(a plaque at the Church World Service guest house in Port-au-Prince, Haiti)

The following quote from Rumi seems at apt way to say "Au revoir and Bonsoir" as the Haiti exploratory group returns home to share our experiences, reflections, and learnings with you...

"If God said,

'Rumi, pay homage to everything

that has helped you

enter my

arms,'

there would not be one experience of my life,

not one thought, not one feeling,

not any act, I

would not

bow

to."

(Source: Love Poems From God, translated by Daniel Ladinsky)

From each of us--Colleen Kintner, John Walsh, and Sharon Graff--please accept our deepest gratitude for your prayerful and loving support.

Amazing!

Have an amazing journey Sharon and group

What are we seeing these past three days?

On this Sunday afternoon in a city where 300,000 (at least) died in the 12 January 2010 earthquake, there are 2 million homeless people, 1-1/2 million of those living in tents, and yet from where we now comfortably sit, we hear the cheering of a crowd of 1,000 or more locals gathered for a neighborhood soccer game. If that's not hope, I don't know what is...

Earlier today, while riding through the town of Port-au-Prince, we saw street vendors, enthusiastically selling homemade wooden art, colorful paintings, and a variety of crafts. Across the street were the remains of what had been a five-story supermarket, now folded in on itself. Even earlier this morning, while worshiping with our hosts--Jon, Florence, and their staff member Patrick--we saw hope as stories were shared about both the devastation and possibilities, the history and the future of this great nation.

Yesterday and the day before, we saw a school, an orphanage (where two of us fell in love with an unforgettable little Haitian girl, orphaned by the earthquake, who smiled at us with her whole face); we saw also a medical clinic being rebuilt, a community garden in a sustainable village, a temporary home for women amputees from the earthquake, and yet another school being enlarged to accommodate their growing children. In the second school--picture above--art is encouraged by the very well-educated founder and continuing sponsor, Marc Christophe.

After our full day of touring, talking, dreaming, riding in the heat and humidity (the air conditioner went out on the car!), of having our hearts and minds so filled, our hosts booked us into a lovely waterfront hotel on the north coast of Haiti. We gratefully swam in the warm, gentle waters of the Caribbean, and within an hour, were wading our way through the floodwaters of a tropical thunderstorm...what drama lies deep in this country!

Like Frederick the Fieldmouse (of children's literature fame) we are each collecting stories to share with you when we return...stories, I believe, that will lead us all to the cooperative ministry that Redlands UCC can do to assist in the rebuilding of this good country.

Bonjour!

Bonsoir!

Paradoxes and contrasts...this is the description of Haiti we keep hearing from our gracious hosts, Jon and Florence Robertson. And the view out our car window today confirmed the truth of their description. In the midst of abject poverty and devastation from the earthquake, there are beautiful bougainvillea trees blossoming. While people crowded around our car, begging for anything we might give, there were also well--dressed, uniformed, perfectly-groomed young schoolchildren, laughing their way home after a day of studies.

We arrived in Port-au-Prince just this morning, yet with a lovely meal and conversation, followed by an afternoon rest, it feels already like home. Our accommodations are palatial, and as John says, "embarrassingly so!" We are residing for this week in what was Florence's childhood summer home. It is up in the mountains out of Port-au-Prince, and though it is surrounded by urban growth, the crickets' song and the lush tropical plantings give a hint of the paradise that Jon and Florence remember about the Haiti they once knew.

Tomorrow we head out of the city to the coast and to explore some of the many programs sponsored and assisted by the Foundation Hope for Haiti (Fondation Espoir). This afternoon, as part of our introductory tour of the city, we also were honored to meet Hans Tippenhauer (a world-renowned engineer, husband of Nadege Robertson, and president of the foundation) while visiting the Foundation's offices. In this second-floor meeting room, a vibrant training program was in progress. Men and women from throughout the country had traveled there to be trained in sustainable practices that they, in turn, take back to their local communities. What spirit and zest was in that room! We look forward to seeing, hearing, and experiencing more signs of hope as this week unfolds.

All pilgrimages must come to an end, yet it appears as though the benefits and effects of this particular one will continue for some time. The above pictures reflect something of both the surprise--i.e. actually seeing puffins at arms length!--and the peacefulness that invited us each day into the presence of the Divine. A mountaintop experience? Not really, in the classic sense of that expression. These two weeks, for me at least, were more of a repeated message affirmed by the psalmist so many thousands of years ago: there is NO place to go where God is not present, or, stated more positively, God is with us...always...everywhere...offering peace and creativity. Surprise! Surprise!

For those of us pilgrims now making our way home, we thank you for your prayers, comments, and support of this first (annual?!) Redlands UCC Thin Places Pilgrimage. We cherish opportunities to share more of our pictures and stories with you upon our return...just ask!

