Let 2016 begin

I hope 2016 is full of great and welcome surprises for all of us.

This is where it all happened

Feliz navidad!  Bethlehem was the place and I was there in October.  This fading, old fresco from the Franciscan church there portrays St Francis placing the baby Jesus in the crib.  This image originates from St Francis' special devotion to the Child Jesus which led to his being credited with creating the first nativity scene on Christmas Eve in 1223.  His inspiration was his own pilgrimage to the Holy Land. 

Francis' aim in recreating the nativity scene was to recall the birth of Jesus within the midst of the hardships that Jesus' family endured.  He wanted to do more than just present the scene of the birth of a cute baby.  He wanted to go further into the story, beholding the harsh reality within which the baby Jesus was born which prefigured the harsh challenges in his life ahead. 

Bethlehem is right beside modern day Jerusalem.  It has its own beauty but it very much experiences its own harshness as well living under what I would call a system of apartheid created by the Israeli powers.  The Palestinians face hardships in just trying to build and live decent lives.  So the story of Jesus' birth remains a powerful and living story in the very town where Jesus was born.

In the midst of our own harsh realities, in the midst of a world that knows and suffers so much harshness, the Christmas story remains a powerful and living story, giving light and hope to us with the star continuing to shine, ever showing us the way through our own mess and chaos. 

What a great season this is!  Happy Christmas!

The week before Christmas

I just featured pictures from the opening liturgy for the newly renovated Assumption cathedral here in Bangkok. The occasion saw both the rededicating of the cathedral and the opening of the Holy Door for the Jubilee Year of Mercy.  The experience of going into the new look cathedral for the first time was just overwhelming.  What has been created is what I would describe as "a grand cathedral of European proportions".  As I looked around, I was being reminded of German cathedrals with their own sense of style and grandeur.  Actually, German cathedrals would be simpler in style and presentation.  I thought this especially as I looked at the new altar which is that German style of being a solid table made of stone or marble.  Well, here the altar was made of marble to look like the solid table but it was no simple table.  Its size with the statues all round its base made it much more ornate and dare I say, much more expensive.

Here is the point for me.  They have created an amazing cathedral complete with air-con, a space that inspires awe and a sense of the sacred amidst great beauty but at what cost?  As I was being overwhelmed by the experience of standing within this new sacred space, I was having two internal reactions simultaneously.
One was Wow!
The other was wondering what Pope Francis, with his constant call to our being a poor Church for the poor, would make of this.
Fact is that there is nothing simple or poor about this cathedral.  I would stand with Pope Francis and ask where is the poor Christ here?

I will not get into being self-righteous on this but I do ask myself questions and reflect especially as I celebrate mass there every Sunday.  The cathedral is something to behold and I now have a place like no place I could ever imagine in which to celebrate liturgy.  However, I must be careful not to be corrupted by a Church that speaks of wealth and prestige.  This is my personal conclusion and challenge, a conclusion and challenge that I recognize many in the same crowd that night of the opening would never even recognize.  As Pope Francis would also say - "Who am I to judge?"

All this the week before Christmas.

As promised

Sunday 13th December saw the reopening of the newly renovated Assumption Cathedral here in Bangkok.  It was a liturgy of the Roman Church that featured the opening of the Holy Door at the cathedral to begin the Jubilee Year of Mercy, the consecration of the new altar and the reclaiming of the cathedral as the mother church of the diocese.  I desrcibe Assumption Cathedral now as a grand cathedral of European proportions.  I will say no more but just let you for now savour the pictures I share of what was a celebration full of grandeur. 

Time for a break

Just for the sake of my avid weekly readers, this week Thailand is the Land of Holidays.  It is actually a two day working week.  Monday was a holiday for the King's Birthday.  Thursday is Constitution day and Friday is  named a holiday to give a long weekend and allow for the running of the national bike ride in honor of the King.  So I am off to the beach Thursday and will not be here to do my weekly blog but don't fret as I will do an entry on Monday and that makes a lot of sense.

Why, you may ask?  Well, wait and see.  A hint is that on Sunday there will be the opening and re-dedication of the newly renovated Bangkok cathedral.

Popes and kings

Pope Francis has been to lots of places lately meeting Prime Ministers, Presidents, politicians and all sorts of world leaders.  There is one leader in the Philippines, Durterte, the present mayor of Davao, who is standing for President of his country and who has not yet met the Pope.  Still this politician did receive a note from the Pope in the last week. 

You see Durterte spoke out last week on traffic in Manila which is just atrocious.  He named the example of how bad traffic was when the Pope was in town.  In speaking on this example, he used expletive language and in response his audience laughed.  This has caused an uproar in the Philippines where bishops have spoken out decrying the man for speaking in such terms when referring to the Pope.  I do not want to enter into the fray on this.  All I want to do is highlight the Pope's response which was to say that he appreciated a politician being honest and not just bowing to him so as to get more votes.  Just mind blowing!   

This week we see the annual King's birthday celebrations in Thailand.  It is something to experience the people's public show of their love and devotion for their king.  Their beloved king of over 100 years ago - King Chulalongkorn - is also deeply revered here and rightly so for he was a great man as I read history.  One thing he did was to meet the then Pope Leo XIII in Rome.  Getting there must have been an achievement in itself.  Both men in their day were caught up in a world of change and both were concerned for the good of the people under their care within such a world, working to create needed change in such a possibly hostile world.  

They are reminders how our world always needs good and wise leaders. 

Water is life-giving in more ways then one

Loy Krathong - Thailand's water festival.

The River Jordan

Coming from Australia, a desert continent, I know that you can live a lot longer without food than without water.  It is a truism to say that water is essential for life but, more so, it gives life in many ways as water is a powerful, life-givng symbol.   

November 25 was the annual Loy Krathong festival this week in Thailand.  My understanding is that it coincides with the first full moon after rainy season which means late November.  Rainy season is the time for growing rice, an essential to life here.  Loy Krathong is then the festival for giving thanks for the rice crop and all blessings of life in the past year, while also asking for continued blessings and the banishing of any bad luck.  Luck is an important concept here, or that is how I experience it. 

This festival is just wonderful.  I love it as does everyone in Thailand.  It is celebrated by going to the water - a river, a canal, a lake - and setting free your krathong which is a float full of symbols of yourself.  These symbols are a strand of your hair, a fingernail and one baht.  The krathong becomes like a floating altar that symbolises you and you send it off into the water praying that all good things come your way and givng thanks for all past blessings.  It is a life giving celebration centred on water.  It is an annual highlight of life that sees crowds flocking to waterways to float their krathong and enjoy the festival with all its charm, song and grace.     

