Eric's Beijing Diary

Well, I finally broke down and bought a computer last night. My old Toshiba is almost six years old. It's a company laptop I purchased from my university when I left the United States. There was some minor indication that my hard drive might be starting to go last summer, but I ignored the warning and crossed my fingers. Six years is a long time for a computer, but this really has been a very good machine. Earlier this fall, I started getting disk errors, and I knew the end was near. Actually, losing a hard drive is not a matter of life and death--they're not that terribly expensive. But, I don't know...I guess it was just the straw that broke the camel's back. I figure if I am going to change the hard drive, I might as well get a new machine now, so I can offload the old stuff.

I like computers generally. Fact is, I don't think I have ever met a computer I couldn't get along with. And I have made a lifestyle of getting the most out of legacy stuff. I have scaled down the memory allocations for the System Global Area (RAM allocated to an Oracle instance) in Oracle so that I could run an Oracle database on a laptop with 256 MB of RAM. But it is just getting to the point where there are more and more things I cannot do. I have built three courses at the Software College since I have been here. I am now working on the fourth, which is the Oracle Developer Tools. I can't run that software and an Oracle database on only 256 MB of RAM. It's just too much.

Anyway, I don't want to bore you with the arcane details of my teaching life; I merely offer that bit of information to stress that in my business, a laptop is not a luxury item. This is all the more true, given the amount of traveling I have been doing. So when my hard drive started to go, I figured it was time to get something with a little more "umph."

Some days ago, I was riding my bicycle on the campus, and I asked God to "drop a laptop in my lap." Very shortly, Rachel's boyfriend called and asked me if I was still thinking about getting a new machine. I told him that I really needed to get something pretty soon. I appreciated his offer to help me, because the cost would almost certainly be quite a bit more if I tried to handle it myself.

Yesterday, we went over to Zhonguancun, and wandered around the high-tech markets. Eason had told me quite emphatically that I should choose either an IBM or an HP. At one store we visited, I noticed an NEC. Perhaps it is my own bias, but I naturally favored a Japanese made machine. Truth is, lots of customers in China do too, the government inspired hostility to Japan notwithstanding. But Eason told me, "I can't help you, because I don't know the real price." I said, "What do you mean, the real price? But I needn't have asked. I have been down this road before. China is a barter culture, and the most important part of that process is finding out the "real" price. One of the items I buy quite often in China is phone cards. They are more expensive here than in the States (although they shouldn't be, because they are using voice over IP, but I'll leave that rant for another time), but they are usually discounted. Problem is, I am a foreigner, and they see me coming. So I took the trouble to find out what people were paying. When a student told me where to get the cards, I asked him exactly how much he paid for them. The price he quoted was about a third of the face value. So when I went there myself, I didn't ask the price. I told him how many I wanted, and quoted the price my friend had given me. As soon as it was clear that I knew the "real" price, there was no argument.

Anyway, I decided I better take Eason's counsel. We went to several places, and got several quotes. I decided to go with the HP, because it was usually about 1000 RMB less than the IBM for an equivalent machine, and because that is the kind that Eason recently purchased. After going to several places, we went to the basement, and visited a friend of Eason. He had a little shop, which was a hole in the wall with no computers. Eason told him the bottom price he had seen. He disappeared for a few minutes and came back with a box. New computer. The price was a little less than the lowest price we had been quoted. Probably about a half to two thirds of what I would have paid by myself. Just one more reminder that this is a very relational culture.

Christmas in China. Friday evening, Christmas was naturally the favored topic of conversation at the English Corner. Everyone asked me how I was going to celebrate Christmas. I told them that I was going to be going to a Christmas program at the church. I happened to have some of the little friendship cards from the church so I showed them the card. One of them held it up and tried to read the little verse that is printed on the card, but he got stuck. I took the card and tried to read it also, but it was just too dark. Several people used their cell phones as flashlights to assist me:

"For God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have eternal life."

After I finished reading, someone said, "Now translate it."

"It's already in English."

"But what does it mean."

I said, "Well, you know, this really is the story of Christmas in a nutshell."

I guess I had never thought of John 3:16 as a Christmas text, but in a sense, it really is the most complete one. I explained to them that Christmas is about God giving his Son as a gift to lost humanity.

