A Gift of Shadows and Light

After a week of below-freezing temperatures thanks to the latest "polar vortex", when it barely rose above 20 degrees for days, I was greeted on this late November morning with an unexpected gift... an unseasonably warm, positively balmy day.  The National Weather Service had forecast it so it wasn't completely unexpected but I was struck nonetheless when I stepped outside not long after dawn.

The warm breeze filled the air with the sweet, fresh scent of grass, wet from an overnight rain.  The sun was shining brightly as ragged and tattered remnants of rain clouds raced low and furiously across the sky like they had somewhere important to be and were already horribly late.  On my way to work, I frequently curse the fact that my daily commute often has me driving into the rising or setting sun, especially at this time of year when the sun is low in the sky.  But I didn't mind it today.  With the speeding clouds outpacing me as I drove along, I watched the splendorous play of light and shadow rolling over the sprawling countryside of recently harvested fields and lush green grass not yet gone brown and dormant for the coming winter.  Occasionally the sun illuminated the wet road in such a way that it appeared as a golden ribbon unwinding before me.

But for all of that, the unexpected blessing I received today was not the warmth, the sun or the rain... It was the gift of a momentary feeling of peace.  It is something I often find very elusive and in short supply at this time of year, when darkness reigns over light.

It took me years to realize that I suffer from seasonal depression. When everyone around me is reveling in the glorious spectacle of Autumn, my only thoughts are of the waning hours of daylight and the colder weather ahead.  In the midst of this frenetic season, I frequently find myself stressed beyond belief, overwhelmed by obligations at work and home, struggling to decide where to turn first and wondering how and when it will all get done. Moving to a milder clime has helped me to better deal with this annual challenge. Making an effort to celebrate Yule, the Winter Solstice has also helped.  It's the literal and proverbial light at the end of my long, dark tunnel.

So perhaps that is why the bright sun, the dark racing clouds and the battle between shadows and light so captured my attention today.  It reminded me of my own struggle caught between dark and light and helped me move beyond it for a little while.

But even as I rejoiced at this unanticipated offering, I knew it was only a brief respite. Obligations still demand attention.  The days continue to wane, at least for a few more weeks or so. The warm breeze will quickly surrender to the next cold blast of winter; snow is already forecast the day after tomorrow.  Like the constantly shifting weather, my fleeting feeling of peace is both ephemeral and eternal, ever changing and elusory yet still renewing.  It's easy to lose sight of that at times and I am grateful for today's reminder to pause, to take a deep breath and to simply...be. 

And perhaps at the end of the day, that is the most precious gift of all.

Hopi VIM - Embracing Our Inner Gumby...

"God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference."

For a number of years now, Hopi VIM's unofficial mascot has been Gumby, that distinctive green, perennially optimistic, rubbery fellow most of us of a certain age remember fondly and vividly from childhood.  

Gumby is a reminder to all of us that no matter how much planning goes into a mission trip, no matter what happens (or doesn't happen), this is God's mission trip, not ours and we are in His hands.  Many times we have no idea what projects we will be working on until we get here.  Things can change day by day, hour by hour and sometimes even minute by minute.  The agenda is usually a moving target.  Gumby reminds us to be flexible, to go with the flow, to accept what comes, even if it was not what we had planned and invariably we will be blessed with unexpected joys we couldn't have planned if we tried.

Every trip has had its ups and downs but if ever we needed to embrace our inner Gumby, it is today.

Because of the 2 hour drive from Hopi to Flagstaff, everyone was up before the sun again this morning. There were no wandering sheep or alpacas to delay us this time and we made it to Flag safely and with plenty of time to spare.  The first "wrinkle" developed once we were all checked in and through TSA security.  

