Temple of the Dawn

A favorite cup for hot chocolate or coffee, that is one thing most of us have. But did you ever had that time, when all of a sudden that cup fell and broke to a million of pieces, scattered on the floor?

I have and it felt like my heart was shattered too. I want to stop the clock, gather all the pieces and make it whole again. The problem is I got confused on the many pieces and all I see are the fragments. A tiny blue here and a little red there with a splotch of pink. It’s a mess!

In Bangkok, along Chao Phraya River stood Wat Arun, a temple envisioned by King Taksin in 1768. It was said that after fighting his way out of Ayutthaya, which was taken over by the Burmese army, he arrived at this temple just as dawn was breaking. Thus it was named the Temple of the Dawn. Then, during the reign of Rama III (1824-1851), porcelain, some whole and some broken, were added as a decoration of the spires making it glimmer in the sunshine.

Indeed a beautiful temple made up of broken pieces. So much like life; hurts, hangups, victories, losses, adventures and mishaps all fit together to make an amazing work of art, our own personal mosaic life.

Ruins of Lop Buri

Many a time, we may have uttered the words, I am ruined! Maybe because we lost someone, we are in a financial difficulty, we made a bad decision and have chosen wrongly.

When I am in this situation. What I do is I look up, pause and remind myself that all of these are happening to me now for a reason. I may not know it at this moment but eventually everything will be revealed.

These are the unforgettable moments of my life because these have been stepping stones that made me a better person now. Each mistake, every failure and the pain lead me to where I am now.

And after seeing the beauty of the sunflowers here in Thailand, my feet were lead here in these ruins. 

Amongst all the rubbles, each stone, each brick, each wall speaks of a time written in history. A beauty that withstood the test of time telling us of great stories of people of long ago.

As Rumi once said, “Where there is ruin, there is hope for the future.”

Sunflower Power

Lina Rosa and I went to Thailand so that we could meet our classmate Parnjid Kumpakping and her daughter Hathai. And of course to learn more about this amazing country. So, straight from the airport we took the train to go to the province of Lop Buri to witness their Sunflower season. And the beauty was truly amazing.
Sunflowers do heliotropism, they track the sun. They face east in the morning and follow the sun as the earth moves until sunset. However, as the flowers get heavier during seed production, the stems will stiffen and the mature flower heads will generally remain facing east.

Just like life, God reveals His love to us in an involving and interesting way. He gets our attention as we pay attention to the wonder of His creation. He points us upward towards the sun to experience the light. He teach us to lean on and press on when everything  gets heavy. 

Isn’t that great? Beauty, mystery, wisdom, and understanding that God reveals in a flower, the sunflower.