Month: December 2019

‘The Silent Night’

/ Kay Loke / Leave a comment

31/12/2019

Once again, like many years in the past, we are in Tokyo during the year-end on holiday, and we have never missed out on the Tokyo Glee Club performance in the late afternoon of Christmas Eve in the Imperial Hotel.

It’s Japan’s Ivy League University students choir singing the Christmas Carols. Knowing that Christians are less than two per cent of the total population in Japan, I delighted that they are bringing out the spirit of Christmas, year after year.

The first time, I have moved into tears by Christmas music in front of a crowd and felt heavy on the fact that Christmas is all about baby Jesus who was born to die for the world, till I was off when they started to sing ‘The Santa Claus Coming to Town.’

This year, I have the other part of the family members were an entourage with me to Tokyo, like many pre-believers, after Glee Club, dinner, no one appeared keen to attend church with us.

Arthur and I are not catholic, but we both captivated by the reverence inside the Catholic church, and we wanted to make it to the midnight mass on Christmas Eve. The message was short and was about how to reach out to other people in love without relying on social media.

The most beautiful thing was that we sang a few of the Christmas Carol ss hymns in the mass. When the closing hymn, ‘Silent Night, ‘ was singing, the part of the lyrics ‘sleeping in heavenly, sleeping in heavenly peace, ‘ was actually singing into my soul.

I wonder is it too far fetched for people to conclude that spiritual root possible to have been the contributing factor for sleeping disorders? I need more wisdom and spirit of discernment to be able to expand on it further.

On Sunday, we went back to Tokyo Union Church for worship service. I was extremely emotional, first of all, I have missed the former senior pastor who has gone back to South Africa and the theme of the sermon was on how to love our God with all our whole beings, and I knew that I have failed flat on this.

The saving grace was the closing hymn of ‘This Is a Day of New Beginnings, that not only lifts me up again, also enables me with anticipation to usher into 2020, for I am deeply thankful.

The hymn reads :

‘With the spirit’s daring, step from the past, and leave behind our disappointment, guilt, and grieving, seeking new paths and sure to find Christ is alive and goes before us to show and share what love can do….

‘

A Story On Sleeplessness

/ Kay Loke / Leave a comment

12/12/2019

A Story of Sleeplessness

Recently, many friends shared with me on their struggle with their chronic sleeping disorder (at least for two weeks). Week after week, most of my patients come to me for treatment for their various physical pain, and I only found out that most of them also have problems with either falling or staying asleep at night. Many clinical conditions such as ‘the post Menopause syndrome,’ or the ‘Endocrine disorder,’ and so forth would affect our sleep. No one would be able to rest well if they suffered from any form of physical pain. 

Empirically, a TCM physician, can treat clinical pain condition along with the sleeping order. So, before I start the acupuncture, I would ask patients that ‘there is anything that bothering you?’. People seem to have tongue tight to answer my question for my Insomniac diagnosis, but they knew what is bothering them emotionally. Before scientific finding confirms the root cause of the Insomnia, people would accept emotional disorder could be one of the reasons for Insomnia. I would share a story as below to help people to evaluate their emotional state and also let’s see what ‘THE GREAT BOOK’ has to say about it. 

The Story

There is an old blacksmith who lives in an old part of town. As no one wouldn’t come to his shop for custom ironware, so he sold iron axes, iron pots and a few other iron products in his old blacksmith shop. He sits near the doorway, and he put all of his iron goods outside the door. He didn’t bother to close the door at night. Business was not good or bad; he earned enough to get by. Most importantly, he led on an undisturbed life. 

When people walk by the old blacksmiths’ door, they will see the old blacksmiths lying vivaciously on his bamboo chair with a radio in his hand and a purple teapot on a small wooden table next to him. One day, an antique dealer passed by the old street and spotted the purple sand kettle next to the blacksmith. He carefully examined it and decided that a famous maker made it in the Qing Dynasty. The dealer immediately made an offer of 100,000 yuan wanted to buy the sand teapot. 

