Homemade Christmas Lights ~ GregJ

Several families were visiting at my house for a Christmastime Bible Study. The study was not in English. I took my usual role as child wrangler. The most respected gift, I think, is to give one’s self.

The kids—mostly talkative five-year-olds—ran to the Christmas tree. They were closely inspecting its decorations. “Kan zhi-ge! ”  “Look at these!”

One girl exclaimed, “Uncle Greg, we make these lights! We make these lights!”
 
I asked, “Do you have a Christmas tree at home?”

---

 She calmed down. “Little tree,” she murmured. “we do not make lights for it. Not our lights.”
 
Crouching down, I pressed, “How did you make these lights on this tree in my house?”
 
She looked at me. She exhaled. She spoke slowly so I could understand. I don't recall the exact words. The explanation went something like this:
 
We make these lights where we live in Taiwan.
We make little lights at my house.
Not here. At my house in Taiwan.
Every day, we make little lights.
We do not keep little lights. We sell them.
 
Then I understood. In Taiwan, her family assembled Christmas light strings in their apartment.

These five-year-olds were concerned about how my lights were spaced. Were bulbs solid color or blotchy? Could light strings join end-to-end? Which is better, blink or not blink? Which is better, blue or white?

The young Quality Assurance team finally approved my tree's workmanship and presentation. 
 
Since then, when I visit local stores—even if not intending to buy—I scrutinize Christmas decorations for sale. From where did they come? Taiwan, People’s Republic of China, Viet Nam, India, Mexico, the Czech Republic…? I wonder, did they come from children's hands or from automation?  What does it profit a kitchen-based factory when I buy fifty of their lights for two dollars?  When I ask adult visitors about Halloween items, they thoroughly dislike the uglies.  But they are intrigued by Christmas stuff. They ask, why do people with so many trees buy a plastic tree? Why buy so much sparkly stuff? What if you do not have snow? What’s with the old man in red clothes? Is he a Buddha? Is the baby his grandson? Do the animals eat the baby? Do Americans really eat bread with every meal?

China is the world’s largest Bible publisher, thanks to Nanjing-based Amity Press…. For the world’s largest Christian publisher, HarperCollins Christian Publishing (HCCP), more than three quarters of its production costs are incurred in China.”  Christianity Today, June 2019

What do the workers infer about the buyers of their product, whether cute lights or big books?  What things might I buy that would stir the producer’s interest in God’s kingdom?  The answer is above.

The inspectors swarmed off to use the carpeted stairs as a toboggan run. I grabbed big plush animals to stand guard with me at the bottom of the stairs.

When the kids tired, we played with my “Made in China” nativity set. We talked about the star, the people, and the animals. We learned about the best gift: the child, the gift that is too wonderful for words.

---