Vibrant colors.
Wistful architecture.
Ornate adornments of gold, jewels and sequins gleaming in the sunlight.
The Buddhist temple right next to the Buddhist school we are serving with this month in Thailand, is to the human eye, stunningly beautiful.
To the spiritual eye, it is dark and obscure…void of any color.
Part of our ministry this week was going to the festival over the weekend which was, as we learned upon arriving, a Grand Opening for the temple.
Almost immediately, our spirits came alive and we could not stop covering the place in prayer.
As we walked around the temple, greeting the school teachers we work with as well as complete strangers, my heart ached for the emptiness that surrounded that place.
We took seats and everyone around us turned toward the entrance with hands together in front of them as the monk inside starting chanting over the loud speaker. He went on and on for over an hour, singing and chanting prayers each in a different rhythmic, repetitive fashion.
Many people were kneeling with white robes in the temple; others were outside the entrance where they sat with strings tied around their heads that were hanging from the ceiling.
We prayed…
…prayed for the Holy Spirit to reign down on that place.
…prayed for the people there who were worshiping a gold idol of no worth.
…prayed that the Living God who breathes life into each and every person, would start to stir hearts.
I prayed that they would experience God’s love by simply encountering us in that place.
God had us there for the opening day of that temple for more reasons than we will ever know.
One reason I do know, is the divine appointment He placed before us.
Before the ceremony started, we were walking around the temple, praying over it. As we neared the back, we saw a number of monks.
We were nervous to interact with them because there are so many cultural taboos and actions you can and cannot do with them in particular (i.e. there are different placements for your ‘prayer’ hands on your face. When greeting a monk your thumbs have to be touching the inside of your eyes. Other forms of greeting are with thumbs below your nose, chin or even lower depending on age and status. Also, monks cannot touch women or they are considered ‘defiled’).
We figured we’d just steer clear of them and keep our eyes focused on the shrine, so as not to offend anyone accidentally if there were more customs we didn’t even know about. As it turned out, we began easing our way to the other side and had no choice but to pass the monks. I got enough courage to at least bow with the appropriate greeting and say, “Sowadika” (hello) to the nearest one.
He walked a bit closer and started talking in broken English (which he later told us, he learned from “Sesame Street”!). His name in Penn and we talked for a few minutes before he had to go. Before he left though, he said he hoped to see us again!
We found out after the hour of prayer and then during the ribbon cutting that God had just placed the head monk of the temple in our path to have a conversation! He was the one out front, blessing the temple and people with water.
(You can see him towards the front throwing water on the crowd.)
He ended up walking to our table afterwards where we were eating, telling us what the food was and asking us if we enjoyed it. So incredible!
I know Penn felt something different when he was around us.
As we were talking, he was looking at me with piercing eyes, making me feel like he was staring into my very soul.
They say your eyes are the window to the soul.
Jesus said, “Your eye is a lamp that provides light for your body.” (Matt. 6:22)
I wonder if he saw that glimmer of light in my eyes.
I know it wasn’t me he was staring so intently at…
It was the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit was beckoning him. Planting a seed.
Maybe he felt a warmth being around us that he has never experienced before in the emptiness of the temple.
The temple…
…no doubt, the temple is beautiful…but in the midst of that celebration to Buddha, I believe Penn saw and experienced something even more stunning.
He experienced the presence and love of a Living God.
The true Creator of beauty.