Rainy Day at Iona

Today (Wednesday) is our first rainy day on Iona. This is the way it is usually. Many of our group are going on a boat outing. I hope they are successful in their quest. The wind and the rain...hummm. We are divided (all Abbey guests or residents) into 3 work groups. Otters have breakfast duty and chop vegetables. Puffins (I am one) have lunch duty and chores. I change toilet paper rolls and trash can liners, and dump trash to the outside bin. Then the Otters have dinner duty and different chores, like keeping the Common Room supplied with hot water, cups etc. There are two worship services a day which are quite meaningful. Some classes and alone time round out the day. Tonight is a Concert, or Talent Show. Our Redlands UCC group is singing "The Raggedy Band" by Jim Manley. Bill on the guitar, the rest of us voices. And a Raggedy Band we are!

The week is going by very quickly. It will be a wrench to say good bye. We have done this "good bye" piece several years ago when we moved to Seattle in 1983. The passage of 28 years doesn't make this good bye easier! Didn't think about that when we signed on.

Wish you were here. A spiritual experience it is albeit experienced differently by each one of us.

What a lovely place!

I'm glad others can put up pictures to give you the idea of what this place looks like. It changes from moment to moment depending on weather- goes from mist to rain and back again with some hous of sun and rainbows thrown in. For me there have been many highlights since we arrived on Iona Satursday evening.. It is so special to be living and working in the rebuilt Benedictine Abbey and know that others were living and working here way back in the Middle Ages. ( That' s how I get out of doing exact dates- after all, they are numbers.) There have been lots of "thin place moments" here, but one of the highlights, for me, has been getting to know people from all over and to discuss things like prayer and healing with them in the Chapter meetings. It is a great way to learn and stretch my understanding. Last night I went down to the ceilidh in the village hall which was a hoot! Nothing fancy and much like camp folk dancing, but I did get to see some of the Scottish dancesI have always heard about! I met one of the local women and got to learn a lot about kilts and local customs from her. I think kilts might not always be the best clothing for " a thin place"- could be drafty!

Picture of Abbey and Medieval Road

The Medieval Road between the Abbey & The Abbey (Monday in the Sun)
Cemetary

Tuesday at the Abbey

Many of our group are on the "Pilgrimage"; either a 3 mile or 7 mile exploration of the Isle of Iona. I cannot do this with the stints in my legs, but am glad for some let down time. Bill went on the 7 mile. I am glad the stroke did not affect his physical stamina. He has spent his life taking excellent care of his body and it is paying off, Worship has been lovely. The biggest surprise to me is the Iona Community. I was expecting Nuns and Monks. Instead there is a group of 20 somethings that are either resident staff or volunteers. They are on 2-3 year assignments. They are talented and reflective. I am amazed at the richness in the answers and possibilities they bring to my spiritual yearnings. I am curiously looking at my surprise and appreciation. I am discovering a "reverse ageism" I did not know I held. I knew I held certain thoughts and beliefs; but I thought they were truth and factual data. A shifting of position in me. This is a good thing.

This is a wonderful Pilgrimage for me. Getting re-acquainted with old friends and embracing new ones. This is a "Thin Place". Thanks go to Sharon, Kathie and Leif.

Thin places retrospect

It is a bit hard to describe visiting places that have such a vast history. In the U.S. We are awed by 200-300 year old places, on this journey in was not unusual to be in the rhelm of several thousand years old. There was, of course, the majesty of Stonehenge in all of its glory. Our three separate visits into the stones gave us perspective of spacing & height, light & shadow and amazement at the ancients that built it. It was also amazing to see the details such as axe & dagger markings from 1500 B.C.! In addition to the stones we experienced burial mounds, the cursus, Avebury stones, Woodhenge & Durrington Walls history & the Tor in Glastonbury. Moving through history we enjoyed castle ruins and churches that celebrate a 1000 year history. All are such testaments to our ancestors.
Then there were the people of today. Barb, Emma and I throughly enjoyed meals with our group of fellow travelers, hikes through many a pasture, car rides through beautiful "highways", and conversations that ranged from the ordinary to the extrodinary where we got to know each other better. In such time we too built upon our own history of experiences. What an amazing time we each had!

Not everything on pilgrimage is serious business...

Yesterday, while visiting Chalice Well, I had to, well, you know, use the facilities. To my surprise, and right next to the hand drying machine, this sign was posted. I can now honestly say that, thanks to the vigilance of the British Toilet Association, this is the first award winning loo I've ever seen. Uh, congrats? Sympathies? I'm baffled!

Train ride to Glasgow

Bill and Sharon at a special visit to the Stones.

