Keeper of the books

Good Friday.

What's so good about it?

The other day I was looking up a word in my Thai-English dictionary and my eyes caught an adjacent entry that piqued my interest.  This began a chain of looking up words that help explain other words until I came across this one:

เจ้าพ่อเจตคุปต์

Which roughly translates: guardian spirit that keeps the thoughts

Transliterated it comes out something like Jao Paw Jettakoup

Jao Paw Jettakoup is one of five idols in the City Pillar Shrine in Bangkok.

Image credit:
http://2g.pantip.com/cafe/gallery/topic/G11881443/G11881443.html

The job of Jao Paw Jettakoup is to remember all of the bad deeds people have committed and to recite them to the god of hell after the person dies. (It's probably not a good idea to try to bribe him to edit the record.)

Many Buddhists here in Thailand believe in the existence of an account book called the Account of Good Deeds and Account of Sin (บัญชีบุญบัญชีบาป).  When a person dies, that account book is opened and the good deeds are weighed against the bad deeds to see what kind of punishment a person will get. They also believe that merit made on behalf of the dead person will be taken into account, which probably accounts for many of the merit-making activities in Buddhist funerals here.  (Note: not all Buddhists believe this, some believe one's fate is determined by an automatic cause-and-effect process that does not involve a deity as a judge.)

For most of us, the existence of such a record book would not be a good thing.  If the book was something tangible we might go through a lot of effort to seize and destroy the book--or at least edit it--but in the process earn a bunch of entries on the "bad deeds" side.

This is where Good Friday comes in.

By His death on the cross, Jesus is able to take away the sins of those who believe in Him.  This is why, when John the Baptist saw Jesus, he cried out, "Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!" (John 1:29)  It's as if  by submitting to crucifixion, Jesus earned the right to take an eraser to the Account of Sin.

That is Good News!  That is why it is called Good Friday.

The Cross - Good News for us

The Lamb of God takes away the sins of the world.

David writes, "as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us." (Psalm 103:12, ESV).  Jesus is able to take the one side of the ledger and heave it as far as the east is from the west.

Good News!  Good Friday.

When I think about this Buddhist concept of a Book of Deeds, I am reminded of Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 13:4.  Love, he says, "keeps no record of being wronged".

Jesus tells us that "God is Love."


There is no reason to take an eraser to the Book of Deeds if you don't keep such an account in the first place.

This is what Love does.

This is what God does.

  Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God. Anyone who loves is a child of God and knows God. But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love.
  God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins. (1 John 4:7-10, NLT)

Good News!  Good Friday.

So we compare:

Jao Paw Jettakoup-the one who ensures none of your bad deeds is forgotten.

Jesus Christ-the one who ensures none of your bad deeds is remembered.

Which will you choose?


Good News!  Good Friday.

Transplant

Sugar Maple-Exotic Ornamental in BC

Strange.

I grew up in the northeast USA.  It is the region to which sugar maples are native.  But most of the photos I have of sugar maple leaves are from British Columbia, where it is planted as a non-native ornamental.

Native Range of Sugar Maple
https://www.srs.fs.usda.gov/pubs/misc/ag_654/volume_2/acer/saccharum.jpg

It is interesting how some things can be  planted so far from their native habitat and yet thrive.  It could be the favorable environmental conditions, the genetic makeup of the individual plant or a combination of the two that makes it possible for a plant to be alive and healthy so far from home.

We, too, are living like exotic transplants far from our native lands and cultures.  How is it that we can thrive under these conditions?

Part of our thriving here is due to the environment.  The climate is generally nice (except for smoke season).  I enjoy being near the mountains.  The people are generally nice.  The food is good.

I think our "genetic" makeup helps us to thrive as well.  We enjoy exotic places and things, having been brought up in families that traveled a lot, either as part of vacations (my family) or migration (my wife's family). (Though I admit I took a pass on the partly gestated egg we were served in Hanoi last week.)

But I can't say we are thriving in all aspects of our lives at all times here. Sometimes things related to work can make life a bit difficult (today has been been one of those days) and a such times, seeing a picture of a sugar maple leaf with its fall clothes on can make me a bit homesick.

Sugar Maple in it's Natural Range in Connecticut

But then, even back in North America, life wasn't always idyllic or easy.  And I have to remember that I am just a sojourner in this world.  I get to spend perhaps a few score years here before going to my real home.  And if I am going to thrive in this world, then I need to keep an eternal perspective.

Peter writes: "Friends, this world is not your home, so don't make yourselves cozy in it. Don't indulge your ego at the expense of your soul." 1 Peter 2:11 (MSG)

We are strangers in this world, but by the grace of God and the power of the Holy Spirit we can still thrive.  And while life as an exotic transplant may sometimes be stressful due to being in a different environment, still, like that sugar maple growing in British Columbia,  we can bring beauty wherever we are.

