May 31, 2025. Dear Jesus, Yesterday I watched a really cute video on Youtube. This is a poor family living in the Tien Giang river, in South Vietnam...

 Dear Jesus,

Yesterday I watched a really cute video on Youtube. This is a poor family living in the Tien Giang river, in South Vietnam.

The couple are under 50, but they have been through many hardships so they look older than their age. They have two children, a boy and a girl, about 14 or 15 years old.

Life is really simple. The house has thatched walls, the kitchen, the dining table and chairs in the house are all made of bamboo.

They go to the river to collect "traps" or "nets", and bring back some fish and eels.

The wife cooks a pot of fish soup with vegetables picked from the garden, and makes a plate of stir-fried eel with turmeric. They sit at the table, happily eating their meal, talking about the crops, the weather. They say the flood season has come early this year and they  have a lot of fish and eels. They all look happy having a fresh and delicious meal. All the food on the table comes from the fields and rivers.

Through the stories heard at the dinner table, I do not see them complaining, worrying, fearing , plotting anything, or hating anybody.

The meal comes thanks to the labor of the whole family.

I do not think that they know the word "God", but I know that they know “Ông Trời” (Heaven), and in their hearts silently thank “Ông Trời” for giving them a delicious meal, without having to spend money at the market, thanks to the flood season. 

A long time ago, in grade 1, I had  learned:

"I pray to Ông Trời for rain,

To get water for me to drink,

To get fields for me to plow,

To get for me a full bowl of rice,

To get straw to make fire for the stove,

To get sticky rice to cook.

..."

And who is “Ông Trời”, if not the Supreme Being, the God who gave them the seasons of rain and sunshine, and the flood coming, bringing life to poor people like them.

Looking at their simple and peaceful life, I think of today's world at war, on the brink of World War III, of the plots of one country to oppress another, of politicians with their shady schemes and tricks to harm each other.

They live on piles of money, greedy for fame, and power, but their hearts are always filled with fear of tomorrow, fear of lurking enemies...

When they leave this world, where will they go if not into their own world, the world of people who are greedy for wealth, material things, fame, and deceitful towards each other.

And where will this poor family go? They will return to their ”Ông Trời”, the Supreme Being, the Lord, because their life is so simple, so unsophisticated, without deception, without lies, without harming anyone. They live in peace, and one day, they will "depart" in peace, returning to “Ông Trời”, their Father.

Dear Jesus,

Let me know You and let me know myself. Know You to listen to Your Word and practice it in my daily life. Know myself to change my path into Your righteous one, to have Heaven in my heart, and  You will  be always with me.

 Please bless the body and soul of all people who read this meditation in my BLOG.

 Amen.