My wife and I just returned from a cruise from Hong Kong to Singapore . My, my. What different societies and cultures we visited….. Aside from all the places and sights to see and visit, I was really taken by the spiritual life of Southeast Asia.
There is a quote in my book by Emily Large: “We are created to worship God, and if we don’t worship God, we will worship something else. Understanding this truth, and knowing that we are so needy, has really helped Alex and me in our ministry to people.” This was never more evident than seeing this first hand in all the places visited: Hong Kong, Macau, Viet Nam, Cambodia, Thailand, and Singapore. As a matter of interest, there are some 1,300 Temples in Bangkok.
There were throngs of people visiting these Temples and Pagodas each and every day, praying and worshipping. Yes, lots of visitors, but many more worshippers — complete with incense burning all over the place, all the time.
Ancestor Worship (the worship of grandparents/ancient patriarchs, and/or ancient leaders/protectors) was new to me, complete with their own Temples. Buddhism is the major religion, with Taoism and Hinduism being important. We’ll discuss Ancestor Worship, as well as these others, at a later time as we move along.
While one young guide was quick to point out that 60% of Vietnamese were not followers of God, or any god or goddesses, that figure has nearly quadrupled in these economic better times since embracing capitalism — the vastly improved quality of life. They are, of course, worshiping “something else,” the material things of success — even an up surge in Ancestor Worship. In reality, the same condition exist in any society; however, bring on sickness/disease, war/rebellion, or economic troubled times, and that number quickly reverses.
As an aside, and as I point out in my book, this agnostic type upswing is a product of the example set by the role model leaders of society. Because money represents power, authority, and success, it is often difficult for wealthy people to realize their need to recognize and honor God. It’s not that they seriously doubt God’s existence — He is just not relevant in their life, and therefore, no need to return to Him for reconciliation and forgiveness. The rich in talent, or intelligence, suffer the same difficulty.
Great post. And Emily appreciates the quote! ITs true, there really are no true atheists. We will either worship ourselves or something outside of ourselves. I just prefer to worship someone who will never let me down (hint, it is not me).
When you observe other peoples practicing their disparate religions, and realize that billions of other folks adhere to beliefs alien to Christianity; do you question your own faith?
There are almost seven billion people in the world, and only 2.1 billion Christians.
Can almost 5 billion people be wrong and thus denied eternal life in heaven?
Enjoyed reading your blog on Southeast Asia spiritual life. After visiting these places and seeing the worshipping of such false gods, you were probably glad to get home.
I enjoyed this very much. When I was in India, I tried so very hard to understand something about the Hindu religion,–that is, something central connecting all of the images of gods, the beauty and mystery of the paintings and sculptures, but, alas, I never could “get it”. But, like Robert and Sally, the spirituality was obvious and at times overwhelming of all of the senses.