I am reminded of a hymn, which, interestingly, I first learned in Haitian Creole.  Even to this day I sometimes find myself singing the tune in that language.  

The World Is Not My Home

This world is not my home I'm just a-passin' through
My treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue
The angels beckon me from heaven's open door
And I can't feel at home in this world anymore

     Oh Lord, You know I have no friend like you
     If heaven's not my home then Lord what will I do?
     The angels beckon me from heaven's open door
     And I can't feel at home in this world anymore

I have a loving mother just over in glory land
And I don't expect to stop until I shake her hand
She's waiting now for me in heaven's open door
And I can't feel at home in this world anymore

Just over in glory land we'll live eternally
The saints on every hand are shouting victory
Their songs of sweetest praise drift back from heaven's shore
And I can't feel at home in this world anymore

© 1937, Ren. 1965 Albert E. Brumley and Sons

Or, if you prefer the version I first learned:

Le Monn Se Pa Lakay Mwen

1.

Le monn se pa lakay mwen,

Nan syèl la m prale

Trezò mwen ak kè mwen

Anwo yo tout fikse

Mwen tande zanj yo

K’ap rele mwen ale la

E mwen pa kab santi’m

Twòp alèz isiba

Refren/Kè (Refrain)

Jezi ou konnen, ou se sèl zanmi mwen

Si ou pa pran’m nan syèl,

O Seyè sa m’ap fè?

Mwen tande zanj yo k’ap rele mwen ale la

E mwen pa kab santi’m twòp alèz isi-ba 

2.

Mwen konnen mwen pa diy (dign),

Mwen se yon vil pechè

Men mwen gen tout espwa’m

Ke Jezi se sovè’m

Se Jezi kite mouri

Sou lebwa kalvè

E li te sove nanm mwen pou letènite 

3.

Mwen gen kèk byenneme

ki devanse’m deja

Yo nan bra de Jezi,

E y-ape tann mwen la

Mwen gen pou rete,

Lite kon yon bon sòlda

Men Jezi, lè ou rele’m,

M-a vin avèk jwa

Together Again - if only briefly

I was very tired.

My plane from Hanoi to Bangkok, left late, and after getting to the hotel in Bangkok, I spent the first while dispatching mosquitoes, so I finally got to bed at 00:45.  Then I left the hotel at 6 am to go back to the airport. So I only had about 4 hours sleep.

Getting to Chiang Rai, I needed to do some shopping before the 2 hour drive home.  Then I needed to get some materials ready before our "kids" showed up at 3.

But there was no way I wanted to miss this.  Three young woman who just graduated from High School were coming to our afternoon gathering where we study English and the Bible and it would be the last time having them together with us for a while.   Coupled with this is the fact that we had not even seen them much lately because one of them had been away for the semester and the others had been busy with college entrance exams and interviews-a very time consuming activity here in Thailand. Now it was time to celebrate their graduation from high school.





Ching is is the comedian of the three and makes sure there is always laughter.  She wants is to be a teacher and her hope is to go to a university in the the Bangkok area.

Lai is one of 5 students on a special scholarship where she has attended a school (that is under the patronage of the princess) in the Bangkok area for her senior year.  Two of those five people will be selected to study English and perhaps another subject in India.  If she is selected to go to India, she will leave in May.  If not, her scholarship will allow her to study in Bangkok.  She returns to Bangkok this week for more interviews and tests.

June has been one of the most faithful participants in our Saturday afternoon sessions this past year.  She wants to be a lawyer and hopes to do her pre-law studies in Chiang Mai.

Because of these three young woman and others like them, Saturday afternoons have been one of our favorite times of the week.  And while it was really great to be together again, it was hard to say goodbye afterwards because we likely won't all be together again.

As we presented them with a small gift, one of them noted that there was nothing they give to us in return as a way of saying thanks.  But perhaps it is us who should be thanking them for helping bring joy to our lives and giving us something to look forward to each week.

We will certainly miss them.

And I would say to them, if you want to show thanks to us, you can do it like this:

• study hard (เรียนอย่างขยัน)
• use your life to bless others (ใช้ชีวิตเปินพรให้คนอื่นๆ)
• follow Jesus (ติดตามพระเยซู)

For the past few weeks, we have been talking about "true love".  One of the scriptures we have looked at during these studies is the two great commandments, which contain the second two items in the list above.

³⁷And (Jesus) said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.  ³⁸This is the great and first commandment.  ³⁹And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” - Matthew 22:37-39 (ESV) 

พระเยซูทรงตอบเขาว่า “จงรักองค์พระผู้เป็นเจ้าของท่านด้วยสุดใจของท่านด้วยสุดจิตของท่าน  และด้วยสุดความคิดของท่าน  นั่นแหละเป็นพระบัญญัติข้อสำคัญอันดับแรก  ข้อที่สองก็เหมือนกัน คือ จงรักเพื่อนบ้านเหมือนรักตนเอง” - มัทธิว 22:37-40