Our language teacher gave us a homework assignment, to go out and talk to one local person - someone who doesn't share our religion. These were the two questions we were supposed to ask:
1)Do you think people are born with sin?
2)If you don't want to have sin in your life, what should you do?
First of all, it took both me and my sister a long time to get up our courage to go out and talk to someone in the community. Most of our local friends happen to be of the same religion as us. And as you may know, we aren't naturally very outgoing - in fact, I'd say we're downright shy. But finally, today, at one of the minimarts we go to very frequently, I decided to just go ahead and dive in. The cashier recognizes us and has always seemed friendly, after all.
The cashier was happy to answer. She said, yes, we're born with sin. She said both rich and poor people sin, though often in different ways. She knows that, for herself, she does sin. For the second question, she said for herself, in order to not have sin, she doesn't kill animals, although it's fine to eat meat from animals that someone else has killed. She also tries not to hate anyone. Very understandable, and also fits in very well with what I know of the beliefs and culture of the majority of the local people.
I thanked her sincerely and we left, feeling energized and excited. It's amazing how actually practicing what I've been learning fills me with enthusiasm! It helps when the person to whom I'm talking understands me, of course (which has been a more regular occurrence now that I'm near the end of formal language study here). That gives me hope that even though I'm not likely to shift from being an introvert to being more extroverted, I can actually function in this job that will require me to step out of my comfortable, quiet, English-speaking bubble so often. I am positive I would not have reached this stage on my own strength.
A little bit later, Mackenzie and I went out again, this time to the little shop nearby that washes and dries clothing. (We have a washing machine, but it's not equipped to handle things like blankets.) We wanted to get our traditional wraparound skirts (ສິ້ນ) washed, since they require special care. We've been to this shop several times to get our bed comforters washed, and it seemed to both of us that the lady in charge would be willing to have us ask her questions. After she advised us about the proper care of my skirt, which is made of different material than Mackenzie's, Mackenzie asked her the same two questions about sin. The lady was very ready to answer. She must have studied about her religion a lot, because she didn't seem to have to think about the questions very long at all, and in fact expounded on them at length. (In fact, she spoke so quickly and so much that we devoutly wished we'd brought a recorder so we could listen more carefully again at home!)
For the first question, she said she does think everyone is born with sin (although apparently in her religion there is "good" sin and "evil" sin! This is something I'd like to learn more about, because it sounds completely foreign to me). She said if anyone says they don't have sin, that's not true. I gotta say, that sounds strikingly familiar! She continued that even if you're the only person who knows about the sin you commit, it's still wrong. And - as is the widely-accepted view - she also said if you do good you'll receive good, and if you do evil you'll receive evil.
In answering the second question about how to not have sin, she reiterated that if you do good you'll receive good, and also mentioned the five rules that good practitioners of her religion try to follow. The lady also told us about the importance of moderation in all things: don't overeat and waste good food, don't drink so much that you get drunk and cause problems in your family or your village, etc. In the words of a proverb she recited for us: ກິນ ເພື່ອ ຢູ່ - ບໍ່ ຢູ່ ເພື່ອ ກິນ "Eat to live, don't live to eat". (By the way, please correct me, friends who know the language, if I've gotten the proverb wrong.)
And then, in the midst of further talk about how to not sin, came the kicker that we both almost missed: she told us that there's no way someone else can take your punishment if you do wrong. You have to take the punishment yourself. And that's what kicked us both in the gut. After we thanked her and walked home - again feeling energized and happy to have gotten to talk to people and have them understand us in turn - we felt grief. Grief for people who don't know the One who has already taken all of our punishment for every sin, so that we don't have to be concerned all the time about how to get rid of the stain of sin in our own lives. And we felt so inadequate to do anything about the many, many millions of people who don't know anything else than what their families and ancestors have always done.
It's a good thing it isn't totally up to us. But it reminded us to never, ever stop praying.
