I have a new name

I have just been given a Chinese (cantonese) name by my church. I am quite chuffed about this. My name (transliterated, and I hope I am getting this right!) is Do Mei Yun.

The surname is Do, and what we would call the first name is Mei Yun - which means Beautiful Grace. No one has told me what the Do part means. A great meaning too - so even more chuffed.

* piccie from www.pdphoto.org

Olympic games revealing

picture by Ricardo Stuckert/PR from http://www.agenciabrasil.gov.br under creative commons licence

I got up early this morning to watch the Opening ceremony replay with Sparky, who is very excited about his first Olympics (last time he was in the womb). I had a wonderful time sharing this with him - I got a bit teary! He and his 18 month old brother watched a lot more than I thought they would - I guess spectacle is a genre that goes across age.

Sparky thought the 2008 drummers were a camera trick and was amazed when I explained in this case it wasn't so.

The ceremony was beautiful, lavish, stylish and dignified. I have to confess I still think Sydney's were better. This is probably because my taste is Australian! I liked the combination of cheekiness and transcendence in Sydney. It is a very Australian mix - we don't take things too seriously - and yet, deep down - at times, we do want to. It seemed to me that in fact Sydney while less dignified reached for the heavens more (the whole Eternity thing for instance). Is this the difference between a country whose government is based on a materialist doctrine and one that while secular still has some more overt Christian influence? The ceremony did however have a great message of care for the environment, as well as the usual messages of peace among the peoples of the earth.

The ceremony also celebrated the major inventions first invented by the Chinese. I knew some of this before, and it doesn't surprise me, as working for a chinese australian church, I am well aware of how smart Chinese people are! - I think the only reason they didn't conquer the world is that at a crucial point they became, politically, internally rather than externally focussed.

individualistic culture v women

I'm going to make a grand sweeping historical statement here, but in general I believe, in most cultures at most times, women were not expected to be at home by themselves all day everyday looking after several children and the household by themselves. In our western post industrial, go it alone, nuclear family culture, we think the women who struggle with this are suffering with depression, rather than having an entirely appropriate reaction to their situation. But I think children are meant to be brought up by the extended family and the community. One thing that impresses me about chinese culture ( I work at a chinese church) is that the expectation is that grandparents will provide live in help for a few months after the birth of a baby. This comes with restrictions on the activities of the mother that we might chafe against, but recognises I think, that babies are a responsibility that requires support. My belief is that God intended this: a whole loving community to bring up children together, though with the main input from the parents. I think we are too affected by culture in how we do this as western christians. Part of the problem is us, the mums - we need to be less proud, and more willing to accept help.