My dear son,

Today is your birthday. This is the first one we are not going to celebrate with you physically. You always prefer to celebrate your birthday with family only. I know that you are going to miss us today. And we miss you a lot, especially I.

Last night, on a car ride to New York city with your sister and her best friend, your little sister mentioned something she remembers about you when both of you were little kids. I am kind of surprised by her good memory. Your sister recalled those memories not because she wanted to impress me, but to tell her friend what kind a brother she has, a brother she is so proud to have. You are the best brother and best son. We love you so much!

Actually what your sister told her friend about you are stories. The stories tell bits and pieces of your early life. As your mother, I believe I'm the one who can tell more stories about your life than anyone else, except you and God. Of course, as you grow older, I might not be able to claim the same. But God alone is always the One who can tell all stories about your life.

The best way to describe a person is to tell a story or a series of stories of the person's life. By sharing some personal narratives, we come to know one another. We want to understand not only who that other person is now, but also how he or she came to be so. What are the experiences, ideas and people that have shaped their lives? In order to make sense of our lives we depend on some story to provide the broader framework of meaning for our lives.

You are living out your stories of your life, more and more independently of us. "The story of your life" might be simply your private biographical journey. But it mighe be broader. It should include the the story of your family and your town, even of your country and your civilization. The more deeply you probe for meaning, the larger context you will seek. And this leads to a very important question: Is there a true story of the whole world in which you are called to live your life?

Is there a "real story" that provides a framework of meaning for all people in all times and places, and therefore for your own life in the world? A commitment to pluralism often implies that we should not even look for such overarching story, one which could be true for all people, all communities, all nations, for to find such a thing would suggest that not all stories are equally valid. My son, please do not abandon the hope of discovering such a "true story", the valid one! This story is basic and foundational. It provides you with an understanding of the whole world and of your own place with it. Such a comprehensive story gives you the meaning of not merely personal or national history but universal history.

Today, pressure for harmony among cultures and nations would seem to urge us to regard the Bible as just another volume in the world's library of interesting stories. But to do so would be to treat the Bible as something other than what it claims to be: the one true story of the world. One may either embrace the story as true or reject it as arrogant and false, but one must not simple reshape the Bible to suit one's own preferences.

Here I adopted from others a helpful metaphor of the Bible as a drama story.

Act 1: God Establishes His Kingdom: Creation

Act 2: Rebellion in the Kingdom: Fall

Act 3: The King Choose Israel: Redemption Initiated

   Scene 1: A People for the King

   Scene 2: A Land for His People

Act 4: The Coming of the King: Redemption Accomplished

Act 5: Spreading the News of the King: The Mission of the Church

   Scene 1: From Jerusalem to Rome

   Scene 2: And into All the World

Act 6: The Second coming of the King: Redemption Completed

I believe this is to be the true story of the world. I invite you to find your place in it.

Happy birthday my son, may God richly bless you!/:heart