Importance of Being There

In some ways, we haven’t even started processing, but in small, small ways we have.

Thought number one for me about living in Uganda.

It mattered that we went and lived there.

Jesus came from heaven and walked among us—that sure did change eternity.

John tells us in his first chapter…

"14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth."

I read 2 books this summer and that was the strong impression for me—it mattered that we went.

The first book was in part about when Jackie Kennedy was a young college girl right after WWII and went for a year to France on a school exchange program.  This thought by the author really resonated with me…

“In the affectionate relationship of Jacqueline Bouvier with the comtesse de Renty and her daughter, as in Henriette Nizan’s perception of the young Americans in their intense enjoyment of Paris, there was something more than fun, something deeply therapeutic at work.  It was not the kind of recovery the architects of The Marshall Plan had in mind, a recovery made of the loan of goods and services; instead it was made of the pleasure and relief for these survivors of war in serving once again as a model for a joyous way of life.”

The second book was by Henri Nouwen called The Way of the Heart.

“Let us not underestimate how hard it is to be compassionate.  Compassion is hard because it requires the inner disposition to with others to the place where they are weak, vulnerable, lonely and broken.  But this is not our spontaneous response to suffering.  What we desire most is to do away with suffering by felling from it or finding a quick cure for it.  As busy, active, relevant ministers, we want to earn our bread by making a real contribution.  This means first and foremost doing something to show that our presence makes a difference.  And so we ignore our greatest gift, which is our ability to enter into solidarity with those who suffer.

Which leads me to my next thought on returning.  I have been so thoughtful about narrative as we have left one culture expressing a narrative very different than our home and more familiar culture.  Some of my favorite and most influential people in my own life are great lovers of people and their stories.  So, I have been so thoughtful of how important narrative is—my own and honoring and listening to others.

During our time of intense transition this summer, I found Woody Guthrie—and I cried through many of his songs—it was so healing.  I have to go back to the Great Depression in the US to find the flavor and amount of suffering that we experienced living in Uganda—actually that we walked along side THOSE WHO experienced that degree of suffering.  He writes this one song that kills me every time and I think it’s because I wish I could say, did you hear of Precious and Deus, Johnson and Dorcus, Jovahn and Penelope, Sam and Agatha, Raf and Gitta Grace and Medard who lost babies and every other person we came across during our time in Kabale…. Narrative is important and I hope I can grow as a listener and also being in touch with how my own family’s narrative is being shaped and allowed to grow.

So, let me end with the words of Woody…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ICy5P1pKy5A - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ICy5P1pKy5A

The Sinking Of The Reuben James

Words and Music by Woody Guthrie

Have you heard of a ship called the good Reuben James
Manned by hard fighting men both of honor and fame?
She flew the Stars and Stripes of the land of the free
But tonight she's in her grave at the bottom of the sea.

Tell me what were their names, tell me what were their names,
Did you have a friend on the good Reuben James?
What were their names, tell me, what were their names?
Did you have a friend on the good Reuben James

Well, a hundred men went down in that dark watery grave
When that good ship went down only forty-four were saved.
'Twas the last day of October we saved the forty-four
From the cold ocean waters and the cold icy shore.

It was there in the dark of that uncertain night
That we watched for the U-boats and waited for a fight.
Then a whine and a rock and a great explosion roared
And they laid the Reuben James on that cold ocean floor.

Now tonight there are lights in our country so bright
In the farms and in the cities they're telling of the fight.
And now our mighty battleships will steam the bounding main
And remember the name of that good Reuben James.