July 16/17, 2022
From the Pastor’s Desk Rev. Raphael Chow
Dear brothers and sisters of RCAC,
Qiao Ji (Swallow), a Chinese Yuan Dynasty playwright & poet, once wrote:
“Springtime Warblers and Swallows,
Beautiful Blossoms and Willows,
Bountiful and Charming Dispositions.”
The emerging swallow unfolds the message of Spring with its spirited ambience.
With its radiant black feather and beaming white plume, the petite swallow looks like wearing a tuxedo. People adore this birdie enviously for its gorgeous wings and forked tail, with its brilliant eyes and tiny creamy beak! Hovering around, it soars into the blue or dashes down the terrain every now and then; it may also dart through the landscape or burst into the realm at times! No matter how it takes wing, rushing a 180° sharp turn or gliding still in the air, it is graceful always.
The swallow seems never tired, always on the flight! One major reason for this is its frail feet, making it incapable of prolonged standing. Without a hard beak or claw for rummaging at a tree gap or a ground breach, the swallow has to catch and feed on insects like mosquitoes and flies in the air. It is also believed that having a daily diet of 5,000 insects for a fowl and its young fledgling, it has to work hard for a living without much time to rest! And when temperature drops and insects are sparse, the swallow has to migrate south for food to survive. That’s why this bird is called the aviary nomad.
The swallow comes and goes with the seasons. Though the bird is a propitious icon welcomed by everyone, it faces lots of challenges. In each return, the swallow looks for its old nest, which might be unsuccessful in this rapid changing world (a few turns every year, not every 10 years now!).
“Year after Years, like the Swallow,
Wandered among High-seas and Wilderness,
Stopping over under the House Eaves!”
Zhou Bangyan, a Chinese bureaucrat and poet of the Northern Song DynastyLike the swallow that comes and goes, travelling far land and sea, nesting under foreign house eaves, this poet led an unsettling life.
It is also true for this unpredictable world. The COVID rages, the Russo-Ukrainian War bursts out, the Sri Lanka riot breaks out, augmented with global warming causing abnormal weather, marine pollution… We just attest there is no paradise on earth! We can only work hard unceasingly for basic essentials. We emigrate, maybe back and forth, for a living or for our families. We develop an unsteady sense, like a boat without an anchor, afloat in rough waves, drifting in the water, unsettled!
However, this is not the scene for the children of God. The psalmist wrote:
3 Even the sparrow has found a home,
and the swallow a nest for herself,
where she may have her young—
a place near your altar,
Lord Almighty, my King and my God.
4 Blessed are those who dwell in your house;
they are ever praising you. (Psalm 84:3-4, NIV)
Let’s take root in the faithfulness and mercy of God, and anchor in His promise. May you experience God’s almighty richly, enjoy His grace fully, and be His glory in this world!
Your servant in Christ,
Pastor Raphael Chow