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There is a saying “Don’t waste a good crisis” meaning that even in the worst situations there are probably opportunities to take advantage of. There are many signs of that all over Phnom Penh now as offices, schools, and other organizations–closed by COVID-19—are using the time and lack of people and activities to renovate offices, decorate buildings, etc.
Almost every home and shop in Cambodia will have some kind of shrine, like the one above, next to the fan. These are different from the spirit houses which most buildings will have also. The spirit houses are replacement dwellings for the spirits who were displaced when the humans erected a house or other building. The shrine above is an acknowledgement of a more active spiritual presence and the shoe store staff will every day burn incense and make offerings in the shrine.
“Racism is a sin; a sin that divides the human family, blots out the image of God among specific members of that family, and violates the fundamental human dignity of those called to be children of the same Father.”
U.S. Catholic Bishops
“My friends, we cannot tolerate or turn a blind eye to racism and exclusion in any form and yet claim to defend the sacredness of every human life.”
Pope Francis
It’s scenes like this that make living in another culture so interesting. What on earth is this man doing? At first as I approached I thought he was using a meat cleaver to cut up some sort of food—and I wondered why he would be doing that out on the curb, but then I found that he was wielding a big rock to mash or cut up whatever the brown stuff is. And what is that brown stuff? Some sort of food? A root to be used for medicine? Some kind of nut with a hull to be knocked off? Petrified dog poop? I have no idea what is going on here although it may have been perfectly obvious to a local.
Today is Pentecost Sunday for Christians. Last week on the day of the Ascension, Jesus handed over his mission to the apostles before ascending into heaven. Today Jesus imparts his Spirit to guide and strengthen the apostles in their mission to the ends of the earth.
The Khmer culture attends to the spirits also.
In the pictures above, a dental assistant at a dentist’s office first says a prayer, holding sticks of incense (L), and then she puts the incense (M) in the shrine on the right side of the entrance. Then she puts more incense in the holder to the left of doorway.
An excerpt from a statement by the heads of seven committees of the US Catholic Conference of Bishops:
We are broken-hearted, sickened, and outraged to watch another video of an African American man being killed before our very eyes. What’s more astounding is that this is happening within mere weeks of several other such occurrences. This is the latest wake-up call that needs to be answered by each of us in a spirit of DETERMINED CONVERSION.
Racism is not a thing of the past or simply a throwaway political issue to be bandied about when convenient. It is a real and present danger that must be met head on. As members of the Church, we must stand for the more difficult right and just actions instead of the easy wrongs of indifference. We cannot turn a blind eye to these atrocities and yet still try to profess to respect every human life. We serve a God of love, mercy, and justice.
“Determined conversion” could work….