In the Holy Land, one of the 'must do' sites is to visit the River Jordan.  When going there, what I saw was a muddy river that was more like a creek.  Yet this river gives life to the land and was central in the life and story of Jesus as here he was baptized by John the baptist.  When going there, an optional activity was to bathe in the river.  I forewent the pleasure but there were ones very keen to dive in for reasons that spoke not of a muddy creek but of giving life and energy to oneself.  The experience was a spiritual one, full of meaning. 

Water does give life and not just by drinking it as we do every day.  Its symbolism is universal.  Its power to give life, physical and spiritual, cannot be denied. 

Show me the way

One site visit on our Holy Land pilgrimage was to a monastery in the desert.  It was literally in the middle of nowhere.  Getting there involved a steep climb.  An option was to avail of a donkey ride service.  One of the women who went by donkey told us afterwards that it was not at all an easy or comfortable way to get to and from the monastery.  That told me that the way seen as being obviously easier was not.  It was better to walk which is what I did. 

During my week, I was witness to a home accident when visiting my good Thai friend.  He was starting to cook dinner and realised that the gas supply was depleted.   So he rang for the gas man to bring a full gas cylinder which he did and installed.  Cooking then began yet again but five minutes later - BOOM!  There was a gas explosion and my firend and his nephew, both in the kitchen, were blown away and burnt around their legs.  They were obviously in distress and shocked, needing medical attention for their burns. 

I proceeded to clean up the kitchen while they attended to themselves.  I advised that they should get the gas man back.  So the gas man was rung but he did not show and did not answer his phone again after receiving the first call about the explosion.  We waited no longer and went off to the hospital.  My take was that the man had been careless in his work and the result was an explosion.

My voiced campaign with my friend became one of seeing that the gas man righted his mistake and take some responsibility for what happened.  My advice came with my offer of buying an electric hot plate so that they would never have to use gas or that careless man again.  I could sense that my advice and offer were being ignored.  For me, it was about righting a wrong and fixing a situation.  So I was not sure what my friend was thinking.   

I am back at my friend's the next night to see how he and the nephew are.  They are sore and sorry, with minor burns and pain but okay. On sensing where my friend stood on approaching this situation, namely not in the way I would choose, I figured that my chosen approach that night would be to sit back, watch and listen.  Keep my mouth shut for a change was my decision.  After all, it is his home and he has to live there, not me.  So I just observed and saw what happened.

The gas man is rung again.  He came and fixed the problem and was to be paid for the repair.  The guy offered no compensation, no free work nor any expression of his responsibility in this whole affair.  My take remained that he did not install the cylinder properly or it was a faulty cylinder that he installed.  Either way he shared the blame and should be responsible for righting a wrong caused by his work.  This was not the take of my friend, a Thai and Buddhist.  His summation was that his buddha - me - was there to look after him and that the gas man was not to be held accountable in any way.  His approach was to get the man in to fix the problem, pay him and continue using him and gas as if nothing ever happened. 

I quietly took it all in and realised that I had here a key learning that gave me a keen insight into Thais.  Simply put, I was about righting a perceived wrong, based on my innate, western sense of justice.  My friend did not share this same western sense of justice but saw what happened as fate and so just kept going in the same direction, expecting nothing from the gas man.  This resulted in nothing changing. 

The big difference in facing this situation between the two of us was that I looked for a just result which meant challenging the person responsible and looking for change that would assure this not happen again.  My friend rather saw how his buddha looked after him, acted to get the gas cylinder fixed so that he could keep cooking with it and then planned to go back home to make merit at their temple. 

I am not saying that one way is wrong and the other right nor that one way is better than the other.  I am simply noting the difference in approaches between an eastern Buddhist and a western Christian.  This for me has been a huge learning experience.  It shows me how we each have our own ways and how I need to stand back and respect the way of another, not trying to fix their situation but letting them act in their way on it.  One reason is that my acting independently on what I hold to be right just would not work as my Thai friend would just ignore whatever I have to offer, no matter how much sense it makes to me.   

My insight on this occasion may be deep.  I am seeing that justice is a western notion that leads to action and change.  The eastern Buddhist way does not apply the western notion of justice which leads to a lack of action for change and things just keep going the same way, no matter how dysfunctional.  Nothing changes.  I must say that I could be wrong and I do not want to appear as being a superior westerner but I have had this insight which excites me and feel the need to record and share.  So I do. 

Basically, as I reflect on this happening, the obvious way for one is not so for another.  I do wonder why my offer of a hot plate was not accepted as it seemed a reasonable and safe option.  Still the donkey looked the easy option on the day but it wasn't. 

Call of the Desert

Present day Jerusalem is a modern city in the middle of the desert.  The terraine is rough and hilly.  It is all rock and dirt, a barren land but one that has its own appeal and attractiveness. 

Going into the desert to visit monasteries and holy sites, I found myself just wanting to experience the place.  I just wanted to be.  Being there, I could feel a sense of awe, of mystery.  It gave me an incredible sense of being drawn.  I could sense why people came here to pursue holiness.  It was a place like this that Jesus went away to pray. 

In the history of Christianity, there is the tradition of desert spirituality.  In the early Church, there were the Desert Fathers and Mothers, ones who made their home in the desert to pray and find the Lord.  They became recognised as wise people who were sought after by many for their counsel and wisdom.  Having my brief experience there in the Holy Land, I can understand and appreciate better this movement in the Church history and its value. 

The desert, a place of emptiness and yet a place of so much; a harsh place but a place with its own beauty.  The desert, the one place, highlights absence but also offers a sense of presence.  It is both a godless place but a place where God is found.  It is a place of extremes - absence and presence; emptiness and abundance; temptation and holiness.  To this day, there are people living in the same desert, seeking their way to holiness. 

O Jerusalem!

I have been away for two weeks.  Guess where I have been? 

O Jerusalem! 

What can one say?  It has so much history with its own beauty and attraction. What a city!  Yet it lies in the middle of a desert.  After being there and seeing the harsh conditions of the countryside, I wonder why they chose to build a city in the middle of nowhere.  It must have been divinely inspired, especially after it has survived the tumultuous history it has endured.

My first impressions as I explored and tried to picture the place in Jesus' time were that it was quite a small place where everywhere was close to everywhere else and where only a small population would have lived.  It struck me then that everybody would have known everybody else and so it would have been hard to get away with anything.  Nothing or no one could lie hidden, I would say. 

Then along comes the stranger, Jesus, from Galilee up in the fertile north and locals would question:
Who is he?
Who is he to tell us what to do?
Whom does he think he is coming here and acting as if he is our leader?
I could see why Jesus, or any character like him, would come under the radar of the Jerusalem population and leadership and receive unwanted attention. 

Jerusalem is a place that has a sesne of being superior.  Once again, when you see where it is, you wonder why.  Its value lies beyond what you see.  It is about much more - history, religion, politics, culture.  It is so rich in many ways. 

