Coming down from the mountain to B'day celebrations

Qua whose whole soul is in singing happy birthday to Vy

I waited down stairs as the familiar voices filled the room with “our house” arriving to come join in the celebrations. Joy that in the two days been present that have been able to connect already through our broken english and wonderful drama skills!! Getting to meet two of the girls that are still away on holidays until tomorrow added greater sense of delight for all.  Father James arrived on urber taxi - they are everywhere!! - and the mountain climb to the chapel began. Walking the 60 stairs up to the top takes on a new meaning of meeting at the top of a mountain to pray! 

(forgive me for not taking a photo of chapel, I will next time over there!) 

We gathered for mass, everyone in the one room singing songs of praise and thanksgiving. The familiar words from liturgy unite us once again with the wider world, knowing that as we celebrate on this day we are joined together in a wider family lifting our hearts together. 

After Mass we walk down from the mountain to the lower floor where Mary has been preparing a feast for most of the afternoon. After the traditional afternoon nap time, the house had started to come alive with movement. The sky open up outside with rain bring about a cooler breeze. I sat in the lounge listening to the harmonic tune of their voices as they cut veggies, fruit, started to prepare the chapel for the gathering. At times I join in the gathering and preparing while other moments let the natural order occur with everyone taking their roles to match their gifts. Now and again song fills the air in a burst of joy leaving the soul to put out into the wider world to echo around the room and flowing up and down the stairs. 

After dinner we celebrated Vy birthday - well its belate birthday as she celebrated while away on holidays. She was left a little speechless with the surprise as the cake came down the stairs and happy birthday was sang about five times in english, Vietnamese and modern you tube combination of the two. 

Just before I came i had the honour of joining the celebrations of one of the girls in the music group who turn big 1-8!!. It was rather more of a birthday week or month she had declared to me. A glorious time it was for her, filled with adventures, sweet treats, balloons, cake, gifts and oodles of celebration. Even better, it was a reminder to all those who joined in the celebrations that God has graciously given us the beautiful gift of her, simply been her! 

Last night too, this familiar feeling occurred, while that Im sure there were less balloons, cake and different gifts, there still was that boundless joy of giving thanks for the blessing not only we all have for Vy herself in all the twenty-five years of living, learning and celebrating His goodness. 

I strongly believe in celebrating life, there is a small waiting in anticipation for someone to say its their birthday, yet above that to say that its ‘just another day’ or ‘no big deal’. This gives me a feeling of sadness and rather at times feels like an opportunity to remind them that God hand-picked that very day to forever change the world with their presence. He does nothing by chance and does not make mistakes. He knits each of us together in our mother’s womb and tends to every detail of our creation. The day and year of our birth was chosen on purpose, according to his will. 

There are murmurs here of cutting down on celebrations, no cake, no gifts… reasons that on the surface one can understand yet a small part of me feels sadden by this. Why take away something that is in the culture - world wide culture nearly - can it not be expressed differently?

When a child is born, there is usually great jubilation. We wonder in awe at God’s miracle. First birthdays are filled with the joy of spending an entire year with they little person, God’s amazing creation. Childhoods are spent marking each milestone with cake, balloons, and smiles. Then, somewhere down the line, the celebrations lessen. We tone down the excitement of our day as we age. This brings up several questions for me:

If our birthdays are important as children, they why do they become less important when we become adults? Is not the miracle of life still worthy of celebration? Has the awe and wonder worn off? And if it has, why? Has the Lords miracle and his goodness changed?

“By his own choice he made us his children by the message of the truth so that we should be a sort of first-fruits of all that he has created” (James 1:18 CTS) 

Our value does not diminish with age. We are fearfully and wonderfully made in His image. This is cause for true celebration. 

The truth is that we do not need a special day to celebrate the life we have been given. However, birthdays rekindle that spark of jubilation and remind us that each day holds endless possibilities for wonder, adventure and celebration. We need only to remember that today is worth celebrating too.