by Joy Wong
As a hospital chaplain intern, I visit a diverse variety of patients. One particular patient who stood out in my mind was an 89-year-old Asian man who had suffered a stroke. When I first visited him, he seemed non-responsive. His eyes were open but fixed upon the corner of the room, not on the television or upon me. There was no indication that he knew I was in the room; he didn't acknowledge my presence. His patient chart noted that he was a Christian originally from Taiwan.
On my second visit, I decided to sing some Taiwanese songs to him. As before, his eyes were open but were not making any eye contact. I first sang a Taiwanese worship song, but that did not draw much of a response. I then sang a Mandarin worship song, which also did not evoke anything out of the ordinary. Finally, I sang an old, familiar Taiwanese folk song. As soon I began singing the folk song, the patient began making noises with his mouth as his eyes welled with tears. I was startled, but happy that I had made some sort of connection with him.
This experience caused me to reflect on the significance of our identity. This patient was moved not by a Christian song, but rather a folk song, probably one that had been sung and heard many times throughout his life. Each of us has a cultural identity, whether it is a specific culture, a mix of two or three cultures, or some combination of various traditions of our childhood and upbringing. When we encounter something that speaks to that cultural identity, it moves us. I believe it is because it evokes emotions from our longing for familiarity, belonging, and our home.
God is our ultimate Parent and ultimate home and our identity as Christians is important, but our earthly, cultural identity is also God's intention. I believe our cultural identities need to be discovered and fully embraced in order to delve deeply into our knowledge of God. After all, our understanding of God must be grasped as who God made us to be, including our ethnicity, background, and upbringing. For Asian American evangelical women, the lens through which we see God will become ever clearer as we learn to love and embrace the entirety of who God made us to be.
Joy Wong is pursuing a Masters of Divinity degree at Fuller Theological Seminary. Currently, she is the worship coordinator for the English congregation at Evangelical Formosan Church of Los Angeles. She and her husband live in Pasadena, California. To contact Joy, please send your inquiry to AAWOLblog@gmail.com.
As a hospital chaplain intern, I visit a diverse variety of patients. One particular patient who stood out in my mind was an 89-year-old Asian man who had suffered a stroke. When I first visited him, he seemed non-responsive. His eyes were open but fixed upon the corner of the room, not on the television or upon me. There was no indication that he knew I was in the room; he didn't acknowledge my presence. His patient chart noted that he was a Christian originally from Taiwan.
On my second visit, I decided to sing some Taiwanese songs to him. As before, his eyes were open but were not making any eye contact. I first sang a Taiwanese worship song, but that did not draw much of a response. I then sang a Mandarin worship song, which also did not evoke anything out of the ordinary. Finally, I sang an old, familiar Taiwanese folk song. As soon I began singing the folk song, the patient began making noises with his mouth as his eyes welled with tears. I was startled, but happy that I had made some sort of connection with him.
This experience caused me to reflect on the significance of our identity. This patient was moved not by a Christian song, but rather a folk song, probably one that had been sung and heard many times throughout his life. Each of us has a cultural identity, whether it is a specific culture, a mix of two or three cultures, or some combination of various traditions of our childhood and upbringing. When we encounter something that speaks to that cultural identity, it moves us. I believe it is because it evokes emotions from our longing for familiarity, belonging, and our home.
God is our ultimate Parent and ultimate home and our identity as Christians is important, but our earthly, cultural identity is also God's intention. I believe our cultural identities need to be discovered and fully embraced in order to delve deeply into our knowledge of God. After all, our understanding of God must be grasped as who God made us to be, including our ethnicity, background, and upbringing. For Asian American evangelical women, the lens through which we see God will become ever clearer as we learn to love and embrace the entirety of who God made us to be.
Joy Wong is pursuing a Masters of Divinity degree at Fuller Theological Seminary. Currently, she is the worship coordinator for the English congregation at Evangelical Formosan Church of Los Angeles. She and her husband live in Pasadena, California. To contact Joy, please send your inquiry to AAWOLblog@gmail.com.
1 comment:
well said, joy :)
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