Jerusalem today is nothing like it was in Jesus' time but it does lie on the same spot as it did in ancient times.  Jesus' Jerusalem is but one small part of modern Jerusalem, a city with up to one million inhabitants.   Still you can get some sort of picture of what it may have been like.   It naturally gives you an overwhelmimg sense of something or someone other. 

Definitely, O Jerusalem! 

I'm leaving on a jet plane

My bags are packed.  I am ready to go.  Don't know when I will be back again (but I do as I am only going for two weeks). So goes the classic John Denver song.

Yes, I am off for two weeks and I sure am ready to go.  I figure that it is only fair to warn any of my regular readers that there will be no entry for the next two weeks but you can hang out for the big one on my return.  That will be in the first week of November. 

It strikes me that my pace of life is constant and has been so since returning from Australia in the middle of last year.  As I approach the end of the week and entry into holiday mode, I thought this week would be an easier one but it did not prove that way at all.  My Tuesday reminded me of my mantra arising from living here ten years - my life in Bangkok can change right around in just 24 hours (or much less).   That is just what happened.  The catalyst once again was my boss, the bishop.  He can just so readily announce his unrelenting and amazing requests or decisions without any great thought and the whole of one's life is radically reoriented, at least at the immediate moment of receiving his message.  That is the initial response but I know him too well and experience tells me to take whatever he says in my stride and let time take its course.  Then what seems initially unreal becomes in time real and doable.  Such was the outcome once again.  Stand back, think through what is presented and then act on it in a logical way.  This is the key to finding a more achievable way ahead in addressing whatever the issue may be at hand.   

That may seem strange to one from outside but it so makes sense to me.  Maybe it is the clash of cultures or maybe it is the way of bishops but that is what happens.  Life does change but it has to maintain a sense of reality.   So it with a sense of reality I take my leave and go to the Holy Land.  I will remember you and pray for you as I take this opportunity to visit the homeland of Jesus.  Thanks for reading.   

Sabai Sabai

There are a few key phrases in Thai that are central to understanding the local culture.  One is "sabai sabai" which basically translates for us to "relax", and the Thais can sure take a relaxed attitude to life. 

In the midst of what I would name as a great crisis this week at my work, I would unreservedly name this as a healthy approach to life in the midst of chaos.  Saying this is easier than actually living it  out, I assure you for someone like me, 'being so western', as I always say here.    

I am surely not alone in the chaos that is part of my week but I am the only westerner caught up in it and I can see our differences in approach.  There has been a shared concern amongst our team about an important, unresolved work matter.  I came in to assume my leadership role in dealing with it.  My way of tackling it has been to make it a team effort as I surely know that I cannot resolve it alone nor is it my responsibility alone.  The others acknowledge the seriousness of the situation but our ways of tackling it as individuals in our work are so different. 

I focus my energies on dealing with the task and do so in a concerted way.   My colleagues act in a way that seems far more relaxed and at times make one wonder whether we really share the same concerns as they seem to sail right on not worried about anything.  I sit back and wonder what is going on.    

It is the Thai way to not go the extra step to achieve or to take a risk in the workplace or to go beyond the boundaries of their strictly and internally prescribed ways of behaviour and limits of personal endeavour.  Then I think that maybe there is a healthy message in this approach for me.  So I acknowledge that I have done my bit and I now step back and relax for a bit. 

Time and again here, I am confronted with this strong shared sense they have of Thai culture but I wonder if it is not just more about being human.  As I experience my week, I would wonder how helpful and effective a work team would prove anywhere in my world.  I can also see how a good westerner can be over consumed by the task and lose sight of what really matters in life and, you know what, in the end it all works out anyway, even in spite of what I do or how concerned I am.  That is what happens time and again.  So sabai, sabai. 

Pope Francis is no rock star

Pope Francis is who he is.  After his most impressive visit to the USA, it must be reiterated that he is not a rock star. He was asked this very question and there is no way he ever seeks to be put into this category.  He is a man of the gospel and that is what makes him the outstanding person he is - his love for and commitment to the gospel.  The young idealist of my youth simply responds with a Wow!  My summary could be that he is a simple and humble man, but still a man, acting for good in the world and proclaiming God's mercy and compassion.  What a mission in life!

Our world today hungers for such leaders, people of integrity and ideals that uphold humanity.  Such a hungering world sees in Francis a man that they can trust and look to.  The danger becomes that we can expect too much and transfer out expectations and hopes onto another human being, who like us is vulnerable and fragile, which is not what Francis is about.  Such a road is sure to lead to failed expectations and lost hope.

As I share this I feel that I am becoming too issue focused and starting to preach but that is not my intention nor my felt desire in sharing this.  I can't explain it but I feel like Francis is a close friend whom I have known for such a long time but I am very aware of the reality.  I judge it simply that people of deep faith in humanity and strong leadership shown in accompanying us in life as fellow human beings speak to us so clearly and deeply that they have this profound effect not just on society but on individuals.  Pope Francis is one such human being.  He is no rock star.  He is much more. 

Let Pope Francis Speak

Actions speak louder than words.  How true for Pope Francis - the man of the surprise action that speaks so loudly.

Pictures tell 1,000 words.  How true!

The Pope going to the White House to meet Obama.  He arrived in his own style of limo being escorted by huge and expensive security limos.  He arrived on the south lawn of the White House to let himself out and greet the President of the USA.  Mind blowing stuff!

The Pope in his chosen car for being driven from Andrews Airforce base into Washington DC.

Fidel Castro:  Welcome companero! What are you doing?
Pope Francis:  The other revolution. 

 

These pictures tell their story of the Pope's visit this week to Cuba and the US.
Another coup for His Holiness.  Good one Francis!

The three pillars

ASEAN (Association of South East Asian Nations) is based on its ever quoted three pillars.  Having been at an ASEAN workshop this week, I would say that they would be well counselled to add a fourth pillar - Reality.

I was there all day hearing ones talk on migrant workers and it was all about good policy, good legislation and good outcomes.  Then I think of my work and what I see and read all the time.  The migrant worker's lot is not all doom and gloom but neither is it a total bed of roses.  They are often mistreated and taken advantage of.  What got me at this workshop was how the bureaucrats could not accept any dark side or any other side than it is all good.

It makes me think that we all could do with this proposed fourth pillar when looking at life.  What is real? What is unreal?  We all need a reality check at times.  After so long living here, I find asking myself more not if someone is lying or if something is bad but is this real?  This is the basic question for dealing with life here.  I say this because there is so much I do not know or understand and it is so often the hidden agenda that is the one that is important, the one you will never know.  So asking if this is a truth or a lie or whether it is good or bad is not adequately dealing with what faces you.  

That takes one into the philosophical pursuits of  dealing with the question - What is real?  Then I remember the story of the Velveteen Rabbit which is about a stuffed rabbit and his quest to become real through the love of his owner.

What is real?  Love is real and that means real love, hard love, tough love.  

