我们
The Free Community Church has dedicated a Sunday service every March to commemorate the International Women’s Day (IWD) since 2005, which means that this year marks the 8th International Women’s Day service that we are holding. It is pretty amazing considering that in 2005, the number of women attending FCC could be counted with my fingers on both hands, and today I will probably need the use of extra hands to count the women present in this congregation.
I have to state upfront that I am here to share a very short message because I carry two x chromosomes, that is, I am a woman, though I do not claim to represent the views of all the women present here. IWD started in the early 1900’s where women were spurred into action by their oppression and inequality that they experienced. Through the last century, great strides has been achieved in leveling the playing field between women and men (at the very least in the more advanced countries), which probably leads to some women (and maybe a lot of men) wondering whether there is still a need to celebrate IWD at all, if equality is what we are striving for.
The Free Community Church has dedicated a Sunday service every March to commemorate the International Women’s Day (IWD) since 2005, which means that this year marks the 8th International Women’s Day service that we are holding. It is pretty amazing considering that in 2005, the number of women attending FCC could be counted with my fingers on both hands, and today I will probably need the use of extra hands to count the women present in this congregation.
I have to state upfront that I am here to share a very short message because I carry two x chromosomes, that is, I am a woman, though I do not claim to represent the views of all the women present here. IWD started in the early 1900’s where women were spurred into action by their oppression and inequality that they experienced. Through the last century, great strides has been achieved in leveling the playing field between women and men (at the very least in the more advanced countries), which probably leads to some women (and maybe a lot of men) wondering whether there is still a need to celebrate IWD at all, if equality is what we are striving for.
To the men here, do not feel left out, as there is also an International Men’s Day celebrated in November every year, which is also focused on promoting gender equality (from the point of view of men). So I guess whether as women or men, as long as there is marginalization, there will be a need to push for improvement of the plights of these marginalized people.
As for myself, I cannot honestly say that I have experienced any discrimination based on my gender. I always had strong women role models in my life, from my mum, to my teachers in schools and lecturers in university. I never had a doubt that I can set out to achieve anything I want to regardless of my gender. It could be naïve thinking on my part, or I am probably not sensitive enough to be aware of the subtle discrimination against women that are still present today. What I did not experienced, does not negate the fact that there are women out there that are still being marginalized, even in Singapore’s context. The women role models in my life likely faced difficult uphill tasks in their personal and professional lives, as I am sure if we talk to our grandmothers, mothers or aunts, they will share with us their struggles. So as we have benefitted from the works of the generations before us, I am glad that FCC continues to celebrate IWD, because it serves as a reminder of how far we have come, and the work we must continue to do in order to achieve true equality where no one is discriminated based on gender.
Travelers or here to stay?
For IWD this year, FCC has chosen to have its own theme, which is wo men. This is taking a play on the pronunciation in hanyu pinyin, which in mandarin, means us (我们). Wo men, us as in a community of women and men, of old and young, of you and I. In this church, though we try to be as inclusive as we can, there is a clear demarcation between certain groups, for example, the heterosexual and homosexual, and among the LGBTQ people here, the lesbians and the gay men. This occurs because firstly: there is the presence of a majority and minority group, and secondly, both groups seem to have a difference which is huge enough to cause this demarcation. For the gays and straights, this difference is the sexuality. For the lesbians and the gay men, the difference is probably also due to sexuality, because we are simply not interested in the opposite sex, and therefore the motivation to know each other is already diminished.
If we cannot see beyond the differences between the group which we identify with, and the other group, we will never be able to consider ourselves to be a part of each other. This is the same thing, as when we travel to a new place, we always choose to experience the differences (it could be cultural, habitual or societal), comparing between them and us. However, if we are moving ourselves into a new place, and trying to integrate our lives with the others, we would always choose to see what is common between us.
So the question for each of us is: wherever we are now, do we see ourselves as visitors or travelers? Or do we want to see ourselves as part of the group. If we are but travelers, then see the differences and continue to be separated from each other. However, if we want to belong, we have to learn to see the commonality between us.
For IWD this year, FCC has chosen to have its own theme, which is wo men. This is taking a play on the pronunciation in hanyu pinyin, which in mandarin, means us (我们). Wo men, us as in a community of women and men, of old and young, of you and I. In this church, though we try to be as inclusive as we can, there is a clear demarcation between certain groups, for example, the heterosexual and homosexual, and among the LGBTQ people here, the lesbians and the gay men. This occurs because firstly: there is the presence of a majority and minority group, and secondly, both groups seem to have a difference which is huge enough to cause this demarcation. For the gays and straights, this difference is the sexuality. For the lesbians and the gay men, the difference is probably also due to sexuality, because we are simply not interested in the opposite sex, and therefore the motivation to know each other is already diminished.