The old blacksmith was stunned and then turned down the offer, for his grandfather had left the pot. The three-generation of their grandfather drank from this pot, but after the dealer left, the old blacksmith lost sleep for the first time in his life. He had used the teapot for sixty years and had considered it was an ordinary teapot, and now someone wanted to buy it with a hundred thousand dollars. 

He used to lie in his chair, and drink his tea, and put the pot on the table with his eyes closed and now he would sit up and see if the pot is still there. It makes him very scratchy and restless. What is more intolerable is that when the town know that he had an expensive antique teapot, they asked if there were other treasures in the shop. Some people even wanted to borrow money from him. Soon, then  the antique dealer paid him another visit and offered 200,000 and more on open negotiation, for his teapot.

Immediately, the poor old blacksmith’s life turned upside down, and not only he couldn’t sit still during the day, but also had a problem to sleep at night. He finally called in a crowd neighbour, took the hammer and smashed the purple teapot to pieces in front of the crowd. Finally, the old blacksmith’s day gradually calmed down, and gone back to sell his iron wares, lying down in his bamboo chair listening to the radio and drinking his tea. No more sleepless nights, the End

I have to admit it  honestly, that I admired the old blacksmith’s courageous move to smash the teapot. Can we conclude from the story than what falls on the ground was not all the broken pieces of the antique teapot, but the endless contemplation of greed, desires and infatuation? We easily allow situations or people in the world to rob off our joy and peace that usually results in sleep deprivation, knowing that not sleeping well and not sleeping enough whatever the reason, will affect our health and a general sense of well-being.

This year, I had a chance to study the life of King David in the Old Testament of the Bible. I concurrently study the book of Psalms that gives evidence of him as the man who after God’s own  heart. When he fled from his son Absalom, he openly articulates how his anxiety that affects his sleep while full confidence in the Lord for untroubled rest, even during his trying period;

Psalm 6: 7-8 JPS

I am weary with groaning; every night I drench my bed, I melt my couch with tears. My eyes are wasted by vexation, worn out because of all my foes.

Psalm 3: 6

I lie down and sleep and wake again, for the LORD sustains me.

Psalm 4:9

Safe and sound, I lie down and sleep, for YOU alone, O LORD, keep me secure.

The Closure

/ Kay Loke / Leave a comment

05/12/2019

Proverbs 5:21

For the ways of man are before the eyes of the LORD, and he pondereth all his goings -NKJV

I thought that I was led to pray a prayer of relinquishment, and yet I still had my self-indulgent despair over the Hong Kong situation. No wonder that’s what it says that ‘the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.’ Currently, I am having the term break from Bible study class, and I wanted to take a short trip to Hong Kong in spite of the stun travel warnings.

Then, it started when Mike, my cousin, told me that my 86-year-old aunt was going to be baptised on December 2, 2019, after her sinner’s prayer last year, during my visit. Mike decided to fly back to attend the baptism. As for me, I wanted to spend time with her. I voiced my heart’s desire to Arthur, and I took his OK as the Divine clearance for me to take up the trip.

People told me that I should travel during the week, as most of the actions are over the weekend. Immediately, I told my 86-year-old aunt that I will be with her from 13/11/19 to 15/11/19. Little did I know that my stay would be too short to be able to enjoy any sweet deal on airfare. And every Monday, I have had duty call at the clinic.

Shortly before I log on to search further, my sister, Beatrice called from Taipei to inform me that our cousin passed away and survived by his 90-year-old mother, and the funeral was on 13/11/19. Flying to Taipei become my pressing need. It’s by God’s grace that I managed to have a ticket that combined commercial and redemption travel. Best of all, the clinic even approved my last-minute leave application for Monday, 12/11/19.

Without taking God’s protection for granted, I travelled with the bible passage of Psalm 91 and asked my friends to pray for me with Psalms 91. Finally, on Monday, 12/11/19, I was in transit in Hong Kong airport on my way to Taipei. I couldn’t envision on the day when twenty thousand of demonstrators occupied the entire airport that affected thousands of flights.