Shortly before boarding our little commuter plane for Phoenix, the airline announced it was looking for approximately 16 folks to voluntarily give up their seats in exchange for a travel voucher good for a discount on future travel. Asking that large a number of people to willingly give up their seats is highly unusual and although there were a few raised eyebrows and questioning looks exchanged, we did not volunteer and the airline did not explain the reason for their request.  It hardly seemed possible that our flight was overbooked considering there is only one airline flying about a dozen flights into and out of Flag daily and it is very easy to catch the next flight if need be.

Apparently there were not enough volunteers.  Not long after, an airline employee approached and told us our group was being bumped from the flight because of "weather" which seemed ludicrous considering it was a gorgeous day and the flight was taking off anyway.  The flight to Phoenix is barely 30 minutes long but we did barely get out of Phoenix last week before a huge dust storm came up after we left for Flag.  

It turned out that "weather" was the short explanation.  The longer, geeky reason was that due to a complicated combination of heat, altitude, barometric pressure and weight restrictions, the 50 seat airplane could not take off with its full compliment of passengers.

However the airline employee assured us they would shuttle all of us down to Phoenix in plenty of time to make our connection to BWI and we would each get a voucher.  Since we had a rather long layover in Phoenix and they were hardly giving us a choice anyway, we agreed.  But things figuratively and literally started going south from there.

The airline reassured us our baggage would go onto Phoenix without us and be checked through to BWI but we had to exit the gate area and go back to the ticket counter.  It took them a while to figure out how to process the vouchers since most of us had been booked as a group and then we learned that the 20 person shuttle was broken.  The team and the 6 other people who were bumped or voluntarily left the scheduled flight were divided between a small taxi van and 2 taxi cabs.  

Thankfully the road to Phoenix is all downhill and the trip down takes less time than the trip in the opposite direction.  We made good time although the 2 hour trip was uncomfortable for the 3 of us crammed into the back seat of the taxi and the driver kept turning off the A/C on the few uphill inclines along the way to keep the taxi engine from overheating in the 100+ degree heat!

Once we arrived at the Phoenix airport and successfully checked through security again, we found our departure gate and took turns looking for lunch.  When it came time for boarding, the 2nd hiccup occurred.  

At no point in this comedy of errors did the airline tell us we had to check in again at the gate.  In fact, the agent back in Flag specifically told us all we had to do was go through security again and get to the gate in time for departure.  Since we already had boarding passes for the next leg and most of us were assigned boarding in the final "zone" we didn't realize we had a problem until it was too late.  Because we were not physically "on" the flight from Flag and because we had failed to check in once we got to the gate in Phoenix, our seats had been given away to standby passengers!

Three of our team members made it onto the flight to BWI, also as standby.  The rest of us watched incredulously as they closed the gate while the harried gate agent frantically tried to sort out what had happened.  The next thing we knew the plane had taken off without most of us, leaving us to wonder what would happen next.

After about 20 minutes and several frantic calls home to relatives, the frazzled and very apologetic gate agent came over and reluctantly spelled out our fate.  The next and last flight on our airline to BWI doesn't leave until 11:30 this evening and is also booked solid.  The best they could do for us was to get us a flight to Atlanta on another airline with a connection to BWI.  However the flight to Atlanta itself doesn't depart until 11:45 at night with a 2 1/2 layover there before our final flight to BWI.  We will be arriving home 12 hours later than expected.  

They gave each of us $10 vouchers to purchase food although we had to choose a vendor within the airline's assigned concourses.  After the shock and frustration wore off there was plenty of hilarity over dinner.  Don't tell anyone but Gumby thoroughly enjoyed a well deserved margarita because even Gumby has his limits.  We also had to find our way out of one terminal and to another by shuttle, check in with the other airline and go through security yet again.  

So here we sit, waiting at our new gate for an agent to show up and assign us seats on their flight to Atlanta.  Once in Atlanta we will have to take our chances and will hopefully also be assigned seats to BWI. 