I was going to finish here but then I sent a message to a good friend today about all that is happening around us, saying that there is just so much with earthquakes, wars, bad politics, death of ones close to us.  My closing line was - I am so happy God is running the show.  I could not cope.

Mary's Birthday

Did you know that it was Mary's birthday on Tuesday?  I do not know how old she is or how they know the exact date but still it was her birthday this week in the Church calendar. 

In honour of the great day, a friend posted on Facebook the following.
"Jesus, Mary and Joseph were migrants forced to leave home fleeing  into Egypt.  Happy birthday today, Mother Mary.  We know you know what it is like to be a migrant with a young child, no job, new language and the many daily challenges migrants face." 

How true!  Especially in the same week when Europe is being forced to face the reality of a refugee crisis due to wars in the Middle East.  One will poignantly recall the image that so graphically summed up the whole tragedy - that of a little boy lying dead on a beach. 

It is a time that makes us all think what it means to be part of humanity.  Would Jesus, Mary and Joseph be part of David Cameron's so called swarms or fall under the unwanted category of the Hungarian PM?  Like Jesus, Mary and Joseph, refugees today are human beings seeking safety and a life.  They are only seeking what any of us would want in our lives - a life with basic dignity and basic human rights.  They are not criminals nor evil people.  I do wonder at times what it is that our world does not get about these people in their plight.  It is not rocket science. 

Where are the leaders in our world?

In all good faith, I saw in Angela Merkel's recent stance on facing the present refugee crisis real leadership.  Then I met with a knowledgeable, young German this week and I wonder.  I saw in Obama the possibility of leadership but like so many became disillusioned by his inability to deliver.  Then lately, I see how more effective he is becoming and think that he is doing okay but I still wonder.  The bigger question remains - where is the leadership so badly needed in our world?

Our world is so lacking what it so badly needs - good and strong leadership.

In response to my own search, I have to say that the one truly, worthwhile world leader I identify is Pope Francis.  I may be wrong but this is my judgement.  He is not a President, a Chancellor or a Prime Minister, ruling neither a national budget nor a military force.  Yet he speaks with great authority and speaks a message that touches people at the grassroots.  He is successfully able to touch our hearts and connect across borders with ordinary citizens everywhere.

For me, his most recent success story in this regard has been his pronouncement this week for the upcoming Jubilee Year of Mercy where, among other things, he has proclaimed prisons as centres of God's mercy.  He puts it in these terms:
"Prisoners may obtain the indulgence in the chapels of the prisons.  May the gesture of directing their thought and prayer to the Father each time they cross the threshold of their cell signify for them their passage through the Holy Door, for the mercy of God is able to transform hearts and is also able to transform bars into an experience of freedom."
Prison authorities may not know it, and I would say that is definitely true in Thailand, but their dreaded facilities worldwide have been put in the limelight by the Pope for good.

I say it time and again about Francis but it is true - a statement like this is just mind blowing.  Pope Francis has done it again and keeps doing it.  He just has the knack of acting at such very human levels for good, responding to people's deepest desires and aspirations for life.  His lesson is clear.  Leadership is not about being able to rule powerful armies and almighty budgets but about being able to touch the human heart and effect it for good.

Church Development Work

Furthering New Evangelization in Development Work

I have been away this week at a Caritas Thailand workshop aimed at improving our working together in our shared mission of social development.  As I joined the gathering for three days, I reflected how we so often emphasize our differences because we live in a different culture or country but I wonder how different are we really.  

What I see living here time and again is that our common humanity joins us together much more strongly than any cultural or other differences may be used to highlight our separation due to an inherited sense of uniqueness.  Yes, we are unique but we are also part of humanity and that cannot be undervalued and that is at the root of our identity.  .
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The lesson at hand was to see issues being faced and the way they were being faced.  They were human issues arising from people working together within a history and an organization or community.  This was a coming together of good people doing good in the world but they are people all the same - fragile and vulnerable.  So there are the successes and the joys but also the hurts and felt failures as well.

For my part, I cannot act as if I am divorced from this reality, speaking from afar.  Here I reflect from my experience of Church and people in a number of parts of the world.  The lesson I kept before me this week as we faced issues together was that we are not all so dissimilar.  To appreciate our common humanity is to give a healthy sense of perspective.

As we are immersed in the Church's social development work, so we are just as much immersed in our own personal development work.  The two go together.

What a great spot to consider development..

We are at the bottom of a dam.  Just hoped it did not burst. A sign?

Who's Bob?

Reopening of Erawan Shrine after the bombing

Everyone must know what happened this week in Bangkok.  On Monday evening, a sizeable bomb exploded in central Bangkok at the well known and well loved Erawan shrine, causing death, injury and destruction.  As you can imagine everyone in Bangkok that night has a story.  What is mine? 

Monday after work, I went to Mega BangNa to buy new shoes.  From there, I went to Om's place for dinner.  When it was time to leave Om's and have him take me to the skytrain station for getting home, I saw that he was taking a long time reading messages on Line. 
So I asked - What is happening? 
He replied - It is 'Bob'. 
In surprise, I asked - Who is Bob? 
To which, he replied - No, bomb.
Bomb!  Where?  He then said that people were killed and I realised it was serious.  We went on from there. 

The point of my story is that when one is firmly part of a local community in a Bangkok of today's world, the news reaches you first and with most impact by means of local friendship and social networks using the social media.  This was my first experience of learning a story of such import in this way.  I found this informal channel of communication to be incredibly quick but if it was to be helpful, there was one big question.  How reliable is their message?  I have to say that I found their news shared to be reliable and also effective in then dealing with the question of how best to get home.  When I got home, I checked it out on both BBC and Aljazeera and there it was. 

It was not Bob but a bomb and very sad and very worrying. 

Every cent counts

My father brought me up on a philosophy that every cent counted.  I was reminded of this during the past week when I was on a bus on the way home from the refugee centre.  The Bangkok Refugee Centre is not an accommodation facility but a facility that acts as a base for the offering of service, es to the local refugee population.  So the refugees come to access services and then return home to wherever they live in Bangkok. 

So I get on the bus with a refugee couple who pay their fare but then the husband is looking at his change and questioning what he has been given.  He believes that he was short changed but he was not and what was the amount he was questioning?  One baht. 

I can identify with standing up for a matter of principle but we live in a different world when we start getting upset over one baht.  Still this became for me a symbol of these people's plight.  One baht does matter for them existing on such little income.  Being short changed one baht for them could easily be $10 or more for soemone else in the world.  Yes, it does matter and this simple story is but a symbol of the level of desperation under which these people exist. 

As I reflect further, this could also matter to this man as he seeks to stand up for his rights in a society where they are a hidden underclass, lacking access to their rights, and victimized in many ways.  It might have been a case of just one perceived wrong too many and so it was time to stand up for himself.  They are a truly desperate population and what is their crime?  Seeking a life for their family?     