Saturday evening I attended a beautiful Christmas program put on by a local house church. They had rented an auditorium at a local hotel. The program contained lots of singing, with skits which portrayed contemporary themes in a Biblical context. It was very well done. The best part, I think was a little dramatization of the story of the Prodigal Son. Although this is not generally thought of as a Christmas story, it really added to the presentation. It was evident that the laobaixing around me had little or no religious background. The story was quite overwhelming for them. The audience was very moved by the final scene, when the devastated son returns to his father. After the play was over, the pastor invited people in the audience to come up to the front if they wanted to receive the forgiveness that God offers us through Jesus Christ. Many people left their seats and streamed to the front of the auditorium.

Sunday was Christmas. The big day. I went to Church in the morning. Fortunately, I have been going to the early service, so I was able to get a seat without too much trouble. It was a nice service, but I was a bit amused to see all the helpers dressed in Santa Claus suits.

Sunday afternoon I had a Christmas party at my apartment. I shared a brief meditation from Isaiah 9:6. This verse is perhaps the most comprehensive messianic prophecy:

"For a child has been born for us, a son given to us; authority rests upon his shoulders; and he is named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." (NRSV--Standard English Bible used in Three Self Churches)

Jesus is a child born, and Jesus is son given. He is a child born because he is truly man. He is a son given because he is eternal God. In discussing the nature of Christ, and who He is, we say that Jesus had two natures, separate and distinct. We say separate, because Jesus was not half man and half God. He was all man and all God. And we say distinct, because Jesus was man, and man is not God. And Jesus was God, and God is not man. Jesus is man. This is his humanity. Jesus is God. This is his divinity. As to his humanity, he is a child born. As to his divinity, he is a Son given. Religious cults have trouble with the divinity of Jesus. They don't believe that Jesus was (and is) God. But Christians sometimes have trouble with the humanity of Christ. One went so far as to say that Mary was just an incubator. This, of course, is an extreme reaction to Catholic teaching--an attempt to say that Mary had no part in who Jesus was. Another preacher I heard, in trying to emphasize that Jesus was not sinful, made the comment that "Jesus did not have a human nature." This is well intentioned, but very wrong. Jesus was not just God in human form. He was also man in human form. The book of Matthew gives the genealogy of Joseph, showing Christ's authentic position as the legal heir to the throne of David. But the book of Luke gives the genealogy of Mary, showing that Jesus, as a human being, was a descendent of David. Romans 1 says that Jesus was "made of the seed of David according to the flesh, and declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness." He was made of the seed of David, because man is created. But he was declared to be the Son of God because God is not created.

The second great truth in this text concerns the mission of Jesus. The government(authority) will rest upon His shoulders. Jesus was born to rule. In prophecy, we see two pictures of the Christ. One is as a man who came to save his people. A servant. A common man. A shepherd. The other is a picture of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. The Jews tend to focus on the second picture, and completely miss the first. That is why they do not believe that Jesus is the Messiah. Chaim Potok writes about the Hassidim (Jewish pietists) in New York. In one of his books, called My Name is Asher Lev, the main character, a child protege who is a budding artist, develops a fascination for the crucifixion of Christ as a subject for art. (I recommend this book, but if you read it, you should first read ,The Chosen and The Promise. You will need the background.) The book focuses around the scandal created in the Jewish community by a young Jewish artist (Asher Lev) who likes to paint the crucifixion. His fascination began one day when he was a small child walking down the street with his mother. He sees a painting of the Passion in a store window, and is transfixed by the image. He asks his mother who it is. His mother explains to him that this is Jesus.

"But who is he?"

"The Goyim (Gentiles) say that he is the Messiah."

"Is he?

At this point, his mother laughs, "Of course not! Would the world be in such a mess if the Messiah had come?"

This conversation epitomizes the classic Jewish perspective. The Jews are looking for a Messiah to come and "make the world right." They are looking for the second coming, but they have completely missed the first. Christians, on the other hand, focus on the first coming (especially at Christmas), but they sometimes miss the fact that in the end, the Jews are right. Jesus is coming to rule. Jesus is King of Kings and Lord of Lords. The wise men rightly asked, "Where is he that is born King of the Jews?" Jesus was born a king. And though he came first in humility and lowliness, some day he will rule the world with a rod of iron. The Millennium will be an age of righteousness. Today we are not living in the day of righteousness. We are living in the day of grace. This is why God allows evil. And this is why we say, "Would you like to receive Jesus Christ into your life, and the forgiveness that is offered through Him?" But in the Millennium we will not ask people, "Would you like to accept the righteous authority of King Jesus?" Jesus will rule in righteousness, and sin and corruption will have to flee.

