The liveliest places during this Spring Festival, aside from tourist attractions, are temples and temples of the Wealth of God. In order to burn incense, people wake up early and rush to queue at the temple gates. The expectation for the God of Wealth and good fortune far outweighs the desire to celebrate the Spring Festival joyfully. More precisely, during the Spring Festival, people seek help from deities in the hope of improving their economic income for the coming year.
What is luck? For example, winning the lottery is commonly seen as having good luck. Some may attribute a year of smooth sailing and business success to having good luck. Originally a normal event, it is gradually associated with luck.
Another concept related to luck is destiny. Some people think they were born with a predetermined destiny that is unrelated to probability. When people face certain situations, they may think of destiny, and when facing greater hardships, they tend to connect it with bad destiny. The harsh reality forces them to accept their fate.
Two concepts related to destiny are luck and misfortune. Lucky individuals may be successful and happy, paying less attention to destiny. Only those who are unfortunate, finding it challenging to change their circumstances through personal efforts, will focus on destiny.
The increasing unpredictability of society prompts people to believe in luck, while the harsh realities of social suffering make people believe in destiny. The unpredictable future and harsh reality lead people to mystify them, letting them believe that they can change them through mysterious behaviors.
Perhaps this is the reason for the fervor for burning incense during the Spring Festival. The tradition of burning incense has a long history, spanning thousands of years. However, for ancient people, frequent natural disasters combined with prevalent plagues and societal chaos led them to focus on destiny and luck.
The Christian faith is against luck and destiny. and is a set of values that one can adhere to regardless of the circumstances. When a person experiences hardships, "he" will not be discouraged or give up. If "he" discovers that his suffering is caused by society, "he" will strive to change society. Here, "he" refers to a collective group sharing the same faith. Because of the same faith, a collective strength is formed to confront unpredictable environments.
What does the Bible say about destiny? Any form of failure or congenital disability is not a matter of destiny or luck. Faced with a person born blind, Jesus answered, "Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in his life."
In contrast to the thriving incense burning in temples, there are no worshippers in churches praying for God to make them wealthy or lucky. This is because they probably understand that Jesus is not like those wealthy gods who can bring good luck through prayers. Jesus can’t bring luck, which has a low probability and an uncontrollable nature. He is the Word made flesh, embodying order and rules.
- Translated by Abigail Wu
这个春节最热闹的地方除了景区，就是寺院和财神庙。为了烧头香，人们会一大早起来，赶到庙门口排队。对财神和财运的期待远胜过想喜庆地过春节的心。更加确切地说，在春节人们可以向神灵求助，以期来年一年的经济收入能有所提升。
什么是运气呢？比如中彩票的事，就被大家视为运气好。也有人会把这一年的顺风顺水，生意成功归结为运气不错。本来是一件正常的事件，也逐渐并成与运气相关的事情。
与运气相关的另一个观念是命运。命运是人出生之时就安排好的，它与概率无关。当人有一些遭遇时会想到命运，当遭遇更大苦难的时候更归结为命运不好，现实的残酷也让人们认命。
与命运相关的两个是幸运与不幸。幸运的人可能是成功、幸福的，他不太会关注命运。而只有不幸的人，通过自身努力很难改变境况时，才会关注命运。
社会的不可预期性不断增加，促使人们相信运气；而社会现实的苦难，却让人们不断相信命运。而不可预期的未来，和苦难的现实，人们把它们神秘化，最终相信可以通过神秘的行为来改变。
这也许就是春节上香热的由来。春节烧头香由来已久，可谓有几千年的历史。但是对于古代人来说，自然灾害加上频繁的瘟疫，兵荒马乱的社会失序常态化，使他们关注命运和运气。
而信仰是排斥运气和命运的，是一个你不论在什么环境之下都能坚守的价值观念。当“他”经历苦难的时候，不会气馁，不会自暴自弃。如果发现苦难是社会造成的，那么“他”会努力改变社会。这里的“他”不是个体，而是指拥有同一个信仰的群体。信仰会形成一个群体力量，对抗不可预期的环境。
圣经中对于命运怎么说的呢？任何一种失败，或者天生的残疾，都不是命运或者运气的问题。面对那个生来瞎眼的人，耶稣回答说：“也不是这人犯了罪，也不是他父母犯了罪，是要在他身上显出 神的作为来。”
与寺院繁盛的香火不同，教堂里没有祈求上帝改变命运或者发大财的香客们。因为他们大概知道，耶稣不像那些财神，通过祈求就能让好运临到身上。耶稣也不像那些运气的低概率和不可控，耶稣是道成肉身，是规律和规则。
时评| 春节期间香火旺盛的寺院vs冷清的教堂：运气与命运
The liveliest places during this Spring Festival, aside from tourist attractions, are temples and temples of the Wealth of God. In order to burn incense, people wake up early and rush to queue at the temple gates. The expectation for the God of Wealth and good fortune far outweighs the desire to celebrate the Spring Festival joyfully. More precisely, during the Spring Festival, people seek help from deities in the hope of improving their economic income for the coming year.
What is luck? For example, winning the lottery is commonly seen as having good luck. Some may attribute a year of smooth sailing and business success to having good luck. Originally a normal event, it is gradually associated with luck.
Another concept related to luck is destiny. Some people think they were born with a predetermined destiny that is unrelated to probability. When people face certain situations, they may think of destiny, and when facing greater hardships, they tend to connect it with bad destiny. The harsh reality forces them to accept their fate.
Two concepts related to destiny are luck and misfortune. Lucky individuals may be successful and happy, paying less attention to destiny. Only those who are unfortunate, finding it challenging to change their circumstances through personal efforts, will focus on destiny.
The increasing unpredictability of society prompts people to believe in luck, while the harsh realities of social suffering make people believe in destiny. The unpredictable future and harsh reality lead people to mystify them, letting them believe that they can change them through mysterious behaviors.
Perhaps this is the reason for the fervor for burning incense during the Spring Festival. The tradition of burning incense has a long history, spanning thousands of years. However, for ancient people, frequent natural disasters combined with prevalent plagues and societal chaos led them to focus on destiny and luck.
The Christian faith is against luck and destiny. and is a set of values that one can adhere to regardless of the circumstances. When a person experiences hardships, "he" will not be discouraged or give up. If "he" discovers that his suffering is caused by society, "he" will strive to change society. Here, "he" refers to a collective group sharing the same faith. Because of the same faith, a collective strength is formed to confront unpredictable environments.
What does the Bible say about destiny? Any form of failure or congenital disability is not a matter of destiny or luck. Faced with a person born blind, Jesus answered, "Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in his life."
In contrast to the thriving incense burning in temples, there are no worshippers in churches praying for God to make them wealthy or lucky. This is because they probably understand that Jesus is not like those wealthy gods who can bring good luck through prayers. Jesus can’t bring luck, which has a low probability and an uncontrollable nature. He is the Word made flesh, embodying order and rules.
- Translated by Abigail Wu
Seeing Luck and Destiny in Contrast to Bustling Temples With Desolate Churches
