Gather Together in My Name

November 19-20, 2016

A huge gathering was planned in Pattaya to honor the king.  On our way to church late Saturday afternoon, we saw scores of people out on the streets wearing all black; many wore T-shirts with the Thai symbol for the number nine in reference to Rama IX.  Nearly all traffic was headed toward Beach Rd., the opposite direction to which we were going.  Noticeably fewer vehicles were in the church parking lot when we arrived.

The congregation prayed for the soul of the king to join our Father in heaven during the petitions, a fascinating and inclusive gesture by Christians living in a Buddhist nation.  I wonder what government officials would think.  I would hope they would see it as being respectful, like the portrait of the king that sits in the sanctuary, draped in black.  He was everyone's king, after all.

When I got back to our condo, Tim said he had heard beautiful music and singing while standing out on our balcony.  Wish I could have heard it. Thousands of voices were raised in song to demonstrate their affection and mourning.  Pictures from the media showed the magnitude of the gathering:

Thousands of Thais and foreigners held candles - the symbol in
the middle is the Thai symbol for the number nine

Nine is also the most auspicious number in Thai culture

The singing carried all the way to our condo in the top right-hand corner of the picture

  The next day, we gathered with nine friends from five countries on four continents to celebrate a traditional American Thanksgiving - friends from Japan, Argentina, Russia and Thailand joined we two Americans.  A Scottish chef, whose culinary talents we have enjoyed on several occasions, agreed to prepare a feast for us to share with our friends at the Blue Olive, his current creative space.  We put out place cards to minimize communication issues and insure everyone's enjoyment, although everyone speaks English quite well.

Tim welcomed everyone and let them know how thankful we were for their friendship.  He raised a toast to all our homelands, and we each shared the traditional toast from our home countries - "Cheers, Chok Dee Ka (Thai), Kan Pie (Japanese), Ura (Russian), and Salud (Argentina)."  The chef threw in the Scottish cheer, "Slainte Mhath" for good measure, and Mick shared his favorite "Prost!"

I demonstrated our traditional blessing before meals, and asked others to share their own.  Then we enjoyed a lovely feast, starting with a delicious lentil soup.  Several side dishes were then brought to the table to be shared family-style, including many vegetables and a delicious cranberry sauce.  Oohs and aahs serenaded the appearance of the beautiful, golden-brown turkey.  Most had never seen one in person, their only experience being from American movies like Home Alone.

Everyone wanted a picture with the star of the show - Mr. Turkey

Thankfully, the chef expertly carved the turkey at the table - this was always my least-favorite job.  Someone asked what kind of music would traditionally accompany such a dinner, and I confessed it was usually the sound of a football game on TV in the other room!  One couple brought us a lovely gift - they said they saw on Ellen that you are supposed to bring a gift for the host.

The meal ended with pumpkin pie topped with a delicious spiced whipped cream, and some Grand Marnier.  I hope everyone enjoyed the evening as much as Tim and I - it was an honor and a pleasure to be able to share our tradition with such lovely friends.



Wishing all our American family and friends a blessed and peaceful Thanksgiving!

P.S.  Happy Sweet Sixteen to my sweet niece, Sarah Grace!