What can I say?

There is a great book of poetry and verse, written by Edwina Gateley, where she places God in the brothel.  There God sits and watches, being utterly dumbfounded by the brutality of humanity.  How true that is today!  What can I say?  

Maybe I can say something after learning from a Thai friend.  I just visited him on his farm in Isan, up in the northeast of Thailand.  He has worked so hard to turn his little piece of land into his farm.  More importantly, he has worked so hard to live his dream.  I have now seen what he has created.  He did it.  His dream is now a reality.  

So after visiting my friend, what can I say?  The sky is the limit.   Humanity can achieve if we choose and are determined to do so.  Edwina Gateley puts it another way. 

The deeper we enter into the journey, the bigger God becomes -- until we reach the stage where we no longer have any names or definitions for God. God is. We can only stand in awe before God's amazing love... God's love is far beyond our comprehension. We cannot even begin to sound the depth and breadth of this love for each single one of us and for all of creation. It is a love that takes precedence over all else, and must be fundamental to our call as Christians. This, I believe, was the message of Jesus and one which, clearly, we seem to be having a hard time embracing. 

How true!  We are capable of so much more.  We can do so much better as a human race and as human individuals.  We just have to believe in humanity, in ourselves, and not be driven by a world seemingly overcome by greed, conflict and abuse.  We can say so much more.    

 

Joy to the World!

 

Christmas 2023

There just is not enough joy in our world.  Now is the time to right that, and to do so as best we can.   I ask this not for the sake of self-satisfaction, nor for fake glee.  Rather, I seek we be strengthened to share a world that is far much better than what we now see around us.  Truth is we could do better.  Nor do I seek shallow self-enjoyment.  Rather, I have a simple wish that love and justice reach a humanity suffering far too much, so cruelly and so harshly.        

At this time, I am reminded of a 1974 hit song – Horror Movie.  It was a reflection on watching the TV news every night, then featuring far too much horror, by continually showing the brutal war waging in Vietnam.  How true that is today with Ukraine, Gaza and every other inhuman war in our world, even Myanmar, right next door to Thailand.   

One should never avoid harsh reality.  However, just watching war 24/7 on the TV is not the answer, for that only serves to desensitize us to the brutality and suffering of humanity.  Is it not better, at this time of the year, for us to focus purposefully more on the goodness and beauty of humanity and creation?  That way we may truly taste the joy of Christmas, a joy that is meant for all humanity and for all year round. 

What we celebrate on 25^th December is not just for one day, but for every day.  And, why not? That is why we make Christmas so special and joyful, doing so each day for the sake of lightening the load borne by a burdened humanity, within a world that appears too bleak.  Thus, we remind ourselves that hope is eternal.  So let our Ho! Ho! Ho! be jolly and let it be heard as far as we can make it be heard.  Our world needs more joy.  Let us make it happen this Christmas.

Ho! Ho! Ho!   Happy Christmas from My Bangkok.

Heroes don't work

May 1987 at Villanova College, Brisbane

In late 1970s Brisbane, as a young rebel, a university student and a St Vincent de Paul youth activist, I was busy philosophizing and working to change the world.  Obviously, I never succeeded, but they were great times and I shared them with some great people, who stay with me until today.  

One was Noel Hackett.  I met Noel through the St Vincent de Paul Society.  He was then Fr Noel Hackett, an Augustinian, teaching at Villanova College, Coorparoo, in southside Brisbane.  Being a northsider myself and having gone to school with the Christian Brothers, it was all new and foreign territory for me.  Noel's connection with young Vincent de Paulers was his love for the poor and his passion for serving them, even wanting to live with them.  

These are my first and lasting memories of Noel, along with his hearty laugh, love for life and people, and his open and meaningful friendship.  For a young rebel like me, searching vigorously for a social justice cause in the Catholic Church, I naturally became attached to Noel and that attachment has stayed with me until the day he died - Friday 8th December.            

Noel introduced me to his Order.  I will not say that I joined because of him, as that is unfair to him.  Rather, he was my entree.  He let me see that you could be a priest and religious in the institutional church, and live out your passion.  As for Noel, my passion has been for the underdog, the battler, the struggler, the little people in life and church.  They matter.  In our ways, Noel and I shared that.  Noel showed me that you could live out that passion, even in the Church.  

In 1981, I went on to join the Order, went away to study and then returned to Australia for ordination, where Noel was there to greet me.  By then, he was more active than ever in his quest to live out his love for the poor, being in our inner-city parish in Melbourne.  

We ever shared, plotted and planned.  He preached at my first mass in 1987.  I remember his words, using the image of the tree, with its roots firmly planted in the soil, while reaching up to the sky.  Then, a couple of years later, he rang me to tell me he was leaving the Order.  I was shocked.  My first thought was -  "My hero!  What will I do?"  That was all about me.  I now had to learn to act for myself, not depend on heroes.  

Still, Noel remained my hero.  He lashed out so as to live his love and passion for life and the poor more than ever.  He did it.  I would meet him whenever and wherever I could.  I stayed with him in smelly men's hostels.  We had meals in left leaning areas of urban Melbourne and Sydney.   We stuck together.  

The it was my turn to lash out.  In 2005, I left Australia for what became My Bangkok, where I do what I can to live out that love and passion, which Noel and I shared. I had to do it; I had to show that I could be as brave as Noel and do something lasting in my life, that gave witness to that young rebel, whom I kept talking about with Noel.  Well, I did it in some funny way, but never alone.  Yes, I did it as a personal stance, but Noel remained ever the hero, even if back in Australia.  So I could say in My Bangkok - "We did it". 

Heroes don't work, but occasionally they do.   Thanks, Noel, good hero, ever my mate!  Stay close with God and all of us.  

  

It's Father's Day in Thailand, and much more

5th December was the birthday of King Bhumibol, Rama IX, the now deceased, much revered king of Thailand.  In his death, this day remains central in the Thai calendar as it is the annual celebration of Father's Day.  So a people remember a man who was their father in life.  

This comes a week after the Loy Krathong Festival.  Both are key to Thai culture.  A short time after, on 16th December, it is the feast of the Seven Martyrs of Thailand.  This is all part of what makes Thailand what it is today, a land much more than just the Land of Smiles.  

What is at the heart of being Thai?  Culture is the cornerstone.  It is about fun and smiles, but it is about much more.  It is about being human within a specific context.  They appreciate kindness, they appreciate humanity, its beauty and goodness.  To the outsider, it may remain shrouded in mystery.  I figure that is being human too, for how can we define or encapsulate what it means to be human, in all our grandeur, in all our wonder and awe?     

No matter who we are, everybody needs a good and loving family.