Life is never so happy

In the last month, I have had quite a round of visitors.  It Is like everyone is coming all at once.  This busy season has made me reflect on friends and I come to the conclusion that being with good friends is the closest experience we have of being in heaven.

Now who are these two?  Yes, they are from my flock of visitors.  Both are American, great characters and so in touch with a healthy spirituality.  They are the sort of people who reaffirm your confidence in humanity.  They have been a breath of fresh air in my life.  They have listened to me and I have listened to them.  We have talked about the good, the bad and the ugly, and it has all been good. 

Meet Fr Bob.  He is the guy on the left.  He is the 72 year old Catholic priest with a pony tail and just has a full tank of energy for life.  He was a chaplain for 15 years in a maximum security prison and then retired because it was what he needed to do in life.  He has not given up living or ministry at all.  He just keeps on keeping on, remaining faithful to his philosophy of a sabbatical every seven years.  So he got his round the world ticket and Bangkok here he was.  Being with him showed me life with different glasses, glasses that looked at life in a deeper and more appreciative way. 

I have found my friends being here to be life-givng and healing.  Bob is but a classic example of what they have done for me and been with me while here for such a short time.  They naturally remind me of a classic song.

"Keep smiling, keep shining
Knowing you can always count on me, for sure
That's what friends are for
For good times and bad times
I'll be on your side forever more
That's what friends are for".

Buddhist Lent

This Friday is the first day of Buddhist Lent which coincides with rainy season.  Unfortunately, we have been experiencing the lack of rain in this part of the world but then it poured last night.  Maybe this was in recognition of Friday.

Buddhist Lent, I read, begins with the full moon in July.  As I experience Buddhism, it is a very practical religion.

Apparently, at the very beginning, Buddha never had a Lent time as he wanted his monks to go out teaching all year round.  Then it was noticed that with monks walking around in the countryside during the rainy season, which is also the time for growing rice, they would cause damage to the new crops in the rice fields. To deal with this problem, Buddha declared Lent during which time monks were to stay in their temples and meditate which also meant that they would not be walking around causing damage to the rice crop.  Now isn't that being practical?  You deal with a very real problem and make a gain out of doing so in another direction.  I love it.  

So what we have here at the same time is the coming together of three important aspects of life in the local setting - Lent, growing rice and rainy season.  As I said, I see Buddhism as being very practical.

When I first came here, I was struck by how one could be a monk for a day or a life time and no matter how long you stayed your contribution and standing were of equal worth.  I thought now there is a message for the Catholic Church.  It made me ask myself the question - to be a priest or religious does every one have to do it forever?  Couldn't some make the commitment on a more temporary basis and their commitment be as every bit valid?

On further reflection, being here, I have come to see and value in a new and real way the worth of volunteers.  You have good people coming from everywhere to help and make a contribution.

I think this is a good place to stop.  Just to say that we can learn so much from each other and learn even more when we step outside our corner of the world.  

Families

In the last week, my youngest niece, Kathleen, got married.  Here we see her with those of her family who were able to make it for the big day.  They do look a happy bunch.  Actually, my sister looks quite trendy with the glasses. 

The wedding happened on a mountain top outside of Brisbane with a pastor doing the honours.  My only reflection is to share how quickly so much change has occurred in my family in such a short period of time. 

I look at my mum and dad, now three years dead, and their lives and lifestyle.  It was so different.  The Catholic Church was one of the firm pillars on which their life and family were based.  Mum and dad were the foundation for the family and everyone in the family respects and loves them to this day.

Still, no matter the place of mum and dad in the family, their strong expression of religion has not been carried over into the generations.  There is within the family, the whole range of just no belonging to any religion to belonging strongly but to something very different from the Catholic Church. 

My personal stance is that the change itself just is.  We live in such different times from my parents' day.  It is neither good nor bad.  It has happened and this is how it stands.  Each to their own, I say, and we all make our choices according to our world view.  What still really gets me is the rapid nature of the change in just one family, mine.  It all happened so quickly.  You go from mum and dad to what we see today.  So different and yet it all originates from the same source and the same love and commitment. 

One thing comes to me as I share this.  I was talking with an Irish colleague this week and we got onto the Irish Church which has been devastated by the abuse issue and its poor handling of it.  Church control was at the centre and it has all disappeared, and so quickly, and so it should.  What my Irish colleague reflected was that religion collapsed in Ireland and it was then discovered that there was little faith.  So it all fell apart with the collapse of the institution.

Here, I keep using that word - religion.  Beyond religion what matters is faith and spirituality.  As long as we have a faith and a spirituality, that is what is core.  I will say no more as I am not here to preach but to reflect and that is ongoing. 

Three Years On

This week, I met with a very dear and special friend here in town on her way to Nepal where she is going this year for her annual missionary adventure and service.  This is something she does religiously and that is how I met her.  She was first a companion in  my Maryknoll days and we went from there.  She is a New York character, standing up for everyone's rights and opposing an institutional Church that denies these rights in any way, while being so Catholic and so committed to her Church.  She is just one of those most attractive characters I meet being in my Bangkok.

From another New York friend, I came across a spiritual reflection arising from his experience of Nepal which I shared as part of my gift to my dear friend.  The reflection focuses on the Buddhist celebration of death.  According to this reflection, the Buddhists of Nepal do not celebrate birth as much as they celebrate death as death is the release from all that holds us down in life.  Death is then seen as the time for real celebration of life in its fullness. 

This week, I remember three years since my dear mum and dad died.  Ever since they died, I have only had good and fond thoughts about them.  I honestly can only think how kind and generous they were in life and how all they did was love us as best they could.  Then I think, what more can one ask for in life? 

If I go back in life, I remember my difficulties with them and how I struggled with who they were in my life.  With death, that has all gone.  This has been the release of death for me.  I am only left with the kindest and fondest of memories of mum and dad.  This has been the freeing of death - to remember and love two good people and know nothing else.  And why hold onto anything else?  There is no point.  It is just a shame that this did not happen earlier in my life but maybe it takes something as cathartic as death to have such change happen in one's psyche. 

I love you, mum and dad.  I love you, my dear friends. 

Leader of the Pack

This is a full and different week for me in Bangkok.  Part of its different flavour is to have Veronica in town with her daughter, Sara.  Who is Veronica? 

Veronica is a great friend.  She and I worked together at the Matt Talbot hostel in Sydney 10 years ago.  We were great partners in crime, facing the foes of upper level administration together.  Since then we have never lost touch.  So here she is in Bangkok and it is wonderful to see her again.

Well, as this is Sara's first time in Bangkok, she of course wanted to see the famous bars.  I was nominated as the official tour guide for the night and so off I went with my small troupe of followers.  We were also joined by a new Thai friend, Am, who just needed a good night out and I thought what better company for her than Veronica and Sara.

