See what Talei gave me for my birthday!
It's a brass Thai Buddha, actually much larger than it appears to be here. Don't you love that gentle face and that attitude of quiet, benevolent contentment.
As for Talei giving it to me ... well, I bought it before remembering it's considered both bad etiquette and very unlucky to buy a Buddha for yourself, so, as we were lugging it through the streets, I gave it to Talei. And she, nice kid that she is, promptly gave it back to me as a birthday present.
None of this is really a story, but what happened was that, when I got the phone call saying Father Bransfield had died, it hit me hard and some residual religious thing in me urged me to light a candle in his memory, which I did ... only everyone kept wandering past and blowing it out saying "You shouldn't leave a candle unattended like that!"
It made me quite cross and that's when I decided I needed something that screamed "Altar!" so they'd realise this candle was significant and leave it alone.
And when I discovered that I couldn't get a flight to Fiji in time to make Father's funeral, I thought I should, instead, get one of those big, old-fashioned altar candles, light it simultaneously with the start of his funeral, and spend the time the rest of Fiji was celebrating his life, remembering our interactions and conversations and in quiet contemplation of all that he meant to me.
So Talei and I went out looking for something that would make some space in my house obviously special and "altar-ish".
Townsville doesn't run big to religious iconography and, although we found the exact candle I wanted, we almost came away empty handed on the God front, until we stumbled across this statue by accident. I thought "Mmmm, wonder what Father would say if I got myself a Buddha in his memory?" and then realised he'd LOVE it and I could almost hear him laugh uproariously in that gorgeous "aren't we being naughty" way he had.
It cost waayyyy too much but I can rationalise as well as anyone and I'm sure Keith will forgive me eventually.
And did you notice those flowers in front of the Buddha in that photo? As Talei and I were staggering through the mall in central Townsville, sharing the load, trying to lug that large, awkward and very heavy object back to the car, a pleasant-faced Thai lady stopped us and said "That's a Thai Buddha!" "Yes!" "Is it yours?" "Yes." "Is it new?" "Yes!", then she grinned and broke apart the bouquet of flowers she was holding, and placed half of them into the crook of Buddha's arm. "You must NEVER bring god into your house without welcoming him with flowers." she instructed us.
And thus those are the flowers we've placed there to welcome god into our house.
As far Father's funeral back in Suva went, it was massive, with the entire Sacred Heart Cathedral packed with people, and the verandas full too, and hundreds more out in the streets, people from all religions and walks of life all there to honour him and what he meant in their lives, and the mass was celebrated by 50 priests and lead by Archbishop Mataca; all the grandest thing imaginable ...
... but, in Townsville, it was just me and this Buddha, with a lit candle and just remembering all and, for the most part, laughing. Father always did that for me.
As for Talei giving it to me ... well, I bought it before remembering it's considered both bad etiquette and very unlucky to buy a Buddha for yourself, so, as we were lugging it through the streets, I gave it to Talei. And she, nice kid that she is, promptly gave it back to me as a birthday present.
None of this is really a story, but what happened was that, when I got the phone call saying Father Bransfield had died, it hit me hard and some residual religious thing in me urged me to light a candle in his memory, which I did ... only everyone kept wandering past and blowing it out saying "You shouldn't leave a candle unattended like that!"
It made me quite cross and that's when I decided I needed something that screamed "Altar!" so they'd realise this candle was significant and leave it alone.
And when I discovered that I couldn't get a flight to Fiji in time to make Father's funeral, I thought I should, instead, get one of those big, old-fashioned altar candles, light it simultaneously with the start of his funeral, and spend the time the rest of Fiji was celebrating his life, remembering our interactions and conversations and in quiet contemplation of all that he meant to me.
So Talei and I went out looking for something that would make some space in my house obviously special and "altar-ish".
Townsville doesn't run big to religious iconography and, although we found the exact candle I wanted, we almost came away empty handed on the God front, until we stumbled across this statue by accident. I thought "Mmmm, wonder what Father would say if I got myself a Buddha in his memory?" and then realised he'd LOVE it and I could almost hear him laugh uproariously in that gorgeous "aren't we being naughty" way he had.
It cost waayyyy too much but I can rationalise as well as anyone and I'm sure Keith will forgive me eventually.
And did you notice those flowers in front of the Buddha in that photo? As Talei and I were staggering through the mall in central Townsville, sharing the load, trying to lug that large, awkward and very heavy object back to the car, a pleasant-faced Thai lady stopped us and said "That's a Thai Buddha!" "Yes!" "Is it yours?" "Yes." "Is it new?" "Yes!", then she grinned and broke apart the bouquet of flowers she was holding, and placed half of them into the crook of Buddha's arm. "You must NEVER bring god into your house without welcoming him with flowers." she instructed us.
And thus those are the flowers we've placed there to welcome god into our house.
As far Father's funeral back in Suva went, it was massive, with the entire Sacred Heart Cathedral packed with people, and the verandas full too, and hundreds more out in the streets, people from all religions and walks of life all there to honour him and what he meant in their lives, and the mass was celebrated by 50 priests and lead by Archbishop Mataca; all the grandest thing imaginable ...
... but, in Townsville, it was just me and this Buddha, with a lit candle and just remembering all and, for the most part, laughing. Father always did that for me.
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