Today is a meaningful day for us. The second day of Chinese New Year is a day to visit relatives and friends. For us, as we have only one relative family in Singapore and we have already met each other for a reunion dinner the night before, therefore my father decided that a good thing to do this day is to visit EngKong's memorial and I, myself, is glad, for I understand the meaning of respect to elders, and we have yet to visit EngKong for a long time. I drove in the morning with my father to Siglap, where we have a MacDonald breakfast, and later, we bought some offering to our ancestor. I understand that this is my father's tradition, and I, as a Christian, do not follow this practice. A Christian should still pay respect to their ancestors, through the offering of a flower, in the light that love is with those who have already passed on in this life. Today, my whole family went to see EngKong, and I appreciate my father's dedication and piousness to pray for Engkong and Grandpa(material) well-being. I, too, prayed in the Christian way, for my EngKong's and Grandpa's well being. For me, I know that while there are many religions on Earth, all are part of the interpretation of God's sovereignty and human destiny to worship God.
The tradition to pay respect to our ancestor is something that I rever, for different cultures have different ways of ancestral respect. For the Western culture, the descendents usually give a flower to commemorate love, while the Chinese burns paper offering to the ancestor for their well-being. One thing I learn today, is that in Eastern Europe, the descendents will lit a candle for their ancestors, and replenish the candle to show their unwavering love. Human truly are lovely, for our parents care for us when we are young, and we care for them when they are old, and this goes on in a cycle of blessing and care. Human are blessfully situated in this flowing stream of life and we, as human, cherish this wonderful gift.
The tradition to pay respect to our ancestor is something that I rever, for different cultures have different ways of ancestral respect. For the Western culture, the descendents usually give a flower to commemorate love, while the Chinese burns paper offering to the ancestor for their well-being. One thing I learn today, is that in Eastern Europe, the descendents will lit a candle for their ancestors, and replenish the candle to show their unwavering love. Human truly are lovely, for our parents care for us when we are young, and we care for them when they are old, and this goes on in a cycle of blessing and care. Human are blessfully situated in this flowing stream of life and we, as human, cherish this wonderful gift.
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