Eleven of us are traveling by train to Glasgow from Salisbury. Turned in the rental car-an adventure. Barb, Heidi and Emma left us to begin a Caribbean Disney Cruise. The rest of us are headed to Iona Abbey. We spend the night in Glasgow and head to the Abbey tomorrow through Friday.

What an adventure. The stones and everything were wonderful and the fellow travelers on the pilgrimage are grand. We are having a lovely time ad enjoying ourselves as we learn much.

Well, fellow travelers, our group is traveling today by train, taxi, and foot from southern England to Scotland. Tomorrow we will add to our list of "Modes of Travel for Pilgrims"--by taking 2 ferries, 1 bus and as many footsteps as it takes to walk from the shoreline of Iona to our lodging in the Abbey. (Some of our amazing group may decide also to walk across the water from Mull to Iona...!).

Our time yesterday was spent in Glastonbury, thus completing the "bury tour"--Salisbury, Avebury, Glastonbury. This photo is of the Tor, with a 500' elevation and an ancient Cretan-style labyrinth that circumnavigates the hill. This has probably been used by pilgrims for centuries, is now overgrown, but did offer us glimpses of its former inspiration. The photo was taken from a beautiful garden known as Chalice Well, which offers free and delicious iron-rich water to all who are thirsty. It offered us pilgrims opportunity for gratitude, drinking in God's creativity, and many hours of contemplation...refreshing!

Our last day near Stonehenge ended with a final look at the Stones, a lovely dinner at our favorite local pub (just down the road from Sting's home ~ no, he didn't invite us in), and a boisterous party hosted by the ever-generous Sally and Paul, complete with mountains of clotted cream, drinks aplenty, and laughter all around :-)

I like pilgrimage... :-)

Pilgrims at Salisbury Cathedral's new baptismal font ~ What a day of seeing (again) the power and impact of communal efforts! In the early 1200s, it took the community of Salisbury only 38 years to build this amazingly detailed and intricately decorated cathedral. We toured -- first with a guide, then wandering on our own -- followed by a gentle Evensong which led us quietly to a boisterous sharing of a meal...kinda like the ups and downs of those original disciples. Throughout the day, there were repeated "thin moments" for me...from watching our group's varied responses to the heavy and traditional Christian overtones of the cathedral, to enjoying a light rain refreshing the earth, to the laughter and conversation with our shared meals, to pondering the placement of this brand new modern baptismal font right in the middle of a medieval cathedral. God, apparently, IS still speaking :-)

On our way to the Temple...

Seems that the single most-asked question about this World Heritage Site is, "What was its purpose?" Theories abound, from Stonehenge being an observatory, a megalithic-sized calendar, a cemetery, a place of contemplation, a meeting place, a healing center, a temple. Of that particular list, I favor the final two: a healing center and a temple.

Today, appropriately after an early morning Stonehenge access visit and worship with the congregation of a 1,030 year old Christian church in Amesbury, several of us pilgrims walked some of the immense and panoramic Stonehenge Environs. In the photo above, we are moving up the ancient "Avenue" toward the Temple in the distance. As the Salisbury Plain gracefully undulates, the Temple seems to play a game of hide-and-seek, first appearing on the horizon then disappearing from view. As we make our final ascent, those familiar Sarsen trilithons stand visible and majestic.

Thin Places? You bet! Thankfully, from morning till night...just like those Celts of old... :-)

The journey begins...

We are waiting at the Ramada for the rest of our group. The the journey begins.
RUCC Groupie

Do I ever love these Stones???!!! We are in our final preparations for the group of pilgrims from Redlands UCC to come together in Amesbury (just 2 miles from these giant beauties!) tomorrow evening. We'll begin with prayer, orientation, and settling in to our lovely B&B--home for the next week. Trusting that lessons will be learned, insights gathered, and friendships deepened.

For free, a bit of writing from my 2008 visit here, based loosely on the popularized series "everything I need to know about life I learned from..." :-)

"Weather the storm. Pass the test of time. Be true to yourself. Retain a bit of mystery. Stand tall, or lie recumbent, as necessary. Offer a shoulder to lean upon. Create your own sustainable eco-system. Shine in the sunlight. Persevere in the rain showers. Give others something to remember. Encourage many stories, creative ideas, and imaginative theories. Welcome all creatures. Keep close to one another, with spaces in your closeness. Invite dancing, laughter, tears, ceremony, and contemplation. Keep more of yourself apparent than hidden. Let the grass grow between your toes. Protect yourself with a few trusted friends. Cast long shadows and strike memorable silhouettes. Look inward to your center and outward to the world with equal vision. View life from many angles. Outlive your detractors. Be monumental. Accept help before falling flat on your face. Be ageless. Let interesting stuff grow on you."

Ummm...did I mention that I LOVE these Stones? But not as much as I love you :-)

OK...just one more quick thought, "liberated" (as it were) from one of my favorite liberation theologians...and so appropriate as we begin this Thin Places Pilgrimage together, friends!

