East Meets West

"East is East and West is West, and never the twain shall meet". Kipling's quip of nearly 130 years ago is still often quoted, but after 46 years of marriage and spending 20 years in SE Asia (that's 29% of my life) and Mak Sou, born here, spending 41 years of her life in SE Asia (that's 60% of her life), we've figured out why this is such a mystery. The reason is a matter of the spiritual realm versing the physical realm. Allow me to explain: When we came to Cambodia in 1998, in virtually every village of Cambodia, the first place you would go, if you were sick, is a "spirit doctor." In the West, you went to a medical doctor. The life view of the "spirit realm" vs. the "physical realm" is the key; the only way it is broken down takes a miracle. The true Spirit has to break through to the physical.