It’s a beautiful spring morning as I sit here writing this letter. The sky is bright blue and the slight breeze sends soft pink petals down on my walk way. But spring is not on my mind today. I recently returned from a trip to Southeast Asia with my longtime traveling companion, Alma. We have traveled extensively for over 40 years and this last trip was one of our best. However on the longest leg of our trip home the plane had electrical issues and we had no movies or reading lights. So for 10 hours I stared into the darkness and thought about our trips. Because I knew I would be writing the June moderator’s letter, I thought about how I could connect the two; church and traveling. I thought about our eight principles and how they guide me through my travels. Although I always enjoy the physical beauty we see at our destinations-Angkor Wat- this trip, I often think about the people we meet. Even though they are often just brief meetings and names are not always exchanged, they leave an imprint on me that is hard to define. But I sense their inherent worth and value in their part of the world.
Years ago on a whim we drove up a very narrow steep road to the top of First Mesa on the Hopi Reservation. Three villages occupy this mile high remote mesa top. It was there we met a native Hopi woman named Flo, who guided us around the flat dry butte with unbelievable vistas and sheer drop-offs to the valley below. Out of respect she would not look us in the eye but quietly spoke of the history of this special place. She would answer our questions and then turn to stare out over the horizon. Her dignity spoke of a time long long ago. It was as if she had risen up from the earth she stood on.
While traveling through a small mountain village in Turkey we spoke with a young imam and later an older widow who cooked us bean soup in her oven dug out of the ground. It was 2008 and the question they both had for us: “ Do you think Obama has a chance to win the election?” We are a world community and our country has an impact. People all over the world are watching us.
After a long and mentally painful walk through one of the jails and killing fields of Cambodia, we were privileged to converse with two survivors of that time. We asked if they had some thoughts that they would like us to share with our friends back in the USA. One man (who was nine at the time of his capture), asked that we tell you he survived by hiding under a large pile of clothes of the victims who died. The other survivor asked that we encourage our fellow Americans to work toward peace in Ukraine. There was no “justice, equity or compassion” for them during that time, yet they knew these were universal values we all need to pursue.
I love that our faith encourages me to “search for truth”; that I feel free to explore religions from all over the world, which enables me to glean from them universal values that improve and enrich my life. Travel and our church; both bring me much happiness.
Sunday June 23rd will be our first service to start at the new time of 10:15 AM. All children are welcome to attend and childcare will be available for children 6 months to 3 years. That same day we will broadcast the entire Sunday service from General Assembly. You can attend either in person or online.
The Board will be busy this summer training our new members and planning their retreat, which will happen in August. We hope everyone has a safe and fun-filled summer.
Barbara Morrison, Board of Trustees