Sometimes one really ought to take time to walk through a Buddhist Pagoda (in Vietnam that includes the tower & the temple & all the grounds surrounding) whether or not one happens to even understand Buddhism. And after such an experience it isn’t necessarily a bad thing to listen to Paul McCartney sing “Long & Winding Road” along with a number of John Denver songs (especially those from his “Seasons of the Heart” album). I did all that today, and began reading Leon Panetta’s booth “Worth Fights”… amazing moments, in many ways spiritual and in others purely educational…and made me more aware that even though I am a Presbyterian, I owe much of my wonderful world to thinkers and doers who come from other perspectives…(thank you Elmer Derrick…among others!!)

The recovery of Vietnam from the struggles, fights and bombardments of the latter days of the French and Japanese occupations along with the Viet Cong / US Army conflicts is rather astounding. While the government is still communist, it has morphed significantly from the vision of Ho Chi Minh. It is very much tilted towards capitalism since the global fall of USSR and the rise of the middle class in China. In fact, I would surmise that within twenty [20] years, this country could be where South Korea is now — while it may never catch that country, it is certainly showing the folly of the North Korean government’s approach to the future.

Moreover, as one reflects on the incidents that kick-started USA involvement in the internal conflicts back in the early sixties [60’s] it points out the need for solid studies in elementary through high school of history, geography and social studies as well as instruction in literatures from around the globe. I can remember the first self-destructive monk burnings (and was reminded today when I saw the car that was used to take the first monk from Hue to Saigon in 1963 where he burned himself to death). And I wonder if the US leadership had better understood the position of the Buddist leadership, perhaps they might have been less eager to support the Catholic president…who himself had led a coup that installed him as the leader of the south. In fact, had he been more open to dialogue with the Buddhist majority, might he have been able to meld the south’s entrepreneurial spirit with the north’s more socialist perspectives?

While this is all retrospective, it suggested to me today that we only will move forward when we look toward the future with a sense of vigor and an openness to accept other reasonable perspectives as potential allies. Extreme fundamentalism is without doubt not only troublesome, but dangerous — however we allow it to flourish (and we Christians ought not to be too critical of the Muslim world when we harbour some pretty bizarre sects near our tent), whenever we try to make the entire scenario either black or white. And in Canada we need to reflect on why we are letting the dialogue slip from being a conversation to a debate.

Today we went to Tu Doc’s mausoleum which is in a beautiful setting, and in spite of damage by a typhoon or two, is being restored slowly but surely into a wonderful monument to another era where leaders tried to make the world of their subjects just a little bit better. Now, I would never suggest we should return to the world of the feudal warlord or even the governance of the absolute monarchy; but if we can see where they were when they were good, perhaps we can then appreciate how far we have come. That in turn might just give us pause to reflect on how much more we can do to make our grandchildren’s world a great deal better than ours.

After the mausoleum we journeyed to the Citadel and then into the Forbidden Purple City. While much of this was destroyed by fighting between the VietCong and US forces, restorations have begun and with it a sense that the past has merit, if only to help get the country moving even more quickly to a better future. It is a massive complex, bigger than any medieval fortress I’ve visited either in Great Britain or on the continent. It could rival some of our own military bases and the design, like some many other facilities we’ve visited, shows both architectural and engineering genius that makes me think that perhaps the huns/vandals over-running and burning the library at Alexandria in the fifth [5th] century may have been more devastating that any event in the history of humanity. Again, the Absolute Monarchy was not without its share of inadequacies, but it lay the groundwork for a culture that had the French not belittled it (and thus debased it), might have grown such that Ho Chi Minh would never have had the reason/support to rise to power.

We also spent some time in a couple of homes… one was very simple, making a particular “sticky rice” food product. Ten [10] people in a space about the size of ST’s former office in Charlottetown, putting out two thousand [2,000] special food-packages a day and selling them all. The other was more opulent: while they too had started in a small house, they had expanded such that they actually have an eatery as part of their production facility and they have a beautiful home that takes up two [2] lots. But both are symbols of this renewed Vietnam…people taking their skills, cultural knowledge and energy to the marketplace and making life a whole lot better (and not wasting time looking back and bemoaning the intrusions and interferences that came along).

On our way back to the hotel (after the visit to the Buddhist Paragoda) we rode a river boat down the Perfume River. Monsoon rains (which returned with a vengeance at times today) have made the river muddy, but the ride was still very informative. First of all, the boat would never pass muster with Transport Canada — in fact, if it wasn’t for the layers of paint holding the wood together, it likely would have become a series of rafts before we ever got to the point of disembarkation. Moreover, the engine spewed more carbon monoxide than the entire Alberta oil sands disgorge CO2!! But the ride also allowed us an opportunity to see the community from the viewpoint of the many who still make their living (at times sparingly) from the water… fishing boats abound (and the proximity of local markets is certainly helpful) but there also are primitive dredgers with pseudo-barges carrying sand and gravel they have dug up from the river bottoms to the various construction companies. PCL or Ellis Don they are not but they are assisting the building boom all the same. In the words of my long-time friend (and author) Gordon Pitts: “it’s a hard-scrabble life for many”…

I mention all this because I felt a greater sense of kinship with all levels of Vietnam society today. They are not complaining about the past… they honour it, whenever they feel it is important; they build on it, whenever they can do so productively; but most of all, they look forward — trying to determine how they can make it all better. In a way there is a spiritual component to it all — not that everyone is religious, far from it…but there is a faith that underpins it all: “things are getting better and the belief is that they will get even better with the next generation”.

Do we still have that? Our nation is no longer Christian, in fact it may no longer even be religious. But does that mean that we have lost our spiritual nature? Have we made light of the importance of faith in our life and lives? Driving through the streets of each of the Vietnamese cities and villages we have visited is an act of faith in itself, but it does speak to the sense of awareness people have for each other’s space. Yes, sometimes there are deaths on the highways and by-ways, but people keep driving, keep avoiding each other, keep looking out for each other.

Without issuing a call for each of us to return to the church, synagogue, temple, mosque, medicine wheel/circle of our choice I do think each of us should ask ourselves this question: “Do I have sufficient faith to demonstrate a grounding that will help us all get to better in the days, weeks, months, years and decades ahead?”

I’m leaving for Saigon in the morning…I shall continue to reflect…and in the interim I am so thankful that ST decided this is how I should turn seventy [70]…

Com on / thank you