We will be attending a "touchless" Ash Wednesday service this evening, our return to in-person worship after nearly two months of lock-down. I'm thinking of a recent providential contact on what is a solemn day for Christians.
Recently I was added to an email list of seminary classmates, one which I hadn't realized existed. It felt rather biblical, given that it is 40 years since we graduated from Emmanuel College, part of the University of Toronto. The United Church of Canada is a national denomination so the majority of us were sent forth to pastoral charges where we had little opportunity to be in touch. I was fortunate to be settled in Newfoundland, in proximity to several classmates, but the majority I've not seen or heard from in decades.
One is Greer Anne Wenh-In Ng, whose background I knew nothing about at seminary, and I regret not inquiring during our three years there. She began life in Hong Kong in a family of Chinese origin, which eventually made their way to Canada. Educated in missionary schools in Hong Kong she had English names (I knew her as Greer Anne) as well as her Chinese name.
I was aware over time that she had become an accomplished scholar in the field of Christian Education and a professor. It was Wenh-In who let us know about an online service to celebrate the Lunar New Year last week, and in that service she read her poem from an earlier time when Ash Wednesday and Lunar New Year coincided. As you'll read, she explores the juxtaposition of the sombre tone of this day which marks the beginning of Lent, and the celebratory promise of the New Year. I thought I would share this with you.
Ash Wednesday/Chinese New Year’s
Will there be ashes on my forehead today,
or will there be rejoicing instead,
all dressed in bright, cheerful red
because it is New Year’s Day?
Should there be sobering thoughts of death,
when all of me wants to spread wings and sing
because it’s the first day of a fresh new year
and the coming of a long-awaited spring?
Today
there should be flowers in every home,
smiles on every face,
new clothes on every child
delicacies on every table
as New Year visits are made;
Yet, today,
there should also be
meditation on the state of our souls,
discussion of the state of our faith,
resolves to fast, to abstain, to pray,
even if not everyone
has ashes on their forehead.
Today you see in me
the intersection of two stories:
which should I honour above the other –
my people’s, or my faith community’s?
Do I have to choose?
O God of life as of life’s end,
God of faiths and cultures and everything,
teach me how to be your child:
teach me how to feast, yet not forget the fasting,
how to repent, yet not forget the rejoicing,
how to ponder and pray alone, yet not forget
the visits to every home,
remind my children of this holy season,
yet not forget their red packets too.
For
Ash Wednesday or Chinese New Year’s,
this day/year is still the day/year you made:
let all the world rejoice
and be glad in it.
-------------------------------------------
Written for February 20, 1985, Day 1 of the year of the Ox,
and February 7, 1988, Day 1 of the year of the Dragon
Greer Anne Wenh-In Ng, Toronto and Vancouver
Shared at Lunar New Year Worship Service-Celebration
at Emmanuel College, February 10, 2021 (2 days before the Year of the Ox)
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