Tom Robbins on Bangkok

"Simultaneously a frantic, high-tech juggernaut and a timeless Asian dream, Bangkok straddles like no other metropolis the boundary between acrid and sweet, soft and hard, sacred and profane. It’s a silk buzz saw, a lacquered jackhammer, a steel-belted seduction, a digital prayer. Its numerous temples and shrines are obscured by clouds of mephtic exhaust, its countless vices and crimes by smiles of tender delight; and through it all, Bangkok manages to maintain the most graceful balance, a grace no less genuine for being well-rehearsed and no less pure for being supported by con men and whores."

- Tom Robbins (Villa Incognito)

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For those of you who don't know Tom Robbins, this post-hippie writer spent much time in Thailand and out of this time spawned a number of books. In my creative writing class, he was recommended to me after I read some pieces that included my experiences in Bangkok. I decided to look him up online and ran across this quote from one of his books which struck me as a profound (if secular) view on the paradoxical nature of Bangkok.

Bangkok is a nation of smoke and mirrors, the land of smiles masking (as he says) vices and crimes in the form of political corruption, human trafficking, massive pollution and prostitution.
And so it is that Bangkok draws people escaping from pain into a place where Hedonism brings meaning. Or at least that is what "Bangkok" represents to the west.

What do I hope to see? This summer I hope to press in and discover who actually lives, breathes and works, beneath the gilded exterior that is promoted to the rest of the world. How do they live? How do they interact with the dual reality that is Bangkok? What does justice and shalom speak prophetically with judgment and hope to a well-rehearsed grace, that is ingenuous and supported by con artists and whores...

Sunsets...

I love sunsets... the beauty of the fading light leaves me breathless and so when I was asked to do a poetic self-portrait for a class, this is what came out of that time. Sunsets which link the different places I've been and the ways in which God speaks peace to me through those places.

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When I get the time

to watch the sun fade

behind the houses & hills of LA

The glimmers of light

stretching

across

the sky in yellow fading to purple

And I remember similar glowing colors

watching the skyline in Bangkok Thailand

As I would walk through the city

And cross over the

city streets

cars speeding by

below,

away, to the east

away from the rich display of sunlight,

fading,

refracting,

bouncing off of

noxious gas molecules and pollution

that for one moment unlock

a deeper,

more vibrant

beauty

in the fading sun.

And I stand in awe, sweat staining my back as I trudge through the city of my youth.

And I remember similar glowing colors

sitting atop a squatter community in Manila Philippines

With towering cumulonimbus clouds

forcing the

Sun's rays around them,

so that the light spills

through

every

crack

and

crevice

as it flows towards the dark east,

changing through

every color

of the

Rainbow.

And I sit, and God tells me,

"this is where you should be."

Do I believe in New Years Resolutions?

First, an apology for the 3 month disappearing act! Returning from Manila and transitioning back into life in America was a blitz and if you would like to hear more about it, call me and we can sit down and talk. :) Rather than write a 3-month reflection blog... I figured I would jump back into it with the thoughts that are actually on my mind.

With that said...
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Do I believe in resolutions?

January 1st is a world-wide accepted marker for the beginning of something new. Measuring our lives in seconds, minutes, hours, work weeks, months... this is the beginning of a new year. Now, is the time to experience a freedom from the mistakes, regrets, and failures of the previous 52 weeks and walk forward free to dream again. But what makes this day any different then yesterday?

Was it the count down with friends, the singing of Auld Lang Syne (you know, that song everyone starts singing but no one knows the words to), the champagne that gives the New Year signficance? Is it Pope Gregory and his final adjustments to the Calendar the world now accepts as standard that gives this day significance?

While I was in college, the New Years was only as significant as the people I was around. Personally, the end of the school year had muchmore meaning, as I launched myself into summer having completed another year of classes, bible studies, and college life.

But as I sit here celebrating the day after new years at my favorite coffee shop I felt like there was something about 2009 that I had to take note of and acknowledge.

I'm at a crossroads. And because I'm at a crossroads, 2009 stands before me as another menacing "year of transition". Transition is good for us, it is in the midst of transition that we grow and mature. But transition is hard because it is often vague, and the journey is much hazier then the vision for the end result. I currently am not looking forward to 2009...

But as I've spent some days in reflection and rest... I realize that God is calling me to vision with Him. To have goals and dreams. Both for personal formation and for accomplishments and the future.

One thing I desire to do is write more.

All of you need to keep me accountable for this okay?