Thanksgiving Service

2/1/15

Today we gathered for the annual Thanksgiving service. There were thousands of people--some of whom travelled eight or more hours to be here.  The procession is always led by dancers--men and women from the remote parts of the diocese with tribal costumes.  It's not George Herbert but it is holy.

I felt as if this gathering was a glimpse of Pentecost---visitors from New Zealand, Austrialia, England  and, of course, the USA--South Carolina and North Carolina. I was the celebrant and although this was the liturgy of the Church of North India, it was our liturgy.

When you say "The Body and Blood of Christ" five hundred times, something happens. It becomes a breath prayer and we know once more that the love and grace of Jesus is beyond our capacity to understand or to diminish.

The time change remains a challenge. I've discovered what a good time 4:30 am is for writing and thinking but it would be okay with me if my body would get on Indian time.

I can tell the visit is already too short--too many old friends to see and places to go. However, my sense of what it means to be companions has been renewed.
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Last night we went to the Inter Project Cultural Meet in the Compound. This was an occasion for the young people across the diocese to perform mainly traditional Indian dances. It was wonderful. So much talent and so much beauty.  Lisa Clark, from Holy Cross, Tryon, was the "Chief Guest" and gave some touching remarks before the audience.

I confess I was determined to get on Indian time so I took no nap yesterday but paid the price.   I think I have gotten my internal clock close to being acclamated.

Today we had the Tribal Award Ceremony---dance groups from all over the diocese came. It was amazing. The movements look simple but are incredibly difficult. There is such an honoring of the past and how it feeds the present here.

Bishop Dutta has made a custom of honoring scholars who write about the Tribal people in this part of India and he did so today.

Tomorrow is the large worship service---over 2,000 people.

I have renewed friendships and caught up with men and women I haven't seen in three years. Being here reminds me that companionship is not some canonical category thought up by a church administrator but is a relationship.  We have almost ten years of history here and our lives are simply intertwined. I see older teenagers that I say as children when I first came. Most of all, I witness the grace of the Lord.  I see how Christ moves men and women to do holy work and binds us togehter regardless of countries.  I look around the compound and see names on buildings--Thomas Murphy and Anne Fritschner--and they are outward and visible signs of how God has connected us together.

And then there the children. I brought colored pencils so that each child would have his/her own set. They took them with such seriousness. It made aware again of how little I think of how much I have. That these children have such a grounded home here and that we are part of this makes me so glad.

 

 

Passage to India

At some point you quit counting the hours you've been travelling. You just switch your watch over to the current time zone and don't look back.  Lisa Clark and I spent a long time getting to Durgapur. I did have a thought or two about what we were doing during our seven hour layover in Dubai, but when we stepped out of the airport in Kolkata, and our friend Raja met us, all that vanished.  It is so good to see our Indian friends and witness what they are doing and have done in the name of our Lord.  I can't explain how or why India heals me, but she does.  It's something about the humanity mixed with the sheer struggle to get on here. There's is a beautful chaos that pushes me out of my button down linear self and a radical openness that reminds me of how big God's love is for everyone. I mean who else is 11 and 1/2 hours different from Eastern Time?

And then there's the work. Schools, medical clinics, safe houses to get women out of trafficing, a Cathedral, eye clinics and on and on.  I always daunted by how much our Indian companions do with so little. It reminds that Jesus sent the disciples out with no equipment because we are the equipment when we are connected to him.

And most of all, it's friendship. I am so glad to see my friends here. They remind me how big God's mercy is.

Tonight is the Festival for the Inter Project Cultural Meet and tomorrow is the Tribal Award Ceremony.

I give thanks that we belong to the Anglican Communion--but most of all I give thanks that we belong to Jesus Christ and, therefore, we belong to one another.
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Weather weather weather

People make plans and God laughs. Yesterday I saw that a blizzard was headed for NYC. We were to fly out of JFK Monday evening. Well. After many phone calls and some rude people but a few very kind people, we changed our tickets to Wednesday. It reminds me that we are not in control--and that this is not a business trip but a pilgrimmage. So it will all be well in the end (and if it's not well, then...)
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Getting ready to go to India Monday. Presents first.