This appeared on my Facebook and I think it is really something. It is the picture of a true story. It goes like this. Twin baby girls were born and one was not expected to live. A hospital nurse fought to put them in the same incubator. The stronger baby wrapped her arm around her sister, and her touch allowed the struggling baby's heart to stabilize and her temperature to return to normal.
From my week in Bangkok, I have my own story I want to share. On Sunday after mass and many other things, I was feeling somewhat worn out and decided to head downstairs from my apartment to have a beer with Nando, a friend and local restaurteur. Well Nando was busy. So I ended up sharing a beer with an American guy I know is local and whom I have seen around many times.
It turned out that we were much the same age but had very different life stories. He had been a sargeant in the US military and had seen action in Iraq. Now he was retired in Bangkok with his Thai wife. Yes, he was another farang in Bangkok with a crazy story that I do not need to go into here but he was also just so friendly. His story had all the usual flavours of a Bangkok story between a western guy and a Thai woman but there was something about him that I liked and found refreshing. What was it about him?
It was that as he talked about his lot, he was actually so gentle and so realistic about it all, reflecting on the nature of his relationship with his wife. As I listened to him, I found his level of honesty and shared vulnerability to be disarming. Needless to say, all these guys don't know that I am a priest and so I get to hear many stories as the fellow farang sharing a beer. This guy was different. He was refreshing - a wounded guy honest about himself and his lot; a struggler who was trying to make sense of his life and move on. Something does happen when we share our vulnerability so honestly and openly.
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