Most people, in my opinion, misunderstand the commandment “Don’t take God’s name in vain.” It is often associated with using course and vulgar language, which while at times can be both crude and degrading, has absolutely NOTHING to do with what I believe this commandment is about. This commandment is about using God’s name to claim power for yourself. Claiming, …
I’ve been thinking lately about the importance of interdependence and relying on others to help you. We are so often tied into the myth that we need to be self-reliant, which totally misses the greatest joy of life — giving and receiving help because we don’t need to be able to do everything for ohurselves. On Thursday, I did a …
My appreciation for Leap Day changed dramatically eight years ago when my mother’s earthly journey ended on Feb 29. The last years of her life were at times a living hell for her, as she battled the most horrific form of Alzheimer’s I’ve ever seen, robbing her of the dignity that defined her life, even as she was still aware …
I write this final post having just awakened from a three-hour nap after completing a 28-hour journey from leaving the ship to arriving home. We needed to be out of our rooms by 8 a.m. and on the bus by 8:40 a.m. So we had a last breakfast and a chance to say goodbye to some of the friends we …
Our last full day on the ship started early. Very early. Around 4 a.m., both Janel and I woke up when a series of swells and waves covered our window on the fourth floor of the ship. Later, I heard that it did the same for people on the fifth floor. This is a huge ship. That was a huge …
Our time on the continent was over, so we set out to once again to cross the Drake Passage, which takes two days. We had been forewarned that our trip across was average, but the return trip would be the Drake shake. I spent most of the morning birdwatching. I was particularly interested in the albatross species that were flying …
Today was the day that I had been thinking about and debating over since I first decided to take this cruise to Antarctica: the day of the polar plunge. When thinking about jumping into the water, I knew I could not do it, not out of fear but out of solid sense of safety. The form of asthma I have …
Sometimes the best laid plans don’t pan out and even better plans take their place. That is what transpired today. The intent had been to land at a site and do quite a steep walk to the top of a vista where there would’ve been many many Chinstrap penguins and had yet another chance to get a good workout in …
When I first begin to explore going on a cruise to Antarctica, I read about the opportunity to go camping on the continent. Of course, every fiber of my outdoor being hoped and prayed that I would be able to take advantage of such a unique and incredible opportunity. However I was fully aware that because of conditions and limited …
This morning, they had no plans for a zodiac cruise and instead told us to go outside and watch for whales. These people know what they’re talking about. From the moment we sat at breakfast, we saw whales all around us, mainly humpback. The pictures aren’t fantastic but it was incredible to watch them breach and put their tails up …
After a superb sleep, which I can’t help but think was the result of a nice hot tub and sauna before bed in Antarctic temperatures, we woke up a bit more leisurely than we had in the past few days because our cruise around Port Lockroy wasn’t until the second grouping. I’ve had a few questions about clothing and temperature, …
I woke up early in the morning and looked outside and immediately thought of the end of the movie “Fifty First Dates,” when Drew Barrymore comes out from the ship and sees herself surrounded by icebergs. Although I was more prepared for it than the character in the movie, it was nonetheless just as shockingly stunning. Completely surrounded by such …
Today we continued our journey through the Drake Passage. To be completely honest, I had one of my better sleeps in a long time, and a large part is because of the rocking of the boat. It kind of reminded me of the days when I had a waterbed. Organizers tell us that the waves are not as big as …
Today was all about the Drake Passage and acclimatizing to the ship and sea travel. The Drake Passage is the body of water between South America’s Cape Horn, Chile, Argentina and the South Shetland Islands of Antarctica. It connects the southwestern part of the Atlantic Ocean with the southeastern part of the Pacific Ocean. According to Wikipedia, “The Drake Passage …
I thought it might be nice to explain a bit of why we chose to take a cruise with Hurtigruten Expeditions. Priorities for me, and I believe I also speak for Janel, a fellow pastor and my traveling companion, were: Sustainability and eco-friendliness. Size of cruise. Ability to do landings on the continent. Cost. Reputation. Ability to learn about climate …
