My blog history tells me it has been almost a month since my last blog. This has been a busy time with finals now approaching next week. It seems only a couple of weeks ago I flew back to Korea from Vietnam on a cold winter day with snow on the ground. That was quite a greeting after basking in 90 degree weather in Ho Chi Minh City.
I have been "sick-free" for the most part this semester. No cough and no respiratory problems like we usually encounter here. Bonnie has not been so lucky, but her health has been basically good.
Our daughters came for 10 days to visit and we saw many places in the short time they were here. I think their favorite evening was when our pastor invited us to an upscale traditional Korean restaurant. It was literally a meal fit for a king. The meal kept coming and coming and...well you get the point. I lost track of the courses.
To celebrate our 39th wedding anniversary Bonnie and I decided to go climb a mountain! There may be symbolism in that! We went up many stairs. How many? I do not know. When we reached the top there was a big Buddha looking down at us. I think it may be the largest Buddha in Korea. It overlooks Cheonan.
I decided to do what I did as a small child in a cemetary in my home town. There is a statue in it of a man riding a horse. I was challenged by my freinds to walk around the statue 3 times and ask the rider what he was doing. I was told he would say "nothing." So, I walked around the horse and rider 3 times and then looked up at the rider and asked him what he was doing. Sure enough he said, "nothing."
So this day I walked around Buddha 3 times and asked him what he was doing. And sure enough, just like the horse rider in my hometown cemetary, he said, "nothing." I asked him what he was doing to solve the world problems, and again, he said "nothing." I tried one more time ( I am either persistent or very stupid!). I asked him what I had to do to improve our marriage, and, you guessed it, he said "nothing." I told Bonnie I knew we had a perfect marrige! Bonnie then told me it was time to climb down the mountain and finish my sermon on Pentecost for the next day! Irony of ironies.
Last Thursday Bonnie and I went to another concert. The musicians consisted mostly of physically challenged students. I admire these students who walk in constant darkness, and those who have to be pushed in wheel chairs to get anywhere. Just seeing the effort it takes to get them all safely on the risers to sing is humbling. Here is a group of students who literally hobble onto the stage, or are led by the hand. I don't know how they follow the director when so many cannot see.
I guess our favorite was the young female student who came out to play the piano. She was led out by her escort, and was seated on the bench. She played a classical piece from Schubert. It was difficult to say the least. Her head never moved. She held her head erect and the only parts of her body that moved were her hands and the foot on the sustain peddle. She never missed a note. She played for several minutes. It was awesome! It seems that so many physically challenged people have special gifts like this.
At the end the choir sang Amazing Grace for its encore as the physically challenged orchestra accompanied them. There was one blind pianist who also accompanied the choir on other pieces. I don't know how they do it. I just enjoy it so much.
It makes me thank God for my eyes, ears, and legs. It also helps to remind me that when I think how difficult my challenges are in life there are those who face much more difficulty and still praise God for their lives and for His grace. Awesome dude (as the younger generation says)!
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