Values Matter

ANZAC Dawn Service at Hellfire Pass

Last week, I was in Kanchanaburi Province, at Hellfire Pass, on the Japanese WWII, Thai-Burma railway.  I was there so as to lead the dawn service for ANZAC Day (25th April).  Given the history of what happened there, the POWs and Asian slave labourers working under the brutality of such human cruelty, the place is full of human drama and memories.  These memories live on in the midst of the silence.  To walk down its path is a powerful and moving journey.  You can feel who was there - the tortured, suffering souls, labouring on the railway; those many who fell and died.  It is truly a place of pilgrimage. 

Despite all its tragic history, being there was a deeply spiritual experience. One could harken back and gleam a sense of the horrors that had happened there.  Beyond the horrors, I could feel the triumph of the human spirit, over all odds.  The memories, their story live on.  For me, this sacred place imparted one powerful message, namely, that the human spirit is able to rise above any such terrible suffering.  Despite all odds, the human individual can forgive and remember, move forward and act for good.   

On the way home, I was honoured to share the journey with Nick, an officer in the Australian Army, assigned to Bangkok.  Nick was a breath of fresh air, a man sharing both insights and kindness.  The bottom line of a healthy conversation between a soldier and a priest was that decent values matter.  Decent human values sustain and nourish life for the good of all.    

And so I share a couple of poignant lines, that I read at Hellfire Pass museum.  They are the words of the great Stan Arneil, an Australian POW during WWII.  He was held in Changi prisoner of war camp, Singapore, where he knew the utter rawness of human existence, but also more importantly a life, that he proudly shared with his mates.  

"When a man died , he died in an aura of love and brotherhood ... you died with your head in the lap of a mate, with somebody holding your hand, with somebody with a hand on your forehead, saying a little prayer." 

Amen..  

Lest we forget

 

Hellfire Pass on Japanese Thai-Burma Railway

Emmaus Reflection
As we know and recall the love of those nearest and dearest to us,
-were not our hearts burning within us?
 
As we give gratitude for the love and friendship of others, that have made us who we are,
-were not our hearts burning within us?
 
As close friends reach out to us, as we reach out to others, in love and in responding to their need,
-were not our hearts burning within us? 
 
As we succeed and fail in life, ever continuing the journey,
-were not our hearts burning within us?
 
As we celebrate life together,
-were not our hearts burning within us?
 
As we see young babies smile and cry. and watch children grow and mature,
-were not our hearts burning within us? 
 
As friends and loved ones die,
-were not our hearts burning within us? 
 
As we watch people suffer endlessly and needlessly in senseless wars and conflicts,
-were not our hearts burning within us? 
 
As we breathe the air around us, filthy and heavy,
-were not our hearts burning within us?  
 
As we savor the achievements of humanity and cry over our foolishness,
-were not our hearts burning within us?
 
As we know suffering, sorrow and isolation, and see others excluded and marginalized,
-were not our hearts burning within us?
 
As we stand in human solidarity, as we be church together,
-were not our hearts burning within us?
 
As we experience and know the Spirit working in our lives and midst,
-were not our hearts burning within us?
 
As we know the friendship and intimacy of the risen Jesus, our constant friend and companion -were not our hearts burning within us? 
 
Do we not recognize him in the breaking of the bread?  

ANZAC Day 2023

Happy New Year

No, I am not going mad.  It is Thai New Year, otherwise known as Songkran, the famous Thai water festival. Thailand is the only country, I have known, that has three New Years - 1st January, Chinese New Year and then its own lunar version.  The best of all New Years here is the third and final one, with mass and open water fights on the streets.  People just love it.  

The key meaning of this time, beyond all the mass hysteria, good fun and wet bodies, is for people to clean up their lives and make a new beginning.  New beginnings entail moving on, which is an essential ingredient to re-energizing life and living it with an ongoing keen sense of purpose and enthusiasm.  