It was a captivating experience to be the only male with a group of friends, female and such strong and fun characters.  I was all ears when they talked about men.  I did not know that I was like how they described us but I am open to new insights.  Am was particularly enlightening for me as she talked about the changes in Thai men over the past 20 years.  I had never heard this before. 

Through my work, I know a number of young Thai, professional women.  They all seem to not like Thai men and express a hope for foreign boyfriends.  That is a definite trend I see here.  What is this about? 

Well, Am's theory is that with the great 1997 economic crash that hit Thailand, there was a change in the male species.  She says they became weaker, depending more on women and relying on their largesse.   Basically, it seems to be a case of when the going got tough, the men lost the plot and never regained their status.  I can see a truth in that as my mum would say that men could give up too easily while women would stay strong. 

I am no expert but this may explain what I see here - young and capable, professional women not having a great interest in the local male.  But then as I said last night in one of my very few interventions, the western male may not be the answer either.  It just depends who the individual is. 

As for any older Aussie male searching for a subservient woman in a Thailand, not all Thai women are subservient.  Truth is there are impressive, strong women here, just as in Australia. 

I may have been the tour guide but I think that my troupe of three were the leaders of the pack.  It was a top night among friends. 

Home is where the heart is

Later in the year, I will be visting the Holy Land and can verify for you then if this sign is for real.  Real or not, it has a relevant message for me here and now.  As my previous entries may hint, there is much happening around me and it struck me that it all centres on where I feel at home. 

I am sometimes asked by someone here, "Where do I come from?"  I find it a strange question as Bangkok is home for me now.  "So why are they asking me," I think on impulse, "as I come from here?"  When I realize what they are asking, I acknowledge to myself that they do not know me so well nor do they know my experience of over nine years here. 

My home is where I live and here is where I live but they do not know this.  Bangkok may be a funny place to call home as it can be so transitory and full of some crazy people but this is where I lay my head at night and walk the earth during the day and choose to do so.

Australia is where my roots lie, my place of origin, the home of my family and very special friends.  It will always be a home for me but for now here is home. 

My great Thai friend may suffer the departure of his good American friend; Thai Immigration may downgrade my visa for now; Thais may be somewhat different and even seem strange to me at times but still none of this changes the bottom line - this is my home for better or worse. 

As anywhere in this world, I find places and people here where I feel so connected, while elsewhere and with some others I feel so disconnected.  I can name the places and people of my week where I feel connected.  They nourish me ready for facing where I feel disconnected.  This is life and thank God that I know where I belong and where I can refind where I belong when I need to.  Home is about belonging, wherever and with whomever that may be.     

Life is fragile

I have a great Thai friend here whom I have known nearly all of my over nine years in Thailand.  He is my best friend, my community in Bangkok.  I look after him and he looks after me, each in our own way.  I do not think I would have survived here without him.  I will put it this way.  To live a life in a Bangkok you need at least one close local friend, someone who can mentor you and guide you along the way. 

Well my great friend has been sharing an apartment for eight years with an American guy.  Once again, they looked after each other in their own ways.  I guess that is part of life here.  In the last week, this guy returned home to the USA for good.  It was time for him to do so and off he went.  My friend was devastated to lose such a close friend and confidante.  So, at the age of 40, there he was this week in tears, wondering what will life be like without his great mate.  Life is fragile. 

In the same week, I went to Thai Immigration for my annual visa.  It is a long way to go and when you get there, you just follow the sign for aliens.  Yes, here I am named by the government as an alien.  So I get my queue number 45.  I wait five hours to be called up to desk 44.  There I am greeted by a most unhappy and unfriendly female Thai Immigration officer.  She takes my papers, goes through them and just says "Three months".  Internally, I collapse.  What is this?  Well, it turns out that the government has issued a new rule that affects my category for getting a visa.  Instead of a year, I now get three months at a time.  This means I have to go out to Immigration every three months to get a new visa.  What a pain!  But deeper than that, it makes me think about how I am seen here and how much my contribution to here is valued by Thai society.  It all makes me wonder.  Then I think how I will deal with this every three months as it is a lot of red tape.  I think about possible implications of this in my life here in general.  Truly, life is fragile. 

Listen carefully

When I went to school to learn Thai, our Thai teacher had three guiding principles for learning Thai.  They were:
Listen carefully.
Watch carefully.
Talk carefully. 

This Monday, I went to a meeting of the Bangkok Church on the issue of helping refugees.  I went with a full list of agenda items.  I did wonder how to approach these issues in the group.  One was a bit sensitive and so I spoke with the priest concerned before the meeting.  This encounter gave me a sense of how to proceed. 

Then in the meeting, we were given a written summary of operations for the Bangkok Church efforts.  It is a strange experience but I can read and understand Thai better than I can speak it.  Speaking remains my greatest challenge and it is a barrier I remain determined to break.  So I work away with my dictionary to understand what is before me. 

I see that I am named as a consultant to this group.  This confirms me in my way to go.  I will focus on listening and this I do.  I scrap my list of items to be shared and keep two that I judge as high priority and speaking to the overall efforts of the group.  It was a fascinating experience to sit and listen.  I heard not just all that is being done but also observed how they share and how they operate as a group.   

I live in a country where they are always playing the Thai card.  They see their being Thai as making them different and better.  We hear about American exceptionalism but there is definitiely Thai exceptionalism.  As I observed the meeting, I could name that this was not so much a Thai church meeting as just a church meeting.  I could have been at a church meeting in Brisbane as people were sharing in the same way with the same dynamics of power at play.  It just was that they were speaking Thai and doing it in a Thai way.  No matter our nationality or culture, we are all human and have so much in common. 

I did listen and so I learnt but I was there as a consultant and I needed to speak as well.  I judged that it was best to speak Thai no matter how difficult that may be for me or how poor (or different) my Thai may be.  I gathered my courage and towards the end of the meeting shared my two points.  I made sure I spoke in Thai.  By focusing on only two points and speaking in Thai my message was simple.  This was all a good and different experience for me. 

At the end of my contribution to the meeting, I got a round of applause, not for what I said but that I spoke in Thai.  From a conversation afterwards, I know for sure on one of my two points that, while they may have understood my words, they would not have understood the sense of what I was sharing as the concept of social participation that I sahred is not part of their lived experience.  I am too western. 

Still the best way to be a consultant is to become a part of the group and speak with them.  Listening is the most important of  my teacher's three principles.   

And we think we have problems

This picture shows Rohingya found at sea lnguishing at a temporary refugee camp in Myanmar.  They are obviously thirsty and getting water the only way possible at the time.  And we think we have problems. 

This picture appeared on my Facebook and I was just struck by it.  I was so taken not just by the horror of human desperation it depicts but by the utter humanity it shows us.  So I searched for its origin and found it came with a line from the Dalai Lama: 
"No matter what sort of difficulties, how painful experience is, if we lose our hope, that's our real disaster."
How true!  Then I also think of the line from Mathhew 25 - "I was thirsty and you gave me to drink". 

