osechi and the BIG buddha!

Happy New Year! 2007! Its here. Perhaps its time to kick of your shoes and celebrate!

This is from my recent trip to Nara on New Years Eve (you can check for newly posted pics, if you like). I have been loving Japanese shoes lately. If only I had the feet to fit into them.

You will notice I have made a few changes recently. I put a few more links for you to devour, including things that I have enjoyed over the last few months. Hopefully giving you a taste of what things are like over here for me.

The other day, I was remembering something from this time, last year. I silently remember making a new years resolution to myself...to experience another culture. I think this may be one resolution that actually stuck. Cause, here I am. I recall something inside me saying, "You will be called into your wilderness this year." The land unfamiliar. A place that is both scary and exciting. Charting new territory. New years resolutions can be like that sometime. For anyone out there in the midst of making a resolution and then having the courage to actually do it, I admire you.

The last four months, there have been times where I have been scared s***less, there have been times where I have been speechless. Times when I have laughed into the depths of my soul, and cried equally as hard. Times when I have chuckled quietly to myself, times when I have seen such beauty and have not had the words that come close to describing it. Equally so, times where I have seen the hurt that exists among the people here as well. All of it - overwhelming.

One thing that seems to have made a deep impression on me over the last few months is how important symbols are to the Japanese. An example, a few of my students gave me a lesson on the traditional dish that is eaten on new years day - osechi (simliar to a lunch box, filled with Japanese cuisine). Each dish in osechi means something different. Its like a hope or a prayer for the new year:

Herring roe - hope for children; Gomame (type of small fish) - diligent work; Kromame (a hard bean) - wealth; Komaboko (steamed fish paste) - this is a red and white colour, ironically the colours in the Japanese flag - symbollizing luck. Shrimp (Japanese characters for "shrimp" are actually "old sea" - so it means to have long life. Interestingly, the shrimp has a curved shape, as you know. One student reminded me that it looks like an old man! Finally, fuki (the steam of a plant) is used. It is hollow and long, so you can see through to the end. The students tell me this means being able to see far into the distance or the ability to have hope.

It kinda makes you think about the next time you go to eat shrimp, doesn't it? You may be asking for longer life...or a curved spine.

New Years Eve is a very special time here. While travelling to a nearby town, Nara, my friend Sarah and I noticed how many people were at the temples to pray and burn insence. I was struck by the powerful image of the BIG Buddha at Todai-ji Temple (biggest one in Japan!). It was almost frightening. The large gold and bronze statue, adorned with flowers and candles.

Many people come to Nara to pray to Buddha for passing exams, long life, seeking direction, finding a partner etc. It got me to thinking about idols and what I look to for direction in life. Where do I go searching for it? How is it disguised sometimes? I guess its the whole thing about having faith, without sight, as Jesus puts it. While being confronted with this huge, golden statue, I suddenly found myself needing to cling to Christ. And not needing him to appear before me so that I could have evidence of His power, but simply just wanting to hear His voice. I can appreciate the history and the cultural importance of Buddha, I just want to hopefully love Christ all the more with giving Him my life.

Knowing that His power lies in the still small voice of the trees, in the beauty of colour, the bliss of little children playing, the sound of a kind voice, in the complexity of language and in the joy of experiencing something for the first time. So, this new year, I hope that we can all experience what it is to have belief. A faith without sight.

Thank you everyone for sticking by me in this. I love hearing from you.

May you see new things this year.

Jane

PS - Bri, I dedicate this one to you.
PPS - if you made it to the end of this edition...i commend you.