Tell Me the Dream Again
Does being a Christian cancel out our culture? In Tell Me the Dream Again, Tasha Jun shares reflections on family, ethnicity, and the sacred work of belonging.
Korean Identity, Christian Theology
Throughout the book, Jun connects her Korean identity with her Christian theology. “We’re all born with curiosity and a longing to know who we are, because this knowing is inseparable from knowing God.” Her faith is found throughout, and she tells stories from her life as testimonies to God.
Cultural assimilation is a repeated theme throughout the book. Jun speaks about how she felt “othered” even in childhood. She recalls being bullied, which was admittedly uneasy for me to read. She tells a beautiful story where her teacher explained how hiding from who she was prevented her from writing from her heart. This challenged me to bring all of myself to my creative work.
God’s Gift of Culture
I was most struck by how Jun explained the cultural differences between her mom and herself. While both Korean in ethnicity, the way they viewed and lived were worlds apart. Jun makes mention of how her mom didn’t grow up eating cereal for breakfast — something so mundane yet meaningful — and this made me think about the differences between me and my own parents.
Food plays a large part in Jun’s story. She talks about how her husband fell in love with eating fish after dismissing it his entire life. Jun says that she had becoming more “Asian” in her marriage, but concedes that she’s just becoming more of herself. It’s who God made her to be, and our culture is revealed to be a divine gift given to each of us.
Our Upbringing Shapes Us Spiritually
Having attended an Asian American church for my entire life, I was most humbled to read that finding a church home was difficult for Jun’s family growing up. As a youth, her parents encouraged her to go to the Mount Hermon summer camp, with counselors and attendees who were Asian American. She found a friend who was also biracial. They both longed for a church family that they could call home — and Jun concedes that this pain of homesickness is meant to lead us to our heavenly home.
Jun concludes that her upbringing shaped her spiritually. She speaks about her fractured family, and how this served to ultimately strengthen her relationship with her sister and God. She learned that Jesus and his gospel is fully for her —and she hopes to embody his acceptance to her children. Though caught between two worlds for her whole life, it is Christ who has made her whole again.
I received a media copy of Tell Me the Dream Again and this is my honest review. Find more of my book reviews and follow Dive In, Dig Deep on Instagram - my account dedicated to Bibles and books to see the beauty of the Bible and the role of reading in the Christian life. To read all of my book reviews and to receive all of the free eBooks I find on the web, subscribe to my free newsletter.