Some words are unique to the Thai language. Here’s a reflection on one of those words, and what it shows us about a beautiful aspect of God’s character.”
Naa-rak. Naa-rak. We were new to Thailand, and I was walking with my two-year-old down a street in the town’s market area. Although I couldn’t understand most of the chatter around me, I kept hearing this one word repeated. My daughter marched along, her reddish pigtails bobbing in time with her steps, her brightly-colored, flowered dress a cheerful contrast to the dull gray pavement. Naa-rak. Naa-rak.
The next day, I asked my language helper about the word. “Oh, they were saying how cute your daughter is,” she replied with a smile.
But words are funny things. The next time I heard naa-rak, it was in the context of a child not obeying. “That’s not naa-rak,” I heard the adult admonish the child.
“What?” I thought. “That’s not ‘cute’? Okay… I guess so… but maybe there’s more to this word… Maybe it also means ‘lovable’ or ‘pleasant’?”
Imagine my surprise the day (rather later on) that I heard it in church!
Sunday school was just beginning, and the teacher asked the children, “Who wants to share something they are thankful for?”
When none of the children immediately responded, the teacher asked a young girl if she would share something. The girl shyly mumbled something so quietly that it was hard for me to understand, but the teacher followed up. “Yes, isn’t God naa-rak? He takes such good care of us. God is so naa-rak!”
It sounded funny to me that day. By default, my brain translated it, “God is cute.” It felt rather strange and definitely wrong!
But now, after many years in Thailand, and hearing the word used in many contexts, naa-rak’s meaning has expanded for me. I have heard naarak used in a variety of situations, one of those being my ability to speak Thai! Sometimes when I start a conversation with people new to me, or older people overhear me speaking Thai, they will turn to the person next to them and say (in Thai), “Do you hear this foreigner speaking Thai? Naa-rak, isn’t it?” It’s not that I’m cute. It’s that my effort and ability to speak their language, has touched their hearts.
Now, after many years in Thailand, I can join my Thai brothers and sisters in saying, “God is naa-rak,” with wholehearted agreement.
A few weeks ago, I was having a hard morning. It was a morning full of tiredness, discouragement, self-accusation, and even some fear for the future. Besides fighting with my emotions, I was hanging out the laundry. I needed to close the metal gate to our parking area in order to hang a bedsheet out to dry on it. I had leaned over to lift the sliding lock, and as I straightened to swing the gate into position — Right there, exactly at eye level, with its fragrance deeply wafting, so that I smelled it before I even saw it, was a perfectly-formed, pink-tinted, yellow-hearted, not-yet-opened plumeria.
I stood there, stunned. I didn’t remember seeing a flower balancing on the narrow gate. Had that flower JUST fallen, JUST perfectly landed so that it would be directly in my line of vision, as I was moving the gate into position?
What were the chances?
Oh, God, I breathed, you are so naa-rak. I feel so loved, so seen, so cared for. You dropped a flower right there, just for me. God, you are the source of all that is naa-rak here. When others around me are not naa-rak, you will still be.
God is naa-rak. He is full of sweet goodness that touches my heart. It’s a goodness that is sweet because it is intimate and personalized. It’s a pure and loving goodness. It’s pleasant and refreshing to the soul (different from the goodness of a vaccine, or the “good-for-you” of a dry, high-fiber, unsweetened granola bar).
Have you had an experience where you clearly saw and felt God’s sweet, individual, loving care for you? I’d love to hear about it in the comments below.
“Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in Him.” Psalm 34:8
