"While Jesus was in one of the towns, a man came along who was covered with leprosy. When he saw Jesus, he fell with his face to the ground and begged him, "Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean." Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. "I am willing," he said. "Be clean!" And immediately the leprosy left him. Then Jesus ordered him, "Don't tell anyone, but go, show yourself to the priest and offer the sacrifices that Moses commanded for your cleansing, as a testimony to them." Yet the news about him spread all the more, so that crowds of people came to hear him and to be healed of their sicknesses. But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed." - Luke 5:12-16
In the midst of service, even Jesus (often!) takes time to be alone and pray. I'm starting to think that a life of love requires constant recharging. I love it here, but I'm sick. All of us are sick. Thus, we're going to Darjeeling tomorrow. Tony, Jake, Jill, Josefin, Jeff and me. There's too much Kolkata in our lungs, so we're going to get some mountain air. I'm fairly certain that Jesus liked mountains a lot. And we'll take photos. And read our bibles. And pray. And drink tea. And inhale. And exhale.
:-)
Summary of the past few days:
Largest book fair in all of Asia.
Anoushka and Ravi Shankar concert.
Apne Aap - First drama rehearsal. Ten 40-ish-year old Bengali women, no English. Few can read and write a little Bangla and / or Hindi. I've been assigned to create a street drama with them by the middle of March. We have two hour rehearsals every Saturday. Rehearsal was good - played Pass the Clap and Boom Swish in order to get comfortable with working as a group and being loud. 'Twas good.
Kalighat is difficult, but wonderful.
Bedtime.
Love and sleeppanda,
Stephanie
[edit] I just realized that I'm currently at the EXACT halfway point of my time in Kolkata. Literally. Day 59. 58 days left. And today, I leave for Darjeeling for a week. Weird. Good timing. :-)
3 comments:
Let's hear it for breathing clean air! Sing with me: "Breathing is good, breathing is fine - I like to breathe most all the time!" And we all need to re-charge our batteries. (BTW - the Honda gave up on me at work - how ironic that a dead car was in a hospital parking lot - and the jumpbox (car battery defibrillator) was not available - so I had to get rescued (thanks Marci Kops!) and go back the next day to resuscitate the car - and then bought it a new battery. So you and your friends need to re-charge your batteries while they are just sick/weak, so they don't die and need replacement; because unlike car batteries, YOU all are irreplaceable. How long are you going to Darjeeling for? Enjoy your R & R, and Breathe lots!
Love,
Mom Panda
P.S. My word is megontre - you can loudly (i.e. like through a megaphone) chant montras while you are in Darjeeling - shout, take DEEP breaths and exhale for as long as you can - so you can inhale clean air as deeply as possible!
Dear Steph/Ani/Stephanie
I love you. I lovelovelovelovelovelovelove you. I'm also exceedingly jealous that you're having this amazing life and doing such good for the world and the rest of us schmucks are stuck in Bloomington, Illinois, doing our work and not really helping the world. You're an amazing person, and I lavish every word you write of your travels and inspiration coming from India.
I've faithfully read every post of this blog, and I eagerly await each new word.
Love, Joe
P.S. While I don't really pray anymore, I do what I can for you.
Don't forget to dress warmly and breathe deeply - it's colder and higher in Darjeeling. Are you taking the toy train? Take pictures!!!
The word is hakin, which means walking aroung while reciting Japaneese poetry, all the while making good decisions to keep yourself safe and sane and coming home safely in 58 days.
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