Ceremonies

It has been some time since anything appeared here.  Now is the time to rectify that.  The frantic juggling of past months (and not least the last few weeks) have meant little or no time for doing things like posting here.  Now that one of the jobs is handed over to someone else, and David is no longer PTA Chair of the local school, and Lorna is back from her travels in Singapore and India, there is a little more breathing space to begin regular posts once again.  These past weeks have involved lots of greetings, bowing and speeches for David.  The end of March and beginning of April is ceremony season in Japan as it marks the end of one year (school, church, business) and the beginning of another.  David had to pop up in several places to give greetings ranging from a Bible School graduation to an induction service for a new pastor to a welcome to parents at the entrance ceremony for the local primary school.  It was important not to get the pieces of paper mixed up and give the wrong speech on an occasion for which it was not written!  There were two ceremonies at at the local school, both with some similarities and some differences.  The first took place late March as those graduating from sixth grade and moving onto middle school took their places for the last time in the large sports hall where those events tend to be held.  It was a moving occasion with full involvement from the whole school and lots of attention to detail and much bowing.  There were not a few tears too.  As always, these occasions are done very well in Japan.  There is a high regard for closure and doing it properly and meaningfully.  David's task as PTA chair was to give a congratulatory speech, the first half for the graduating sixth graders, the second half some words to the parents.  What to say?  In the end David chose to speak about a book by Max Lucado called You are Special which is translated into Japanese and which one of the years at the local school had actually performed last year during the school show.  It seemed to go down well and afterwards we heard from both parents and teachers that they had been moved by the speech.  Just one little opportunity to speak some words of hope and encouragement into the lives of these children who have now moved on to middle school.  The speech-making season for David is now over but the ceremonies continue - they are an important and valuable part of life here.  How far do we need to understand that and what lessons are there for the church as we seek to engage with this society and its people?  It is a constant challenge to consider how to bring the gospel into this context.