Spirit.
Such a simple word with so many implications and altering directions. In Thailand, the progression of your spirit is the focus of many people's lives. To obtain karma in perfection – to reach nirvana.
Walking down the road I pass many of the bars that later in the night will be displaying women on bar stools, dressed to appeal to the men that will soon buy them for the evening or maybe just an hour. But it's daytime and the bars are empty minus the owner sitting lonely behind a glass and the quiet pool table the room is centered around. I look down and my eyes pass over a plate filled with food, drink and burning incense. Food and light offerings to the spirits that have passed before them and entered a hell where there is nothing to eat. My eyes dart forward and I realize that almost every shop on this street has the same display in front of their store.
I continue walking and there are temples visible from every other block. Each one as elaborately designed as the next, praised from the outside by tourists and praised on the inside by the monks who worship there and the people who have come to give their offerings to Buddha. All done in hope of increasing their karma – building up their spirit so the next life will bring better fortune.
That night we worship on the roof, looking over the ledge at the temple that sparkles in new ways through the darkness. To the left we see the intersection where bar street begins and street vendors have already made themselves comfortable on the sidewalk, their displays of purses and bracelets maneuvered to hang perfectly. Looking six stories down we see the people walking in the dimly lit ally. Curious tourists, a little boy whose mom is already at work, men out for the night, and a few squadmates going to visit the women and ladyboys they built friendships with over a game of pool and a sprite. Looking up and in the distance I see a few lanterns flickering until out of sight.
We begin to sing and on the roof next door to us a man and woman come out from their home to give offerings to the spirit house that brings good fortune upon their home and family.
Ten feet apart we worship two different spirits. A worship that brings about the center of existence for us both. And yet, the spirit our lives are centered around bring about two very different types of life.
The people in Thailand are so bursting with the acknowledgement that there is something much bigger than them happening both in life and through death. They are in balance with their spirit and those of the people around them, giving thanks day and night, if only for the sole purpose of gaining better karma.
As Christians, we don't have huge elaborate temples that shine from every street corner, there are no monks in orange robes walking the street, and we don't have spirit houses in our backyards and rooftops.
He chose to house His spirit in us.
We have been empowered with the most powerful and life-bringing spirit. But only some days do I acknowledge it. Only sometimes do I remember to be thankful for it and all of the gifts it has brought to my life and to the lives of people around me. Only on certain nights when the worship is moving do I remember how to access its power. I took His spirit of life and turned it into a spirit of circumstance – only necessary for a bad day and a few hours of good worship.
The people around me see the temples and give offerings to the spirits every day. A lesson that I need to learn. I have taken for granted the Holy Spirit and it took me to see the spiritual world in a different light in order to be truly thankful for the spirit that the Lord has given me.
Imagine a life where we all accessed His spirit everyday. Consciously chose to utilize it in all of its goodness.
Imagine the change His spirit will bring.
Change within us.
Noticed by the world.