Being here with Caritas, I have become in an unplanned way a little cog in a big wheel that is turning to help stranded Rohingya stuck in the south of Thailand.  It is one of those challenges in life where you just value what you can do and appreciate that something done is better than nothing tried.  You just do something for the sake of humanity and for the sake of one's very own humanity.  I don't wish to proceed down an expected line of discussion here but rather highlight one simple part of my experience in trying to further assistance for these poor people. 

I was at a Caritas Asia conference last week where I facilitated a discussion on their situation.  As a result, I became recognized as the resident expert on the topic which I am not.  The real experts are those down in the south of Thailand giving out the food and water and offering the accommodation.  Anyway, as the point person at the conference, I was asked what is being done to help to which I naturally replied:
"Instead of asking questions, how about volunteering to do something?"
At this time in proceedings of the conference, there had been no one new coming forward to actually do something to help.  These inspired few words raised a welcome response as now there are a team of volunteers acting in our little corner of the world to do something.   

It just upholds my theory that you don't need the big project, the big money to do good.   A few simple and spontaneous words from the heart can have as much an impact for good as any amount of money or as any sophisticated plan for action. 

A little bit of New York in Bangkok

I went off to a conference on human trafficking being held in Bangkok by Caritas Asia.  I may have been looking forward to the conference but I never expected what greeted me in the surrounds of the hotel where it was being held.  The hotel is part of a new development which has taken a cultural theme, displaying works of contemporary art throughout its space.  It was like walking into a bit of New York in Bangkok.  I was just overcome.  On realizing what I was surrounded by, I became a tourist yet again in a city that has become home.  I found myself automatically walking around the area looking at the pieces of art, taking it all in and taking photos like any tourist would do.  I was gobsmacked, as they say back home.  Bangkok is so full of surprises.  You think you know it and then you discover something else new. 

So what to do as I want to share my joyous discovery?  Let the pictures tell the story this week.  Enjoy.

Well, while I was enjoying the art of my new surrounds, I went into the conference on human trafficking.  It began with the testimony of a young Thai guy, really only a boy, who had been taken in by the offer of big money to work on a fishing trawler.  The money was the bait for getting a boy from poverty onto the boat and into the slave trade of the regional fishing industry.  He and others like him were taken from Thailand by boat to Ambon in Indonesia and made to work on fishing boats as slave labour.  These boats went out for one to two months at a time. The conditions were harsh.  The work was long and tough.  Any pay was meagre. 

As he shared his tragic and heartfelt story, I felt so disconnected as here I was in my newly found bit of New York in Bangkok listening to a lad talk about a world so cruel and ruthless, a world so ugly, a world so far away but yet part of the same world.  "How can this be so?" was my feeling question. Our world can be so disconnected.  We can be so divorced from the harsh, everyday realities faced by so many around us.  How to understand?  How to reach out?  How to be with the other?

What happened here?

There is in Kanchanaburi Province, to the west of Bangkok, not just the much feted "Bridge over the River Kwai" but also the the great tourist attraction, the Tiger Temple, which is a Buddhist temple where they house tame and friendly tigers.  In fact, they are so friendly that the monks welcome tourists to come and see and be with the tigers in their temple habitat.  And the tourists do go, in their thousands every year. 

Well something went wrong during the past week for the temple's abbot (pictured) was attacked by one of their 'house friendly' tigers. 

The abbot, Phra Vissuthisaradhera, or more simply Luangta Chan, was taking one of his much loved tigers for a walk when he slipped and fell, thus startling the tiger which then reacted out of fear, or so the story goes.  Luangta Chan assured the public that this was not the attack of a vicious tiger but the reaction of his friend whom he had frightened as a result of his fall.  It was his fault.  The abbot also explained that the tiger, like all of us, has been affected by the recent hot weather and so is a little touchy at the moment.  And finally, the abbot explained he had been away for a long time and so the tiger was a little unsure, as you would be, after not seeing a friend for so long.   

None of it was the fault of the tiger and all was explained so that no one has to fear Hern Fa, the abbot's beloved tiger.  So it is business as usual hopefully for the temple as there is a lucrative tourist trade to be had. 

This is a great story with a message.  Is it about the laying of blame or the accepting of responsibility?  Is it about temples doing business?  Is it about business must go on, no matter what?  Is it about friendships and relationships?  Is it about our love of animals? Or?  You can just choose your own message.  It is a story with a difference and as the abbot said, if Hern Fa was serious, he would have done real damage to the beloved abbot. 

Royal Ploughing Ceremony

"Plentiful water, good harvest and abundant food production were predicted for the coming crop year by traditional soothsayers at the Royal Ploughing Ceremony" last week.  This annual event was yet another occasion for a holiday.  The picture gives a sense of the day which is a day that gives witness to traditional Thai belief and practices.  For us from the west, it may speak of superstition or something out of the Middle Ages but let us not underestimate that this day, like many Thai traditional beliefs and practices, is taken seriously, with even the royal family being involved in these proceedings. 

I would venture that it reflects life in Thailand.  You look around Bangkok with all its modern buildings and infrastructure and you are tricked into simply thinking that you are in yet another 21st century city.  Yes, it is but it is also much more.  Beneath all the modernity and sophistication, there is a strong and living culture that comes out of a bygone era.  Truth is people here are still very much caught up in their traditional ways, beliefs and daily life practices. 

If you want to get anywhere with them, you have to know their ways and beliefs and work with them and not against them.  This means if things go wrong, do not get upset as you will achieve nothing beyond people taking offence or walking away.  They just see the world differently from you and have different expectations of others, especially when you are their senior. 

It sure can be frustrating as sometimes you see a wrong or a mistake and you want to let forth but before saying anything, think it through and judge if it will have any good impact.  If not, better to keep quiet.  Do talk direct but do not talk directly at them as directness may be seen as confrontation and they just don't deal with confrontation. 

You may ask how they get things done.  Well, they have their own way and the best way is to do it their way.  I saw a quote from my Facebook page that reminded me that we in the west look to being useful and achieving something worthwhile.  Here they look more to being happy and finding their quiet way in life.  Therein lies a big difference. 

I was brought up to accept responsibility.  Here responsibility in the outside world belongs to others, specifically to those above you or in charge.  Where I come from, everyone is encouraged to take initiative.  Here initiative is seemingly the prerogative of those who hold the responsibility, namely, yet again, those above you and in charge.  So they wait for you to take the initiative or let you know when they are ready that something needs to happen or has happened. 

