Memorable Scents

Phon Phisai is the center of Naga worship in Thailand.  The Great Naga (พญานาค-Phayanak in Thai) is a serpent God.  There is a Naga idol present in most Buddhist temples here in Thailand.  The Naga is often pictured with multiple numbers of heads, but always and odd number--3, 5, 7, or 9.

Often the Naga is depicted covering a Buddha image.

Every year, at the end of Buddhist Lent (Buddhist Lent follows a lunar calendar and this year the last day is October 5) there is a big celebration here known as the Naga Fireballs, when balls of fire come up from the Mekong River, supposedly emanating from the Great Naga.  This celebration is a big economic boon to the community, so they do a lot to get people to come here.  Right now they are constructing a large, 7-headed Naga along the Mekong River.  They are rushing to get it done before October 5th.

As we were walking along the river near the site of this idol, a familiar scent wafted up to my nose.  It was a scent that brought me back about 35 years when I worked in a plastics factory. (More on that below.) That factory made primarily plastic housings for computers and electronics.  This "factory" I was passing now is set up outside and is used to construct the pieces of the Naga.

At one point during the construction, some of the pieces broke and fell off the steel framework.  It doesn't appear to be something that will last a long time. I find it strange that people will come and worship or make offerings to something that has been built by men.  Is not the one who creates something greater than the creation?  This is nothing but a hollow piece of plastic.

This reminds me of the writing of the Psalmist:

Their idols are merely things of silver and gold, shaped by human hands.
They have mouths but cannot speak, and eyes but cannot see.
They have ears but cannot hear, and noses but cannot smell.
They have hands but cannot feel, and feet but cannot walk, and throats but cannot make a sound.
And those who make idols are just like them, as are all who trust in them.
Psalm 115:4-8 NLT

The Apostle Paul writes this way:

They traded the truth about God for a lie. So they worshiped and served the things God created instead of the Creator himself, who is worthy of eternal praise! Amen.
Romans 1:25 (NLT)

We pray that the people of  Phon Phisai will one day no longer worship a god of their own making, or even something created by God, but will instead worship the God who created all things and Who will endure for all eternity..

Now, about that plastics factory...

After I graduated from UNH, I had a job for a while working at Jotko Enterprises, a factory that was owned by a member of my church, Dover Baptist Church.  This was in 1980, and our church at that time sponsored a refugee family from Vietnam.  Joe, the factory owner, hired the Vietnamese man.  The fellow was fairly smart—he spoke 5 languages.  Unfortunately, English (nor any Latin-based language I was familiar with at the time) was not among the 5 languages.  Joe gave me the job of training this new employee.  It was a bit challenging, using only gestures and modeling to do this.

At the time I knew little or nothing about the geopolitics of Southeast Asia.  I was ignorant of the complexities of languages and people groups in this region. I only knew that this family must have come from a desperate situation and we were trying to help.  This family was the first of many connections I made to this region before I eventually ended up moving here.

Jotko Enterprises closed in the mid-1980's.  Several years later Joe told me that he appreciated some instructions I had written about packing and shipping products.  They used these instructions for quite a while after I left.  (I had not even remembered writing them!) When he sold the business, Joe thanked us by sending a donation for the ministry we were doing in Haiti in the time.  This enabled us to attend a workshop that we really wanted to go to but had no idea how we could afford it.  Some of the things I learned at that workshop I used throughout the time we lived in Haiti.

One of the things we learned at the conference was how to make an A-level
(for soil conservation work) using no tools and only sticks, some string and a rock.

I shouldn't be amazed at the way all these life experiences have come together the way they have.  Even those pieces of the puzzle that don't seem to fit at first eventually find a place.

Our Helper?

Recently, one of the Buddhist temples in our area erected this interesting idol with multiple arms.  It is an interesting looking idol, but I wasn’t quite sure what the significance is of this latest idol was.