If we cannot see beyond the differences between the group which we identify with, and the other group, we will never be able to consider ourselves to be a part of each other. This is the same thing, as when we travel to a new place, we always choose to experience the differences (it could be cultural, habitual or societal), comparing between them and us. However, if we are moving ourselves into a new place, and trying to integrate our lives with the others, we would always choose to see what is common between us.
So the question for each of us is: wherever we are now, do we see ourselves as visitors or travelers? Or do we want to see ourselves as part of the group. If we are but travelers, then see the differences and continue to be separated from each other. However, if we want to belong, we have to learn to see the commonality between us.
Beneath it all
How do we go about doing that? It is to see beneath the surface of the skin, and realise that we are really not that different. If we understand that for each of us, blood works the same way flowing through our bodies bringing oxygen to all the cells, we all need food to provide us with nutrients that gives us energy, and our minds perceive our environment through the same five senses, or six in some special cases. We are all humans, made from the same stencil of the basic building blocks. As shown by the picture below:
How do we go about doing that? It is to see beneath the surface of the skin, and realise that we are really not that different. If we understand that for each of us, blood works the same way flowing through our bodies bringing oxygen to all the cells, we all need food to provide us with nutrients that gives us energy, and our minds perceive our environment through the same five senses, or six in some special cases. We are all humans, made from the same stencil of the basic building blocks. As shown by the picture below:
In Genesis 1: 26 and 27, it is written:
26 Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”
27 So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and
female he created them.
27 So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and
female he created them.
We are all created in the image of god, regardless of our gender, sexuality, race and whatever
physical attributes that makes us different on the surface and where we are in our life situations. If we ask the questions: Is god female or male, is god black, white or yellow, is god heterosexual, homosexual or asexual? What would the answer be? Maybe God is not defined by any of these, or maybe god is every one of these. And each and every one of us being created in god’s image, we are little representatives of who and what god is. We are all carrying a bit of god in us.
physical attributes that makes us different on the surface and where we are in our life situations. If we ask the questions: Is god female or male, is god black, white or yellow, is god heterosexual, homosexual or asexual? What would the answer be? Maybe God is not defined by any of these, or maybe god is every one of these. And each and every one of us being created in god’s image, we are little representatives of who and what god is. We are all carrying a bit of god in us.
Common humanity and our responsibility
In seeing our common humanity, and seeing in each of us the god that is within, we will learn to see that the group with which we belong to is no longer limited to just either women or men, straights or LGBTQ, Christians or non Christians. We learn to expand the circles, to include groups of people who may seem to be as different as chalk and cheese to us. Perhaps one day, we do not even need a circle to include every one, for we no longer need the circle to exist, as no one will ever be excluded if we are able to see each other as part of ourselves.
They say a picture is worth one thousand words, so this picture taken from a postcard sent to the post secret site sums it up very well. It reads : "We're all so connected, I desperately wish we knew it."
Through seeing our common humanity, we will then also be able to see our interconnectedness with one another. How does seeing that we are connected to one another affect how we live our lives? We have a responsibility to each other that flows through this connection. If there are still places in the world which are torn by war, or families whose lives are wrecked by natural disasters, or there is still one hungry person among our midst, then we are still responsible for all these people as one person’s suffering is part of the shared human experience of all. And this responsibility is huge, for we are not only to be responsible for our loved ones (which already could be a difficulty in itself), we must see that we are also responsible for the strangers among us.
In Singapore, we always like to greet people with “Jia ba buey?” (Have you had your meal?). If one day, someone answers, “No, I have not and I do not have any money to eat and I am hungry.”, what would our response be? In the parable of the sheep and the goats, taken from Matthew 25: 31-46, Jesus taught us exactly what we should do.
Matthew 25: 31-46
31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne.
32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.
33 He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.
35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in,
36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink?
38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you?
39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’
41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.
42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink,
31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne.
32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.
33 He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.
35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in,
36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink?
38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you?
39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’
41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.
42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink,
43 I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’
44 “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing
clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’
45 “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’
46 “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”
44 “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing
clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’
45 “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’
46 “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”
I personally like the way people in Zimbabwee greet each other. In the morning, it would go
something like this:
(Good morning, did you sleep well?) And the reply will be: (I slept well, if you slept well.)
And in the middle of the day, the greetings would be:
(How has your day been?) The reply will then be: (My day has been good, if your day has been
good.)
In other words, we are so connected that if you did not sleep well, or if you are not having a good day, how can I sleep well or have a good day? This kind of greeting would apply to close family and to strangers. What a wonderful place this world would be, if every one could be treated this way.
The two greatest commandments written in the bible is found in from Matthew 22: 37-40:
37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’
38 This is the first and greatest commandment.
39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’
40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’
38 This is the first and greatest commandment.
39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’
40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
As followers of Christ, obeying these two commandments would be the biggest challenge in our lives. In knowing our common humanity, our interconnectedness, and our responsibility for one other, it will help each of us to take the first steps towards living as god asked of us. Then we can truly begin to build a community, where every single one of us will be a part of 我们.
