"Ghost Month Arrived"by Kevin StellickThe lunar calendar is still something I do not clearly understand. What I have learned in more recent days is that the Chinese people have used the lunar calendar for thousands of years. There are generally two ways to construct a calendar: You can base it on either the earth moving around the sun (solar calendar) or the moon moving around the earth (lunar calendar). It was apparently easier for the farmer to look up into the sky and keep track of the changing phases of the moon. It takes only 29.5 days for the moon to circle the earth one time.
Ghost Month has just started here in Asia. Myth and custom tell us that Ghost Month is the seventh lunar month when the doors of hell are opened and all the ghosts of the dead are free to roam. It is said that they return to where they had once lived. It is also said that anyone who dies a tragic death or anyone who was not given a proper funeral, will return during Ghost Month and wreak havoc on all those who are responsible. A few weeks back my wife, Sarah and daughter, Hannah and I went for a walk around our neighborhood. It was a Sunday evening. Most Chinese do not work on Sundays and so were home. It also happened to be the sixteenth day of the lunar month which is one of the special days when the Ghost Month rituals are to be done. That night, if I had used only my nose as we were standing outside, I may have thought I was "up north at the cabin" as we used to say in Minnesota. The air smelled as if someone had the fireplace roaring and they were enjoying the evening at home. This was not at all the case! As you looked down every street you saw smoke and ashes wafting into the air. In front of 9 out of 10 homes the people were doing the Ghost Month ritual. They were burning fake money so that the essence of the money could be used by the ghosts both now and when they returned to hell at the end of the month. Most people also set up small tables and displayed on them all kinds of food items. Roast duck, mangos, plums, peaches, fruits of all kinds. We saw some tables with Pringles' potato chips and Miller beer, almost anything you could imagine. Why, you ask? As with burning the money so it is believed that the essence of the food is taken by the ghosts who come to their home. The better the food, the more expensive and lavish the display the happier the ghosts will be, so it is thought. If the ghosts are happy then they will not harm you or bring you bad luck. Older Chinese people take Ghost Month very seriously, whereas the younger are less inclined depending on their upbringing. Some will not move their place of residence during Ghost Month for fear that the ghosts of their relatives will not find their way back home and will bring them harm. They will not go swimming for fear that the ghosts will pull them under. Others things to avoid during this month touch different aspects of life. The faithful will not marry during Ghost Month as it is a sign of bad things to come. Whistling while you walk is a sure fire way to attract all of the ghosts and lead them to your home. No whistling! Never say anything negative about someone who has died (even if it is true) because they will hear you and bring you trouble. The Chinese will not have surgery nor will they bury anyone who dies during this month. They will wait until Ghost Month is over to take care of all these affairs. At the root of these strange happenings during Ghost Month is fear. Fear compels them to do things that seem crazy to those of us from the West, from the USA. It is a hard thing for us from the West to really understand what the Chinese person must be separated from to be a Christian. In most cases it means being cut off from family and friends. If you reject your upbringing, your culture, your own people, you become a foreigner in your own country. We have such Chinese Christian friends. They have been Christians for years and still have not told their parents for fear of being cut off from them. Just imagine if your parents taught you to do the Ghost Month rituals when you were a child. What would you believe? Could you despise your parents and their beliefs? What obedient child could do such a thing? A few of our Chinese language teachers told us that when they grew up only 20 years ago, their parents would scare them into obedience with the fear of monsters and ghosts who would cause them pain. One said that if she got out of bed at night her mother told her a monster would kill her! Scared straight! Fear was used to make the children conform. Do the parents believe in ghosts? It sure seems as though they do when you see the displays they put together for Ghost Month. Fear compels them to try to make peace with what is unknown. Satan is working overtime in Asia. The Apostle Paul came up against such Satanic power in his day. In 2 Corinthians 4:4 the Holy Spirit moved him to write: The god of this age (Satan) has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ. Pray that the light of the gospel may be turned on full strength so that many may come to faith in Christ. With Christ in their heart all fear will be removed! Pray that the Lord would give our Chinese brothers and
sisters in Christ the zeal to reach out with the light of
the gospel of the glory of Christ. Pray that the Lord
would bless the gospel ministry here in Taiwan. With
God's blessing we will join our Chinese brothers and
sisters in heaven singing praises to our Savior and Lord.
May God alone be glorified! August 26, 1996 |
