And on the 8th day I was released from captivity...and after a couple nights in the Sukhumvit area, I made the move westward on Saturday toward the Chao Phraya river and the oldest part of Bangkok where my friends Iven and Kashmira (and their six delightful children) live, in a very typical old town neighborhood in Phra Nakhon. Iven and Kashmira are friends who I met here 12 years ago (pre-children) and who also call Seattle one of their home bases, though I have never seen them there - only here in Bangkok! They are very intentional, genuine followers of Jesus who I really like. They have walked with me this past year from Thailand and I am grateful for their input into my life. You might recall that they came to visit me two years ago when I was doing the rice growing season up in Maehongson - which certainly cultivated my connections with them and their kids. I have stayed in their neighborhood before which though just minutes to the Grand Palace and other major tourist sites in BKK is a very Thai non touristy part of Bangkok.
Though many in their neighborhood barely hold on to life at times, it is a place that draws me and where I feel a measure of peace. It is a place that is very different from the 23rd floor of the Double Tree quarantine hotel. Perhaps it is a liminal space. I don't think it is a coincidence that I am here. I also don't think it is a coincidence that I have ended up staying at a guest house called Innspire. AND I am their first guest in a year. The realities of Covid and its effects on shutting tourism down are very very stark throughout Bangkok. While I take no pleasure in any of the suffering that so many are facing, it is a very unique time to be here.
I know I am a visitor here at the moment and I'm not engaged in anyone's story - though I have heard many stories over the years from I and K - other than mine. But it is to this place that I have felt drawn though it is far from the peaceful forests and rice fields up north. And so I will try to be present to the gifts and the needs around me and to attend to my spirit and soul and listen and be present to the movement of the Spirit that leads and guides and gives life - even in a place where many only would see death and much much pain.
Breakfast fruit at Innspire |
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