Bright in the Dark
We were all a bit squished in the back seat of the pick-up. I guess the seat isn’t quite hooked properly and so our knees are touching the back of the front seats and there is some kind of squishy leatherette padding that is very hot. The air conditioner doesn’t work and the window on my side don’t roll down, the door is just the metal frame as the padding had been torn off at some point in it’s not too recent past. As long as the pick-up is moving the hot night air feels fine. Most of the windows are partially or all the way rolled down depending on their functionality. The city lights are lovely and I am sure even more so for the five people in the back, they have the city lights view for sure.
We are driving into the older part of the city, Chinatown and the ancient train station and everything looks and feels a bit older, a bit dirtier- if that’s possible, and somehow spiritually full and dark. Like there is a history here and not all of it is safe.
The shop house has old, dark cement stairs winding up and small misshaped rooms, there is every kind of piece of pot and pan hanging from nails at the front of the store. It makes me think of Harry Potterish places. Plah takes me upstairs to meet her Amah, (Chinese for grandma) who sits in a small full room with funny shaped walls and no windows, that I can see. Her granny wants to know what I want and why I have come to see her. I tell her I’ve wanted to meet her for a long time. Do you have a question for me?, I ask. She says no. But she is happy and speaks to me in her Chinese language while her little great grand daughter shouts my words into her ears in her very excited voice.
Plah is moving to the On Nut neighborhood where I live and bringing her littlest one with her, he is just 7 months old but quite a large little child. The great granny gives me a few more bits of information, the baby apparently likes to put small objects in his mouth and I need to be careful of that. After some more discussion in some Chinese we say our goodbyes and she wishes me “Heng, heng..” which means all good things for me, much gold, health and goodness. I tell her that her granddaughter is lovely and I wish God’s blessing on her, but I’m not sure what she hears. I hope somehow she feels the love of Jesus in this dark little place that is her world. She is saying goodbye to her big old baby great-grandson. His name is Bright.
We are driving into the older part of the city, Chinatown and the ancient train station and everything looks and feels a bit older, a bit dirtier- if that’s possible, and somehow spiritually full and dark. Like there is a history here and not all of it is safe.
The shop house has old, dark cement stairs winding up and small misshaped rooms, there is every kind of piece of pot and pan hanging from nails at the front of the store. It makes me think of Harry Potterish places. Plah takes me upstairs to meet her Amah, (Chinese for grandma) who sits in a small full room with funny shaped walls and no windows, that I can see. Her granny wants to know what I want and why I have come to see her. I tell her I’ve wanted to meet her for a long time. Do you have a question for me?, I ask. She says no. But she is happy and speaks to me in her Chinese language while her little great grand daughter shouts my words into her ears in her very excited voice.
Plah is moving to the On Nut neighborhood where I live and bringing her littlest one with her, he is just 7 months old but quite a large little child. The great granny gives me a few more bits of information, the baby apparently likes to put small objects in his mouth and I need to be careful of that. After some more discussion in some Chinese we say our goodbyes and she wishes me “Heng, heng..” which means all good things for me, much gold, health and goodness. I tell her that her granddaughter is lovely and I wish God’s blessing on her, but I’m not sure what she hears. I hope somehow she feels the love of Jesus in this dark little place that is her world. She is saying goodbye to her big old baby great-grandson. His name is Bright.
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