Our bags are packed for our move to the Dominican Republic but my thoughts, like yours, are in Afghanistan and Haiti. I think of Afghans I’ve known. I think of the trip I took up the Khyber pass as a kid, and looking across the valley into that beautiful country. I think of my many friends and relatives who have given selflessly of themselves for the benefit of our Afghan neighbors, and the grief that they feel this week. I think of those who never came home.
I also think of the Haitian friends I made during my last stay in the Dominican Republic. I think of the delicious fresh bread they baked over charcoal in old oil drums. I think of the joyful laughter and singing I heard in the midst of the suffering and uncertainty of a refugee hospital after the 2010 earthquake.
I don’t know how those stories ended. And as I get ready to board another plane for another adventure I think of all of the unfinished stories I’ve borne witness to, and all that are to come. It weighs heavy on all of us who have chosen this nomadic lifestyle, and those of us who have had it chosen for them.
And yet we continue moving, again and again, seeking out new stories to hear and tell. Why do we do it? Maybe the pain of the news we are hearing this week would be lessened if we had resisted the itch on the soles of our feet and simply stayed home. Do we bring this sadness on ourselves?
I don’t know. What I do know is that there is something worth more than gold in learning to love the bright and colorful tapestry of people and places that God has filled this little planet with. I know that there’s joy in sharing a joke in a foreign language, and learning to dance to new rhythms. And there is something deeply right in pursuing justice, whether through helping the injured, building a school, or sharing a meal, even if the story ends in tragedy. Perhaps the pain is the price we pay for knowing, feeling, and loving this world.
So off we go, bags all packed, perhaps into sunshine, perhaps into a storm, but I suspect some of each. We cry with those who are mourning, pray for those who are on the ground helping, and look to the future with hope. Keep in touch!
Far and Away, with T, K, J, & A 