This fictional story ‘Love In His Guidance’ unfolds a journey of a boy who is unknowingly guided by the Lord as he pours out his heart to seek happiness and a real ‘god’. Romance and Christian faith are woven into the storyline.
Chapter 1: Broken Spirit; Seeking Heart
In one corner of Hong Kong, Hang, at the age of 13, knelt before a large Buddha statue in a temple and clasped his hands in prayer. He closed his eyes and talked to this statue within his heart. He wondered if it could hear him. As a young boy, however, he just blindly followed what his mother instructed him.
After a moment of silence, he rose, walked beside his twin brother Cheung, stopped in front of their mother, and spoke to her, “Mom, we’re very hungry. May we go now?”
“Yes,” she replied.
Leaving the temple, the three of them went to a noodle shop for lunch. As usual, Hang ordered a bowl of beef congee and a bowl of wonton noodles. As he waited, he lowered his head and pondered the meaning of worshipping Buddha.
His parents always had brawls and neglected his feelings. He felt unloved and lonely no matter how wealthy his family was and how many expensive items his parents gave him. His spirit was damaged but no one seemed to care. He had been praying to such a god that it may turn things around for his family, but nothing had changed. Now he started to doubt if this so-called ‘living Buddha’ was real.
“Hang, are you all right?” Cheung elbowed him.
Hang’s head shot up as her brother’s gesture jolted him. He opened his mouth. “Um…yes, I’m fine.”
“Your food is here. Eat and then we need to go to the market before rush hour.” His mother checked the time on her wrist watch.
“OK.” He threw a glance at his brother, who was slurping his noodles. He shook his head to toss his thoughts away for the moment, then spooned his congee into his mouth.
*****
Half hour past twelve the same night, on the lower deck of a bunk bed in his bedroom, Hang folded his hands behind his head, sleepless. He once again steeped in thoughts of his family, his belief and his unhappy life. He wondered if there was some other ‘god’ who could hear his cry and understand him. He wondered if there was someone who would truly love him. But who was this God? Who was this person? How would he find them?
Dicky
Dicky To's Inspirational Writings 
A good beginning, Dicky. Keep going… 🙂
This is a dramatic introduction. More and more westerners today who were perhaps raised thinking they were ‘born Christian’ but were never taught to make a commitment to Jesus as their personal Saviour, could easily find themselves today in a similar predicament as young Hang…wondering if this ‘statue’ god can really hear them.
As popularized via Hollywood culture, and so on, many westerners today have ended up seeking out ‘god’ in Buddhist philosophies, or other eastern mystic teachings. This is considered ‘cool’. Which is why I find your story so intriguing. It invites us right into the culture of a Buddhist family and we meet Hang questioning something ‘big’…his family’s belief system. This immediately raises a major challenge in the story. As a reader, I would also enjoy learning more and as much detail as you can add to the story about the culture. It will enrich the reader’s insights to have you add in more scents, sounds, and sights, the noise of people all around, the flare of a string of red lanterns along a street, the arguments of shop keepers, etcetera…All of this along with your excellent way of introducing characters and conversations, would add more ‘range’ and ‘scope’ to this story..In short…this book has great potential and is off to an excellent start!
Susan, thank you so much for your nice comments.