The last great truth presented here concerns the character of God that we see in Christ Jesus. The New Revised Standard Version, which is the version used in the standard bilingual bible in China, starts by referring to Jesus as a "Wonderful Counselor." I don't like this, because it implies that the word "wonderful" is merely an adjective that describes "counselor." This is incorrect. "Wonderful" here refers directly to Jesus. It is an attribute of Christ, and the kind of person he is, that deserves to be examined by itself. Jesus is wonderful. It's not hard, because the word means the same thing in Hebrew as it does in English. Everything that comes to your mind when you think of someone being wonderful applies to Jesus. The Scripture says that we are "fearfully and wonderfully made." Same basic word. Jesus is ultimate goodness.

Jesus is our Counselor. He is both willing and able to give us the guidance and encouragement we need in every area of our lives. So in the coming of Jesus, we see not only a perfect man who offered himself up for us. We have a friend who is always with us. There is no problem that is beyond His interest. There is nothing we could bring to Him that He would not be willing to give us advice about. Jesus is called "Mighty God." This means that He is not only willing to help us, he is able to help us. We have many counselors who can commiserate with us about our problems. Some of these "counselors" may be working through their own troubles vicariously by commiserating with us. But others are genuinely sincere friends who really feel sorry for us, but who are no more able than us to find the answer. Jesus always knows the answer. And He is always more than willing to guide us.

Sometimes we are tempted to think of Jesus as sort of a representative of Almighty God. But this text tells us that Jesus himself is "Mighty God." If He were not, he would still be able to commiserate with us. He might still be able to encourage us. But in the end, He would not be able to fix our problem. But in Jesus, we have a helper who has the power to move mountains from their foundations and put them in the middle of the ocean. And He has offered to do this for us if we just ask Him.

He is also called "Eternal Father," or more literally, "Father of Eternity." Sometimes this verse has been applied falsely to establish the position of Jesus in the Godhead. This is understandable (given the King James), but mistaken. What the Scripture is saying here is that Jesus is eternal by his very nature. His is not eternal by the action of someone else. That would be true of us. We are going to live forever because of God's mercy. But it would not be, and is not true of Jesus. Jesus is eternal in and of Himself. He is very God of very God. Eternity exists because of Him. In Bible we read that the devil is "a liar, and the father of it." In much the same sense, we can say that Jesus is eternal, and the Father of eternity.

And I really like the last part. Prince of Peace. In my college years, I studied Public Administration. Since those days, I have been a student of government. During the years that I was fighting corruption in the Social Service system in North Dakota, I was a lobbyist at the North Dakota State Legislature. Throughout all my experiences with government, I have noticed that no matter what kind of political system you may have, government enforces the Biblical statement that "the crooked way cannot be made straight." But Jesus is a Prince who will bring righteousness and peace. Righteousness because of His character, and peace because righteousness eventually eliminates the need for conflict and war. When Jethro advised Moses, he told him to choose men who "hate dishonest gain" (NRSV). Can you imagine how different this world would be if every political personality had this character quality? Righteousness produces peace. And Jesus, as a righteous ruler, will be the Prince of Peace. Amen and amen.

"...this multitasking addiction is a hallmark of impatient babyboomers and their younger siblings."

Maybe she's right. I'm listening, now to a downloadable audio file, which is a discussion on NPR "Books" about downloadable audio books. The discussion peaked my curiosity, so I went to the website for Blackstone Audio Books, a publisher of many of the audio books I used to rent for listening on the road when I was a truck driver. That was a few years ago now, and the books I rented were all audio tapes. I would put them in the stereo tape deck as I was driving, and turn down my CB radio, so that I could concentrate on the book I was listening to. When I was finished with the book, I would turn it in at one of the two or three hundred truck stops which were part of the network, and therefore authorized to receive returned books. By doing this, I was able to turn hundreds and thousands of hours of "dead time" into a productive learning opportunity. I also bought several BBC audio productions of Shakespeare plays. Most audio books feature some actor or actress reading a book chapter by chapter. But the BBC Shakespeare productions were actual radio dramatizations featuring the best Shakespearian actors and actresses in the world. I also bought a copy of Gregory Peck reading the King James New Testament. And I also had a copy of the Old Testament on tape. I went through the Old Testament three or four times while I was on the road (in addition to reading it in my daily devotions), and I heard Gregory Peck read the New Testament more times than I can count.

