** Adoption countdown: 3 days until Pam, Terry and Matthew return home **
GUANGZHOU, China (Monday, Dec. 15, 2008, 5:15 p.m.) – Incense drifted toward the ceiling and fresh flowers sat in front of a statue of Kuan Yin as a monk in brown robes prepared a blessing for Chinese orphans.
Pam and Matthew joined another family from the United States on the carpet as the monk chanted softly, walked over to them and sprinkled them with water.
I don’t know exactly what the monk said, but Pam and I knew it was heartfelt. And we knew it was a solemn, ceremony – one repeated again and again at the historic Temple of the Six Banyan Trees in the center of Guangzhou.
Pam and I participated in a similar ceremony in April 2006 when we were in China to adopt our daughter, Camryn. We were happy to do it again on our trip to adopt our son, Matthew.
The temple, rich in Chinese history, was as beautiful and as simple as the late-morning ceremony.
The temple originally was called the Baozhuangyan Temple. But when a writer called it Liu Rong (Six Banyan Trees) because of six banyan trees he saw, the temple has since been called the Temple of the Six Banyan Trees.
The main structure of the temple was built in 1097. The temple is dominated by a towering pagoda, one I climbed in 2006; the pagoda was closed this time around for restoration work.
Besides the statue of Kuan Yin, other Buddhist statues filled many rooms throughout the temple. Some Guangzhou residents placed flowers in front of the statues, while others burned incense as they offered prayers.
Pam, Matthew and I wandered from room to room, admiring the beautiful architecture, the large, towering, oversized statues – and the serene peacefulness despite a large crowd of Guangzhou residents.
And we watched as residents prayed, with smoke from incense floating their wishes up toward heaven.
Copyright 2008 by Terry R. Cassreino. All rights reserved.
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