By Chen Lu, Zhejiang Province
I was born in the 1980s in a village—we had been a family of peasants for generations. I threw myself into my studies so that I could test into college and escape the village life of poverty and backwardness. When I started high school, I encountered The History of Western Art, and when I saw so many beautiful paintings such as “Genesis,” “The Garden of Eden,” and “The Last Supper,” only then did I realize that there was a God in the universe who had created all things. I could not help but have a heart full of veneration for God. After graduating from college, I found a good job very easily, and then I found a great partner. I had finally realized my own hopes as well as those of my forebears: I had escaped the life of keeping our face to the ground and our back to the sky. In 2008, the birth of a child added much more joy to my life. Looking at everything I had in my life, I believed that I should have a happy, comfortable life. However, while I was enjoying that enviable, beautiful life, I could never shake that vague feeling of emptiness deep in my heart. This made me feel very confused and helpless.