李黃嬋英
迷信陰霾下的父母姻緣
筆者的父親與祖父相依為命；珍貴相處時間只有幾個年頭。父子在「大羅天」酒店同工數年。祖父離鄉別井十數載，直到他得胃癌，在病危才回鄉，不久病逝。
百日成婚
在這其間，筆者的父親和母親剛初戀認識。因祖父剛逝世不久，不知何來的習俗，父母當年若要結婚就必須在百日內，否則要等三年。父親認為等三年太長，故此，父母親就在百日內決定結婚。由於父親已將自己的積蓄全用在祖父的葬禮上。結果父親要向至親借錢結婚。婚後背債；又被至親在新年初上門追債，面子都被丟光了，實在不好受。
一個小插曲，外婆原本計劃將母親許配給一個較富裕的「客家」男子。但母親不喜歡他，故要嫁給父親。外婆多年為此事心中耿耿於懷。擔心女兒將來啞子吃黃蓮有苦自己知。
夫妻街頭攤檔
父母親是在街上擺檔攤賣布料生意。當時隨時會遇上警察抓罰要「走鬼」（快速收拾地攤逃離現場，避免罰款）。
母親有語言天賦，她能說越語、客語、福建話、潮語及粵語。管理生意的擔子，自然落在她的身上。父親負責檔攤要隨時做好「走鬼」的準備。婚後一女一子相繼出世，兩夫妻艱苦勞碌為了糊口；日曬雨淋的擺地攤生意多年。夫妻檔一唱一和；從地攤到有自己家居小舖店。是力經艱辛，多年節省努力而成的。其後生活較為安舒穩定。
不許稱父母爸媽
母親一共生了九個兒女。好景不常，父母親的第三、四、五個兒女（兩子一女）年幼時在數年內，相繼因病離世。這對父母親打擊實在太大。他們到處尋醫、求神拜佛，又到各廟宇拜祭各神像和信風水。因迷信，從此，他們的四個孩子都不准許稱呼父母親為「爸爸和媽媽」了，而只許可稱呼父親為「姨丈」，稱母親為「阿姨」。
父親在家中安裝了許多神位，又有「關公」。在門前安了一個鐵馬蹄和八卦牌、天官、土地、祖先、灶君等。屋頂上又裝了一隻據說能使人避邪的瓦公雞。每年過節時父親都打理家中的神祗整潔、燈光閃爍、七彩燈燭、香火鼎盛。父親是看「通勝書」過日子的。連我孩童時也受到影響，如「眼皮跳動」都想預知自己將會發生什麼事。
人常出於好奇都想去查看通勝日子好與壞。好的為吉日，禁的為忌日。這書是華人世代傳統，是「迷信」之書。直到今天，活在2023年，在各地的華人，仍然有這習俗印刷在我們日常生活的月曆上。在華人超市，在年底常有免費贈送這類的月曆。這種習俗仍然響影著華人的思想，常聽到人說「寧可信其有不可信其無」，這是似乎難以揮去的迷信觀念。
人痴想預知未來，一方面要按照「通勝書」中祭祀方式去供奉神祉，但又懼怕做得不足就會得罪各處神明，這常常使人生活在驚慌恐懼之下。
耶和華的籌算立定
我父親也曾多年無知，一番熱忱去幫助街坊鄰舍看「通勝書」選擇吉日。為何人寧可相信不吉利的事會影響他的生活，卻不相信有一位創天造地，並生命的上帝能主宰萬事呢？其實人以為凡事可以「人定勝天」。但是聖經說：「人心多有計謀，惟有耶和華的籌算，才能立定」。箴言十九：21
我本人有許多例子。我從小體弱常有病痛。母親常手裡拿著一疊祭祀用的冥錢點着了火，從我頭上掃到腳，來去幾回，母親技術高超，我的頭髮從來沒有被燒着或皮肉被燙傷過。有時母親也會帶我到近處街道十字路口中間，做同樣的方式祭祀。我又喝過不少所謂的「聖水或符水」。父親還特別幫我上契給齊天大聖「孫悟空」。長大後才知道，這是一個虛構詼諧人物「馬騮精」(猴子精)，竟然被華人當作一個神明去供奉求福。聖經上說：「自從造天地以來，神的永能和神性是明明可知的，雖是眼不能見，但藉着所造之物就可以曉得，叫人無可推諉。因為他們雖然知道神，卻不當作神榮耀祂，也不感謝祂。他們的思念變為虛妄，無知的心就昏暗了。」羅馬書一：20-21
作者：李黃嬋英師母出身越南堤岸。少年信主後，移居北歐瑞典，修社工。婚後與夫婿移居美國。
李黃嬋英。〈【小趣奇遇】父母姻緣與迷信〉《真理報》(美東版) (2023年3月)。
https://nystm.org/nytm0323-05/
【小趣奇遇】壓迫商家驅逐去新經濟區
當我們一家被迫拋屋棄貨被驅逐到龍安省（Long An）的一個小鎮墟（Thu Thua）之後；我們的戶口被取消，孩子同時也被取消在城市內上學的資格。四哥與我、弟妹都要輟學。
[Storm Buster] Storm Surge
![[Storm Buster] Storm Surge](https://eresource.ifstms.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Hurricane_Kate_2003-_Good_pic-860x500.webp "[Storm Buster] Storm Surge")
Storm surge causes inundation of large swaths of coastal land. Eleven years ago, storm surge from Hurricane Sandy havocked large damages in New York (NY) and New Jersey (NJ). Today, some of those destructions are still noticeable and remain unrepaired.
