Our family enjoyed a public park named King's Park in Bangkok on Sabbath afternoon.
It was a beautiful park with flower beds, grassy lawns, trees. ponds and river flowing by. The park seemed to be a fairly good sized area.
Our host brought large mats and we set them on the grass in a shady spot. The men talked and dreamed of reaching Asia with media and personal contact. The boys and ladies explored the park, saw new bird species and took pictures.
As we were heading back to the entrance of the park and the parking lot, we found the entrance area packed with people. There were perhaps 500 people within view, all going in different directions and at different speeds. There was a main road way filled with only pedestrians. A perpendicular road was filled with people following a leader doing some exercise-- much like some excercise clubs I have observed in America. One leader and a microphone leading in motions with a loud music beat via speakers.
I was standing there just taking in the people and activity. There was a lot going on, in all directions.
Then there was a whistle blast, much like the ones that every traffic policeman loves to ply at any busy crossway. And the entire nation of Thailand stopped. Still. The exercise leader stopped all motion. The music beat stopped. People striding along the various paths froze.
My view had suddenly became a bit surreal. I looked as far as I could see, and the was nothing moving. The people were not facing any specific direction. People did not have their hand on their hearts, but everything was still and quiet.
Then in the distance I could hear at least two different locations in the city playing what I later learned was the Thailand National Anthem. I did not get a good quality preview of the anthem-- it was distant and a little hard to pick out the melody since I was not used to the tune or words.
But I had the impression that this was not just in the park, but all across the city and all across Thialand. It is a show of respect for the king / government, and the National Anthem is played twice daily across Thailand at specific set times of the day. And for that assigned time period, everyone that can hear the Anthem stops.
Being in a public pedestrian place was a dramatic introduction to this ceremony. This was the first that I had seen it, though the ceremony had been described in a prior comment by our host.
There was a reverence that was powerful. No one was changing body positions. They were really still. Everything was just frozen, and so was I.
In the distance the anthem ended. Another shrill blast was heard from some where nearby, and all the motion picked up again. Conversations resumed; people continued walking. Within a few seconds the exercise group was back to its loud music and gentle lunges, twirls and arm motions.
Everything continued on, but nothing was the same.
I saw a people who had respect for their country. Just as I appreciate my nation's anthem, I appreciated their respect for their own. Something deep in my heart felt good in seeing their loyalty to their country.
What are you loyal to? What cosmic anthem do you respect? Are you firmly under God's banner or do you accessionalily flirt the the enemy and defect? God wants your whole heart before He will trust us with the outpouring of His spirit which will sweep the globe in the loud cry.
God is wanting you 100%. Then we will see a spark.
Bangkok is close to the ocean. They say the city was built on marshland, which was a source of physical protection from marauding armies at the time. The city sinks 2 inches a year and is slowly sliding toward the sea.
The mounds were shaped to look like the base of a pyramid and then flat on top at the height of around 4 feet. The parimeter may have been 15 by 30 feet. I am not sure if this mound was for further processing or just for storage while they flood the salt flats again. It appeared the color of the sea salt they were selling by the roadside.