What's on YOUR Altar?

"You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth below or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God...Do not make for yourselves gods of silver or gods of gold."

How many times do you contemplate that particular commandment? I know I don't. Worshipping idols--at least graven images--falls pretty far down on my list of things to work on. I spent a lot of time, though, thinking about what that commandment means on our trip to Thailand. Thailand is a Buddhist country, and I won't insult anyone by attempting to explain or even summarize their beliefs. We visited several temples, all of which are currently and constantly in use, so all signs were in Thai, so it was difficult to learn much more than what was in our guidebook. I do know that all men are expected to serve as monks at some point in their lives--often men do their service (3-6 months) after high school or college. Monks are everywhere and very noticeable with their saffron-colored robes. It reminded me of the ubiquitous Masaai in Arusha with their traditional dress.

The temples were beautiful--ornate and decorative. A lot of Thailand's artwork is contained in the statues and murals in the temples, which depict the history of their faith, as does much of the architectural style. There isn't a set day of worship so people come on their own to the temples to leave offerings of flowers (especially lotus buds) and incense, money and candles. Every temple has a least one large golden statue and most had several, often either different representations of Buddha or of different people/deities. Every hotel and most buildings have a little shrine as well--where people set out little plates of food and drink for deities and spirits (Ava thought they were fancy birdhouses). The kids all were convinced at first that every statute was truly made of gold--until they saw some painting being done on one o f them! There were a lot of interesting practices going on--the kids did buy a cage of birds and let them go in the courtyard for good luck, but buying candles and lighting incense and hanging flowers--well, that comes a little too close to the "worshipping idols" bit. As did the interest in the amulet stalls (everyone wears them and often more than one for good luck or health or whatever they are wanting) where I said "no" to those kinds of souvenirs. At one site a monk came in and invited us to sit down--I thought he would answer some questions but he tied a cord around our wrists, joining us all together, and then started praying, including being blessed or cleansed or ? with some holy water. Since it was all in Thai, it was hard to understand, so we sat quietly and respectfully until he was done and thanked him. Cameron and I (and Noah, a bit) talked about what we were seeing and about the Catholic and Orthodox traditions of icons and tangible symbols of faith. It was so interesting to watch people worshipping at every place we went and how prevalent all the shrines and temples were. It's a time when we want to be tolerant and respectful of a country's culture and faith, but understand that their beliefs are are different than ours. But it did provide good opportunities to explain why we aren't buying the pretty flowers to leave at the altar or the incense sticks, even if they do smell so nice, and what we are called to do and how we are called to act and respond.

The whole thing about graven images (now that I'm thinking about it since I'm having trouble uploading pics) is that these images are obvious. It's pretty easy to not fall on your knees and pay homage. What about other "false" gods? Money. A job. The need to be right all the time or have the last word. Selfishness. C.S. Lewis, in his book Mere Christianity (which is a fantastic outline of Christianity's basic tenets and beliefs in a very readable--they were originally radio talks during the war--and non-denominational way) says that all sins are really about just one thing--pride, that every behavior that goes against God really comes back to pride, of putting one's self as most important. Those kinds of things that are unseen and easy to justify. Now that's an altar I suspect many of us spend a lot of time at...I know I do. You don't have to be in your own church to have your very own "come-to-Jesus" meeting with yourself. I don't make typically make resolutions, but I did spend some time reflecting on my behavior and attitudes and what things are on my altar that are not in line with what I know I'm being called to be and do as a teacher, a wife, a parent, and a human being.

Ah, travel. Mark Twain said it best, I think:

Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime.