Today is Qing Ming, the Tomb Sweeping Festival, one of the three primary festivals in Taiwanese culture or I’ll say in Chinese culture. At daybreak, everything was packed up in the car and we drove down to my hometown in the southern part of Taiwan, Along the highway we could see pillars of smoke here and there rising from the farming land. I told my kids the smoke actually came from the gravesite.

Qing Ming is the time for Taiwanese families to visit their family gravesite, and people will burn paper money and make offerings to their ancestors. I remember when I was little my father and all his relatives would visit my grandfather’s tomb near my house, where we would tidy up the area around the tomb such as pulling out the weeds and placing flowers and food offerings in front of the tombstone. Returning home after the service, we would enjoy “spring rolls” together.

Now I am still enjoying the food – sping rolls, as well as the time for family reunion. As a Christian I respect and honor my ancestors for what they have done for my family, yet I don’t worship them as gods. I would often share with my kids the good memories of how well my grandmother and my parents loved and treated me as now how I love them.

It is difficult for many Taiwanese to believe in Christ, because many of them are strongly convinced that Christian don’t show filial piety to their ancestors; they don’t burn incense, worship with incense sticks or even keel down before their parents when they die. They are misled by the Christian outward actions, not because they don’t respect their parents, which is one of the Ten Commandments, but because they wouldn’t follow the custom or tradition, which is against God’s law – you shall worship no other god except Me.