wfn.org | TCN Editorial: Tuning in on God’s righteousness - a reflection for Youth Day

["Lydia Ma" <enews@pctpress.org>]

>Taiwan Church News

>2978 Edition

>March 23~29, 2009

Editorial: Tuning in on God’s righteousness - a reflection for  Youth Day

>Translated by Lydia Ma

In a recent issue of the Taiwan Church News, it was reported that a  group of youth made it their mission to ride their bicycles across  Taiwan. In a short time span of 14 days, they rode from Puli to Taipei  and then headed eastward to Ilan before turning back to Puli. During  this 1,400 kilometer journey, these youth shared about their daily  adventures, prayed together, recorded the experiences of their peers,  and wrote about their thoughts on their homeland, their national  identity, and themselves.

Hearing stories about these youths actively pursuing their dreams as  they rode their bicycles reminds me of a movie released a few years ago  called “The Motorcycle Diaries”. The protagonist in this movie  is Ernesto Che Guevara (1928-1967) who hails from an upper-class family  in Argentina. Guevara’s passion to lead a revolutionary movement  was ignited by a motorcycle trip he took as a young man.

When Guevara was still a student in medical school, he decided to take  one year off from his studies and join a good friend on a motorcycle  tour across South America. As he rode his old motorcycle across several  countries, he saw extreme poverty and suffering among peasants in Latin  America, as well as government exploitation, suppression and corruption.  Guevara was appalled by what he witnessed and his view of the world  widened during that tour when he realized that a country must have  enough strength and power to survive. He also began to see all countries  in Latin America as a single entity sharing a common culture and economy  that deserved attention and respect.

Just as he was about to return to Argentina, Guevara wrote in his diary  that he would never be the same again after this trip. He even wrote  that his old self had died. We can note a transformation in his heart as  he wrote these words after completing a motorcycle trip that reshaped  his view on life. After his return, he evolved from an average  middle-class peasant into a revolutionary devoted to fighting political  injustices.

Guevara’s short and legendary life made him the icon of modern day  protest movements and he is often portrayed as a warrior and a hero. His  picture often appears on thousands of posters and flags, and youths  today also wear t-shirts or carry backpacks with an emblazoned picture  of him. Though he passed away 40 years ago, his legacy of fighting  social injustices and stirring up revolutionary movements is still alive  in many parts of the world.

The bicycle tour these Taiwanese youths took and “The Motorcycle  Diaries” took place during different times in history and in  totally different social contexts. However, they are both stories of  youth and their personal experiences. They are also stories about a  journey of discovering one’s own heart.

As Taiwanese youths continue to write about their biking journey and  their encounters with people from all walks of life, it is our hope that  they will discover their self-confidence and potential through this  journey and keep writing about what they have learned. Most importantly,  it is our prayer that they will tune in to God and discover what His  righteousness is about during this activity, as written in Micah 6:8:  “He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD  require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with  your God.”

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