There is something happening in this country.



A monk being punched doesn't happen in Thailand.

I live in a country where one of the basic precepts is respect for their monks.  If ever I see monks approaching me in the street, I stand back out of respect and let them by.  The buses have seats reserved for monks and, when they get on a bus, those seats, if taken, are given up directly to the monks.  That is how it is here. 

Then, Tuesday's Bangkok Post featured this photo on the front page.  It shows a monk being punched by a Thai protester after he was mistaken for being an anti-government member.   The monk had apparently complained of demonstrators assaulting another man and this is what he got in return. 

I was just gobsmacked on seeing such a picture.  It was like this just doesn't happen here but the picture shows that it does.  I live in a country where you are not even supposed to politely touch a monk as in a handshake.  So the question arose - what is happening here?  Even deeper it is about what is happening to a society where its clergy, who are so highly respected, are being publicly bashed in such circumstances?

One thing that this picture highlights for me is that all is not well in this kingdom.  Despite all efforts to present a pleasant face, there is a level of chaos alive and well here.  To deny the chaos is non-productive and leads nowhere, except to stay in the same place.  To acknowledge the chaos is to open up to possible ways forward to some other and hopefully better place.   

Does this not reflect our own lives?  Chaos is not there to make us hide in fear or stand up in anger as we feel threatened.  Rather it is there as a wake-up call and to give us an opportunity to enter into a better place, a better relationship with our world and our selves.