The sun has gone down in Phoenix.  Things at the airport here are winding down, the concourses are emptying, the food stalls and newsstands are closing, a quiet hush is settling over all.  Thoughts of a certain YouTube video, of a guy dancing around an empty airport in the middle of the night to the tune of "All By Myself", have come to mind more than once.  By this time the rest of the team has hopefully touched down safely in Baltimore and are on their way home and to a well earned rest.  

In the grand scheme of things this is no more than a speed bump, a very frustrating inconvenience but still only an inconvenience nonetheless.   Today's adventures in airline travel will not matter a week or even a day from now once we are safely home.  But if there is something to be learned in this, perhaps it is a lesson in humility and how much of our lives is beyond our control.  Patience is a virtue, there is strength to be found in facing adversity and a willow survives the storm by bending in the wind.  

It's been a long day but the adventure isn't quite over just yet as we wait quietly and patiently while trying to find and embrace our inner Gumby...

Hopi VIM: Labors of Love

"Do all the good you can.  By all the means you can.  In all the ways you can. In all the places you can.  At all the times you can.  To all the people you can.  As long as ever you can."  

- John Wesley

You can tell the end of our week is near.  The team is starting to feel more of their aches and pains and although enthusiasm has not waned, energy levels are flagging a bit.  I think almost everyone tried to catch a nap after lunch.

VBS is turning out to be a great hit with the kids and we have received a lot of compliments and positive feedback from their parents.  Although some children have not attended VBS every day, we have 34 children of various ages registered and have averaged 26-29 kids attending the last 2 days.  Today "God Loves Oceans" and activities included making and decorating crosses with sea shells and making and eating Gummy/Swedish fish in "oceans" of bright blue Jell-O, capped with whipped cream "waves".  The whipped cream was especially a hit and there were plenty of calls for more all around when the "waves" mysteriously disappeared.  Of course the whipped cream mustaches many of the children were sporting gave us a clue as to where the "waves" disappeared to!

With Dion's help, 3/4s of the primary school building has been painted and we're not sure we will get to finish with only one day left.  In spite of a promising and cloudy sunrise, the clouds quickly disappeared and we enjoyed the warmest day so far during our stay here in Hopi.  There was still a light breeze most of the morning but it made painting a bit more difficult and tiring.  The VBS team is likewise feeling the heat and exhaustion that goes with it.  

Remaining mindful of the team's dwindling energy levels, there was no real work planned for this afternoon so a few folks went back to the Hopi Cultural Center to visit the small museum there while a few others rode back out to KUYI to visit and say our goodbyes.  Before we left, Richard asked us to record a "drop in" - the 4 of us reciting the obligatory message required by law where a radio station broadcasts its call sign and frequency and we also got to include a "shout out" to the kids attending VBS - Hopi VIM's 15 seconds of fame!

Rain came briefly to the Mesas in a few spot showers as we rode back and once we returned to HMS, we enjoyed a wonderful evening of fellowship, conversation and a delicious meal of Hopi tacos, provided by our friends, Garyth and his wife and mother-in-law.  We met Garyth for the first time last year and it is always so good to reunite with friends when we return to Hopi. Garyth shared with us his Christian walk of faith and how he personally tries to incorporate his traditional Hopi and Tewa values with his love of Jesus Christ.

The Tewa people are distinct from Hopi people and came to the First Mesa area in the 1600s during the Pueblo Revolts.  They fought alongside the Hopi and were welcomed for their support.  Generally the Tewa live in one of the villages on First Mesa and have their own language but many Hopi now trace their ancestry to both Hopi and Tewa.

On our final day in Hopi, Norm, Dion and I along with Kuwon who volunteered to help us, managed to get within squeaking distance of finishing the painting of the primary building of the school.  Norm and I had to quit at lunchtime in order to go pack and then help prepare for the final community dinner but Dion finished it shortly after.  Thane, his wife Michelle, son Giovanni and Kristen, one of the teachers, left for a conference and recertification shortly after we arrived last Saturday so they will be surprised when they get back but we're sorry we won't get a chance to see them again and say goodbye before we leave.