Our flight from Buenos Aires took us to Ushuaia, a city known as the “End of the World,” since the town is located at the southernmost tip of South America and therefore is the southernmost city in the world. The cruise arranged for a tour of Tierra del Fuego National Park (The Land of Fire), at the base of the …
Sometimes good energy pays off and the beginning of my journey to Antarctica illustrates that. I’m a pastor and my trip to Antarctica was originally part of a Lily Sabbatical grant that I lost after leaving the congregation I was serving. I was called to move the church from a charity model to one focused on systemic racism. However, the …
The image of a frog in boiling water shows us how things can heat up incrementally so that you don’t realize how bad it is until it is too late. This past week, the former president claimed that the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Mark Milley, committed treason and that such action in the last called for DEATH …
It is intellectually dishonest to say that the indictment of former President Donald Trump that happened Thursday was unfair without reading the indictment itself. And anyone, upon reading it, who is not deeply disturbed by the allegations to subvert our democracy and actively work to discount a free and fair election can’t say that they are committed to democracy or …
Except for an unexpected overnight in the Cairo airport, my return to the U.S. was otherwise seamless. As I settle back into my routine, with no other big adventures imminent, I thought I would do one final reflection on travel to Egypt in general, in the event others are thinking of a similar pilgrimage. One of the most common …
We departed the ship at 6:45 a.m. to catch our flight to Cairo, which was seamless until the tarmac bus took us to the wrong place and we had airport officials screaming at us about being in the wrong place. Or at least that’s what it sounded like. Most folks don’t speak English, which is fine, but when being yelled …
After waking up at 3:30 a.m. to watch UConn win, the last full day on the cruise began with a visit to a place called the Unfinished Obelisk, and I have to admit, I wondered why anyone would want to see an unfinished work when there are so many finished obelisks around. I was wrong in questioning it. It actually …
I woke up early after a very good night’s sleep and had a chance to watch the sun rise over the Nile as we cruised down the river, one of those surreal experiences I will never forget. Our first stop of the day was Edfu Temple, but to get there we took horse carriages, which was an unexpected treat. Because …
After beginning the day, predawn, with the balloon ride that was truly spectacular, we headed out to see the places that we saw from the air on the ground. I have to say it was quite nice to have a perspective of what we were seeing and their mass of nature before we toured them. Our first very brief stop …
If you want to understand what a fall into authoritarianism looks like, a case in point is the vote to expel two representatives from the Tennessee state house who peacefully protested the Legislature’s failure to address gun violence after a school shooting that took six lives. Rather than tackle one of the most challenging issues we face as a society …
We finished our time in Cairo today and flew to Luxor to begin our four-night cruise down the Nile River. Well, the cruise officially starts tomorrow as we are still docked in Luxor, but the boat is at least in the Nile. We are on a small boat with maybe 100 people or so on board. I’m not sure exactly …
Our last full day in Cairo promised to be full, with much on our agenda, but it began with a surprise. Since the start of this trip, I had been in search of a very unique Egyptian dish called Koshary, a mix of pasta, Egyptian fried rice, vermicelli and brown lentils, topped with a zesty tomato sauce, garlic vinegar and …
Today was one for the bucket list, but I am going to divide my posts up a bit because I think a picture is worth more than 1000 words. In the morning we were joined by Cindy’s friend, Ellen, who flew in from Los Angeles to join us for the last part of our time in Cairo and our cruise. …
Today we took a break from sightseeing. In the morning, Cindy caught up on some work and I traveled to visit the Evangelical Theological Seminary of Cairo. My good friends Karla and David Grafton, who helped profoundly with planning this trip, worked at the seminary when they lived here and it was an incredible chance for me to learn about …
We got to sleep in a little later this morning, heading out at 8:20 a.m. to our first site, the Mosque-Madrassa of Sultan Hassan. We try to get out a bit earlier because traffic in Cairo is absolutely insane and I’ve never heard so much beeping. So many cars, so many people. On our way to the mosque we passed …