[Interesting Adventures] The New Economic Development District Policy in Vietnam
The Vietnamese government had planned well ahead and prepared many makeshift-hut developments such as the one we were sent among all the villages and provinces.
[Interesting Adventures] Suppressing the Merchants (Part II)
![[Interesting Adventures] Suppressing the Merchants (Part II)](https://eresource.ifstms.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/oppressed-Merchants-2-web-edited-800x500.jpg "[Interesting Adventures] Suppressing the Merchants (Part II)")
Upon the confiscation of our family-cloth-business, there was an undercover policewoman stationed at our home for three weeks every day from 7:00 am till 6:00 pm. Our every move was scrutinized⋯⋯
[Storm Buster] Autumn Foliage Forecast
![[Storm Buster] Autumn Foliage Forecast](https://eresource.ifstms.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Screen-Shot-2023-10-30-at-11.05.07-PM.jpg "[Storm Buster] Autumn Foliage Forecast")
Autumn is pleasant. It has many public holidays for the most populous countries in the northern hemisphere. In the U.S. we have Labor Day, Columbus Day and the Veterans Day. In China there are Mid-Autumn Festival and Double-Yang Festival.
[Storm Buster Series] Preempt Wildfires
![[Storm Buster Series] Preempt Wildfires](https://eresource.ifstms.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/nytm2310p-72.jpg "[Storm Buster Series] Preempt Wildfires")
We were all stunned by the apocalyptic scenes of devastation and destitution caused by wildfires in Maui, HI. The utter sense of desolation and desperation was overwhelmingly sad. It destroyed the idyllic Island of Maui. Many people are still in denial and disbelief when they look at the news reports.
[Interesting Adventures] The Oppressed Merchants (1)
![[Interesting Adventures] The Oppressed Merchants (1)](https://eresource.ifstms.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/nytm2310p-71-700x500.jpg "[Interesting Adventures] The Oppressed Merchants (1)")
Mom and dad ran a textile and cloth business for thirty years. Their humble street hawker beginning was never remote. Only through thrift living and hard work did mom and dad gradually expand their business and eventually proudly owned a retail shop in the middle of the vegetable markets.
【小趣奇遇】民族之間文化的差異
我父母親年輕未婚時來自潮州；但我們六個兄弟姊妹都是出生於越南。全家一直住在華人聚居最多的「堤岸」。華人都是做大小生意為生的。連本地越南人都學會說粵語，特別需要在生意上能用粵語溝通，他們也讓自己孩子去華文學校讀書。
Heatwaves
Heatwaves in many parts of the Northern Hemisphere captured the public’s attention. The inadequacy of the central air conditioning units in many of the northern cities testifies to the unexpected increase in air temperature across Northern Europe, Asia and America.
Cultural Divide
Born in Vietnam, my siblings of six including myself, lived in a Chinese town called “Cholon”. Cantonese was the business dialect that even the native Vietnamese learned to speak. Many of the Vietnamese natives sent their children to Chinese schools.
【小趣奇遇】教學混亂與民間迷信
在1975年南越政變後，我和二哥（榮光）和弟弟（榮南）就讀的「同心」中小學，从私立成了公立學校，取消了學校制服。由於不夠老師，加上政府監控學校制度，又撤銷所有華語課堂，規定只准許學習當地越南文。
The Unfathomable Deep Space and Seas
Man is an adventurous creature. In the pre-pandemic year of 2019 the US travel and tourism industry generated 1.9 trillion dollars in economic output. That was a startling 9% of the nation’s corresponding GDP of 21.38 trillion dollars in 2019.
Chaotic schools and rampant superstitions
When the communists took over Vietnam in 1975, my second eldest brother (David), I and my younger brother (Kevin) were studying in the “Same Heart” middle-and-elementary school in Cholon, Vietnam. Originally a private school, it was changed to a public school under the communist government.
Calmness after the War (Part II)
My parents ran a textile and clothes retail shop from our home. Under the new communist government after the Vietnamese civil war, every home was eager to sew the new national flag. Therefore, all of a sudden our home business was thriving beyond our wildest imaginations.
【小趣奇遇】戰亂後的平息（下集）
父母親是做買賣布料的家庭式生意。內戰後的新興政府，規定家家戶戶都要買布料縫裁新國旗。突然間，店舖的生意好到忙不過來。我的大哥（雁榮）想幫父親的輕型電單車加油，去了附近一公哩以外的油站加油。
Pollen Allergy Becoming a Mainstay
Pollen allergy is more commonly known as hay fever. Medically speaking, it is called seasonal allergic rhinitis —- a provocation of the immune system to overreact to pollen from trees, grasses, and weeds. Hay fever occurs mainly in the spring and fall when pollen from trees, grasses, and weeds are in the air.
Calmness after the War (Part I)
In the May issue we mentioned the civil war between North and South Vietnam. It finally ended on the so-called “Liberation Date” on April 30, 1975. The North united the country into a communist country.
滕張佳音博士
國宣創辦人
▪︎美國芝加哥三一福音神學院文學碩士(宣教)及教牧學博士(宣教學)
▪︎前建道神學院跨越文化研究部副教授
▪︎牧職神學院榮譽創院院長
▪︎國際短宣使團創辦人
![[Interesting Adventures] The Oppressed Merchants (1)](https://eresource.ifstms.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/nytm2310p-71-580x420.jpg "[Interesting Adventures] The Oppressed Merchants (1)")