The rest of the team wrapped up a week of VBS with "God Loves All of Us" and prepared the kids for the presentation for their parents and families at dinner tonight.  It was obvious that we have made an impression based on the multitude of hugs and love all around.  Jill was even presented with a beautiful hand written note from one little lady that moved the whole team to tears later.

Before we setup and prepared for dinner, we shared lunch with our friend, Rowena, who we met in 2010 at the Hopi Foundation.  Rowena is Navajo (Din'eh) and although she no longer works at HF, she always tries to meet up with us in Hopi or in Flagstaff while we're here. It was great to see her again and discuss possibilities of extending part of our annual mission to White Cone, the Navajo community in which she lives.  There is a small Senior Center there that could use volunteer help, perhaps even remotely by setting up a web site or Facebook page.

There was a great turnout at dinner, with parents and kids streaming in and sharing a delicious dinner cooked by Bill, of pasta salad, baked chicken, veggies and dip, with melon and brownies for dessert.  Bill has done an incredible job keeping us well fed, planning meals and cooking up enough food to feed us and our various guests throughout the week.  We had a wonderful time chatting with friends, new and old.  Our oldest friends, Felicia, Wayne and 2 of their children, Gregory and Janice, came by to share dinner, laughter and love before we must head for home.

It's hard to believe our time here is almost over.  We've experienced so much and have been so blessed every step of the way, that it is very hard to leave.  But we will leave parts of our hearts behind in Hopi when we go.

Hopi VIM: VBS, Painting & Laughter

Hopi VIM Vacation Bible School has been an unqualified success.  After a slow start on Monday with kids trickling in throughout the morning, we ended up with 19 youth covering a wide range of ages.  The Hopi Mission School has allowed us the use of their school bus and bus driver, Dave and he picks up kids at scheduled stops all along the highway from First Mesa to Third Mesa then drops them off again afterward.  Tuesday welcomed about 21 youth, not all of them the same as the day before, as the lesson focused around "God Loves Plants".  

The wide variety of ages has been a bit challenging to work with as the older kids tend to finish the various activities ahead of the younger ones.  It is also sometimes difficult to keep youthful enthusiasm in check but the day's snack project, "Worms in Dirt" (Gummy worms in chocolate pudding cups with crushed Oreo cookie "dirt") was a great hit with everyone.  The music lesson using "Boom Whackers" was also popular.  However, some misadventures in crafting led the team to convene that evening to regroup and brainstorm on alternative craft ideas using the supplies at hand.  You can tell exhaustion is setting in and folks are starting to "hit the wall" though... the brainstorming session quickly dissolved into something of a collective giggle fit.  Hilarity ensued and Norm & Bill, the only men on the team this year quickly made themselves scarce in order to escape the hysterical laughter coming from the common room.

While most of the team were wrangling gummy worms and dealing with google eyes and pom pom noses unexpectedly falling off paper bag hand puppets, Norm and I resumed our painting accompanied by 2 of the school's resident "Rez dogs", Piki and Duma.  They have both grown considerably over the last couple of years but are gentle souls, content to sit in the shade and watch us work.   The meadowlark is also still keeping us company, mainly because we have been painting under the tree where she's nesting and caring for her babies.  

After lunch, while the other half of the team went on their afternoon tour of the Mesas with our friends Becca and Merle, the rest of us drove out to Hopi public radio station KUYI to volunteer there for a few hours.  While listening to the radio station in the car on the way there, we were surprised to hear our friend Thomas interviewing 3 ladies from Japan!  One of the ladies, Aya-san, owns a new art gallery in Tokyo called "Sun and Rain" and she and a coworker came to Hopi looking to connect with various Hopi artisans with the hopes of showcasing and selling their work and introducing Hopi to the Japanese people.

