Most Thai people do their best not to insult, and they generally avoid even talking about subjects that might be too personal, especially with people they don’t know well. So it came as a bit of a shock to me when Jack just started ranting about religion.
“I’m Catholic,” Jack told me, “but I don’t go to church. I don’t pray. It’s meaningless. You can pray to God, or you can pray to Buddha, but they do nothing. If you want something to happen, you have to work to make it happen. God will not do anything. Buddha will not do anything. It’s up to you.”
I met Jack several months ago, as we both like to play basketball at the park in the evenings, but he and I had never really talked much before this. I wasn’t even aware that he spoke English. Yet, suddenly this one evening, he just started pouring out his life story to me.
Jack is half Thai, half German. He got his Catholicism from his father, and he told me his mother was a devout Buddhist. She donated hundreds of thousands of baht to the temple, gave food to monks and did everything a good Buddhist should. But in spite of her piety, she got sick. She prayed to Buddha, and her family and friends prayed, but she did not get better. The Christian side of her family prayed to God, but she did not get better. The Buddhists donated more money to the temple, but it was to no avail. She just got sicker and sicker and finally died.
“She was gone,” Jack said. “Buddha could not bring her back. God could not bring her back. Voodoo could not bring her back. No magic could. I would have given any amount of money just to have her back, but nothing could do this.” Jack went into a rant about how useless religion is. While he did not deny their existence, he seemed to view both God and Buddha as uninvolved, uncaring entities.
Jack’s philosophy, though depressing, had led him to one inspiring thought, however. “I realized,” he said, “even though something bad happened, I have a choice. If something bad happens, you can choose to just be sad and give up—stop trying. Or, you can choose to keep on living and do something good with your life anyway.”
My talk with Jack made me think of Revelation 3:15, 16, “I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth.”
Thai culture includes a philosophy of jai yen, which means “cool heart.” Thai people generally try to remain calm and act tolerant, as if nothing bothers them. They don’t act cold and distant, but they are far from hot and passionate about anything. You could say they act lukewarm. Jack’s rant broke from this pattern in a refreshing way.
How many more Thai people like Jack are hurting inside? How many people throughout the world suffer terrible sadness but have bottled up their feelings and resigned themselves to going through life on their own?
I had no magic words for Jack to help him feel better or change his mind about God, but I hope at least the chance to talk with me made him feel a little less alone. Maybe that’s what he really needs most right now anyway: a friend to listen.