It is all so different.  You may like it to be otherwise to suit you, the foreigner, but they will not change their ways to suit you and really why should they?  No one is either right or wrong.  No one is necessarily better than another.  We are all just different and we all have a bit of right and a bit of wrong.  I learn so much about humanity through being here and sharing life with my good teachers, the Thais and others who are part of my daily routine and struggle.   

Father knows best

If you are 58 like me, you remember a classic, American TV sitcom called "Father Knows Best".  It must have been good as I can still name who played the dad - Fred MacMurray.   Well it wasn't that the dad was always right but that he tried his best to be right for his two teenage sons and that he showed some wisdom in helping them deal with their dilemmas.

Well, I live in a city where there seems to be no shortage of 'father knows best' types and they are not just sitting there acting wisely nor for the good of those who come their way.  The ones I come across tend to be older western guys who have lived here awhile and think that they know everything about the local scene.  So they proceed to preach their message to the new western guys.  I was sitting in the midst of such an episode this week. 

I am at Nandos, one of my local hangouts, having a chat and along come the two newly arrived Americans who sit for a chat with the assembled group of locals who all know me as Fr John.  These two guys are just entranced under the spell of the local western male 'know all' who professes to know it all about here.  The well known local farang proceeds to preach about Thailand and what they should know about here.  I think, "The cheek of the man".  Still the Americans were loving it and just taking it all in. 

The preached message features how Thais are so much better and how we from the west get it all wrong.  I have so heard this before.  No, don't worry.  This is not a mud slinging match against Thais.  This is a reality check to remind myself that this place has its fair share of western 'know alls' who sadly get an audience here that they would never entertain back home.  They are generally the expert sitting sucking on their beer, while giving their version of the gospel on Thailand which is all just screwy. 

Truth is no matter who we are and where we come from, we all get some of it right and some of it wrong in life.  The dad in "Father Knows Best" knew this very well.  That is why he was such a wise man.  It is never one is all right and the other all wrong. 

What ones, like my local 'know all', present is part of the picture and it is their picture.  Yes, Thais do not suffer from guilt but they suffer from shame.  Yes, they do not have the burdens of a Judeo-Christian west but that does not mean they are freer than us.  They have their own burdens to carry in their society.  Yes, there is an acceptance of one's sexuality in Thailand but that does not simply mean that they can go and do what they want and be who  they want to be.  There are strong expectations placed on them.  I am not slinging in any way at Thais but I do hold that what western 'know alls' do by taking their throne and preaching the message of Thailand is to show a lack of understanding and respect for both Thais and foreigners.  It is really more about these westerners taking the control seat and showing who is best - them.

And of course, the focus topic is trying to help newly arrived, western males understand what they find and enjoy here - sex with seemingly free Thais.  Please! All I could do was walk away and think, "Don't they get it?  People are people.  There is no free lunch in this world.  People so deserve so much better.  Thais and Thailand deserve so much better."    

As my neighbour, the 'know all', said in one part of his homily - "T.I.T." which is a well known, local saying.  It means "This is Thailand".  It is supposed to easily explain away so much about here.  Well, maybe it is more - O.I.T. - "Only in Thailand". 

Africa For Norway - A timely message.

For something different this week, I am letting a song say it all.  Sit back, watch, listen and enjoy. 

Now, wasn't that fun?  Here I am caught up in all sorts of intense issues to save the world - refugees, human trafficking, migrants.  It is stressing me and I feel drained.  Then two young Germans working on placement at BRC (the refugee centre) call me over to show me this song on You Tube.  My companions in refugee work are two great young women.  We just loved what we saw.  It made us laugh and that was so good to do.  It brought my energy back and made me relax and see all things in a lighter perspective.  I hope it energizes you and makes you laugh. 

We also saw its message and it is a necessary message.  We don't have to save the world.  We just have to work together to make it a decent place, a better place for all and we all have our contribution to make.  This is not a one person event. 

Saying Goodbye

Bangkok is a very transient place.  You are for ever meeting people and saying Goodbye to them.  People come and go and they seem to go quicker then ever in a Bangkok.  It is that sort of place.  Some you hardly know, others you know for a short time and others you think you will know for ever but it all comes to an end evetually in my Bangkok. 

For one who hates saying Good bye, this can be a very difficult place in which to live.  I sum up living here as being caught up in an intense micrososm of life. 

A couple of weeks ago I shared my encounter at mass where the French ambassador's wife came up to me after mass to say that I was 'her Fr Dobbo'.  Last Sunday, she came to me to say Goodbye.  She is back to France and gone.  Another lovely and friendly face gone from the cathedral but then another will come. 

I have been here nine and a half years.  For all that time, a part of my scene at Caritas and in my life has been an Irish guy named Patrick who is a lay missionary with a Church group in Ireland.  Well, after nine and a half years together, it was time for him to move on.  His assignment is now full-time in Cambodia.  When it came to his last day last week, the ending was as sudden as it was simple.  It just happened.  Patrick, whose desk has been beside mine, when it was time for him, packed his bag, stood up and announced that it was time to disappear, and that he did.  He just said "Bye!" and left.  That was it. 

But was it that simple?   I don't think so.  There are all the years of his being around and how do you sum them up?  There is the now empty space in the office.  There is another void to fill. 

There is no picture this week as I am not sure how to capture what I share. 

You are my Fr Dobbo

Last Sunday at mass, my homily was about how our faith is handed onto us by real people and real life experiences.  We are who we are thanks to people who matter to us and make an impact on us.  Such people are not dull and boring but people full of life and passion.

Such a person in my life has been (as he is still alive) Fr John Dobson who was the assistant priest in the parish where my family belonged when I was a teenager.  Dobbo, as he is known, is an absolute character.  I know him as always being happy and full of fun.  One could say he is a mischievous type, being able to tell a joke just as easily as he could offer a line of wisdom or compassion.  In his day, he ran the parish youth group and saw that there was always some activity to bring the young together to enjoy good times and become friends.  He was what I would name as the person who kept Catholic culture alive for young Catholics.  He was not just a great fellow but a man of depth, being involved in his community.  He has always been a man of good standing and good values, a  man you could admire and look up to.  I remember as a teenager that not only was he the priest but he was someone you would want around and spend time with.  So he helped make me who I became.  He was my hero when I was 18 and he only cemented my desire to be a priest. 

Yes, we become who we are thanks to real people in our lives.  My faith was formed not by doctrines and tomes but by the Dobbos in my life.  I would think that as people of faith we all have Dobbos in our life.  We should be thankful for them.  The challenge for us is that, in turn, we be Dobbos to others in life and help them grow in faith and stature.

I share all this not to blow my trumpet but because of what happened after mass.  I just thought it so funny. 

The French ambassador to Thailand and his wife are part of our community of faith at the cathedral.  They are just lovely people.  At the end of mass last Sunday, the wife said to me in her very pure and rich French accent: 
"You are my Fr Dobbo".
Not only did she get the message but she left me with a chuckle inside that has stayed all week.