After Boxing Day, the Christmas Holidays are officially over. Looking back, we felt we have had a good time. Our youngest daughter E came back for a visit. Even though the eldest C could not come back, we have at least 2 out of the 3 of them with us. On Winter Solstice, we had Chinese hot pot for dinner. Much of the vegetables were grown by the hands of our second daughter A.
The hot pot was topped with a bottle of wine from Golan Heights - a gift from a good friend and colleague who carried it back from Israel. It reminded us of treasured friendship, Jesus’ boyhood home in Galilee - a short distance down from Golan Heights, the continued tension in Palestine - Golan Heights was taken by the Israeli army from Syria in the 1967 Six Day War, and so much more.
On Sunday, we heard the reading of the Bible from 8 different languages, a reminder of the universality of the Gospel of God.
I gave my wife a ram’s horn that I picked up on a beach in Senegal - no kidding! I was there for a seminar on social responsibility. I did not spent any money on the gift. But I did spend a bit of time cleaning it, sanding it, and designing a minimalist stand to display it. At least I can say that it is unique - there really cannot be another one exactly like it.
On Christmas Day we went to the farm that our second daughter A is working on. We helped with some farm work, and pulled up some carrots, turnips. and other vegetables for dinner.
We also had a good time walking the mix-breed country dogs. Nature and work is wonderfully fulfilling.
On Boxing Day, we went on a hike up Beacon Hill just above Kowloon.
At the start, we could look back on Kowloon. There were some nice views of the Kowloon Tong MTR station.
We then went through some pretty thick forests where the sun was almost completely blocked. It was so quiet, yet we knew that we were only minutes from the hustle and bustle of Kowloon. Then we headed west towards Kowloon Reservoir, which is actually in the New Territories. When we finally reached home, we were all tired and legs were sore. But it was a good kind of sore.
Throughout the past several days, I had to keep in touch with colleagues and collaborators, setting up the service-learning projects in Rwanda in summer, among other things. In a way this is work and I probably shouldn’t spend too much time on work at Christmas. On the other hand, this is also something that my faith compels me to do, something I am sure Jesus would approve, something that resonates with Christmas.
We didn’t spend a lot of money, didn’t attend any big parties and didn’t travel far. But I feel we have had a good Christmas.
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