EDITOR’S NOTE
“No matter how much we try to run away from the thirst for the answer to life, the intensity only gets stronger and stronger.” Ravi Zacharias (born 1946)
Spirituality is a complex concept to unpack but spiritual fulfilment is important to all of us whether we realise it or not. As Pierre Teilhard de Chardin puts it, “We are not human beings having a spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings having a human experience.” As such, people have long since sought spiritual fulfilment in various forms, at different times and through different means. Is it a wonder how our paths to spiritual fulfilment can vary so much?
In Thailand, young boys of Shan descent are initiated into monkhood by living as princes who are being waited on hand and foot (p30) in a grand rite of passage. An equally dramatic custom happens in Israel where Christians witness the miraculous Holy Fire and retrace the final steps of Jesus during the Holy Week (p88). For others, spiritual pilgrimages are more part of everyday life and less date-bound. Striking examples are how Varanasi encapsulates both life and death for Hindus (p60) and how the Sikhs’ religious attitudes are lived out in communal kitchens (p40). As you will discover through the pages of this issue, there are commonalities in the spiritual pursuits among the seemingly disparate peoples of this continent that fascinates us endlessly.
What is undeniable is the existence of a spiritual hunger amongst us and the need to quench it. Ravi Zacharias says, “No matter how much we try to run away from this thirst for the answer to life, the intensity only gets stronger and stronger. We cannot escape these spiritual hungers.” It is ironical that as I was trying to uncover and make sense of others’ spiritual journeys, I got lost in my own. But I take heart that every step of the journey – planned or unplanned – enriches it. And I hope you will be inspired to discover and embark on your own spiritual journeys too.
Kwek Zhi Yin Rachel