Respect versus Worship

My recent interest at Bukit Brown Heritage Park has lead me to learn a lot of things, and I am a better person for it (or at least I think I am!)

I come from the "English educated quarter" of Singapore with Peranakan Roots. My mother tongue was English and Baba-speak! Shakespeare and Shelley were bosom friends. A smattering of Cantonese for the Black and White "Mah- Cheir". No Hokkien speak (my own dialect group). Mandarin learning at ACS was abysmal (all my fault).

I had no insight as to how the Chinese educated speak or think, no idea of their religion, belief, world view. It is important for me to learn of such things. How else can there be unity in diversity  as we jostle shoulder to shoulder as one tightly packed community on this little red dot? Friends of Bukit Brown et alia have helped me grow in this area. Slowly by slowly I am imbibing bits of Chinese culture, of the living and of the dead, though Bukit Brown.

This week I watched a friend being reunited with her Great Great Grand Father at Bukit Brown for the first time. She sat by his side in still and quiet contemplation. It was a moving and touching scene. I was privileged to observe and sketch it.

A poem in English is inscribed on this tomb:

SOME DAY SOME TIME OUR EYES WILL SEE

THE FACE WE LOVE SO WELL

SOME DAY THEIR HANDS WILL CLASP IN OURS

AND NEVER SAY FAREWELL.

This speaks to me of the Christian hope and faith in eternal life.

I have volunteered to join the Tan family (my mum's upline) at the Qing Ming observance  (清明节）this weekend. This set me thinking... Does a clash of cultures come about at Qing Ming?

"Ancestor worship" comes to mind as I think of Qing Ming Observances. But is it? Reading between the lines there seems to be a spectrum of cultural vs spiritual, social vs Taoist vs Buddhist interpretation of the event.

My own Qing Ming background is zilch. As a child my parents and grandparents never brought me to the gravesides for Qing Ming, and nor do I remember them going. I don't know why we didn't. We just didn't.  For no particular reason. We were not church going or Christians at that time.

But I am now (church going Christian).
"Honour your father and mother" is one of the ten commandments.
It does not specify dead or alive, so one can assume it means both.
So ancestor honoring and respecting is acceptable.

But where is the line between honoring and worshipping?
In my mindset the difference come in the answer  to "whom do I turn to for help".

My dearly departed ancestors: I honor them by coming.
No kowtow or joss stick for me.
I would not be asking the ancestors for blessings
but I certainly I am happy to stand before them
and offer a prayer for their souls and a flower for their tomb.

Yesterday I started clearing some of the saplings that had surrounded the tomb of Lim Thean Geow with a saw borrowed from Khoo Ee Hoon.

Today  I went for another round of bush bashing and cleared it more. Eventually I will get the tomb keepers to maintain the place but for the while it seems right that I do some of the work.

Me after 2 hours of bush bashing!

Tomb of Lim Thean Geow

Father of Lim Boon Keng.

There was another tomb, 2000 years ago. They had lain the slain Jesus in it. Early on Sunday morning women came to the tomb to anoint His body with spices. But the tomb was empty. He was no longer there. According to Bible record the resurrected Jesus appeared to 12 different groups of people (group size 1 to 500). We believe that this is proof that Jesus has conquered sin and death, and validates His offer to us of the gift of eternal life just by faith (trust) in Him. I pray that you will have a blessed Resurrection Sunday.