Thailand Diaries, Part V

The moon dissolves behind a curtain of shifting clouds. It's late. Everyone's asleep. I sit on the balcony, staring into the night. The sky dwarfs me - an insignificant speck a world from home. Moments earlier, Ruth and Joy sang to me: "Tomorrow we must say goodbye...but till we meet again....may God be with you...may God be with you...until we meet again.
These last weeks blur like a Monet - brilliant light but where do I focus?
Since entering Thailand and tromping through Burma, I've met and/or interviewed Burmese political prisoners, guerrilla warriors, backpack medics, NGO's from every persuasion, UN workers, student activists, refugees, playboy expats, lauded humanitarians, missionaries, monks, artists, and journalists. Saints and sinners...rich/poor...male/ female..etc...

All crowd these streets for different reasons. All have an opinion on the present crisis. All highlight and shade the issues to their own perspective. Often, my head throbs when I consider the complex palate of social, political, economic, and religious elements that mix to produce this gray place. I pray daily to understand this shifting collage, this turbulent borderland.

Ben and I will often analyze certain scenes from films. This week, we stole a few moments and watched the end of Schindler's List. The scene shows a man pulling his gold tooth to forge a ring for Oscar Schindler. At the climax, Ben Kingsley presents the ring and quotes the Talmud: whoever saves one life, saves the world entire.
I've watched this scene before, but this time I cried uncontrollably. You see, before leaving for the camps, Mark made me a ring studded in plastic beads.
I'm not here to a press a cause, push an agenda, or change the world. I'm here because my friend is here...and I want to save him.

Andrew