We arrived after the interview concluded but while the ladies were still at KUYI getting last minute pictures and saying final goodbyes.  I got to practice my very limited and rusty Japanese as I offered to take their picture with Richard and Thomas and we chatted for a few minutes through their translator and exchanged email and Facebook information. After that, Richard and Thomas put us to work, cataloging, labeling, and filing music CDs in their extensive and rather eclectic music library.  It is always a pleasure to go out to the station, visit with everyone and do a little light work.  KUYI may seem an odd choice for a mission project but they perform an invaluable service to all of Hopiland and a good portion of the Navajo Nation (Din'eh) as well and helping out for a few hours here and there while we're here is our way of serving all of Hopi albeit indirectly.

On Wednesday, VBS hosted 29 youth.  Word is getting around and more kids trickle in every day.  We had a good laugh right off the bat this morning when Dion, the school's maintenance and facilities manager, admitted that he'd gotten our VBS theme song, "God's Amazing Love" stuck in his head thanks to the music CDs Jill sent home with the kids the first day.  His kids have been playing it constantly and he even caught himself singing it in the shower this morning!

The craft malfunctions from yesterday have led the team to regroup and the intended painted rainbow wind chimes simply became hanging painted rainbows.  Likewise, the intended craft/snack of decorating star shaped sugar cookies (for "God Loves Earth & Sky") became stars and "moons" when half of the star shaped cookies ended up as round sugar blobs in the baking process.  We flat landers forget to follow the high altitude baking instructions when we come up here!

My good friend Leon stopped by and had lunch with us after VBS wrapped up for the day.  Leon and I met on Hopi VIM's 3rd trip out when he was overseeing the HMS computer lab at the time.  A severe thunderstorm had knocked out the school's entire network a week before our arrival and this computer geek found herself serving in mission by spending the entire week in the lab with Leon, working to get things back up before the new school year started again.

No trip to Hopi is complete without a little shopping so after lunch we hit the highway and took the opportunity to visit the Hopi artists at the Hopi Cultural Center and one of our favorite shops, Tsakurshovi, better known as the "Don't Worry, Be Hopi" shop.  Then it was onto the Hopi Health Care Center for a tour by our friend and HHCC Volunteer Program Coordinator, Lisa.

The 14 year old HHCC is a thoroughly modern and incredibly beautiful facility serving Hopi for primary medical care and emergency services as well as hosting a variety of other beneficial social services.  The architecture of the building and almost every element within has been carefully considered, designed and constructed to be as welcoming and comforting as possible for the people it serves.  From the native stone walls, to the sweeping, sunlit interior, this hospital is a work of art as well as state of the art yet still remains respectful of traditional Hopi medicine practices while at the same time supplying much needed western medicine services.  Lisa is an excellent tour guide and although I have been on the tour several times, I learn something new every time.

Later that evening Lisa, her husband Troy and their eldest daughter, Lauryn joined us for dinner at our home away from home.  We had a great evening of fun, laughter and exchanging stories and it will be a night we will all treasure and remember for years to come.

Hopi VIM: One Body, One Spirit

"The body is a unit, though it is of many parts... So it is with Christ."

1 Corinthians 12:12

After a welcome good night's sleep, the team rose fairly early on Sunday.  Unless you are downright comatose, it's hard to sleep in here in Hopi.  At this time of year, the sun rises early and with so much sky visible, it gets light way before Dawa peeks his head over Third Mesa.  But whether you are a night owl or an early riser, it is worth it to get up to witness the spectacular dawns that range from radiant golden skies to salmon kissed clouds against a backdrop of brilliant turquoise.  

It has become something of a tradition for Hopi VIM to start Sunday with a hearty breakfast of blue corn pancakes at the Hopi Cultural Center and this year was no exception.  In spite of the distinctive blue color they are incredibly delicious and filling.  We never walk away hungry.  

