The one prominent colour of the Chinese New Year festive season is the colour red.
Chinese New Year paints the town red, and not only the town but also the heartland and almost everywhere else.
The decorations are red, the covers of the goodie containers are red, the dresses are red, the ang pows are red, and giving out ang pows can get you in the red.
Whatever it may be, red is a vibrant and joyous colour. Teams that wear red jerseys are often popular and successful.
Red is also associated with passion and energy, that is why fire is called red-hot.
But red is also a symbol of warning and danger. When traffic lights are going to turn red, we better stop, and not to charge across.
For this Chinese New Year, the colour red has taken on the meaning of warning and danger.
Quite unexpectedly, the coronavirus pneumonia, or the Wuhan virus, has gotten into Singapore and caused some alarm.
We are advised to take precautions and not to be too alarmed.
The gospel does not mention the colour red, but it gives out a light of vibrancy and energy.
Hearing that John had been arrested, Jesus went back to Galilee and He settled in Capernaum, a lakeside town on the borders of Zebulun and Naphtali, and hence the prophecy of Isaiah was fulfilled:
“The people that lived in darkness has seen a great light, on those who dwell in the land and shadow of death, a light has dawned.”
And with that Jesus began His preaching with the message, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is close at hand”.
With the urgency of that message, Jesus wasted no time as He went on to call His first disciples, Peter and Andrew, and James and John.
He then went round the whole of Galilee teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the Good News of the kingdom and curing all kinds of diseases and sickness among the people.
Jesus was like on fire, red-hot, full of vibrancy and energy, and like how the prophecy puts it: the people that lived in darkness has seen a great light, on those who dwell in the land and shadow of death, a light has dawned.
According to the Chinese zodiac, this year is the “Year of the Rat”, and we wonder what kind of year this would be.
Already the image of a rat is not a pleasant and inspiring one. We don’t have to see a rat to understand this. Even when we say that we smell a rat, it doesn’t mean anything nice and good.
But there is a saving grace of the rat. There is the 2007 animated movie about the Rat who can cook - “Ratatouille”. Then there is of course the famous Mickey Mouse, and also the cartoon series “Tom & Jerry”.
So it seems that things in life can go one way or the other. There is a choice to be either a smelly, dirty rat that brings about a cry of disgust, or a cute and adorable “Ratty” or “Mickey” that will bring on a smile of happiness.
And that is what Jesus came to do. He came to bring light into our darkened world and to heal the spiritual disease and illness that had darkened our lives and made us look like smelly, dirty rats.
We can choose to remain like those smelly dirty rats, or we can choose to let the light of Christ shine on us and make us into a likeable and lovable “Mickey Mouse”.
But we are not just called to stand around and look cute like “Mickey Mouse”. If at all, we are to be like a prayer mouse that will build up the prayer house.
And we need to build up this prayer house especially in this time of a health issue.
We need to pray for the medical personnel attending to the victims of the coronavirus pneumonia (or the Wuhan virus) and we pray for God’s blessings that the virus will be contained.
We pray that the light of Christ will shine a way for the medical research to cure the disease.
And just as Jesus came to cure all kinds of disease and sickness among the people, may He also cure the victims of this current aggressive virus.
Let us be that house of prayer, calling upon God’s grace and blessing in this time of need.