The Future will be Made of Stone

I could never down play the importance and significance of Cambodian history. Yesterday, I was curious to know if Cambodia and I were the same. Hell, I am any third world country. If we are all third world countries on the inside.

 Admittedly, I do not know much about the history of this lively country. I do know that there has been pain and corruption from influence. There has been war. And there has been a time of rebuilding.

Throughout these past twenty years there has been pain and corruption from influence - wrong friends, wrong boys and wrong message. There has been war - within myself and among others. And there has been time for rebuilding. This is the time for rebuilding.

Yesterday, I took a tour of Angkor Wat. By far one of the most moving and influential places I have ever experienced. I was mesmerized by the pride that Angkor Wat held for so many Khmer people. Angkor Wat is a symbol of many things I have discovered: strength, prosperity and more importantly hope.

Strength because for thousands of years it has remained. Through all of the storms, weather related and political storms it has remained. Through the hatred and the lack of understanding among people it hardly withered. Through adversity it remained.

Prosperity that is seen through the rich history of it. With the kings and high priests, although that was a thousand years ago, I still felt very honored to be able to walk the same entry ways.

Lastly, there is hope. They say for nearly twenty years Ankgor Wat was abandoned because of a drought. However, the monks remained the Ankgor Wat temple to care for it and look after it, which is why it is the most preserved temple of them all. There was hope among the ruins, there was hope among the lack of life.

And I find this idea of Angkor Wat and the stories about it to be especially special. How magnificent was it that I visited it on May 7th, the day of the anniversary. As I walked through I kept saying to myself, "Your heart is meant to see this. It is not in ruins."

I once heard Beau Taplin say, "One day, whether you are 14, 28 or 65 you will stumble upon someone who will start a fire in you that cannot die. However, the saddest, most awful truth you will ever come to find is they are not always with whom we spend the our lives." It is okay that we never meant for it to be this way. Just like the drought. Just like the monks. But it is this way. So you hold onto hope and prosper on the strength that you already have within you.

Baby, the future will be made of stone, but our hearts should not be.