After breakfast we headed off to Sunday worship.  Teams in past years have visited a number of churches on and off Hopi.  The Mennonites, Mormons, Assembly of God and Baptists all have a presence on the reservation along with several non-denominational Bible churches.  There is no United Methodist church in Hopi and until today we have always believed that Hopi VIM was our denomination's only representatives in Hopi.  Based on a recommendation from some of the HMS teachers, we decided to visit First Mesa Baptist Church in Polacca this year and discovered that its pastor, Taeil Lim, comes from the Korean Methodist Church!  

We were greeted warmly with open arms, enjoyed a very uplifting service and shared Communion and a light lunch afterward.  The service was a beautiful mix of Baptist and Methodist traditions, liberally sprinkled with hymns sung in English and Hopi.  The Hopi language hymnal, Lomatuawh Tatawi, contains many recognizable old favorites, translated phonetically into Hopi so it was easy to sing along for the most part.  Singing "How Great Thou Art" in Hopi puts a lump in my throat every time.  We parted with many new friends and feeling especially refreshed and blessed.

The rest of the afternoon was spent in the HMS kitchen, preparing food for the first of 2 community dinners.  This is our way of welcoming our Hopi neighbors into our home away from home, introducing ourselves, greeting friends new and old and enjoying each other's company for a while.  We have always been warmly welcomed into everyone's home during our visits here and this is also a way for us to return the favor.

Monday was our first day of VBS and project work.  After setting up the community room in the school for VBS, most of the team welcomed the kids as they trickled in throughout the morning and quickly got everyone engaged in a variety of activities revolving around the the central theme - "God's Amazing Love".  Each day will focus on a different aspect of God's love for us shown through the gift of our beautiful planet.  Today "God Loves Animals" and in additional to sharing songs and snacks, activities included painting a wooden articulated lizard and making "fruit snakes" out of strawberries, bananas, grapes and cable zip ties.  :-)

Since the rest of the team had the kids well occupied, Norm and I began painting the exterior of one of the school buildings which has gotten a bit weather-beaten over the years, fortunately starting on a short section that remained in the shade all morning!  It is heartening to see evidence of our past visits... the small tree we transplanted that first year in 2006 and feared would not survive is now taller than I am.  The irises we transplanted alongside the gymnasium are likewise thriving and I smile every time I walk by the parking lot and see the stones still lining the sidewalk that we moved and arranged on our first visit 8 years ago.  It doesn't seem that long ago.

The weather has been exceptionally nice so far.  Temperatures have ranged from mid-80s to mid-90s with a pleasant breeze most of the day.  There have been enough clouds to keep things reasonably comfortable although the sun is still strong and we have to remember to really slather on the sunscreen and remain hydrated.  One team member each year is designated the "Water Watcher" and is responsible for nagging everyone to keep drinking.  And although it has only rained briefly once since we arrived, there have been scattered rains around the Mesas and it's enough to cool down the evenings due to the rapid evaporation.  Today it was cooler here than back home if only by a couple of degrees but the lack of humidity is the real blessing.  All of the jokes about the dry heat are true.

After lunch, half of the team was treated to an extended tour of the area, from Polacca, Tewa and Hano villages on and around First Mesa in the east, through Sipaulovi and Mishungnovi and Shungopavi on Second Mesa, to Old Oriabi, Hotevilla and Bacavi on Third Mesa in the west.  We also had the opportunity to speak directly to several Hopi artisans about kachina doll carving and pottery making.

After dinner every evening, the team gathers to discuss the events of the day, to share where we have each seen God in our daily journey and to talk about the "pocket reflections" Jill distributes each morning.  This is also an opportunity for everyone to share their joys and concerns, as well as plan for the following day before everyone heads to bed and a well earned rest.

