Over a hot summer of 1997, when my brother, Ting-KAi （廷楷）, was sitting next to my dad. He was about to take a short nap when my dad turned to Ting-KAi, and asked him,
“ I know you are already baptized and you are a Christian now. Tell me, how does Christinality teach people to live their lives ? “
Ting KAi was a little bit shocked by this question from my dad. He settled down and organized his thought and reflected a couplet (對聯) his friend at New York Cities gave him and was hang over his living room. The phrase is from Corinthia Chapter 13, Section 8. The phrase was written in Mandarin, and it says,
凡事 包容。凡事相信
凡事希望 凡事忍耐
It (love) always protects, always trusts, always hopes, and always preserves.
Dad nodded his head in approval then slowly disclosed his story approximately 60 years ago. The time was approximately 1937 when Ting KAi was 4 years old and I was not even born. My dad was young, and strong. Besides, he also had a lot of opinions. At the time, we were still at Long-Jin village (龍井 鄉） which belongs to Taichung county (台中縣）。
The village had village politics and had different fractions because of the politics. Different political factions often had arguments, even exchanged verbal insults. Being young, strong, and opinionated, my dad was also involved in such village politics. There was an incident in which my dad was involved in the shouting match with the other side during a village meeting. The two sides did not see eye-to-eye.
Then my dad was ill. He was not only ill, but dangerously ill. He had jaundice. His skin and eyelids turned yellow. If he was not treated, he could die.
At that time, the village had only one doctor. His name was Tan I Tsang （陳以專）. There was a problem. Dr. Tan belonged to the other side, and my dad had exchanged verbal insults and shouting matches before. My dad resisted to see Dr. Tan for help. Then a miracle happened.
Dr. Tan came to my home to treat my dad. After a few weeks, my dad was healed. Besides saying thank you to Dr. Tan, my dad asked him why he came to help my dad.
“First, I am a doctor. Healing a patient is my calling in my profession.” Dr. Tan replied,
“Second, in my faith, I have no enemy. You are not my enemy.”
Dr. Tan was a Christian and he was referring to Luke 5 33-39 verses in the Bible.
..love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return…judge not, and you will not be judged; condemned not, and you will not be condemned; forgive and you will be forgiven; give, and you will be given;…
In fact, every Christian is reminded of this important teaching of Jesus during the Lent season. Other faiths, although do not practice Lent, also have similar teachings. For example, Ms. Joy Hajoe, a Native American poet of the Muscogee Nation, writes,
And whom do I call my enemy?
An enemy must be worthy of engagement.
I turn in the direction of the sun and keep walking.
It’s the heart that asks the question, not my furious mind.
The heart is the smaller cousin of the sun.
It sees and knows everything.
It hears the gnashing even as it hears the blessing.
The door to the mind should only open from the heart.
An enemy who gets in, risks the danger of becoming a friend.
My dad was greatly transformed by this incident. He told my brother that every time he got emotional, he would ask the question, “ Would this reaction come from my heart or from my head? “. This attitude served him very well through his life, because he would not do anything or react to anything that would compromise his state of “peace of mind”.
For Dr. Tan, he had risked the danger of turning an enemy into becoming a friend. My dad, 2 years before his death, reminded Ting-KAi, to find Dr. Tan’s son in the U.S. to deliver his gratitude to Dr. Tan.
“Dr. Tan saved my life”, my dad said.
Dr. Tan saved my dad’s life, both physically and spiritually.
