Tuesday -- Flight to Chicago

You couldn’t ask for more than what we received for the long flight to Chicago. No, we didn’t get bumped up into business class; but the next-best thing. All of us were in the back half of the plane, and it was only about 1/3 full. That meant each of us got an entire row to ourselves. I actually was able to stretch out completely across four seats and sleep some. THAT WAS NICE!!! As usual, the food and service was excellent, and we are all excited about touching-down in about an hour. I think the best part will be dropping Greg Lee off (well, that didn’t come out the way I wanted), because at his house we are having PIZZA!!! It’s amazing the things you long for when you’ve been away for two weeks.

P.S. -- McDonald's in O'Hare never smelled so good.

Tuesday -- Abu Dhabi

We had an uneventful drive from Kottayam to Cochin (a nice thing). Many were ready to go early, so we headed out by 9:30 p.m., and arrived at the airport a little before midnight. It’s an interesting scene there, because many flights leave overnight – between midnight and 4:00 a.m. The reason is that – just like us – if you depart then, you can reach your final destination on the same day. Mind you, your body clock is all messed up, but at least it doesn’t feel like it’s as long as it actually is. Staying in the airport from then until 4:00 a.m., when our flight was to depart, was like being an adult at a youth lock-in: it was so hard to stay awake, but you knew you needed to so that you could sleep on the plane! Unfortunately for me, I wasn’t able to sleep a lot on the four-hour flight to Abu Dhabi, but I did rest and caught a couple of cat-naps. We arrived here around 7:00 local time, which is an hour-and-a-half earlier than India. Now we are waiting for our flight to Chicago – only fifteen hours long! I’ll be impressed if I remember what day it is by the time we land in the States.

We also got to track the last 10 minutes of the Colts-Texans game through the internet. Hope Felipe had a good time in my place!

Sunday and Monday

These two days have been much less hectic and more relaxing than any others on the trip thus far. Sunday we opened our day with morning prayer, led by David and Danny, two members of our group. This has been our practice each morning we’ve been in Kottayam, and we all have felt a great nourishment from this time of communal worship. After that, we were given freedom to do what we wished in the morning. There were worship services here and in town, but none were in English, so I must admit I stayed at SEERI and rested and caught up on some things. After lunch, we had a discussion with Father Jacob, who is the director of SEERI, and a professor at the local university who has accompanied us during our time here. We talked about what it’s like to be Christian in such a predominant Hindu country, as well as to live in Kerala, where the Christians are in a greater number but not a majority. It was interesting, although it felt more like a lecture from their end. But I took away from this discussion the comparison of how we in the United States are now the church in a minority. Too often I hear the phrase “Christian nation”, but in reality the church is now a minority presence in American society. And it’s not so much a minority to another religion, like India, but rather to secularism. How will we seek to be the Body of Christ without presuming we have certain inherent advantages as the American church?

That evening, our group had another excellent debriefing, which reminds me of why I feel so blessed to be a part of this fellowship. We reflected more deeply on how this trip has shaped us as leaders, what we have learned about this place, and what we have learned about ourselves. Through the disorientation we all felt, we have not only grown closer together as colleagues and friends, we have grown deeper in our appreciation for our Christian faith and practices. We have discovered the importance of seeking interfaith and ecumenical dialogue, as we have witnessed in India. And I have discovered the importance for me finding space in the chaos of daily living (not unlike the traffic here) to find someone/something to lean on and find peace and strength in the midst of the journey. That can be closer and deeper relationships with family or friends. That can be spiritual practices and disciplines, which deepen our faith and relationship with God. But to only try and live this life “on your own” will only leave you lost and unfulfilled. Sometimes you have to get out of your comfort zone to realize what that really feels like.