Hopi VIM: Acclimating,Sightseeing & Supply Shopping

After a long, tiring day of travel, the 2014 Hopi Volunteers in Mission team spent the next day and a half in and around Flagstaff getting acclimated to the drier climate and altitude.  When you live close to sea level, the effects from change in altitude are often not readily apparent at first so we are sensitive to team members' health and energy levels and take the extra time to allow everyone to adjust. The time is well spent however and we took advantage of the various opportunities in "Flag" to introduce everyone to Hopi culture and the geological and anthropological history of the area.  On Friday, we visited Wupatki, Sunset Crater and Walnut Canyon National Parks/Monuments.

Wupatki contains several well preserved ruins that date back to about 1100 years ago where ancient pueblo peoples, the Anasazi and Sinagua lived and dry farmed over the course of several centuries before leaving the area.  The centerpiece of the park is the Wupaki Pueblo which was likely a gathering site and contains a ball court and ceremonial kiva-like structure.

While the Sinagua and Anasazi inhabited the area, they were witness to the eruption of Sunset volcano nearby and numerous other cinder cones in the area that were active between 900 and 1100 years ago.  For a time the fallen volcanic cinders and ash aided the ancient peoples in their farming by helping to retain precious moisture in the soils.  Sunset Crater is a particularly large, well formed cinder cone crowned by a rusty reddish mantle of cinders which look particularly striking when lit by the setting sun and which also led to its naming.

The geological centerpiece of the area however is the San Francisco Peaks which dominate the view from almost anywhere in the vicinity.  On a clear day they can even be seen from Hopi.  The Peaks are actually one ancient strato-volcano (similar to Mt Fuji in Japan) which suffered a catastrophic explosive event similar to Mt. St. Helens.  Because they are the highest landforms around, they often create their own weather and it is not uncommon to see clouds or rain hovering around the summits while the rest of the area enjoys the bright sunshine.  The Peaks are also especially sacred to the Hopis because the katsinas (kachinas) reside here for half of the year between the end of July and late January or early February.

Walnut Canyon is a beautiful earth crack type canyon with several hiking trails.  We stuck to the Rim Trail but for the hale and hearty and more adventurous folks there is also a trail that descends 185 feet into the canyon itself and is best challenged by those younger and in better shape than I am!

On Saturday morning, the team visited the Museum of Northern Arizona.  This lovely, rustic museum, nestled in a forested setting near the base of the San Francisco Peaks, is the home to a beautiful collection of Native American artifacts and craft items from the various tribes in the area and has an especially nice collection of Hopi items.  Since we deliberately spend time in Flag to acclimatize ourselves, the MoNA is a very nice way to introduce new team members to Hopi culture.  

Every year over the 1st weekend in July, the museum hosts the Hopi Festival which features Hopi crafts of pottery, basket weaving, Hopi inlay silver jewelry, painting and kachina carving.  Hopi public radio KUYI broadcasts from the festival and Hopi dancers, musicians and singers perform.  This is also a great opportunity to sample traditional Hopi foods such as Hopi tacos, piki bread and Noq'uivi (a stew made with beef, pork or lamb and hominy in a broth) served with Hopi fry bread.  For those of us who have been to Hopi before, this is also the chance to see and visit many of the friends we've made over the years.  It is always a heart-warming reunion and we will visit with many of them again over the course of the week.

After a quick lunch at the museum, the team split up to go shopping for groceries and project supplies.  Because Hopi is so remote, we must bring in most of what we'll need while we're there although we'll visit the small grocery and gas station in Kykotsmovi for odd and ends during the week.

Once the team reunited after shopping, we caravanned the 2 hours to Hopi which is surrounded entirely by the Navajo Nation.  Climbing onto the Colorado Plateau, we quickly left behind the lovely Ponderosa pine forests surrounding Flag but the vistas were no less striking as we drove through Leupp and past more cinder cones, low table-top mesas and the red rock Kachina Buttes.  Leupp is little more than a crossroads in the middle of nowhere but we ran into a bit of a traffic jam when everyone stopped to avoid hitting a stray alpaca standing in the middle of the road!  Once he moseyed to the shoulder, we stopped dead again when 2 stray sheep appeared suddenly, following the alpaca!  It wasn't until later that evening that we learned that some of the Navajo have recently been training alpaca to herd their sheep.

