In the fall of 2003 we found out that our beloved sister-in-law had cancer.  Those who love us also love her by extension and our friends, families, co-workers, students, and brothers and sisters in Christ, in all corners of North America and now in Japan, most of whom have never even met her, have all willingly and diligently joined us in praying for her: for healing, for peace, for her husband, children and grandchildren.  Her strength and witness during this trial have echoed her life of giving, strength, and love for the Lord.

We felt very far away from her last Christmas while we anxiously waited by the phone for updates from the west coast to the east about her surgery and therapy.  And now, Japan…  So, as a gift to her, and as a solace to us, we started our own crane project.  We have made 999 origami cranes (around a 1000--see below for why).  We thought about her while we made them, and prayed for her while we hung them on our tree.
               

    The final crane      999 Cranes
 

Redeeming origami for Christ:
1000 crane projects are about the beauty of an art form, a cultural symbol, and superstition blended together.  As Christians, we need to be careful how we set about redeeming for Christ secular things, especially those things that can be associated with other belief systems, and also how we interact with other cultures.  Many of our students in Japan, for instance, come from Buddhist families or have Buddhist relatives.  There are rituals during Buddhist funerals that are not acceptable to Christians, such as lighting incense as prayers to something other than our triune God.  Other aspects, such as envelopes of condolence money, are not part of a religious ritual and appear to be an acceptable form of showing respect.  Some Christians here ask to be allowed to put a flower, especially a white lily, in the coffin as a sign of respect but also as a Christian symbol.  Others just carefully and discreetly choose what parts of the ceremony they can participate in with good conscience.

As superstition would have it, when you make 1000 cranes the gods are pleased and you are granted a wish.  Cranes themselves are considered good omens throughout the orient and so blending that with the duty and ritual of doing something very difficult (ask anyone who has made a 1000 of anything) would, in a superstitious mind, take on the aspect of devotion that deserves reward. 

So couples sometimes make 1000 cranes as part of preparing for their wedding.  The qualities necessary to make a 1000 carefully folded origami cranes: time, patience and commitment, represent qualities important in making a marriage work.  So school children from all over the world send sets of 1000 cranes to Nagasaki and Hiroshima, sites of the atomic bomb blasts, to wish for peace -- a tradition started by a young girl who suffered from leukemia as a result of the radiation.  And many people choose to make 1000 cranes to support someone they know who is ill.

We have chosen to embrace the beauty of origami as an art form and cultural symbol, while refusing anything about the superstition and ritual that has become attached to it over time.  Much like we accept the Christmas tree we are hanging them on.  Because of this, for example, we are making 999 cranes instead of 1000.  The number doesn’t matter to God, nor does what we make, what we make them out of, or how we make them; but what does matter is that we “pray continually” as we are told in 1 Thessalonians 5.  This is the same passage that commands us to encourage one another.  As a family, we are using this beautiful art form to create a present for someone we love.  The time and effort involved allow us focused opportunities to think about her, and to remind ourselves that occasional prayer is not enough – that our lives need to be bathed in prayer – dominated by it. 

Merry Christmas.