Legacies, the Past and Looking Forward
By Hua Ou
God’s Revelation in Creation
A little girl and her friends climbed the hill, jumping, skipping, panting, letting loose giggles like shiny bright bells jingling and echoing along the way… At the top of the hill, she gasped and let out a joyful shriek at the arresting scene that invaded her sight—a field of long stemmed flowers of stunning scarlet swaying freely and vibrantly on the arid highland, calling her to embrace. The little girl ran, submerging herself amid the ocean of fiery red. She cupped her hands around the flowers to make a bouquet, and put her face against the brilliant petals, gazing for a long time.
Is there anything beyond up there?
The Shan Dan Dan flower’s Latin name is Lilium pumilum. I still remember the sense of pure joy I felt as an eight-year-old at the fresh encounter of the bursting beauty in the barren and forbidden Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, where my parents worked for the prospecting department of China. From ages five to ten, my friends and I would roam around the mountainsides, collecting “earth skin” (Nostoc commune, an edible fungus in northwestern part of China) after summer thunderstorms, and drink the sweet refreshing mountain spring water… We plucked and ate the green, tender, juicy wheat kernels, and ran swiftly away from the Tibetans who were watching their fields. We climbed trees and picked immature apricots, making faces of the absolutely tart taste! I tilted my head high heavenward, intently watching the eagles circling steadily and powerfully in the vast dome of sky, wondering: is there anything beyond up there?
The remote rural plateau more than 10,000 feet above the sea level imprinted God on the young and innocent heart of mine. The impression of His Sovereignty on creation and Love to mankind from the secluded region (General Revelation) echoed readily within me as I heard the Word of God (Special Revelation) and received the costly gift of salvation in my twenties.
Themes of My Family
“We used to live on an island with a drawbridge,” my mother recalled. “My mom’s parents owned an oil factory and store. They were pretty well off, and sent their three sons, my uncles, to college—one became a successful lawyer, one a teacher, and one a Chinese herbal doctor. My dad was an only son, heir to the family wealth. My parents married and had eleven children. I was born in 1933, the fourth one. They were about to give me to my first uncle because he did not have any children.”
My siblings and I were able to live with my mother’s first uncle for about seven years when we transitioned back to Shanghai from the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau in 1976. He became the main caregiver for us, aged fourteen, twelve, and ten. We addressed him as “Big Grand Uncle.” He was in his 70s at the time. He lost his job as a lawyer after the communist government came to power in 1948 and worked in a department store. He went through the Cultural Revolution, was sent to a correction camp, divorced, and lost his house and possessions. However, in my memory, he was always smiling.
Big Grand Uncle lived a structured and active life, practicing Tai Chi each morning, reading historical documents and books, helping neighbors generously with their repair needs, and bringing us to visit his brothers every weekend. He was so highly respected by his younger siblings that he was given the privilege to name all their children! His nephews and niece from his brothers’ side have names that used to always strike me as unusual: Awake people, call people, alert people, assure people, inform people! Only now I am brought to a deeper sense and understanding of his life passion and vision in pursuing justice, knowledge, and freedom with a high value on honesty and integrity.
Looking back, I can clearly see it as one larger theme gifted to my Big Grand Uncle, my family line, and to me by our Creator God. It is larger because God in His grace pointed us to His majestic attributes and design—the invisible beyond the visible of the world. God revealed Himself not only in my youth through creation but to my family in a hunger for the truth of His character. With the passion awakened in seeking honesty, integrity, justice, knowledge, and freedom, I encountered and responded to TRUTH, and found salvation in His great grace.
Looking Forward
Looking forward, I share a prayer through song, through the hymn, “O Jesus, I Have Promised”— the hymn sung on my baptism on October 25, 1992 (lyrics on next page).
Love
Knowing the legacies of people in my past and the experiences of my youth, I am reminded of the importance of LOVE in moving forward.
For faithful stewardship of my life, I need to LOVE PEOPLE WELL. I whisper to God, “I am ready. Please help me.”
Believe
For advice/wisdom for myself, and my dear young brothers and sisters in the Kingdom, who are taking the lead, I hear Jesus say, “Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?” (John 11:40b, NIV).
For all of us, I pray from Jude,
To him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you before His glorious presence without fault and with great joy—to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forever more! Amen. (Jude 1:24-25, NIV)
O Jesus, I have promised to serve you to the end;
be you forever near me, my Master and my Friend;
I shall not fear the battle if you are by my side,
nor wander from the pathway if you will be my Guide.
O let me feel you near me, the world is ever near;
I see the sights that dazzle, the tempting sounds I hear;
my foes are ever near me, around me and within;
but, Jesus draw you nearer, and shield my soul from sin.
O let me hear you speaking in accents clear and still,
above the storms of passion, the murmurs of self-will;
O speak to reassure me, to hasten or control!
O speak, and make me listen, You Guardian of my soul!
O Jesus, you have promised to all who follow you
that where you are in glory there shall your servant be;
and, Jesus, I have promised to serve you to the end;
O give me grace to follow, my Master and my Friend!
O Jesus, I have Promised (UMH 396) Words by John Ernest Bode, 1869
Hua Ou graduated from the Counseling Department of Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, and works as a licensed mental health clinician in Massachusetts. She loves fresh air and nature, reading and listening to stories, pondering on life, singing hymns, having fun with family and friends, and telling people about the love of God.
People say that being a pastor is hard, but I would argue that being a pastor’s wife might be even more difficult.