Love in Chinatown

On Wednesday, a teacher and I took students to Philadelphia to visit colleges. It was a great day. When it came to dinner, I suggested a trip down to Chinatown. I loathed the idea of eating at a chain and consuming burgers and fries. I wanted my kids culinary and cultural horizons to be expanded a bit.

My wife and I always go to Chinatown when in Philly to stock up on good Chinese food like roasted duck and Szechuan. Lancaster County just doesn't cut it, although there is a place--Hong Kong Garden--that is an interim which is better than most until we can get back down to Philly again. Or, my wife goes to China like she did last week.

When the van parked on Arch Street I feverishly searched Yelp for an inexpensive Chinese place that was authentic but not overly so, like where the restaurant serves the heads to the bird and fish. When in Chinatown, eat where Asian people eat. If you see a joint stocked full of white people, don't enter. That is a bad sign. I located an eatery that had four out of five stars, one dollar sign for inexpensive, and best yet--when I checked Google Maps--was right around the corner. The meal went great and kids were game.

On the leaving of the restaurant, we saw the arch above. We had not seen it going into the restaurant because it was behind us. As we gazed upon its ornate beauty and magnificent colors, a soon to be married or just married couple was having wedding pictures taken with the arch as the back-drop. The groom in his tux, his bride in her lovely white dress. It was a fantastic moment and one that me and the students were blessed to witness. Young married love crossing the chasm of singleness to married life. In their eyes, I saw a thousands lights of hope and joy that moments like these create.

I prayed for the unknown couple the following morning that their love, as it matures, will always radiate the joy of that night. A Wednesday evening in Chinatown, with the arch of two lives coming together from different sides, joining to make something beautiful, shining in a dark world in need of illumination from the arrays of love.

Song of Solomon 2:16

My lover is mine and I am his

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