Being able to take time to reflect, pray, travel, and be with my husband was a wonderful blessing. For the months I was away, I spent a lot of time reading “non-spiritual” books as a way of disconnecting. I also spent time studying the craft of preaching and contemplating church-related subjects such as evangelism and hospitality.
The highlight of the spring was a trip to India. While there, I was able to spend time with a group of American Christians living in Delhi for the purpose of spreading the Gospel to what they term as the “unreached populations.” My purpose was to increase my exposure to ways of evangelizing to determine what, if anything, was translatable to an Episcopal context. I found the ease in which people were able to talk about their personal and intimate relationship with Jesus, without apology or hesitation, refreshing. I learned that their primary mode of evangelizing is to tell specific stories found in the Gospels, often translated into the local language, and then to make connections between that story and the listener’s daily life. A common story told to the women in India, a demographic that is often seen as second class and oppressed, is the story of the woman with the alabaster jar. She enters a room full of the elite (by comparison to her), anoints Jesus’ feet, and is fully accepted and loved by him. This story demonstrates for these women that not only is there full equality in God’s eyes, but that even they are invited to come close to Jesus and worship him.
I was also able to spend time with members of the Hindu faith who had little to no exposure to Christianity, giving me a first-hand experience of sharing the stories of Jesus with people with no preconception or prejudice. I spent time sharing the Christmas story, the journey to Bethlehem, feeling lost and without welcome during their time of need, finding a cave dwelling meant for animals, and giving birth to the Christ-child, bringing God into the world.
While there, I visited a Hindu Temple, an Islamic Mosque, a Sikh Gurdwara, and an Anglican Church. I was struck by how individual worship in the Hindu Temple was. People were everywhere, kneeling, sitting, standing, but their worship was private and singular. There was no community-oriented worship. At the Mosque, I was required to don a bright orange robe because my arms were exposed (short sleeves, not sleeveless). Worship was not taking place, but I was able to walk through the structure, noticing how austere and without adornment the space was. At the Gurdwara, I was required to have bare feet, to wash my feet and cover my head before entering. The feet washing involved stepping into a shallow trough-like container that contained water. The water was not clean, so I’m guessing the washing was symbolic rather than functional. The headscarf was pulled out of a large bin containing headscarves that had been worn by many. I really had to set aside any expectation of cleanliness and just go with it.
Ron and I loved India. Her citizens were warm and hospitable. The landscape was a study in contradiction –the beauty of terrain served as a background to some very impoverished neighborhoods. The food was delicious and though vegan was a little difficult due to their use of dairy, we were able to eat vegetarian. The traffic was crazy and the diversity on the roads – cars, bicycles, horses, scooters, people-carriers, cows, motorcycles, pedestrians, and sometimes monkeys – was really something to see. In Delhi, they use their horns to let others know they were approaching, not as a defense against someone colliding with them, so the symphony of honking never stops. India was beautiful and fun and exciting. It was a trip we will never forget.
Thank you to the wonderful community of St. James’ for making sabbatical possible. It was life-giving for both me and Ron and we are deeply grateful.
~Lori+