Life is about so much more than we so often appreciate or the little matters we get stuck in.  Our worlds can be narrow.  Our interests can become dull.  We are best not to cling to present ruts, past glories or known comforts.  Rather, we are best to keep giving life a new push, another kick and move on to keep making our mark on this world, which so needs any and every amount of good any of us can offer.  

What we do in life and with our life matters.  It matters to us, it matters to humanity.  Such is the nature of human connectedness.   Happy New Year!

   

A bad night at an inn.

St Augustine appreciated the struggle of life, describing life as being like "a bad night at an inn".  How poignant!  How earthy! 

Having shared this insight, Augustine would be the first to acknowledge the essential goodness of creation.  It is like we are caught in the midst of life long dilemma.  Immersed in the love of God, life is good.  At the same time, we do not live in some fantasy world, which knows only sweetness and niceness.  Rather, we know only too well the reality of evil and suffering.   We may ask ourselves, what is going on?  

Let's take a look at life, through the lens of everyday reality.  Life is not just about me.  I am not the centre of the universe.  I do matter but, just as importantly; others matter, all others matter.  I live in relationship with the rest of humanity.  I am not in life alone.  We are in it together.  The deeper reality of life takes us into encountering the mystery of life.  To make sense of existence, we are much more than just what we see and touch, much more than our narrow world experience.  We go much deeper.  

Human existence is based on the mystery of a God seeking communion with his creation.  Humanity is called into communion with God and each other.  

Our senses, our experience of life take us into this deeper reality.  There we encounter who we truly are.  So we can make sense of life and why we keep going, no matter what comes our way.  Life is worth whatever we suffer, whatever evil we encounter along the way, for life is not defined by hardship and heartache.  Essentially, it is defined by gift, opportunity, possibility, vision; by the love of God who is creating us every moment. 

This deeper reality shows us the resurrection is real.  It is known and tasted through our living life in love and in communion with God and humanity, as best we can.  Within that inn, to which Augustine refers, we keep striving to live and love, in faith.    Within that inn, hope is real and ever alive.  

I am more afraid of living.

During the past week, I met with good friends, who were up from Singapore.  Because of Covid, I last saw them four years ago.  The husband suffers serious, health issues, such that he needs dialysis three times a week.  They are both committed people of faith, active in the Catholic Church.  As her husband's faithful companion, his wife lives her faith passionately, on the edge.    

Their trip to Bangkok focused on the compulsory, thrice weekly dialysis.  Whatever it took, they came here so as to see friends, of whom I am one.  They are so brave.  As is our way, thanks to the dear wife, we got into a serious discussion on faith issues.  In the course of that discussion, she asked me a direct question - "Are you afraid of dying?" 

I found myself spontaneously responding - "I am more afraid of living."  

I was astounded to hear myself say this, which arose from my just being natural and honest.  What am I saying, when I say this?  I believe that it speaks of my fear of the unknown.  By the nature of life, we can look at it as a journey into the unknown.  This may raise its own fears, but not facing the unknown may lead us to much greater consequences, of compromising one's values and not seizing opportunities for human generosity and courage.    

Maybe this line of argument is a via negativa.  What may be the via positiva?  

Let me explain.  At the end of my week, I was led to a hard-hitting and revealing lecture, given by Dr. Peter Kreeft of Boston College, entitled "Augustine vs. Sartre on the Difference God Makes".  Dr. Kreeft highlighted that, for Augustine, God's reality changes everything.   One could say that, for Augustine, it was literally God or nothing.  So this great thinker leads us along the path of both passion and reason, heart and head for the sake of life and living it.  Hand in hand with God's reality exist eternal truths and eternal values, which give a firm base to our living and our passion for life.  

This life stance rightly challenges my fear of the unknown.  Life surely does present an unknown future but I do not need to fear it, for an all-loving God has a purpose for life and for me.  Truly, we are never sure what that purpose may be, but we can trust in God's love, and so hand ourselves over to the passion for life, arising from and through God's intimate love for us.   

It may be natural for me to be afraid of living, but that fear is neither compelling nor the end of the story.  

Carpe diem!