Yesterday, while visiting the Stanton Drew Stone Circle, I was again reminded of the many ways that the so-called "sacred" and so-called "secular" live peacefully side by side...perhaps, they, it, we, are ALL sacred? Love letters written from God AND to God? But of course!

God's Love Letters

Ernesto Cardenal

All animals who lift their voices at dawn sing to God. The volcanoes and the clouds and the trees cry to us about God. The whole creation cries to us penetratingly with a great joy about the existence and the beauty and the love of God. The music roars it into our ears, the landscape calls it into our eyes. In all of nature we find God's initials, and all God's creatures are God's love letters to us.

All of nature burns with love created through love to light love in us. Nature is like a shadow of God, a reflection of God's beauty. The still, blue lake is a reflection of God. In every atom lives an image of the trinity, a figure of the trinitarian God. And also my own body is created to love God. Each of my cells is a hymn about the Creator and an ongoing declaration of love.

Source: To Live Is to Love

Arrived!

"In heaven there is no beer..." so goes the song... In Heathrow, there IS ice cream! This ice cream machine was one of the first sights to greet us when we landed in London...sweet!

Since arriving on Tuesday, my roommate and I have negotiated many roundabouts, survived driving from the airport (and riding with me driving!), settled in to our lovely B&B in Amesbury, visited the Stones once, had a cream tea (yummy!), and discovered an old stone circle that carries her family name of Stanton. Sweet!

Today offers more sweetness, as we shall visit the various sacred sights associated with the Avebury Stone Circle--a nearby sibling of Stonehenge--built about the same time, larger, and ever so much more accessible. Will post pics tonight!

Blessings from this holy land to yours :-)

Two sleeps away

Well, there ARE stories about the giants and the Stones...we will, no doubt, have some big fun amongst these gentle giants!

Taking you all with us, in heart...

Pilgrimage Prep

B&B rooms confirmed...check.

Camera batteries charged...check.

Final itinerary complete (as if Spirit could be scheduled!)...check (with a chuckle...)

Packed...half a check.

Completed list of things to do before jumping on the plane...not even close...

Brain and heart and soul already there...check, definitely!

I wonder if those two Irish guys in that boat had such a long and cumbersome list? (She asks rhetorically...!) Six days till LAX looms in my vision :-)

Please know that, as we embark on this first-ever Redlands UCC Thin Places Pilgrimage, we each hold each of you in our hearts, minds, and prayers. We are truly in this together!

On Pilgrimage ...almost!

In less than a month, our group of 14 enthusiastic pilgrims from RUCC will embark on the first "Thin Places Pilgrimage." We will stay a week near Stonehenge, visiting the Stones several times, and spending time at other local sacred sites. Following that, we will travel to the Isle of Iona in Scotland (pictured above) to live and work for a week in their established Christian community, learning more about Celtic Christianity from those who live and breathe it each day.

Borrowed from the book The Heart of Christianity, which itself borrowed from the long history of Celtic Spirituality, the term "thin places" refers to those locations and events where the Divine is especially present and palpable...where the "veil" between this world of matter and the world of the sacred is so thin we can glimpse God. This may occur in our own backyard, in a conversation with a friend, while reading or eating or walking or, yes, even while traveling to ancient pilgrimage sites!

Author Marcus Borg notes, "...this way of thinking sees God as 'right here' as well as 'more than right here'...[it] affirms that there are minimally two layers or dimensions of reality, the visible world of our ordinary experience and God, the sacred, Spirit...'Thin places' are places where these two levels of reality meet or intersect. They are places where the boundary between the two levels becomes very soft, porous, permeable. Thin places are places where the veil momentarily lifts, and we behold God, experience the one in whom we live, all around us and within us...[in thin places] we experience God shining through everything."

The idea of calling this trip a "pilgrimage" also originates in the Celtic tradition. There is an old Irish story about two guys setting off in a boat without oars, being swept ashore near Cornwall, escorted to the king and asked (rather incredulously), "What were you doing on the sea in a boat without oars?" The story concludes with their joy-filled response, "But for the love of God we set out on pilgrimage, knowing not where we would land...!" So will our group be setting out for the love of God!!! Though we do know our geographic destinations, i.e. Stonehenge and its environs, followed by the Isle of Iona off the northwest coast of Scotland, none of us really know where or how or when the Divine will become apparent.

As I reminded the pilgrimage group when we met together recently, this is the Thin Places PILGRIMAGE...not the Thin Places TEST :-) We will seek to be open, attentive, listening to our Still-Speaking God and will happily bring you along from the comfort of your living room. No oars needed ;-)

--Rev. Dr. Sharon R. Graff