Binge reading can be addictive, no less than watching Korean dramas, which I have also done. My reading marathon started after finishing an online course on the “Science of Happiness.” It led me to dig deeper into my interests in psychology, sociology, language, and translations of Chinese poetry, especially as to how these fields can and do relate to my Christian faith. With no specific plan in mind, I began browsing the e-book catalogue of my local library, closed by COVID19. Whether an example of savouring or its exact opposite, I devoured a book a day. As many of these books contain ideas linked to each other, I decided to “connect the dots” of these books in a blog. But before putting fingers to keyboard, I needed a name for this blog. In keeping with my love for acronyms and mnemonics, I chose “MAPs of Life” —Metaphors, Analogies, and Parables that have helped me in the navigation of my life journey, especially of faith. Using a train journey to explore this map as my main metaphor, my locomotive left for its first destination today — my first post. 

Us and Them is a movie about a “couple” surviving in Beijing who returns to their same home village every New Year to “report” to the man’s father. The girl continues to visit the father even after the relationship has broken up. This movie is adapted from a Chinese short story set in Taiwan. The story reminds me of a famous parable, but first read my translation of the story in my next post…