Cherishing the Opportunities We Have Outside of China

(Minghui.org) Last Sunday morning, I was on my way out to attend our regular group exercises at a park in Dublin when I decided to stay home instead because of heavy rain and traffic restrictions for the Pope’s visit that weekend.

Twenty minutes later, I received a text from a practitioner who had recently arrived in Ireland from mainland China. She said she couldn’t find any practitioners in the park. I replied that maybe no one went because of the rain and road closures. She said she would continue doing the exercises even though she did not have the music.

Seeing that she had traveled a long distance to do the exercises, I decided to go to the park. It turned out that the traffic restrictions did not affect my route very much. Even though the practitioner had told me earlier that the road leading to the park was diverted, I was allowed to drive directly to the park.

When I found her, I saw that she was well dressed for the rain. She had started doing the exercises on her own, under a tall tree. It turned out that the rain had stopped as soon as she started the exercises.

This was a big lesson for me. In free countries, we take for granted that we can come and go to our local parks to do the exercises, unhindered, at any time. In mainland China, this would threaten one’s personal safety. Practitioners there long to be able to again assemble and do the exercises in their own parks and gardens.

I suggest that those of us in free countries remain alert to the little excuses, like a few harmless showers or road diversions, to forego our precious right to assemble peacefully, practice the exercises, and validate Dafa without being harassed, threatened, or intimidated. We should treasure this opportunity.

I know why the Chinese Communist Party is so terrified of peaceful Dafa practitioners doing the exercises in public. We are a majestic presence and a majestic sight!