One of the most striking photographs of the week was that showing the young Thai boys – so courageously rescued from that perilous cave – attired as novice Buddhist monks, with shaved heads and in saffron robes.
They are spending a period of time in the monastery attached to the Wat Phra That Doi Suthep temple as an act of gratitude towards their deliverance; and to honour the soul of Saman Kunan, the former Thai navy Seal who died in the first attempt to reach the young lads.
If this dramatic rescue had happened in the Western world, the boys would be immediate celebrities, appearing on television programmes, perhaps invited to endorse Coca-Cola or a pizza brand, and their family stories published in the tabloid newspapers.
Perhaps the Thai youths will eventually emerge as individual celebrities when the film of the rescue at Tham Luang Nang Non cave is released.
Yet it was admirable that Eastern tradition dictated that their first response should be a duty of gratitude – and humility, too. In the boys’ monastic sojourn, they are expected to do menial tasks and apply themselves to cleaning jobs – cleansing having a special symbolism.
I heard a Buddhist priest explain that gratitude is the primary virtue for Buddhists. It also, of course, stands high in Christianity: GK Chesterton wrote frequently about our need to practise gratitude, not just for the extraordinary, but for the everyday and the ordinary.
Grace before meals is a prayer of gratitude – not recited often enough these days – and that ritual could be applied to much else. Gratitude is “happiness doubled by wonder”, said GKC – though he admitted practising gratitude wasn’t always easy.
The Thai example has made me reflect on the virtue – and necessity – of gratitude. Symbolically, I think I have been rescued from many dark caves in life, and I didn’t always follow it up with a sufficient period of gratitude.
According to Sir Roy Strong’s latest history of Britain, in 1811 a quarter of British women were called Mary. I would wager that in the 1950s, about 50 per cent of Irish women were called some version of “Mary” – Maura, Moira, Maire, Marian, Maureen, Miriam, Maria, or the many compounds of Mary and Marie (as in the current Sinn Féin leader, Mary Lou McDonald).
There have already been two Irish presidents named Mary. At one point I considered running for the office myself, under the soubriquet of Mary the Third. I tell people that if they address any Irishwoman over 50 as “Mary”, they’ll probably have a 50 per cent chance of being right.
Yet if once the most frequent of Christian names, Mary is now becoming much less common. I was told by a primary school teacher recently that there was not a single “Mary” in her school. And last week, when I was required to give my name for a routine form, the official noting it said: “Mary? How are you spelling that?”
I always knew I had a reverent name, while I wanted an unusual name. Now I have both an unusual and reverent name.
…….
I imagine that the arbiters of good taste might be disapproving of some of the souvenirs and knick-knacks appearing in Ireland in anticipation of Pope Francis’s visit later this month. There are garish T-shirts with a showbiz “Pope Francis” image emblazoned across them, gaudy little key rings and glittering fridge magnets.
The range of merchandise includes a “Pope Francis” air freshener for the car. You squirt it into the vehicle and it makes the atmosphere feel pure and, presumably, holy.
The souvenir sellers at Knock say that business is brisk – people like to acquire these Pope Francis mementoes.
Pope Benedict, apparently, didn’t move as much stock as his successor: but perhaps the German pope was seen as a reserved personality less suited to promotional endeavours.
I have no objection to religious souvenirs, even if they are not in the best of design taste. I remember a sick friend visiting Lourdes and saying that all the trinkets on sale cheered her up after lying in a clinically bare hospital ward – and the gaudier the better.
I am even thinking of acquiring a Pope Francis T-shirt myself, available for a modest price at Dunnes Stores, Ireland’s low-budget department chain.
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