My world has changed considerably since then, but the mulitasking addiction, if anything, has gotten worse. I downloaded the free iTunes software from Apple, and subscribed to several podcasts. "Podcast" is just a fancy name for a downloadable mp3 file. The only difference is that podcasts are updated automatically. You subscribe to the podcast by entering the URL into your podcasting software. Every time you open iTunes, it will go out on the Internet and check for the latest edition to your podcast. But my multitasking is not limited to podcasts. I also download sermons from the Internet. Every afternoon, I go to a nearby restaurant and get a cup of milk tea. Then I study my Chinese while listening to sermon lectures.

There are "pros" and "cons" to this multitasking thing. It does allow you to get information you simply would not have time for if you always did only one thing at a time. I watch very little TV, because I have become accustomed to listening to news and other podcasts while I am working. I cannot get anything else done while I am sitting with my eyes glued to the tube. But there are times when the process of doing two things at a time can be distracting. It's kinda hard to explain, but any given data flow tends to be undulating. That is, there are moments of monotony, and moments of tension. Be it a story, a piece of music, a sermon, or a news item, the information flow is not static. Some moments require quite a bit of concentration. Others quite a bit less. So under normal circumstances, writing a paragraph like this while I am (right now) listening to a book on tape is not too much to handle. But sometimes I am really concentrating on my writing, and I miss some detail of the story I am listening to. Or I get engrossed in the story I am listening to and stop writing. So doing two things at one time usually takes a little longer than doing one. But it definitely takes a lot less time than just a single task. Sometimes, the combination can be a little hard to develop. For example, if I am writing in my prayer journal while I am listening to a bible study on the Internet and trying to follow along with my e-Sword software, so that I can keep track of the Greek and Hebrew word origins, as well as checking to see what the commentators have to say ( I have downloaded and installed the Matthew Henry and Albert Barnes modules for e-Sword.), the multitasking gets to be a bit much, and I experience information overload. The other problem is that extensive multitasking develops a tendency to expect a certain level of information flow. When your brain does not get it, you become bored and your mind starts to wander. I fall asleep easily if I am just sitting and listening to a lecture.

Yesterday, I met with an official from Jiangsu Province. A friend of mine had been asked by her boss to find an American university professor, so she called me.

The official is hoping to find an American university that can provide training in the United States for a group of management level personnel from his province. He mentioned his interest in trying to find a bridge to an American university. I am supposed to be that bridge. Not sure I can help him, but he may have picked the right person, because the dean of the Software College where I teach is a tenured professor at an American university.

This problem of "creating a bridge" is something that has been an issue for mainland entities ever since the country began to open up in the eighties. This was first brought to my attention in a conversation I had on the plane from Hong Kong to Los Angeles after my first trip to China in the fall of 2001. I had gotten stuck in a middle seat on a very crowded flight, so I spent quite a bit of time standing in the back of the plane talking with a buyer on his way back from the trade show in Guangzhou. He was telling me how he would contract with a one of the factories in the Pearl River Delta to make products which he could then resell in the West for a price that was considered low, but which left him with a pretty nice profit.

In the fall of 2002, I went to COMDEX in Las Vegas with some of my colleagues from the university where I was teaching at the time. As I walked by the booths in the Chinese section, one person after another would come out from behind the booth and ask me to help them sell their product or service in the United States. I was struck by how sincerely the Chinese businesses longed for someone who could be a bridge between what they had to offer, and the market for their service.

Bought a Christmas tree today. I went with a couple sisters from church to a barter market near Xizhimen. We were able to find one for 40 RMB, which is about five dollars. If I had gone alone to the French supermarket, it would probably have cost me ten times that much. Forty kuai for the tree, and five kuai a piece for two strings of lights.

This afternoon, I joined a bunch of parishioners from the church I go to, and boarded a bus for the trip across town to the ordination of new pastors for the new Chaoyang Three-Self Church, which is one of the two new Protestant churches being built by the Beijing government at a cost of 30 million RMB (3.6 million US). Religion in China is controlled by the government, and money is allocated based on demonstrated use. Since there has been a phenomenal growth in the number of Protestants, new churches are being built to meet the demand. But process is not instant. Three-Self churches are always quite crowded. Interest in the message of the Gospel is really growing in this country, and most of this interest is expressed in small private family gatherings. So the actual number of practicing believers is very hard to count. I would expect to see more and bigger churches.

