Plenary, 29 Jan 2003
Meeting date: Wednesday, January 29, 2003
Official Report
467KB pdf
Time for Reflection
To lead our time for reflection today, we welcome Rev Patricia Johnston, who is the field officer of the Scottish Churches China Group.
Rev Patricia Johnston (Field Officer, Scottish Churches China Group):
Good afternoon.
Good afternoon.
You are allowed to answer back. That is fine. As you have heard, my name is Patricia Johnston and I am the China field officer for the Scottish Churches China Group. That is my day job, but I am also a minister of the United Free Church of Scotland. The Scottish Churches China Group is an ecumenical group that has representatives from all the main Christian churches in Scotland. We work in partnership with theological and secular institutions in China as well as with the Amity Foundation, which is one of China's leading non-governmental organisations.
It is appropriate for me to be speaking to you this afternoon, because we are coming towards the end of the year of the horse and going into the year of the ram, which begins this Saturday, 1 February.
Preparations for spring festival, which is Chinese new year, are well under way in all Chinese households. The house has to be thoroughly cleaned; people get haircuts and, if they can afford it, new clothes are bought. Ideally, debts are repaid so that the new year is started with a clean slate. Copious amounts of food are bought in and arrangements for visits to family and friends are made. Decorations are also an important part of it. Rhyming couplets, which are written in gold or black characters on red paper, adorn door frames and the red packets into which gifts of money will be put also have to be seen to. It is a busy time, to ensure that the year ends with all the clutter of the past 12 months cleared away so that the new year is a fresh start.
We see some traditions as old practices that have little relevance to our busy, modern lives and in some cases that is true. However, some traditions stem from a profound wisdom that it would be silly for us to ignore. We all need to take time to clear out the clutter and baggage that weighs us down physically, emotionally, spiritually and mentally. But without a catalyst to make us stop and take stock, we often just struggle on until we feel so drained and exhausted that our sense of purpose or vision disappears.
The Gospel of Jesus Christ is all about a clean slate. The invitation from God, through Christ, is to hand over what we have been and done in the past in exchange for a new slate and the opportunity to develop into the people God knows we can be through his love, forgiveness and strength.
On behalf of all of us involved in working with China I wish you Xin Nian Kuai Le—Happy New Year.