Inspirational
A Red-letter Day
Happy New Year. Gong Xi Fa Cai!
In the restaurant where we dined last night, New Year’s eve, about 99% of the people were wearing red. The décor was all in red, too.
The occasion was indeed a red-letter day—a term that dates back from the 1400s. It those days, peopled marked feast days and other holy days in red on church calendars. Today, holidays are marked red in most calendars.
Aside from being a red-letter day, Chinese New Year is dominated by the color red because red is considered the luckiest color in China. It is associated with happiness and good fortune; it symbolizes fire, believed to ward off evil spirits.
If you ever attend a Chinese celebration, wearing something red is always a good decision.
During these celebrations, one will not miss seeing the Ang Pao. In fact, my children, when they were little, looked forward to receiving them. These are little red envelopes stuffed with crisp new bills. They are given by the older family members as a gift to the young ones.
As a token of appreciation, household staff and employees are sometimes also given Ang Pao as rewards for a job well done!
And speaking of red-letters days, wedding is one of them.
In Filipino weddings, the bride wears white. But in most Chinese weddings, the bride wears a traditional Chinese wedding dress in red.
Funny how one color could dictate one’s way of looking at life. Time and again, I’ve blogged about how superstitions can warp one’s mind, taking it away from the Source of grace.
I’ve always believed that no color, no omen, no sign, no nothing, no feng shui, and no luck can ever take the place of the love of God, from Whom all things (prosperity and happiness) flow.
The only red that is significant for me is the blood of Jesus—that which was shed for us so we may have life eternal, after this one has ended.
Thank you, Lord, for this New Year.
“What shall we say about such wonderful things as these? If God is for us, who can ever be against us?” Romans 8:31 (NLT)
