Easter special

It was a struggle, this Lenten season, for I was not able to observe the conventions of fasting, penance and alms-giving in my usual manner. I wanted to offer up something more meaningful, and yet, did not seem to have the energy or time to do so. It was only after I had a chat with my SD that I felt I did give something of value this season. Fr. A. said that the Lord would ask for something different each Lent and as long as I followed His lead, it would not be a washout. With that validation, I emerged from our meeting with relief and a newfound sense of purpose.

Lately I find that I am challenged to go beyond the conservative boundaries of my beliefs and take the spirit of loving God with all my heart, with all my soul, with all my mind and with all my strength to new depths. Now that I know how to colour within the lines, I am prodded to define the picture with bold, fresh strokes which I then embellish with colour. It's a scary proposition for I would much rather keep playing in the shallow end of the blue-tiled, chlorinated pool than to venture into the pulsating warmth of the emerald, sunlit sea.

So Lent continued along its unconventional turn in its final week when Mum and I went to Taiwan to visit my youngest brother, NB, last week. The trip was his birthday gift to Mum and I lucked out for the invite included me too. There is merit in being the big sister who used to wash his milk bottles every day and change his soggy nappys. For me, the timing was less than ideal but no point going up there if he wasn’t free to take us around. So we arrived a day before the tomb-sweeping public holiday that gave him a four-day weekend.

We had a blast – meeting his friends, checking out his haunts, going on a road trip to Puli and Sun Moon Lake and spending the day in Taipei doing the tourist thing. The visit to the National Palace Museum to view its impressive collection of artefacts and the even more impressive swell of humanity that thronged the corridors was a highlight of the trip. NB had pulled out all the stops in planning a perfect vacation for us and it was… perfect. Even the uncooperative weather proved to be a refreshing change. Who needed hot and sunny for we get that all the time back home. We ate well, laughed much and enjoyed the time we spent together.

The joy of Easter percolated over as we celebrated new life into family bonds and felt the presence of Jesus in the affirmation of the ties that bind us.