Today has been completely free, but that doesn’t mean it was without activity. After breakfast this morning, our group met by ourselves – without our leaders. And the purpose was to talk more fully about what happens after our last session at the end of this month. Once again, we are realizing the value we place in this group of pastors from at least nine different denominations, and how that has given us a forum to engage in the kinds of conversations we normally would not be able to have. We will see where it leads – I believe we have some purpose ideas laid out, and now it’s a matter of hammering out the details. After our meeting, it was time to shop. Oh joy. No, it was fun, and after both a morning trip and afternoon trip into town, I got all things on my list. And thankfully, they all fit in the suitcases I brought! We are waiting to have dinner here at SEERI, and then we will take our last cold shower of the trip (won’t miss that, BTW), and then it’s on the bus to Cochin for a flight that leaves in the middle of the night. I’ll probably do some more reflecting on the plane and try to post something when we’re in Abu Dhabi.

Friday and Saturday

These two days were our overnight trip to Madurai, where there is a huge Hindu temple – Meenakshi Temple. It is architecturally beautiful and is the largest temple in all of South India. We did get to see the temple – but not until Saturday (our original schedule was Friday). And while our initial estimate of the trip was five hours by bus, it was more like twice that. Part of that was due to underestimation of how long it would take – it likely was more of an eight-hour drive. But the other delays were caused by the drivers getting lost when we got within 50 kilometers of Madurai. It was an adventure to say the least! But we all took it in stride, and the one saving grace of the day Friday was a delicious lunch at the Hotel Western Gatz. When we arrived in Madurai in the evening, it was at a very nice hotel – they had hot water! But I was so exhausted that I fell asleep by 9:30 and didn’t wake up until morning. Although my roommate, Greg, indicated I did wake up to let him back in the room around 10:45 – yet I do not remember that. Must have still been sleeping . . .
Saturday morning we walked to the temple from our hotel after eating a hearty breakfast. It had rained overnight, so our walk around the temple grounds in bare feet was a bit dirty. But it was brightly painted and colorful, and a much larger complex than it appears on the outside. Of course, this was the one day I left my camera on the bus the night before, so I bought postcards, and will rely on my friends’ pictures for this visit. We meandered back through town to the hotel and departed around 10:15 a.m. Now, the trip started off great, as we got to the Hotel Western Gatz for lunch in half the time it took us on Friday. However, while there, the bus drivers discovered that one of the tires was low on air, and in attempting to change it while we ate lunch, the jack broke. Thankfully, neither of them was hurt – but they had to find another jack in town in order to change the tire, and an hour-and-a-half later we were on our way. Guess it’s bad Karma . . . We did stop in a small town on the way back to have a spot of tea and a little shopping, which was nice. But we didn’t arrive back in Kottayam at SEERI until 9:30 p.m. Once again, an exhausting day of travel!

This might be a good time to explain what it is like to drive/ride in a car in India. One of my friends on the trip put it like this: “If your prayer life is not strengthened while riding in a car in India, nothing will strengthen it.” This trip was over the Gatz mountain range in southern India, and that meant two lane mountain roads, not unlike what I grew up with in West Virginia. However, instead of simply staying behind the person behind you on sharp curves or blind stretches, the drivers here (including our bus driver) will pass by flashing their lights and honking their horns. I honestly do not know how we were not killed last night, or how no one else was killed! And I will think twice before I complain about the conditions of our roads at home after this trip. The total distance yesterday from Madurai to Kottayam was 245 kilometers, which is about 155 miles. On an interstate back home, that would take you a little over two hours. In the mountains in the US, you could probably add 30-45 minutes. Our driving time alone yesterday was seven-and-a-half hours – over twice as long. It makes me wonder seriously about this country’s ability to develop commercially with the transport of goods, if they only have one or two major divided highways for the entire country. Needless to say, glad to be on terra firma today!!!

