Hope is a never ending road.

"The only unforgivable sin is despair."

That is where I finished last week and where I begin this week on the never ending road that is life.

Last week, Pope Francis wrote a letter to every Catholic, to the People of God, on the tragic issue of sexual abuse.  As I become more aware of the scale and the horror of the issue, I find myself feeling more angry and more ashamed.  However, what is the point of such feelings if they simply are feelings standing in isolation? 

While Francis admits shame over what has happened, at the heart of his letter is humility.   I think I could have started the letter as follows - "With a sorrowful and humble heart, I ..."  Yes, start there but not finish there. 

In facing any difficulty or need of humanity or self, humility is a good place to base one's stance.  Anger and shame need to be named and owned in such issues in our world but move on in humility.  This allows for the Other to take the lead, for a future that is not mine alone nor defined by me alone so as to open up for the sake of others.   Humility means that I do not have to do it all, that I do not have all the answers, nor should I.  Otherwise, in any serious issue facing humanity or in helping desperate populations, it is all just too much and you are overcome by the awesome impossibility of all that needs doing or righting.  You end up going nowhere and just wallowing in anger and shame. 

Too many people, too many leaders, too many people of both church and society lack humility and so life becomes a race for power and keeping it. We then lose so much opportunity to create something better for others, something beyond ourselves.  We become overcome by our own fears, rather than be overtaken by the hope that is ever enduring in faith.  Despair does not have to be the outcome and it never should be, no matter what we face.  Despair is the unforgivable sin. 

My Bangkok does take its toll.

I lay myself down where my boots stand. 

My Bangkok presents itself as the mecca for tourist shopping, as the hub for pleasure and relaxation, as the paradise for those seeking fame, fortune and beauty.  It may be all that but it is much more, and sadly so for some.

It can be a fool's paradise, the place where those seeking their worldly goals and pleasures may find their downfall.  My Bangkok is another big city in our world where ones rise and ones fall, and both may befall the same persons in very quick succession. 

While I was listening to the UN Special Rapporteur speak this week in my Bangkok on the freedom of religion in Asia, I heard the tragic tales of how religion is being abused to oppress minority populations like the Rohingya in Myanmar.  Meanwhile, I glance at the local paper during this same lecture and see that the Bangkok news focus in Miss Thailand World 2018.  where is the focus?  Doubly tragic!

Where do we place our hopes and dreams?  Where are we placing our energy for life?  Is it all fairy tale stuff?   Is it all overcome by lights and glitter and all that does not really matter?  How do we deal with the harsh realities?  Unrealized and failed hopes and dreams?  The fantasies that never eventuate in a tempting Bangkok?  The lives undone and lost by the way?

Then I came across a line from Graham Greene this week:
"The only unforgivable sin is despair."

A Week to Honor Human Dignity

This week in Thailand begins with the Queen's birthday, which is also Mother's day here, includes the Solemnity of the Assumption of Mary and concludes for me with a wedding.  So it seems apt to take a step back for a moment and take one's hat off to the women in our life and world.

I was recently at a network meeting on the local refugee scene and it took me aback when I heard the UNHCR representative describe what he saw as a refugee case receiving top priority in our world for resettlement.  He described it a horrific case from Africa where the mother suffered just desperate and tragic humiliation and suffering, being left alone to care for her children.  I thought is this what has to happen to anyone, to a woman for them receive the help and attention they need? Is this the only way for a woman to be recognized by UNHCR to enjoy the dignity she deserves?  What is wrong with our world?  Where is respect and dignity? 

Advertising the Solemnity of the Assumption of Mary at the cathedral in Bangkok

Last week, we remembered the dropping of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.  One person at the edge of Hiroshima on that fatal was the young, Spanish Jesuit, Pedro Arrupe, who was later to be the Jesuit Superior-General.  He saw the bomb drop at close range.  Like everyone else, he did not know what it was, just that it caused much death and destruction.  He reflected, that despite all cautions, he was required as a priest to go in and help the suffering and cremate the dead,which is what he did.  As a priest, as a man of God, he could do no other.

Is this not the same for all of us as people of faith?  Do we just wait like a UNHCR agent for the most terrible and vicious happenings or outcomes before we stand up and help, to be with the suffering and vulnerable?  Or do we do like the courageous and faithful Pedro Arrupe and jump in when we see the wrong, see the need?   

As we honour and celebrate women this week, so we honour and celebrate human dignity, the dignity of all.  This challenges us to be like a Pedro Arrupe, jumping in where we see wrong and suffering and not wait until the worse case scenario arises.  Simply there is human solidarity for we are fellow human beings, not bureaucrats.  There is the gospel which challenges us not to stand back but to get in there and act.

Small things do matter

My right ankle

I am not a narcissist.  I do have issues but narcissism is not one of them.  I choose to feature my ankle as it has been a feature of my week.  And why?  It hurts,

I do not know what happened but I do know it hurts and has been causing me somewhat discomfort and greater challenges as I move around my Bangkok on foot and by public transport.  I notice the stairs getting on and off the buses.  I face the challenge of jumping on and off songtaews.  I feel the ever bumpy footpaths.  Then there are all those stairs for pedestrian bridges and for accessing the skytrain.  Going up is a lot easier than going down. 

It makes me realize that little things do matter and we can just take so much for granted until something untoward happens.  It makes me think that the way to go is to face reality and deal with it, no matter how uncomfortable it may be.  The little things going wrong give us a needed warning in life.  I say that but I know how we like to avoid the hard bits until at times on some hard facts it may be just too late.  In the words of a good friend who is smart, if it doesn't work, fix it. 

Nail biting

Don't worry.  I am not breaking copyright nor am I an agent for Tom Cruise.  It just is that I saw the latest Mission Impossible movie this week and it was just an incredible experience - action packed, keeping you on the edge of your seat.  At the end, you felt you had really been somewhere doing something and it added excitement to a day that could have otherwise been rather dull. 

Isn't that what we try to do?  Add to life; give it more color.  How to do that without going to a great Tom Cruise movie?

I often think that life is given to us as a banquet but so often we treat it like it is a sandwich picnic.  I see that in myself at times.  I see it among people who go to church, supposedly publicly proclaiming the glory of life, but maybe they are not aware that this is what they are doing in church which can be so dull and so out of touch with the world.  This was not the way it was meant to be but such is the way it is given so often. 

It is Buddhist Lent, a time given for reflection hopefully.  This is a good time to stand back and see life for the banquet it is and not just wait to be woken up by the next Hollywood action blockbuster.  Still, what a great movie!