A Few of My Favorite Things…

Here are a few of my favorite things about winter in Kazakhstan:

- I love seeing all the little children bundled up to the nines. Sometimes they are waddling around like marshmallow men, and it makes me smile. I bet if they were to fall down it would be like the scene in A Christmas Storywhen Ralphy’s little brother falls over and can’t get back up because he’s so bundled up. Other times, there parents, instead of pushing them around in strollers, are either pulling them or pushing them on little sleds. It’s great!

- I love it when the water comes back on even if it’s only been off for half the day. We’ve been really fortunate to not have the water not work for very long, but when it’s off and then returns, it definitely makes you appreciate the fact that we have semi-clean water being pumped into our habitat when ever we want it. There are many places that can’t claim this luxury.

- I love that the kids living around our apartment complex are always playing in the courtyard. They are out there playing soccer constantly. I’m amazed, even on days when it’s super cold, they are out there playing, being active. I think of American kids sometimes who would rather be inside playing video games all day (I really sound old here, I know), and it makes me sad. Supposedly our society is more advanced because we have the best electronics and gadgets. But I say, what we often call progress, is not progress at all. It’s actually regression. Just my opinion though.

- The other day, Erich, David and I ate shashlyk (kebab) like usual on Saturday. One of the guys serving asked us if we wanted tea, and of course, we did. Then he asked us something we didn’t understand, and we asked “what?” So to get his point across he started doing the motion you would do if you were milking a cow, and we finally realized that he was asking us if we wanted milk in our tea. I love overcoming language barriers with hand motions and sound effects.

- I love running on the snowy steppe with one of my national friends. We get to talk and enjoy the bounty of rolling, snow-covered vistas laid out before us. We run to a natural spring about 2 times each week. I really enjoy these times!

- One more thing, even though there are plenty more: I love that there’s a hint of spring flowing through the crisp air. It’s like the transition of seasons is somehow announcing it’s arrival in an invisible, untouchable way. It’s great though; you can really feel the surge of Spring’s wake building and building. I’m really excited for winter’s end, even though it’s been a pretty pleasant winter.

A Wise Man Once Said…

Imagine a wise man stands before you and tells you that he can offer life to the fullest. But there are conditions.

You are very rich. You have a car, a cozy house, a flat screen TV, a laptop, a cellphone, a guitar and amp, a comfy bed, lots of books, and many other things. But this man tells you that life means getting rid of these things–all of them, because with all these things comes the fear of losing them. And with the fear of losing what you have comes the need to protect what you have. With the need to protect what you have comes the often times violent defense of what is “yours”–the things you own.

This wise man tells you, in fact whispers in an ancient yet still progressive tongue, that these things, these possessions, have actually led you to death. And to enter into the kingdom of life you must first give all your possessions away. He says you must learn to depend on the one who offers freedom, and he says that what the world calls progress, the American dream, the rags to riches ideal, corner office with a window all lead to bondage rather than freedom. He says that freedom is not a gift that any man or product can offer–not even the most powerful, prosperous nation on earth can truly claim to offer genuine freedom. Their freedom can do nothing to the chains that bind your mind and soul.

So then; what to do? Do you do as he says and give up everything–every last thing that demands your worship and attention?

I’m hearing that whisper right now. I hear it every day, but I don’t know exactly what to make of it. But I also cannot deny its persistent knocking on my soul. What to do, Jeff?

1st Week of February

Wow! It’s the 1st Week of February already. New Year’s feels like only last week. We are into our 3rd week of the 2nd semester, and things are going well. In class we’ve been listening to Barack Obama’s Inaugural speech–it’s been interesting to discuss in class.

Also, it’s a snowy, blustery day, and I love it. It’s not too cold either. It’s nice to have some winter weather when the temperatures are low. Otherwise, I think blue skies every day would be rather boring.

I’ve been reading a book of quotations by the late Oscar Romero. He was an El Salvadoran bishop who fought (I don’t mean with weapons) for the rights of his oppressed people against a terribly oppressive government who was supported by the US. The government committed terrible atrocities against its people; tortured, murdered, and silenced any way they could the voice of dissent–the voice that cried out from the “least of these” across that country. They did so in order to protect what they had; power, strength, position, control.

Oscar Romero, at first being a defender of the status quo and not wanting to get his hands dirty, quietly went about his work. But after a good friend was murdered by the government and he experienced the deep suffering of his people he could no longer sit quietly. In fact, his voice became loud and prophetic. Just as Krst proclaimed, “The Spirit of the Lrd is on me, because he has anointed me to prch good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lrd’s favor (Luke 4:18-19),” so too did Romero speak on behalf of the “least of these”. And, like many prophetic voices throughout history, his was tragically silenced by an assassin’s bullet.

Here’s a quote from his Sunday message on Sept 24, 1978:

“Thus is our Gd–blessed may he be–who has given us to know how he calls at every moment and at every moment is ready to receive us, no matter the crimes we have committed. And so, brothers and sisters, I repeat again what I have said here so often, addressing by radio those who perhaps have caused so many injustices and acts of violence, those who have brought tears to so many homes, those who have stained themselves with the blood of so many murders, those who have hands soiled with tortures, those who have calloused their consciences, who are unmoved to see under their boots a person abased, suffering, perhaps ready to die. To all of them I say: No matter your crimes. They are ugly and horrible, and you have abased the highest dignity of a human person, but Gd calls you and forgives you. And here perhaps arises the aversion of those who feel they are laborers from the first hour. How can I be in heaven with those criminals? Brothers and sisters, in heaven there are no criminals. The greatest criminal, once he has repented of his sins, is now a child of Gd.”

How liberating!–both for the oppressed and the oppressor. Our Father saves not just the oppressed from the oppressor, but he actually saves the oppressor, freeing him/her from the oppression of being an oppressor. How awesome! Thus is the nature of our Gd. Blessed be his name!