From Rags to Riches

This is where my week began.  Early Sunday morning, I went to my bus stop, in Silom, to catch the bus to go to the cathedral, for mass.  What did I find there?  A dead body, lying on the rosd, right in front of the bus stop.  There had been a motor bike accident.  I was stunned.  I looked at all the people there - police, emergency services, witnesses, fellow travellers.  Everyone was just standing back, doing nothing, not engaging.  The whole scene gave me a deep sesne of loneliness, of emptiness.  This poor guy before us, lying dead on the road.  What an awful way to die, just lying there on your own.  I wanted to do something, but what?  I felt useless.  So I just prayed.  I wsa not useless after all.  I was praying for this poor soul.  

The very next day, I flew up to Mae Hong Son, to join in church celebrations in a refugee camp, for the Karenni, of Myanmar.  Their bishop had come for his annual pastoral visit and to confirm 300 children.  It was a day of great joy for the community.  Despite all their hardships and any suffering, you could feel their faith and experience their deep and strong spirit for life.  

This only reinforced and reflected the message shared on the day, that true wealth is knowing and having God, while true poverty is being sad and having no friends.  How true!  My week has reflected the reality of life.  Namely, what is true poverty and what is true wealth, with our going constantly between the two.   

  

Being grounded

My Bangkok  

I live in a country, where the local culture supports its people to avoid conflict.  I reflect that nobody likes conflict.  I sure don't, but I also know that you can't just always evade it.  Maybe it is more about how we deal with it.  Sure, one does not make a "Last Stand at the Alamo" response each time.  There can be my trap or downfall.  Instead, we choose our fights.  This choosing happens within the context of who we are.  

Who am I?  A central theme in my life is belonging, referring back to my very origins.  Along with this, for me, another central theme, arising over the years, is spirituality matters.  Then, only last week, I finally discovered a purposeful definition of spirituality.  I thought, Eureka!  It goes like this.

Spirituality is being grounded before God in the very place, where he chooses for me."  

Then it struck me that grounded has two meanings in English.  It can mean being rooted firmly into the earth or being punished by your parents when you are a naughty child.  I find that word association fascinating.  

This fascinates me even further as I am coming more and more to a realization that Thailand is my home.  Reality is telling me that I am no longer under the category of being an Australian living in Thailand.  Rather I am an Australian whose home is Thailand.  

This is all significant for me as it refers back to belonging, that central theme of my life.  Where do I belong?  Where is home?  My understanding of self firmly demands that I be grounded.  To be otherwise is more than just unsettling, it is frightening, as then where is home?   Home is important. Home is about being grounded.   

This reflects the struggle of life.  I have learnt that this struggle is not linear, proceeding easily to some resolution.  Rather, life is a cyclical journey, where all the same themes keep playing their tune.   Being grounded allows one to face those ever continuing tunes of life's struggles with more wisdom, deeper awareness and greater confidence to learn, grow and share.