Christmas

It’s kind of a wierd thing – being away from home during the Christmas season. There are Christmas trees set up all around Karaganda, but they are really for the New Year. It would, of course, be nice to celebrate with family, but instead, I will be in Uzbekistan on Christmas day and through New Years. We have a 2 week vacation, and I decided to head South and explore some old Silk Road cities. I’m very excited. It’s been somewhat of a tedious process aquiring the paperwork needed to obtain a visa, but everything worked out perfectly.

I’ve been reading a book about St. Francis and another full of short stories by the great Russian writer Leo Tolstoy. I’ve been deeply challenged by these writings, and I’ve been questioning anew what it means to be a follower of the one who came, not as a mighty warrior prince and heir to an earthly kingdom, but the one who came squeezed out of a peasant girls womb and lived the life of a humble servant. If I am to imitate this true king, what should my life look like? First, I must live in thanks to him who came to save rather to destroy. And then I believe I must take part in that beautiful redemption, transformation, and creation. But to do this I must reject the systems and the powers of this earth, and I must declare the baby born from a virgin’s womb as the one true lord. This will mean rejecting all other objects that incesantly vie for my attention – physical things like money, women, possessions in general; and spiritual things like pride, lust, hatred, vengeance, greed, apathy, domination, destruction, and power. This has to be the most terribly difficult challenge, but it is the most beautiful and satisfying.

Echoing the words of St. Francis and words spoken by the adult version of the Christmas child:

Where there is hatred may I be Love
Where there is sorrow, depression, and discontentment may I be Joy
Where there is war and fear may I be Peace
Where there is anxiety and impatience may I be Patience
Where there is cruelty and oppression may I be Kindness
Where there is evil and injustice may I be Goodness
Where there is domination and intimidation may I be Gentleness
Where there is deceit, dishonor, and infidelity may I be Faithfulness
Where there is perversion and gluttony may I be Self-control

May the one who so humbly and lovingly came to seek and to save have mercy on me. And may his grace, like the sparkling snow blanketing the filthy street, cover me and fill me.

And may that same Snow of transformation fall upon you as well. Be blessed, and may your holidays be filled with the peace and joy that comes only from one source. Blessings and a very merry Christmas!

The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who lived in a land of deep darkness – on them light has shined!

The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.

Hallelujah!
Hallelujah!
Hallelujah!

Snowy Steppe

The last couple mornings I have gone running with a friend. We met at a grocery store and than run out onto the steppe. Both times we ran, snow was coming down, and there was a fresh, white blanket covering the roads and the slowly billowing hills on the steppe. We ran through the snow to a tiny natural spring at the bottom of a low rising hill. We walked up the hill and just stood for a few minutes letting our eyes collect the whitened scenery around us. It’s quite a beautiful scene! For the most part, any signs of human touch are veiled by the falling snow, and what is left is simply rolling steppe covered with shrubs and grasses that are, in turn, covered with snow.

I just have to say – what a beautiful world we live in! It is a place of tragedy and sorrow at times, but it is still beautiful, and our Maker has called it good! I agree. I’m trying to figure out what my role in this wonderful creativity and beauty is. How can I help restore that which has fallen into disrepair? How can I use the gifts given to me so graciously, to help take part in creative creation rather than smothering destruction?

Mid December

On Monday Eric and I had an awesome opportunity to join some friends for the celebration of Qurban Ait. It is a time to commerate Abraham’s faithfulness and God’s provision of a ram to be sacrificed. We met our friends outside the local mosque after prayers and then proceeded to purchase a lamb. Then, along with countless other groups of people we proceeded to slaughter the lamb.

It was a very interesting experience – definately something that I’ve never been apart of before. I’m glad I had the opportunity, although I’m not sure if it’s something I would want to do again. After we finished with the lamb we took it to a place where it would be butchered. One part would be kept, one part would be given to friends and relatives, and a third part should be given to the poor. I’m not sure of the details of the actual dispersion, but that’s what is supposed to happen.

Qurban Ait is time to spend visiting friends and family. It lasts for 3 days and people celebrating will invite guests to share traditional dishes and will be invited as guests as well. After we took the meat to be butchered we spent a few hours just relaxing and drinking tea with many other men who were celebrating. We had some wonderful conversations and met many different people. I learned a lot, and I really enjoyed being able to experience some more traditional life in Kazakhstan.

As you are lifting things up, be sure and lift up those we have met.

Pics

Thanksgiving

I cannot believe today is Dec 1 and that Thanksgiving has come and gone! Again, time is flying, and I need to remind myself to enjoy this place while I still can.

The week before Thanksgiving we did a Thanksgiving unit in class. It was by far one of my favorite weeks. We discussed some general info about Thanksgiving and its creation. I also told the students about how Thanksgiving is celebrated in my household. I had the students create their own “Day of Thanks” with relevant celebration and write poetry with the theme of Thanksgiving. I was amazed. I came to KZ thinking that I would teach students to speak English, but I did not think so much about my students teaching me – and they have! I’m constantly blown away by how much meaning and significance their choice of words, even though limited at times, can bear.

I also told the students how Thanksgiving begins the “holiday season” in America, and how this means that many of us begin to think more about those in need. I told them I want them to be thinking about this as well. I want to know how we can serve those in need here in Karaganda, and I’m hoping for some good ideas. I’m not sure what we will do, or if we’ll do anything, but if you have any ideas please share them with me so I can share them with my students.

The next week all of the teachers went together to a semi-mountainous region called Karkaralinsk. We spent about 3.5 days just relaxing, hiking, playing games, and recharging our batteries. It was a wonderful time. The weather was perfect – high 30s and sunny every day – and I was able to spend a good amount of time rambling through the forests and up rocky cliffs and mountain sides. I will post some pics of Karkaralinsk soon.

We returned from Karkaralinsk on Thanksgiving Day and celebrated by eating a huge meal on Friday. It was great to relax and eat a semi-American traditional meal.

So on this first day of December, with the snow falling afresh, I say that I am so very thankful for this experience in KZ. It was been a wonderful, not always easy, time of growth and learning. I’m also thankful for my family and their incredible support. I’m thankful for my friends and their loyal love, and I’m thankful for the support coming from all corners of the globe and from all walks of life. I’m thankful for the voice of the divine that I hear blowing through evergreens as I sit alone atop a mountain watching the sun rise. How glorious is this gift called life. Yes, how tragic and often difficult, but yet how beautiful and purposeful! I praise the Father of you and me, the Father of the wind and the trees.