Guan Yin เจ้าแม่กวนอิม

But last week, while I was out bicycling, I noticed that there were several young monks out working in the yard by the statue.  So I detoured and chatted with them a few minutes.

The first inquiry I made was concerning the name of the god depicted by the statue.  I found out that this was the goddess Guan Yin (เจ้าแม่กวนอิม).

Next I asked why this goddess had so many arms.

I found out that Guan Yin has so many arms because she is a helper goddess.  The term they used was Phu Chuai (ผู้ช่วย), the same term the Bible uses to refer to the Holy Spirit.

Interesting that since this idol was erected, it has yet to move from where it was made in order to go help anyone. And even though it has 12 pairs of hands, it has yet to lift a finger to provide assistance to those who come.  And even if it could move and wiggle its fingers, 12 pairs of hands is not going to make much of a dent in assisting however many billion people live in the world.

I think, if I wanted a god that could help me and the rest of mankind, this god would first have to be a living entity, not a bunch of stones and mortar formed by another person.  Secondly, this god should not be bound by human limitations, such as a finite number of arms.

And this is what Jesus promised us.

And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper,  to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you. (John 14:16, 17 ESV)

So I won’t be posting any pictures of the True Helper.  Because if the Holy Spirit were small enough to be photographed, He would not be much help. And if the Holy Spirit were a visible physical entity, He would not be able to dwell in the people of God in order to change their lives.

It is interesting that the Buddhists recognize the need for a helper.  In a religion that tells them that according to the laws of karma, you get what you deserve, there is a recognition that perhaps they need more or better than what they deserve.  Unfortunately, this hand-crafted idol won’t be able to help them much
.
I thank God for the Holy Spirit, Who was able to make changes in my life that I was powerless to do.  I thank God for grace that says it is possible to get more or better than I deserve.

Men, why are you doing these things? We also are men, of like nature with you, and we bring you good news, that you should turn from these vain things to a living God, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all that is in them. (Acts 14:15 ESV)

Hey, did you happen to see…

…the most beautiful girl in the world.

Me and the most beautiful girl in the world

A few months back, I was at a conference, the theme of which was idolatry.  The speaker mentioned a number of things that can become idols to us.  One of the things he mentioned was the idol of beauty.

He went on to mention how some of us see the images of beautiful people in magazines or on TV and we can either become obsessed with trying to be like them or we can feel bad about ourselves because we aren’t like them.  In those cases, beauty has become an idol for us.

(I find it interesting that when you think of all the photo editing that goes on before a photo is published, even these “beautiful” people cannot even attain to their own image of beauty.)

Beware of edited photos
http://news.yahoo.com/comics/off-the-mark-slideshow/

On at least one occasion I have been at a conference for men where we are told something like “there will always be someone better or more beautiful” and so you need to learn to be content with the wife you have.  When I would hear that, I figured it must only be a problem for others, as I was already married to the the prettiest girl this side of the North Pole.

And for a long while I figured that since I was married to the most beautiful girl in the world, everyone else had to settle for less.  (Too bad, fellas.)

But the person speaking about idolatry got me to thinking—what is God’s perspective on all of this?

And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good.
(Genesis 1:31a, emphasis mine.)

Everything was very good.

So in God’s eyes, is there someone who isn’t beautiful?  Is it possible there is some person who is more beautiful than another?

Hardly seems possible.

I remember many years ago when I was at the University of New Hampshire, there would usually be a bunch of girls sitting by the window at Wildcat Pizza who would rate the guys as they walked by outside.  They would hold up cards, much like the judges at gymnastics competition.  (I thought I was doing pretty good when I got a 7.)

Does that seem like something God would do—rate people by their beauty?

I don't think so.

And so—this is for you married guys—I’ve come to realize that you, too, can be married to the most beautiful girl in the world.  And you have to neither change wives nor change your wife.

You only need to change your perspective to that of God’s.

God, help me to see people through Your eyes.