This handy and edifying paperback is a companion to Once Upon a Time in Africa. James H. Kroeger and the late Eugene F. Thalman, Maryknoll priests, have compiled stories from the cultures and peoples of Asia from China to East Timor, to the mostly Christian Philippines to Buddhist Thailand and beyond.
On these pages you will find poems, prayers, experiences, myths, and fiction. The material is organized in chapters on In the Beginning, Living in Asia, The Importance of Family, Caring for One Another in Community, Culture Matters, Wisdom from the Orient, One God - Many Faith Traditions, and Seeds of God in Asian Soil. Here are two examples of the riches here.
Moments of Reverence
"In many secular Japanese hospitals, when a patient dies, the body is placed in a special room 'where the spirit rests.' For a few hours before the body is taken away, hospital personnel can go there to pay their respects to the family and to the person they had in their care. It is a reverent moment that means so much to all."
— Sister Kathleen Reiley, M.M., Japan
Sharing in the Philippines
"Anywhere in the Philippines, if your neighbor borrows your soup tureen or serving platter, it will never return empty. Your neighbors will have cooked something for you.
"In rural areas, everything is communal. The missing ingredients of a vegetable dish come from other backyards. You can plan meals around Susing's squash leaves, Oyong's green papayas, and the string beans in Naty's patch. Of course, the chili for the whole neighborhood comes from your own bush.
"To Filipinos, the sense of sharing is also a way of maximizing every resource to the fullest. Rivers, trees, wells, farm animals, irrigation systems, fishing boats, and TV sets are shared.
"Filipinos never forget to share good fortune either. A native sweets manufacturer someone helped while he was still struggling will not forget to send a gift basket every Christmas, for years on end, considerably more than would be required to repay a kindness. This is why a homecoming Filipino is easy to spot in an airport — he is so overloaded: lotions, soaps, and chocolates in one overnight bag, t-shirts, make-up, fancy jewelry, and fruits in another. A pasalubong or homecoming present for everyone is a Filipino institution.
"Sharing is such a part of the Filipino psyche that it permeates the language. The word for brother or sister is kapatol or kapatid, a piece of your umbilical cord; a spouse is kabiyak ng puso, half of your heart; a close friend is kabagang, one of your teeth."
— Father James H. Kroger, M.M., Maryknoll Language School, Davao City, Philippines
