accommodating

I have noticed something about Khmer culture that is interesting to me. The Khmer people are very accommodating of others - foreigners specifically.

On a recent drive out to a distant province I was with a Khmer taxi driver and one of our Khmer staff. It was time for dinner and they started discussing where to go - in Khmer. They decided to choose a restaurant for the barang. I was outnumbered and generally Khmer people don't like barang food (with the exception of pizza). Without my asking, they accommodated me.

When getting in a car, the seat of honor is the front passenger seat. Rather than rushing for it like any true-blue American would do, they quietly get in the back seat leaving the seat of honor for someone else - usually the foreigner.

Daily the Khmer staff wait patiently for me to figure out things that they know instinctually. They don't make me feel silly or stupid about it, they simply wait and only interject when asked. Us American's are always so eager to show off what we know.

I didn't ask for them to give me the place of honor, or think of my needs for edible food above their own, or to bestow dignity upon me in my times of struggle. They just do it. I can tell you it doesn't go unnoticed by me. Instead, it leaves me wondering how I can be more accommodating to others.

In America, we tend to treat foreigners in our land with suspicion (especially following 9/11). We expect them to bend their ways to our own. Offer accommodation? Ha! That isn't the American way. But, maybe it should be. Maybe we should be more welcoming to foriegners from a foreign land? Maybe we shouldn't expect everyone to act just like us? Maybe we should consider their basic needs and how we can meet them?

Isn't that what Jesus challenges us to do?

Matthew 25:35-40

For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.

Then the righteous will answer him, "Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?"

The King will reply, "I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me."

Jesus challenges us to welcome the strangers in our land and to meet basic needs. Khmer people offer a great example of how to do this. I hope to take these lessons and incorporate them in to my life, wherever I may happen to live.