If it's stupid but works, it isn't stupid

Photo-shop, art, or Kansas? I have no idea.

The Saturdays Pam works (three out of every four) I do chores around the house to help out. Don't know what got into me today, but in addition to the normal loads of laundry washed, folded and put away I vacuumed, mopped and dusted. And we don't even have company coming.
I'll make somebody a great wife some day.

I also did a 3-mile run. Yesterday I rode 15 miles and then went right to the pool for a non-stop 600m, so I figured I could do a single today. I find running the most difficult of the three segments, which seems odd because that's the one I've been doing the longest. I used to be pretty good. But now I have no speed and never feel strong. The run is the first of the three events so while I want to start strong I also don't want to use up too much energy and not have anything left in the tank for the swim.

NASCAR is in town this weekend and the Cardinals have a home game against the Seahawks. Both events are here in the west valley. Traffic will be a mess tomorrow afternoon.

I read today that Nien Cheng died earlier this month at the age of 94. A tiny Chinese lady, she was married to the manager of the Shell Corporation's offices in Shanghai when the cultural revolution broke out (Chairman Mao's Red Guard). Her husband was killed and she was imprisoned as a western spy and enemy of the people because of her education and ability to speak English. She spent almost 7 years in solitary confinement, living in squalid conditions and enduring sometimes daily torture. During this time her 19-year old daughter was killed by the Red Guard who said it was a suicide in order to further torment Cheng (who knew otherwise).

Eventually the Gang of Four was overthrown and Nien Cheng was freed. She used the opportunity to escape to the U.S., knowing there were those who still wanted her dead. She settled in Washington D.C. and became a respected lecturer on the Maoist period in China. She also wrote one of the earliest of the memoirs of life under an oppressive regime, "Life and Death in Shanghai."

I read "Life and Death in Shanghai" in 1988 after hearing Nien Cheng interviewed on NPR as part of her book tour (the book was published in '87). She impressed me with her intellect and her gentle spirit as I listened. I've always had an interest in all things relating to China so I bought the book within a day of hearing that interview.

Few books have moved me like that one. What this woman lacked in physical size she possessed ten-fold in character strength. And what you won't read in most secular reviews of the book is the stress she placed on her faith in God's care for her as one of his children through her faith in Christ. It was this faith and her ability to draw on the Scripture she had memorized that got her through those six and a half years in solitary confinement and brutal torture.

I was so moved by the strength of her faith that I wrote her a letter after finishing the book. I sent it to her through the publisher. I've never written an author before or since, but I had to tell her how much her book meant to me. I didn't hear back from her, but I didn't expect to. She was a very busy woman at that time, in great demand as a speaker.

Six months later I got a small envelope in the mail. Inside was a handwritten note from Nien Cheng. She apologized profusely for the delay in responding; her publisher hadn't been forwarding her mail to her and she didn't get my letter until she returned to D.C. She graciously expressed her appreciation for my comments and wished me well in my ministry (I told her I was a pastor).

I've never understood the point of collecting autographs, but I still have that letter, 20 years later. In fact, I came across it just a few weeks ago while looking for something else. For me the combination of her book and that brief note embody the strength and grace that should characterize the Christian experience. Humility and courage are a powerful combination to which I, by God's grace, aspire. Nien Cheng exemplified them in great measure.

If you read books, get a copy of "Life and Death in Shanghai". You'll learn about the horrors of the Cultural Revolution and about the strength of a woman who trusted God.