Musings

As I rode a rickshaw to the store the other day, I got a closer view of the fog that has been wrapped around the city. I love the way it softens the harsh edges of the concrete buildings and helps to hide the thick layers of dust on the tree leaves that make them appear brown instead of green. It makes everything look a bit more surreal. I have always loved fog - unless I have to drive through it. I wish, however, that the fog in my soul would be as lovely as the fog outside. I haven't written much for a while, partly because I have been busy, partly because I haven't known what to write. I've had some really hard, sad days, yet I have had some really good moments.

I met the sister of my neighbor recently, when she brought a plate of pithas ( cakes made from rice flour, a specialty often made in the cool season) for us. We had coffee together and chatted a while. Then she invited me to come over the next day so she could make soup for me. So the next afternoon the boys and I went over for a while. While the boys played with their boy and played like boys do all around the world, I joined the banter of the sisters and their mother. After missing "family" it brought a smile to my face to listen to them. I was so impressed with the way they care for each other and help each other. They told me stories of when their father was still alive and they had Japanese neighbors. He was so concerned because their new neighbors were so far from family, who would they have to love? So he told them that he would be their father and they should come and eat together. The father's hospitality and kind heart has been passed on to the next generation. As I ate the hot soup that was prepared for me and sipped hot tea sweetened with ghur ( molasses made from date-tree syrup) they made plans to teach me how to cut and cook fish and we swapped stories about different kinds of food we eat. I walked across the hall to my home, feeling less of a stranger, and it felt good.

Another day a friend came over so I could teach her how to make chocolate chip cookies. She was much younger when we lived here before and her mother used to teach me how to make the most amazing Bengali food - not that I ever succeeded, but at least I got to see how she accomplished it! My friend is now a lovely young lady and we had a great time baking cookies and talking about life and politics. We had both stayed up the night before to watch President Obama's inauguration speech and she was so excited about it that she had called her friends and told them to watch it as well. She told me what struck her father was the fact that Obama sat on an ordinary chair, just like everyone else and how, here, the leaders think they need to have a really big fancy chair. They are hoping that leaders here learn something from his example.

I love seeing the things that stand out to people in other cultures. We have heard the hopes of people first hand, here in Bangladesh and on our recent trip to Malaysia, that things will change. From taxi drivers to fellow train passengers, they have shared hopes and concerns. One of the customs officers looked at our passports and said, "You're not from Alabama, you're from Obama!" He was pretty pleased with himself and we all laughed together. I heard the story of an African American woman whose family put money together so she could go to the inauguration speech. She was wearing a T-shirt with the names of her family, going back to the time of slavery. As people around heard her story, they told her that she was not alone, that they were with her. I feel hope when I hear stories like this, hope that the American people will truly love their neighbors. All around me, I see people with so little, giving so much more. Loving those they could easily hate. Welcoming those who are different, oh so different. Welcoming, not just as friends, but as family.


Family. A place of belonging. Safety. We all long for these things. And we all have something to give that can help others to feel these things. I love Reverend Joseph E Lowery's ending to the benediction at the Inauguration .

Help us to work for that day when the black will not be asked to give back, when brown can stick around, when yellow will be mellow, when the red man can get ahead, man, and when the white will embrace what is right.

Amen!