent Word 2017, Day 1 ‘awaken’

Taiwan1 Comment

Sanzhi 三芝 Matzu Temple Centenary Celebrations, 1917-2017

Catherine Lee

Today is THE day, the climax of 5 days of celebrations, and as I write this, events are ongoing, with firecrackers and drums and trumpets and singing and offerings and all sorts of activity, and being attended by nearly everyone in the whole town. And all in the rain and cold!  It’s been like this all weekend, but hey, when there’s a festival in town, a bit of rain and cold won’t stop anyone. But this was the scene on Thursday, the last time that the sun appeared in Sanzhi! Two weeks ago, I wrote here about the preparations for the … Continue reading Sanzhi 三芝 Matzu Temple Centenary Celebrations, 1917-2017

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Sanzhi 三芝 Matzu Temple Centenary Celebrations ~ Coming Up Soon!

Catherine Lee

Two weeks ago the plot of wasteland opposite where I live suddenly sprang into life.  Trucks full of bamboo poles arrived.  People came.  Cranes and trucks and people and – well, action!  One week later, and this was the view from my front gate last Sunday…. Happening now right outside my house is the ongoing construction of a huge 4-storey structure, the site of a forthcoming 醮 (pronounced ‘jiaò) and loosely translated as meaning a Taoist Ritual.  Copy this character ‘醮’ into Google images and you’ll see plenty of examples of what it might look like in a few weeks … Continue reading Sanzhi 三芝 Matzu Temple Centenary Celebrations ~ Coming Up Soon!

Faith4 Comments

Cambodia: The Killing Fields & Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum

Catherine Lee

First a word of warning, this is not for the faint-hearted or those likely to have nightmares for days after.   If that is you, don’t read any further.  But if you can, do.  This is an important part of Cambodia’s tragic history, the legacy of which continues to affect the whole country, the region, even the world.  We need to know.  To learn.  To try to understand.  And to reflect and pray. The Cambodian genocide took place in my lifetime, when I was a teenager.  Most of the young men who joined Pol Pot and became part of the Khmer … Continue reading Cambodia: The Killing Fields & Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum

Travels4 Comments

Angkor Wat 吳哥窟 and Siem Reap 暹粒市, Cambodia ~ oh, and nice crunchy spider for dinner!

Catherine Lee

Think of all those historic buildings in the UK: Durham, Norwich and Exeter Cathedrals; Rochester, Windsor and Warwick Castles and even my lovely CMS link church at St. Andrew’s Church, Haughton, Darlington.  And what do they all have in common?  Well, they were all being built at roughly the same time as the Angkor Wat Temple Complex in Cambodia.  Now, how’s that for Interesting Fact Of The Day, eh? Angkor Wat has become such a symbol of Cambodia, that it appears on its national flag. How about this? Angkor Wat is considered to be the largest religious monument in the … Continue reading Angkor Wat 吳哥窟 and Siem Reap 暹粒市, Cambodia ~ oh, and nice crunchy spider for dinner!

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On Top of the World! Yushan / Jade Mountain 玉山 ~ Taiwan’s Highest Mountain 3,952 m 12,966 ft!

Catherine Lee

Occasionally, just very occasionally, so many good things happen all at once to make an event so amazing and unexpectedly awesome, that even the hardest of sceptics are won over.  Such was our ascent of Taiwan’s highest mountain, Yushan / … Continue reading On Top of the World! Yushan / Jade Mountain 玉山 ~ Taiwan’s Highest Mountain 3,952 m 12,966 ft!

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A Splash of Sunshine….

Catherine Lee

Reflections on the water bamboo field in Sanzhi early this morning…. ‘Each day I seek a sunbeam, a luminous moment of grace, be it a poetic passage, a compassionate glance, an affirmative word. Just a single sunbeam, nothing more. This morning while walking, a splash of sunshine fell upon a maple tree. It was too much, like the Mount Tabor epiphany, and I turned away, overwhelmed. I walked on asking God to turn down His glory lest I, like Milton, too soon would lose my sight.’ (‘A Splash of Sunshine’ by Robert F. Morneau) And late this afternoon, a rainbow … Continue reading A Splash of Sunshine….