Sri Lanka Journal - Entry #1

[The following posts were written as they happened.]
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I must be crazy. At sixty-two years old, I’m on my way to the other side of the earth, to a third world country with an active civil war, and all that “Prayer for Protection” stuff notwithstanding, I’m a little frightened. Not so much because of the physical danger--my rational mind knows the safety level of this trip is roughly comparable to spending the week in a major US city--but because I will be off balance over there, living with locals in a culture I do not yet understand. True confession time: I am a European-American, through and through. Sure, I love to study world cultures and have a special warm spot for Buddhism, but I am not harboring any illusions about being comfortable in all parts of the world. It is one thing to have an intellectual and spiritual affinity for people of other lands, but to actually spend time there at the native level--eating all kinds of foods, living under all kinds of conditions—raises multi-culturalism to a whole other order of magnitude.

Actually, I'm not a total stranger to the far side of the world. Three of my six children were born in Germany; I lived in Korea for 15 months and in Vietnam for a year. But when I have gone overseas in the past it was as a soldier, moving within a military subculture which kept me safe inside an American bubble and took care of my daily needs. All I had to do was relax, do my job, and "the system" took care of me.

Now, I travel alone, and I don't even have control over the itinerary. I am a leaf on the wind. At my age, that is not a comforting image. So, yes. I am a little frightened tonight as I await the boarding call for the flight to London and thence to Sri Lanka.

Today’s Daily Word was written for me: .

“My prayers reach out, near and far, to bless my loved ones. I look at the first glimmer of the moon in the evening sky and know that it is the same celestial object that shines in the evening sky above my loved ones. And I may be thinking particularly of one who is a world away, saying good morning to the rising sun as I am saying good evening to the setting sun. Still, I know in my heart that we are in one world and one in Spirit. Wherever we are, the Christ in me greets the Christ in my loved ones. We share a spiritual connection that neither space nor time can interfere with. I imagine my prayers taking wing, reaching out to bless those I love.I pray, affirming always that we are aware of our oneness in Spirit, and that each one is safe and healthy, happy and fulfilled.” ..............................................(Daily Word, 02-19-09) .

Wow. More later. Probably with red wine over the Canadian arctic.