Sunday, August 21, 2011

Journey On


I have been thinking about Christmas a good deal in the last week.

Now there could be several reasons for that: about 9 days ago, before I left the United States for Jordan, I spent a couple hours addressing Christmas cards which I will use in four months when I return to the United States. And then a week ago when I bid my family a heartfelt farewell before stepping onto the Delta plane whisking me thousands of miles away to Jordan, I kept saying, “I will see you again at Christmas-time!” That is when a Delta plane will touch down with me on it again in Cincinnati. Last night I was talking to a faculty member here who is staying here over the Christmas break, and I suggested that he invite his family over and they celebrate in Bethlehem.

But it’s not so much looking toward the holiday that has held me captive in the last week, although on hot days I must admit I like thinking of the cold at Christmas—it’s those wise men who have been on my mind.

I guess as I was addressing the cards, I looked at the variety of cards I had, and I was drawn to those Magi. I remember as I addressed a card to my old librarian friend Lynda Morgese, I looked at those Magi on the card, and thought, “Of all the characters in the Christmas story, the ones we need to keep our eyes on, indeed, come to think of it, the ones most like us, are those Magi, those Wise Men.” Funny, how with all the things that needed to be done in my remaining days, I chose to address Christmas cards four months early, and then I have kept thinking about those wise guys all week.

When I posit that they are the ones most like us, I am not suggesting that we are either so regal or wise, but let’s consider some of the other characters in this story. Ahhh….Christmas in August, I suppose. Let’s take Mary, the young teen minding her own business when an angel of the Lord comes and addresses her: “Hail, Mary!” Like that’s going to happen to us.

Consider this: the shepherds are out in their fields watching their flocks by night, when an Angel of the Lord appears to them…speaks to them…and suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appears, praising God. Like that’s going to happen to us.

And on and on—but those Magi—we need to watch them. These are the travelers, the ones who undertake a great and arduous journey. Maybe because last week at this time I was about to embark yet again on the great journey back to the Middle East, but those Magi continue to be on my mind. Let’s imagine the conversations back home when those magi have agreed to undertake this great trip. “Honey,” says one, “Me and the guys, we’re following a star. Not sure where or what it will lead to. We’ll be away—for months, maybe longer.”

Of course, I am just joking a little here. For the magi it was no mere whim, their undertaking. They didn’t embark upon this adventure without careful thought and good reason. They did their best to explain themselves and their reasons to their families. They extracted themselves from various commitments. They planned the route and agreed how to finance it. Journeys of this sort are expensive—the costs of travel, with inns and meals, not to mention a loss of income from being away from work. I guess they worked. (Come to think of it, this sounded a lot like my thought process as I pondered this whole Jordan thing in 2007.)

They probably spent considerable time on what to take, what gifts to bring, and anticipated the exchanges of cultures and rituals and languages they would encounter.

The long awaited day arrived for them. Those magi hugged their loved ones and said their good-byes, not quite sure when they would return. There are tears, second thoughts, probably pleas to stay.

Finally, they are on their way—on their adventure. As they spent time together on this adventure began to learn each others’ moods, rhythms and fears. They learn the sound of each others’ laughter. And they probably needed to ask for directions. You know that since these are wise men they were probably not inclined to ask for directions.

The star gets the magi all the way to Jerusalem, but then it goes on the fritz. It is in Jerusalem that they have to ask for directions. “Where,” they ask, “is the child who has been born King of the Jews? For we have observed his star rising, and have come to pay him homage.”

This is the moment their adventure really starts. It starts when their accents give them away; when they reveal themselves strangers in a strange land; when they first disclose to others the purpose of their quest; when they admit they don’t know which way to turn; when they are forced to entrust themselves to the good will of complete strangers (some of whom turn out to be possessed of ill will); when they find out that the mere mention of Jesus causes shifts in power, threatens principalities, begs for a re-ordering of the structures that discriminate. Now, they are on their way.

I guess I have thought about these guys this week when I realized they would have been travelling right around where KA is here in Jordan, not far from Jerusalem. I thought about them when I think of the journey that I have taken since January, 2007 when I decided to follow this quest to help start this school here. I have thought about them as I greet and work with the new faculty here.

In the last four days, I have spent considerable time with the brand-new faculty—22 in all—who have just arrived in the last few days here in Jordan. One is from Peru, one from the Maldives, one from Nigeria, one from Spain, one from down the street in Amman, but most, fresh off the planes from the United States. I see in them all that excitement we had in August, 2007 as we greeted each other and trusted each other to work on this project. We have taken them out to dinners, watched as they saw their first camel, had their first banking experience, talked about politics and food and the students we have met here. We are learning about each other as we embark on the journey of the school year of 2011-12. We have all gone on this adventure, a little clueless about what we will encounter or learn. But just like we were, and still are, we are ready for the adventure. We’re following a star here, too, in many ways, and as hokey as it sounds, that star of excellence in education, or that star of multi-culturalism, of experience, of fulfillment, of understanding.

So as I look out at the plains to the west—there in those hills where David once shepherded, I am back in the very land where those magi travelled and risked and followed their star. Yep, those guys, those exotic, adventurous, risk-taking, intrepid kings or astrologers, or whoever they were—they are the ones to watch.

We all have journeys, some longer, or farther afield, but relationships, and new jobs, or simply the life of faith is a life of adventure. I think you will know you are on the right road, that you are getting close to wherever, when it gets thrilling, tense and intense, important, scary, edgy, absorbing and fantastic.

Tomorrow I will spend about six hours helping to pair advisors and advisees for the coming year; I will meet with the 9th and 10th grade teams to work on our new courses; and then finally, we will have an all-faculty iftar, the nightly breaking of the fast during Ramadan, at about 7:21 p.m. to celebrate the return of the veteran teachers and introduce the newest members of the followers of our star.

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