A Brass Cat

Today, I studied two lessons. One involved a Tibetan script that I have seen but not learnt. It is the equivalent of cursive script in English. (I have previously learnt the printed version, the equivalent of ‘Romans New Times’ in Tibetan.) The second lesson was the promise that “… those who fear the LORD lack no good thing” (Psalm 34:9). 

The two lessons are intertwined and involve a brass cat. 

Fear God and God alone

Today I have spent time in Psalm 34. The psalmist writes about the importance of having a holy fear of God and therefore no fear of anything else. Living without fear is possible when we are we centred in God.  I have confessed (again) my fear of not being perfect (and therefore reluctant to get into different projects, including this one). 

I am writing from the amazing land of Nepal. I had hoped to find a Tibetan teacher here who could help me practise what I have learnt in my home country. But where does one start? I went to a Tibetan settlement near where I’m staying. People were friendly. I had read that there would be advertisements for language exchange or lessons … but there weren’t. 

Buff Fried Rice and Knick-Knacks

Lunch was at a lovely little cafe. The staff were friendly and helpful. I thoroughly enjoyed my plate of buff fried rice (with plenty of diced buffalo, hence the ‘buff’) and a lime soda. It might not have been quite locally appropriate but it was pretty close and gluten-free (they kindly avoided sauces for me). Then I meandered my way through the handcraft stalls, each manned by an older woman whose face was full of character and who pitched her wares at tourists like me. 

“Are you Australian? Come in – my things are cheap and cheerful,” called one lady. She later told me that ‘cheap and cheerful’ is a phrase she reserves for Australians. Another dear lady, Aunty Sonam, my mother’s age, has been living here in the mountains of Nepal since 1959. She has a daughter in Melbourne, and grasped my hand in delight upon learning that I live there too. She forced a couple of key rings on me and promised to put her daughter in touch. (We’ll see if anything comes of that – it would be great if it did.) 

A Brass Cat

It was the lady with the brass cat who turned out to be the answer to my prayers. I showed her a picture of the cat who lives with me (and who would be cross that her photo hasn’t made it into this blog post if she realised). I said, in halting Tibetan, ‘This is my cat.’ Half an hour later, her daughter had agreed to teach me. Her daughter, it turned out, runs the cafe in which I had enjoyed buff fried rice. We had already met.

The first lesson was today. I had planned lots of practice using common phrases for daily life but my teacher had other ideas. She is just like my teacher at home, overflowing with of opinions, insisting that I need to learn the script first. Only it is the handwritten cursive script that she wants me to learn and different to what I already know, even though the spoken language is the same. Sigh. She is my teacher, and therefore to be respected even though I hold a master’s degree in education and had a perfectly adequate lesson prepared. Besides, I also want to learn about her culture. And that includes her opinions about how I should learn. So I studied the cursive script. 

Vocabulary 

It was a good lesson, nonetheless, and along the way,  I learnt vocabulary for ‘salt’, ‘sugar’, ‘tea’, ‘buffalo’, ‘fish’, ‘a yak with a white spot on its forehead’ and more. Culture and language are inseparable. As an English teacher, I would have started with phrases like ‘My name is…’, ‘How are you?’ and numbers. At the end of the lesson, we exchanged WhatsApp details and, in the process, she saw the photo of the brass cat that I had sent to a friend through that platform earlier today. 

The brass cat photo led to my final sentence for today’s lesson: “This thing, I bought from your mother’s shop.”  She called her brother in and told him that I had something to say. He listened intently before laughing … laughing in delight at his sister’s prowess as a teacher rather than my language skill, I choose to believe. 

Lessons Learnt

So what did I learn today? First, I learnt … and am still learning … a new-to-me Tibetan script. And second, I learnt afresh that I need not and cannot do God’s work for him … I can just be myself. Being myself means fearing God and living accordingly.  It does not mean being perfect as God is perfect. As I bumble along, enjoying some fabulous experiences, he provides for me and even uses me. Today’s lesson was just the beginning of what I hope will be a lovely relationship, both online and face-to-face 

Although frustrating times may be ahead (and Psalm 34 does not promise a trouble-free life), right now I am enjoying experiencing the promise of Psalm 34:9:  “Fear the Lord, you his holy people, for those who fear him lack nothing.” (Psalm 34:9)