Excitement and Expectation

Last Sunday's Baptism 

I steer right away from publicly sharing personal shots but this week I make an exception because this picture expresses so much meaning and feeling, pertaining to the key part of my week. 

It shows a baptism I did last Sunday at the cathedral.  The father posted this picture on his Facebook page where I saw it and immediately it just so powerfully struck me how it expresses the excitement and expectation held by two parents at seeing their young son being baptised.

For me, this photo is a classic symbol of what our real task is in life. 

What really matters in life is not simply focusing on the presented woes and frustrations of our world.  Yes, they are best met and not ignored, but not under the leadership of people who are abusive, who exert control for their own purposes and who are guided by their own agenda.  These people lead us nowhere good, except to where they want to take us under the guise of their own dark view of the world and its evil forces. 

What matters in life is that we are about nurturing people and helping others to do the same.  As Pope Francis so aptly says -
"The future is in the hands of those people who recognise the other as a YOU and themselves as part of an US.  We all need each other."

We do not have to be overcome by a world that appears unfriendly and hostile.  What we see when we meet and engage real others is how good our world is and how much we can do to build up what we all share and hold dear - humanity and creation. The future is in our joined hands; it is in the hands of the good others we meet in our daily life, wherever we are. 

That's what it is about

Cutting the cake with two boys after making their First Confession

"That's what it is about" were the memorable words for me of Archbishop Gillie Young, then of Hobart, when campaigning for government support for Catholic schools back in the 1970s.   He reduced the whole movement and its argument to its bottom line which was about helping Catholic, working class families who were sacrificing fruit and vegetables on the table for the sake of sending their children to Catholic school.

Well, here I am in Thailand involved in all sorts of tasks and roles and what really matters is what is shared in this week's picture.  It shows me cutting the cake with two young boys who had just made their First Confession.  Their parents had provided the cake so as to help make it a special and memorable occasion.

This is what life is about - reaching out to people, supporting them, being with them, helping them recognize the deeper meaning of life and helping them along the way as needed and able.  This is what our faith is about.  This is what makes life worthwhile.  It really is not complicated.  It is in the simple joys and experiences that we share that we know what really matters in life.    .   

Pop Stars

A pop star visiting My Bangkok

In my Bangkok, one pop star at a time is enough.  During this past week, I had a most happy time with my pop star for the week, a niece visiting from back home.  While she was here, the big announcement was formally made by the Thai Church that the Pope is coming to Thailand in November.  This led to the sudden rise in my Bangkok of what I have named as the 'pop star' syndrome. 

There is all the understandable hype and excitement that accompanies such an announcement, especially when the present pope is more than just a pope.  He is a man well loved and respected by the everyday citizen, a man readily seen as a world leader when the world so lacks leaders at a time when it so needs good leaders.

So, on learning of his upcoming visit, the questions immediately arise-
Where will he be?
When?
How do we get to see him?
In a short time, it all gets too much and you realize that you have a pop star on your hands, or that is how people are superficially treating him.  It just is he isn't a pop star.  He is a simple and humble man with a simple message.

In the midst of all going on around me, it is about keeping the perspective of who he is and respecting who he is. As for me, I plan to quietly respect the man who is my hero.  I will not rush for a front row seat but go to a coffee shop in my Bangkok and sit and wait in hope that some local citizen may ask me who is the guy that they are making all the fuss about.  I will gladly share then about the man who is not my pop star but my hero - a man of and for the poor; a man who shows us a way to living a better life.   

My niece would be shocked to hear me name her as a rock star as she would just see herself as one of the everyday citizens, a good person living life as best she can. 

People are fickle.  They have very short memories and generally lack creativity.  My niece and the pope both deserve better than being the recipients of the simplistic adulation of the crowds.  They can get on and do what they do best - live life and in the process make their contribution to humanity. 

Self Care

Self care is essential to a good life.  We all need down time, free time, tine out or whatever we call it at sometime.  Well, this is my week for just this.  With the coming of my niece and her husband, it is time for a break and enjoy time with family.

So I am taking a week off from doing my blog entry.  I believe this is setting a good example.  So I am off for a bit of fun and a bit of catching up, and just getting out of my daily routine.  Very healthy.

See you next week!

Communication is the Medium

A happy birthday gathering 

I began the week on a Sunday theme of being connected in a disconnected world.  It ever amazes me how in a world full of tools for communication, how little of it actually occurs.  In our world, the walls are getting higher; the bridges are collapsing - or that is the overwhelming sense. 

My week happily has shown a different side and given me an insight into how we can better connect.

It began with my friend's birthday for which I took him and his two good friend out to dinner.  For them, it was a real treat as, while they may love it, going to an international hotel for a buffet dinner is not what they get to do that often, if ever, in their lives.  They were excited and just loved the experience of good eating and energetic talking. 

I was the only non-Thai and just enjoyed being there with them, watching them relish the evening and listening to them talk away vigorously with each other.  The truth is I did not have to be fluent in Thai and understand every word to join in and enjoy the outing. Talking and eating was the key to the evening but doing the talking was not essential to being part of the fun.  Communication was not determined by talking but by friends coming together for a common cause - to celebrate one's birthday and enjoy it.

Then my focus for the week became a Caritas Asia workshop on communication.  I so loved it as I learnt so much and just enjoyed the time with good people.  What I learnt about communication, I summed in three phrases.
1)  It is hard work.
2)  You cannot do it alone.
3)  It is a process. 

So my week finishes on a bright note brought about by good communication with good people in significant environments. Carpe diem!