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….

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