Rich and I are in Thailand. Our kids gifted us with an extraordinary adventure, spending a few weeks in one of our favorite places in the world. The adventure begins the minute you board the plane in Seattle. This is my fourth trip to Thailand. The usual route is Seattle – Taipei -Bangkok – Koh Samui by air, then a boat to Thong Nai Pan Noi on Koh Pha Ngan. Because air travel is so unpredictable right now, we had flight delays that caused missed connections. So part of our family went from Seattle – LAX -Tokyo – Bangkok; Rich, Nicole, and I went from Seattle – LAX – Doha – Bangkok. Because we missed connections, our bags never made it. Our bags are still sitting in baggage at LAX, with airlines debating who is responsible for getting them to Seattle. We are good, Rich has two pairs of swim trunks and two shirts, and the other women outfitted me on the trip. We don’t need much at all.

One of the reasons we love this place (besides the absolute magical setting) is our daughter, Nicole, first came here seventeen years ago. She met the local owners of Rasta Baby, May, and Wan. It is the one place where we have traveled and know local people who are some of the most kind, fun, loving, hospitable people I have ever met. We fell in love with them and Rasta Baby. The first night we were sitting in Rasta Baby (a treehouse), with the remix of popular music playing, the people from so many places, the drinks, and the food, I told Rich, “I feel like I am living in a Hemingway novel.” The enchantment of the culture here is a taste of heaven on earth. We are staying at Panviman. “Panviman” is a Thai word meaning “Paradise Alike” in English, where “Pan” means “Alike” and “Viman” means “Paradise.” I did not know the meaning of Panviman until this trip. The first time we came was in 2006 when I officiated my daughter’s best friend’s wedding. We arrived in the dark. When we woke up the next morning and I looked out our window, I said to Rich and Alex, “We are in paradise!”

Three years ago, we were here at the same time of year with our kids and friends. We are here for the Thai New Year celebration of Songkran. Songkran is Thailand’s most famous festival. An important event on the Buddhist calendar, this water festival marks the beginning of the traditional Thai New Year. Songkran comes from a Sanskrit word meaning ‘passing’ or ‘approaching.’ For the Thai Buddhists, there is a lot of meaning of which I am no expert. However, I know that it is the time for the old to die and the new to be born. The water represents cleansing; there is celebrating the gifts of compassion, generosity, and family. It is a three-day festival with hoses, buckets of water, water guns, you name it; wherever you go, you will get drenched, and it is fun!

Today is Maundy Thursday, a Christian holy day that commemorates events known as the Washing of the Feet and the Last Supper. This day is part of Holy Week leading up to Easter. Maundy Thursday comes after Holy Wednesday and is followed immediately by Good Friday, Holy Saturday, and Easter. In Christianity, these days correspond to events that lead to the resurrection of Jesus Christ after his crucifixion.

Maundy Thursday is found in the gospels. Jesus takes the posture of a servant and washes his disciple’s feet. He tells them this is the posture they are to take in the world as they share the news of the Messiah. He then institutes the sacrament of communion during the meal. Henri Nouwen reminded us that four times in the Gospels, Jesus took bread, broke it, blessed it, and gave it to his disciples. This pattern is repeated in our lives as we journey with Jesus. If you are like me, I am OK with the taking and the blessing and even, in some cases, the giving. However, I don’t like the breaking. Jesus said to them, “With fervent desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer.” Before he suffered the brutal whipping and execution on a cross, Jesus wanted to share a meal with his disciples, even with the one he knew would betray him. I really cannot fathom this. His fervent desire meaning he had an intense desire to be with his friends before he suffered, and it was around a table sharing a meal.

Jesus then says while taking the bread and wine:
“This is my body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me.
  This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is shed for you.”

Jesus then says:
“I will no longer eat of it until is fulfilled in the Kingdom of God.”

The post-resurrection meals Jesus shared point to this mysterious and beautiful event that is now made known; with the resurrection of Jesus, the Kingdom has come. The new world, the beginning of the new creation, has arrived. But that is for Sunday.

 Today, we remember both mandates (Maundy), the posture of a servant, and partaking in communion when we remember not only the death of Jesus, we also remember that the Kingdom of God has come among us.

As we close out this day in Thailand among family and friends, I reflect on Holy Week in a place far from home, in a different culture among beautiful people. My faith and tradition teach us through the suffering of Jesus and His victory over death, new life comes.

“Most people are afraid of suffering.
But suffering is a kind of mud to help the lotus flower of happiness grow.
There can be no lotus flower without the mud.” Thich Nhat Hanh

 

“Then Jesus said to his disciples, 
“All who want to come after me must say no to themselves
take up their cross, and follow me.”  Matthew 16:24