It probably due to the travel warnings, the airport didn’t’ strike me as one of the busiest airports in the world. It was a short flight, and I was in Taipei for less than 24 hours. The funeral was a Buddhism ceremony. Glory be to my dear Jesus that HE redeemed the time for me to be able to bring comfort to my aunt in Taipei who was in the deep grief of loss her only son.

After Taipei, I arrived in Hong Kong the evening on 13/11/19, ‘In His Time.‘ The minutes I stepped out the Hong Kong immigration checkpoint, the first time in my life, I saw uniformed police and barricade at the arrival hall. I was fearful of what if there were some degree of confrontation with the violent rioters, and I also was not sure about the airport transfer.

There was many empty taxis in front of the taxi bay. People warned me not to initiate any conversation with the cab driver as people in Hong Kong are very divided. With quite several detours due to the roadblock; the streets was nearly empty. No drama nor trauma, finally, hugging, teary eyes and late dinner were on the table; thanks be to my almighty God that I was home safely.

The uniqueness of my aunt’s place is the living room that has a cross-harbour view. All the Christmas lighting decorations would be on usually, before the Thanksgiving Weekend, later it would change to be in tune with the theme of the Chinese New Year. I was saddened to note that the lighting on the other side of the harbour front was not as illuminating as it has always been.

In attempt  to prepare my aunt to exercise her newfound faith, I urged her to go out to sample some restaurant foods together; asked her to accompany me to do a little bit of shopping and take a stroll in the park that she had not done that for months. The TV coverage was all bad news such as how the rioters vandalising shops and hollowing out bricks from the surface of the streets

Time flies, on Friday, 15/11/19, the day that I schedule to fly home, I woke up very early and felt led to visit my other aunt who is in her early 90’s and has been half bed-ridden for many years and needs two helpers to care for her. My cousin, Lynn, was on a trip. It meant a world to me when she could remember me and call out my name. I have always had her salvation in my mind, and her heart has always been hard to move.

I manipulatively reminded her that my uncle was promoted to glory before he died, so I told her that she could only rejoin him in heaven if she accepts Jesus as her Lord over her remaining days on earth. Still not moved a bit, so I started to feed her breakfast, read her pause and ask Jennifer, her helper about her physical conditions playing a little bit of doctor with her.

With a deep sense of urgency, I asked her again, and she finally nodded her head, wanting to accept Jesus. It’s the Holy Spirit that I started to weep so hard in front of her. Both helpers being Catholics also moved to tears. And they told me that they have kept the rosaries in my aunt’s bedroom and have been praying for her salvation.

Then, Jennifer told me that it’s easier for me to take the bus down the hill, provided if the bus is running, then get a cab to wherever I need to go afterwards. I kissed my aunt and said good-bye. The minute I walked out the main entrance of the building, bus #19 was coming down from the top of a hill. It took less than a half-hour. I was home with my 86-year-old.

She urged me to leave her place as early as possible as the rioters are totally unpredictable. I was moved to open the Bible to Proverbs Chapter 15 ( 15/11/19) and asked her to read it together with me. I told her that there are 31 chapters in Proverbs, and I challenged her to read one chapter of Proverbs a day. She was all set for her baptism.

The car ride to the airport was uneventful. As I looked around, the damage may seem beyond control, yet, I remembered one of the news that’s on how spontaneously keep ordinary people with cleaning efforts, picking up debris on some of the major streets. That’s the spirit of Hong Kong. After all, there are millions of people who call it home. And many people in Hong Kong continue to carry on with their lives in the midst of the chaos.

In reflection, it was a hit and a run kind of trip for me to travel both to Taipei and Hong Kong. It’s indeed a purpose-driven journey. God is faithful, in Hong Kong, I was far away from the war zone, in Taipei, I didn’t expect people stunned to see me travelling afar to be at my cousin’s funeral; it’s not for the departing, but for my aunt, who is advance in age and grieving.

Separation has always been painful, but both of my beloved aunts are in God’s loving care for eternality. My encounter with Jesus enables me to have a closure on my anxiousness over the situation in Hong Kong, knowing that the violence is going to continue, but my God is faithful and in control of all things on earth. I was born there, used to live and work there. Hong Kong would always take a special place in my heart, still is a beautiful city by any standard.