From hectic to calm, with N.T. Wright in between

Mondays are busy days. Work in the morning and class at the seminary in the afternoon.

I usually like a cup of coffee before class starts. I need the aroma to wake me up.

This Monday was a even more hectic day. Working on a very important proposal while my not-so-understanding colleague who happened to have the idea that he's the most important person in the department refused to leave me alone to my work. I am afraid I lost some of my cool demeanour when he insisted on his right to jump the long queue after I had explained the him for the thousandth time that first-come-first-serve was the rule. Ok, if you wanted to be served first, please talk to the head.

I needed to get out of the office for the group presentation in class. I was going to be N.T. Wright to have a dialougue of the meaning of justification by faith with a rather charismatic pastor.

Anyway, I managed to finish that proposal, got my coffee and had a group presentation that was kind of fun. We ended up having three N.T. Wrights (I nicknamed them Right, Righter, and Rightest.) and a Paul who read the Epistle to the Romans in Greek.

The class finished at 5:20 pm. I dropped in to Best Friend's office before heading home. His office was locked so I couldn't just walk in. I decided to knock on his windows instead. We exchanged a few words through the windows, also kind of fun. Maybe he's still working on the sermon for a funeral in the next day.

Life and death. A funeral was on the way. I had helped translating the liturgy into Chinese. Best Friend isn't a typical pastor here. I haven't never met another here who would sweep the floor, bake the Eucharist bread, moving the chairs...whatever chores you can think of that a church needs.

I learned something today. Let go and let things happen. The presentation did come out alright. The teacher liked it, and the classmates had a good time too. And I got to see the beautiful orange sun while leaving the seminary. God also gave me the blessing of having the company of Monie to walk down to the city centre together. We had been in the same class twice before and she appreciated my work a lot, always so encouring.

Winter should be approaching. The ants at my home are busying themselves. Let's enjoy the cooler weather and the sunset.

Sun already setting when I left the seminary

More On, In and Around Mondays here.

Can we go beyond a Confucian kind of Christianity?

Confuciansim can be a form of control that makes use of the boundary of relationship to confine people to certain positions in a hierarchy. It is very hierarchical and pretty much about staying in where one is. It is relational but not in the sense of people being in communion. There is also the idea of making straight (修正).

What happens when an institutional religion with a clear hierarchy goes hand in hand with Confucianism as interpreted above?

I am beginning to have the opinion that the merging of Confucianism and Christianity helps bringing about the worst in both of them. As a result, we find the HK church scene more Confucian than many other sectors of the HK society.

Well, these are just some preliminary thought. Need more time to think them over.

Are there any female pastors?

That was a question from my mother. She thought there were only male ones.

My reply was, "Hey mom, you know one. Our friend Maria is a pastor."

I then added, "Eva, the Danish woman we met on Cheung Chau, she is a pastor too."

But my mom didn't look very convinced. And Maria and  Eva do not fit into the stereotype of a local female evangelist/pastor. Their mini-skirt and sleeveless clothes will surely caused many (not just a few) eyebrows raised. They are also not those submissive and self-effacing type of women.

You know what, they have inspired me that being a woman in a church doesn't mean that you have to be soft and quiet and feminine in the wrong way. You can also preach with the confidence that you are a child of God.

The question of whether I will be a pastor has been raised not too infrequently recently. It probably has a lot to do with my upcoming graduation from the seminary. I know the model answer would be "Let's see how God will lead me," But I'm not usually satisfied with any "correct" answers.

The Pope is currently making his state visit to Britain. I have been surprised by the word "state". Maybe I am being rebellious or politically incorrect or whatever you want to say, but is Vatican a state? I'm interested in the protests that the Pope has aroused in Britain. Those protestors are not necessarily anti-Catholic. Some of them are dissatisfied in how the Catholic Church is dealing with sexual abuse of children by priests; some people ask questions on the role of women in the church.

But don't let us the Protestants get too smug. In practice, there are much fewer women who get ordained. There are still some Protestant churches that deny the right of women to be ordained. Sometimes women can't even preach. They are supposed to serve in Children's church, arranging flowers, playing the piano, or be the pastor's wife.

Am I seeking ordination? No, not at the moment, at least. I don't even think I'll work in a church on a full-time basis.

My European and American friends' view on ordination differs from what we have in the local scene. I'm still thinking what all of these mean. Maybe I really should work my way towards becoming a theologian.