Today began very early, as we met our guide and driver at 6 a.m. to begin the journey to Alexandria. It was a 2½ hour drive on what it’s called the Desert Road between the lush oasis that is Cairo, which is fed by the Nile River, to Alexandria, located on the Mediterranean Sea. Alexandria was the capital of Egypt …
Every so often in life, you are dealt unexpected curveballs that seem unfair and moments of true serendipitous grace. For me, in the past year, I’ve had both. When I left my call at Emanuel, I lost a Lily Sabbatical Grant that would have provided an amazing experience for my family and me. And now I have begun a truly astonishing …
Today is International Women’s Day, so naturally my mind immediately begins to focus on the women I met in the Oula and Mungula Refugee Settlement Camps. While sharing with someone about my recent trip to Uganda, I told about my role in the Trauma Healing Training. I give leaders in the community the tools they need to assist them as …
Water. It’s something many people in the developed world take for granted. That what comes out of our faucets won’t kill us. However, having just recovered from what was most likely a water-borne infection, thanks to the wonders of modern antibiotics, I am incredibly aware of just how precious clean water is and just how deadly contaminated water can be. …
One of the key objectives of our visit to the settlements was to meet the people involved in the South Sudan Leadership and Community Development cooperatives and share their stories. These cooperatives are what set SSLCD apart from most aid organizations because they are literally organized by the refugees and for the refugees, as we seek to empower their leadership …
They say it’s about the journey, not the destination. But on our return trip to Entebbe, Uganda, it was reaching the destination that gave me the greatest joy. We had planned to take the African Bus back to Kampala on Saturday for our return trip home Sunday. However, for several logistical reasons, as well as the fact that a few …
In addition to our work with trauma healing and peace-building training, one of the other reasons we as board members of South Sudan Leadership and Community Development come to visit is to provide support to our on-the-ground organizers and help assess the needs and strengths of the cooperatives. We believe the work being done in refugee settlement camps through SSLCD …
One of the key principles of South Sudan Leadership and Community Development is that we operate within the settlement camps through cooperatives. We have three organizers who work within the camps to focus on leadership training, which is part of our work this week, and on community development. Our focus is to improve the lives of the women, children and …
Our second day in the settlements took us to Olua, which is a bit closer to Adjuman, a little over a half hour away. The two camps are very different. Olua is more concentrated, so it appears to have more buildings, whereas Mungula has more space and appears more sparse. Even in refugee settlements, there is an urban/rural demarcation. Although …
After a mostly sleepless night, thanks to the loud bed-shaking music playing outside our hotel until after 5:30 a.m. — which, I might add, seemed eminently unfair since they must have been the only place in Adjumani with electricity — we spent the morning getting supplies to provide for breaks during our day at the Mungula Settlement. Hospitality is a …
Four flights and a 9½-hour ride on an African bus later, I am happy to report I am safely in Adjumani, Uganda. Denise, my fellow co-chair of South Sudan Leadership and Community Development, and Christine, who also serves on the board, and I met in Detroit. Given a variety of travel concerns in the Midwest due to snow, I am …
It’s been 10 years since that night I left Ian’s basketball game at halftime because I knew I needed to go to the nursing home to see Steve. Driving through snow and bitter cold because I knew that was where I was supposed to be. When I walked in, he wasn’t responsive, but I’ve been around death enough to know …
I was a very strict parent, especially until my sons turned 13. My boys still comment on how I wouldn’t let them watch “Rugrats” because Angelica was mean spirited. But on Dec 31, we always celebrated “Break the Rules Day.” As long as their actions were not mean-spirited or destructive, they could break all of the rules. Have ice …
If you want to understand what straight white privilege and implicit bias looks like, the response to Brittney Griner’s release is a case in point. Over the years, there have been many prisoner exchanges the United States has had with countries that have unjustly imprisoned American citizens. Rarely if ever are there even exchanges and when they happen, other Americans …