Wednesday and Thursday

Wednesday was full of visits – a total of five visits to various flavors and varieties of the Orthodox and/or Catholic Churches in Kerala. The layers of the Christian Church in this area are several and complex, and that is something I need to spend some time processing and sorting out. Our visits included meeting the archbishops or metropolitans of the various churches, as well as seminaries where they are training priests for leadership. I found it interesting that they have had the same level of historical divisions of the church as we know and have experienced in the United States, likely over the same “small” or “large” issues. At one of the visits, I met another Princeton alum in a bishop in the Mar Thoma Syrian Church (Rex and I got that picture, too). I think one of the reasons we made all of these visits was that if we hadn’t visited one and visited the others, it would have been noticeable, if you know what I mean! However, it also was informative to be brought in touch with each of these branches of the body in the church here, and to recognize their shared roots in the St. Thomas tradition. St. Thomas is the apostle who brought Christianity to India. I thought an interesting note made by one of the church leaders was that it was appropriate that Thomas was the one who brought Christianity here, because he was the disciple who doubted and needed physical proof of the Lord’s resurrection. Even in the midst of doubts and questions, God comes to us and meets us where we are, maintaining relationship with us through Jesus Christ. Understandably, we were exhausted by the end of our day, but that did not stop us from having an honest and meaningful conversation as a whole group after dinner. This trip has been incredibly disorienting for all of us, and that was made clear as we talked about what we had experienced over the past ten days. The women and men have had much different experiences, especially as it relates to cultural gender roles and how we have had to observe those. I was very grateful for the women’s sharing their frustrations, anger, and how all of that has impacted us as a group. What was overwhelming was how we came together the next morning for worship, and how that spiritual experience brought us even closer together.

Thursday was a day to take a breath and a break. The morning was unscheduled, and around 10:00 we went into the shopping district of Kottayam. It was good to get out on our own a bit and mix with the local people. Unlike Ahmedabad, where I felt as if I was always being “watched” because westerners are so unusual, here I haven’t felt the same conspicuousness. Another interesting contrast between the north and south are how the men are dressed. In the north, they mostly wore western-style clothing. Here, the men will wear a western-style shirt, but instead of pants, they wear what I would call an Indian kilt: a wrapped cloth around their waist and loin which resembles the kilts of Scotland. I still can’t figure out where they put their wallets! Shopping was fun, and I got a few nice things for folks (including a key chain which was Heather’s one request!). After lunch we took a boat ride on some of the canals and backwaters around Kottayam. It was relaxing and fun to get out of the city for a few hours, and to see the natural beauty which surrounds this city. The mixture of basic, even crude homes, and more upscale housing is shocking. It’s also shocking to see people bathing, swimming, washing clothes, etc., in a body of water which is incredibly dirty. But that is life here – and sometimes we have to simply live in the midst of what makes us uncomfortable. We had one final visit with members of the faculty at St. Thomas Apostolic Seminary, a school of the Syro-Malabar Church. That was one of our best visits, as we engaged the faculty with questions regarding how they prepare priests, etc. Following dinner and some more debriefing as a group, the highlight of my day was being able to call my grandmother in Vicksburg, Mississippi, and wishing her a happy 100th birthday! It’s amazing how much technology has brought the world closer together: the fact that I could talk to her through the internet, and it sounded like we were making a local phone call is extraordinary to me. I am grateful for her wonderful witness and life of service.