McDonald's Restaurant, Wangfujing Street. Shoppers rushing in and out. Christmas music playing in the background. Cold winter air sneaking in through the opening and closing door. Somehow, it reminds me of another McDonald's Restaurant from one of my past lives. It was fifteen years ago, and I was a truck driver, sitting at a McDonald's in Chicago, gazing out the window at the snow flurries, and wondering how I was going to make it home for Christmas. Shoppers rushing in and out. Christmas music playing in the background. Cold winter air sneaking in through the opening and closing door...funny how one place can remind you of another for reasons which seem trivial and insignificant.

Well, folks, winter is here. They have hung the winter curtains over the outside doors. Winter in Beijing is mild--very little sub-zero weather. But the wind does come up now and then. Folks from the South talk about how cold it is, but it really is nothing like Harbin in the Northeast, which has more of a Minnesota type climate. Beijing's weather is a lot like Prescott Arizona--a little colder, perhaps, with even less snow. Beijing is very dry in the winter. Suits me fine. I like blue sky.

I got a very nice email this morning from a young lady I was talking with at the English corner last Friday evening:

Dear Eric,
I am Linda! I met you last night on the English corner. Do you still remeber me? :)
I think I am so lucky to know you! When I listened to your reciting of Libai's Poetry I felt very moved! You know so much about Chinese and I am a little bit ashamed of myself because I am so ignorant to many things.
I am from a small town in Tianmen city of Hubei Province. Last year I graduated from Tianjin university and after graduation I came to Beijing and hunted a job. I hope I can met many people to broaden my vision. Because in my past years of working and studying I think my education is too standard, I can not judge between the fact and the words on the book. I hope you can give me some fresh idea about the society and life. Yesterday you gave me many new enlightenment. I am so grateful about this. Hope we can keep in touch and become good friends!
Ok,dear Eric, could you tell me about the expression mistakes
in my mail to you? I want to improve my English very urgently! Thanks a lot!
I will write you again! See you next time!
Take care!
Regards!
Linda

This letter is only one of many I have received from the many open hearted young people I have met since I have come to China. In the two years since I arrived in January of 2004, nothing has impressed me more than the genuine decency and openness of the Chinese people. This is such a contrast to what I often hear from westerners when discussing these issues. I am reminded of this contrast every summer when I travel, because I meet young people from Europe and America who seem to be so much more cynical about life in general, but especially in discussions about matters of faith and truth and justice. This is not by any means a universal statement. I have met many very nice young people from all over the world as I have traveled across China, and stayed at the various backpacker hangouts, especially in the West. But somehow it seems that young people who come from societies which have had a measure of spiritual light, but have slowly but surely been turning their backs on God, are more likely to be somewhat jaded in their view of these issues, as demonstrated by bold, cynical pronouncements.

I really hope China doesn't become that way. My most sincere prayer for these young people is that their hearts will remain tender. This is why I often encourage Chinese young people to "remember your creator in the days of your youth." Think about God when you're young. Don't wait until you are too old to care.

Had an interesting discussion last night at the English Corner about Christmas. One young lady asked me to explain Christmas to her. As I was doing this, another lady interrupted to inform everyone that Christmas was actually started by a real man who gave gifts to little children. I told her that there was in deed a man known as St. Nicholas, or Father Nicholas who gave gifts to little children. But St. Nicholas did not create Christmas. In Christmas we see that Jesus is the gift. God loved the world so much that he gave His only Son to live a perfect life, and then die and pay the price for our sins. He took our sinfulness so that we could stand before God in His righteousness.

Somebody asked me if I like poetry. I quoted, for them, the poem by Li Bai, one of the greatest of the Tang Dynasty poets. Li Bai is probably my favorite Tang Dynasty poet, and perhaps the favorite of many others. He had a fascination with the moon as a symbol in poetry. In fact, the story is told that he died one night in a drunken stupor by drowning in the river because he fell in while trying to scoop the moon out of the river with his hand.

A SONG OF AN AUTUMN MIDNIGHT

By Li Bai

A slip of the moon hangs over the capital;
Ten thousand washing-mallets are pounding;
And the autumn wind is blowing my heart
For ever and ever toward the Jade Pass....
Oh, when will the Tartar troops be conquered,
And my husband come back from the long campaign!