Kairos time
1.18.2005
Velankani, India
Two brilliantly white basilicas--one impressive and the larger one beyond impressive--bookend a long mall (think Washington DC). The basilicas honor two apparitions, one when Mary appeared to an Indian "sheep boy" (I'm assuming shepherd) and the other when Mary appeared to Portuguese sailors in trouble, and saved them by calming a troubled sea.
This is a place for pilgrim and tourist, usually teaming with both. After the last mass on Christmas Day (11:00 p.m.) thousands of both spent the night outside, next to the church. And then, the wave came--just before 9:00 a.m. the next morning.
The water took the path of least resistance, avoiding the Basilica on higher ground and rushing around it, gathering force and sweeping everything out to sea. Over 600 bodies were recovered, but it is estimated that thousands perished.
How very sad to see the pictures of the unidentified dead up on bulletin boards near the smaller basilica. Remember, many here that fateful morning are devout pilgrims from far away.
Pilgrims like S.C. Dsouza, from Bombay. He's here again, three weeks later "to give thanks to God for saving me and my family." He, his wife, and two children were on the beach that morning. "At 8:30 a.m. I took a picture. Then it came." All survived.
It is eerie to see such a place with so few people. The offerings center (one queue for silver offerings, others for other types) is closed. The kiosks nearest the beach are covered with blue and yellow tarps, but amazingly there are many stalls between the basilica and the sea open again for business (although no one seemed to be buying).
There was one group, all in orange and red. Think congregational youth gathering tee-shirts. There were a few, gathered by the shore, just looking. Grita, a lovely young woman, said she "came to pray and to see this place."
A couple of people searched under a tree to see if they could find something that remains. A woman showed me a shell decoration that she found.
There were two young women with shaved heads. Fred Rajan explained, "They prayed for something to happen...a job, a marriage, a baby...and promised to shave their heads in gratitude if their prayer is answered."
Mostly there is nothing left. "See those three palms? There was a huge restaurant there. This whole place was full of shops."
Everyone in the south of India (and perhaps all of India) knows this place and knows that here was the site of massive loss of life. Some point to this place with derision: "Mary couldn't save you." Others find their faith strengthened here, in tsunami's aftermath.
It was noted as we flew to India that we were flying east, and would fly east around the globe. It occurred to me that it was very appropriate to head east in Epiphany. Perhaps this tragedy and its aftermath compresses all the times of the church year into Kairos--God's time. It was Christmas when it happened. In Epiphany we seek the light of understanding. It is most certainly Lent...a journey of sorrow. This is a Lent that can't be rushed through. God is risen indeed, and Easter alleluias will ring out, and when they do it will be with the great joy experienced after great sorrow. And, finally but not least, it is a time of Pentecost. How we see the spirit of God move through God's churches and God's people.
God's spirit moved Kamueavalli Peter, a professor of Tamil studies at the Tamil Evangelical Lutheran Church college, to volunteer to administer the church orphanage's response, serving girls age 5--15 orphaned by the tsunami. "It's important to keep the girls safe," she said, keeping them from sexual exploitation. Peter had finished opening files for 90-some girls. Each one has a picture of the girl stapled to what's left of her home. If nothing is left, there is a picture of the ground where it stood.
God's spirit moved six women to volunteer to sew school uniforms at the tsunami response center across from New Jerusalem Church. Three women worked at peddle sewing machines and three doing the hand work. They had some tsunami damage themselves and wanted to help others.
God's spirit moved church women to organize feeding centers the next morning. God's spirit moves church people to organize the distribution of relief materials. Without exception, everyone is so very proud of the church's immediate, organized, and effective response.
Tsunami waves compressed the church year into a kairos time. God's spirit empowers and encourages God's people to do what is humanly impossible, to see Easter amid the wreckage of Lent.
Velankani, India
Two brilliantly white basilicas--one impressive and the larger one beyond impressive--bookend a long mall (think Washington DC). The basilicas honor two apparitions, one when Mary appeared to an Indian "sheep boy" (I'm assuming shepherd) and the other when Mary appeared to Portuguese sailors in trouble, and saved them by calming a troubled sea.
This is a place for pilgrim and tourist, usually teaming with both. After the last mass on Christmas Day (11:00 p.m.) thousands of both spent the night outside, next to the church. And then, the wave came--just before 9:00 a.m. the next morning.
The water took the path of least resistance, avoiding the Basilica on higher ground and rushing around it, gathering force and sweeping everything out to sea. Over 600 bodies were recovered, but it is estimated that thousands perished.
How very sad to see the pictures of the unidentified dead up on bulletin boards near the smaller basilica. Remember, many here that fateful morning are devout pilgrims from far away.
Pilgrims like S.C. Dsouza, from Bombay. He's here again, three weeks later "to give thanks to God for saving me and my family." He, his wife, and two children were on the beach that morning. "At 8:30 a.m. I took a picture. Then it came." All survived.
It is eerie to see such a place with so few people. The offerings center (one queue for silver offerings, others for other types) is closed. The kiosks nearest the beach are covered with blue and yellow tarps, but amazingly there are many stalls between the basilica and the sea open again for business (although no one seemed to be buying).
There was one group, all in orange and red. Think congregational youth gathering tee-shirts. There were a few, gathered by the shore, just looking. Grita, a lovely young woman, said she "came to pray and to see this place."
A couple of people searched under a tree to see if they could find something that remains. A woman showed me a shell decoration that she found.
There were two young women with shaved heads. Fred Rajan explained, "They prayed for something to happen...a job, a marriage, a baby...and promised to shave their heads in gratitude if their prayer is answered."
Mostly there is nothing left. "See those three palms? There was a huge restaurant there. This whole place was full of shops."
Everyone in the south of India (and perhaps all of India) knows this place and knows that here was the site of massive loss of life. Some point to this place with derision: "Mary couldn't save you." Others find their faith strengthened here, in tsunami's aftermath.
It was noted as we flew to India that we were flying east, and would fly east around the globe. It occurred to me that it was very appropriate to head east in Epiphany. Perhaps this tragedy and its aftermath compresses all the times of the church year into Kairos--God's time. It was Christmas when it happened. In Epiphany we seek the light of understanding. It is most certainly Lent...a journey of sorrow. This is a Lent that can't be rushed through. God is risen indeed, and Easter alleluias will ring out, and when they do it will be with the great joy experienced after great sorrow. And, finally but not least, it is a time of Pentecost. How we see the spirit of God move through God's churches and God's people.
God's spirit moved Kamueavalli Peter, a professor of Tamil studies at the Tamil Evangelical Lutheran Church college, to volunteer to administer the church orphanage's response, serving girls age 5--15 orphaned by the tsunami. "It's important to keep the girls safe," she said, keeping them from sexual exploitation. Peter had finished opening files for 90-some girls. Each one has a picture of the girl stapled to what's left of her home. If nothing is left, there is a picture of the ground where it stood.
God's spirit moved six women to volunteer to sew school uniforms at the tsunami response center across from New Jerusalem Church. Three women worked at peddle sewing machines and three doing the hand work. They had some tsunami damage themselves and wanted to help others.
God's spirit moved church women to organize feeding centers the next morning. God's spirit moves church people to organize the distribution of relief materials. Without exception, everyone is so very proud of the church's immediate, organized, and effective response.
Tsunami waves compressed the church year into a kairos time. God's spirit empowers and encourages God's people to do what is humanly impossible, to see Easter amid the wreckage of Lent.
posted by Sue-s | 1:02 PM
<< Home