Tuesday

After a good night’s rest and a wonderful breakfast of hard-boiled eggs, homemade bread, pineapple jam, and hot tea (it all hit the spot – trust me!), our group had a busy day of activities. Our first appointment was with the Bishop of the Church of South India, Thomas Samuel, and it was a very enlightening conversation of over an hour. The CSI is a federation of protestant churches (Anglican, Presbyterian, Methodist, Lutheran), and has had a presence in this region for decades. Bishop Samuel was very forthcoming in sharing what challenges they face, but also what good interfaith relations they hold in Kerala with Hindus and Muslims. We also found out he was a graduate of Princeton Theological Seminary, so Rex Espiritu and I had a picture taken with him, and we’ll send it in to the PTS Alumni journal! After our visit with him, we went to the city to see Thirunakkara Ambalam, a Hindu Temple in Kottayam. What was helpful for me about that visit was to see the stark contrast between it and what we had experienced in Ahmedabad. The Swamanarayans are a reformist movement of the last 200 years, and what we saw in Kottayam would be an example of what they reformed from. The temple was much more basic, much more tribal, if I can say it like that – a greater sense of mysticism about their practices and setting. We returned to SEERI for lunch and a brief rest, and then headed out in the afternoon for another tour of some church sites in the city. The Syrian Orthodox Church is the oldest Christian presence in this region, and so we visited two of those congregations. We also visited an Islamic mosque, which from the exterior looked nothing like a mosque – an example of how architecture truly reflects the region and culture. Late in the afternoon, we visited the Orthodox Theological Seminary in Kottayam, and met with Father K.M. George, the principal of the seminary. That, too, was a very fruitful conversation, as he shared about the challenges they face in preparing men for leadership, but also his strong convictions about ecumenical relations and how that is key to our future as the Body of Christ. He was a faculty member at the Ecumenical Institute at Bossey in Switzerland, where Debbie and I were our first year after seminary. We then stayed for evening prayers with the students and faculty, which was all done in Syriac, so we didn’t really understand what was going on. But the entire service was sung or chanted, and those men can sing!! We returned to SEERI for dinner and an evening program, but I was exhausted and I confess, slept through part of the program (Lord, forgive me). This morning (Wednesday), I had the chance to talk with Debbie and the girls through Skype, and that meant the world to me. It was wonderful to see their faces and hear their voices, and to feel like we weren’t that far apart after all. As I write this and prepare for our own group’s morning prayers, it is raining – the first time of our whole trip. There is a peace about hearing it come down which is refreshing, I must tell you.

Tuesday

After a good night’s rest and a wonderful breakfast of hard-boiled eggs, homemade bread, pineapple jam, and hot tea (it all hit the spot – trust me!), our group had a busy day of activities. Our first appointment was with the Bishop of the Church of South India, Thomas Samuel, and it was a very enlightening conversation of over an hour. The CSI is a federation of protestant churches (Anglican, Presbyterian, Methodist, Lutheran), and has had a presence in this region for decades. Bishop Samuel was very forthcoming in sharing what challenges they face, but also what good interfaith relations they hold in Kerala with Hindus and Muslims. We also found out he was a graduate of Princeton Theological Seminary, so Rex Espiritu and I had a picture taken with him, and we’ll send it in to the PTS Alumni journal! After our visit with him, we went to the city to see Thirunakkara Ambalam, a Hindu Temple in Kottayam. What was helpful for me about that visit was to see the stark contrast between it and what we had experienced in Ahmedabad. The Swamanarayans are a reformist movement of the last 200 years, and what we saw in Kottayam would be an example of what they reformed from. The temple was much more basic, much more tribal, if I can say it like that – a greater sense of mysticism about their practices and setting. We returned to SEERI for lunch and a brief rest, and then headed out in the afternoon for another tour of some church sites in the city. The Syrian Orthodox Church is the oldest Christian presence in this region, and so we visited two of those congregations. We also visited an Islamic mosque, which from the exterior looked nothing like a mosque – an example of how architecture truly reflects the region and culture. Late in the afternoon, we visited the Orthodox Theological Seminary in Kottayam, and met with Father K.M. George, the principal of the seminary. That, too, was a very fruitful conversation, as he shared about the challenges they face in preparing men for leadership, but also his strong convictions about ecumenical relations and how that is key to our future as the Body of Christ. He was a faculty member at the Ecumenical Institute at Bossey in Switzerland, where Debbie and I were our first year after seminary. We then stayed for evening prayers with the students and faculty, which was all done in Syriac, so we didn’t really understand what was going on. But the entire service was sung or chanted, and those men can sing!! We returned to SEERI for dinner and an evening program, but I was exhausted and I confess, slept through part of the program (Lord, forgive me). This morning (Wednesday), I had the chance to talk with Debbie and the girls through Skype, and that meant the world to me. It was wonderful to see their faces and hear their voices, and to feel like we weren’t that far apart after all. As I write this and prepare for our own group’s morning prayers, it is raining – the first time of our whole trip. There is a peace about hearing it come down which is refreshing, I must tell you.