As an interesting side note, most of Arizona does not observe Daylight Savings Time.  The only exception is the Navajo Nation.  So we leapt ahead an hour and fell back again during the 2 hour drive.  Our cell phones have become a bit confused and depending on whether they pick up a distant cell tower in Navajo country or one closer in Hopi, the time can change back and forth in the space of a few minutes.

When we finally arrived at the Hopi Mission School it was a relief and a blessing to be greeted by HMS principal, Thane Epefanio.  Hospitalized in Flagstaff the week before for a severe and dangerous infection, he was only released a few days before.  Once we unloaded and got settled, Thane, his wife Michelle, son Giovani and Kristen, one of the school's teachers, joined us for dinner at the Hopi Cultural Center on Second Mesa where we got to sample more traditional Hopi foods, served by Tiffany wearing traditional Hopi dress, with her hair arranged in the unique squash blossom style of a young woman.

During dinner we were blessed with a brief but heavy rain.  The Hopis are expert arid/dry farmers and plant several different varieties of corn, squash, and melons but sadly the peach, apricot orchards common several generations ago have mostly disappeared. The rainy season has come early this year which is a tremendous blessing but Hopiland can always use more.  The area is still suffering from climate change and a prolonged drought and the tribal government has prohibited open fires until further notice.

After another long productive but tiring day, everyone turned in early but we're looking forward to Sunday worship at one of the local churches in Hopi and hosting our first of two dinners for the community while we're here.

The World from 30,000 Feet

I love to fly, especially if the weather is good.  I don't even mind the bumpy, turbulent flights as long as I have a window seat because whether fair or foul, the view through that 12" by 9" triple paned jet window is often mesmerizing.

The world looks very different from that altitude.  You can begin to truly sense how big our planet is when it is stretched out beneath you, mile upon mile without apparent end.  The geologist side of me appreciates the geomorphology passing by.  Geomorphology is just a fancy word for the landforms and the study of the enormous natural forces at work that create them over eons.  I love seeing the sorts of things I studied so long ago in college that often cannot be fully comprehended until you see them from above.  

Crossing the country in a jet on a clear day is special treat.  The long, verdant green rolling hills of the Appalachian Mountains gradually give way to the Great Plains where the patchwork quilt of farmland, stitched together by roads and highways is occasionally embellished by the delicate, lacy dendritic patterns of streams and rivers.  Every now and then passing cities and towns appear like fancy, flower-like knots holding it all together.  The Mississippi River meanders this way and that on her slow journey to the Gulf of Mexico, meander scars and oxbow lakes testifying to her constantly shifting course.  

When you get farther west, it's amazing how quickly the character of the passing landscape changes.  The Rocky Mountains erupt from the plains as though they grew there overnight and the flat land begins to appear like a crinkled up piece of paper where it has been eroded away into canyons and rugged valleys.  Flying across the southwestern United States, the transition is especially dramatic.  Somewhere over New Mexico, the bright green of irrigated farmland suddenly gives way to myriad shades of red and brown.  Stubborn rock layers stab up through the flat land like the bleached white bones of fallen cattle in a Georgia O'Keefe painting.  The view is startling.

The panorama above is no less enthralling at times.  At 30,000 to 40,000 feet, you're flying at the top of the troposphere.  The bulk of our fragile envelope of air is beneath you and you can actually see it.  Look to the horizon and you can see where the hazy, heavier layer ends. Above you in the stratosphere, the air thins considerably and the deep blue sky reflects that.  

When the weather isn't quite so clear, I love watching the clouds, especially if they are piled up in mountains of cottony fluff.  For a white-knuckled flier, the attendant turbulence is a nightmare but my meteorologist side is literally and figuratively on Cloud Nine.  I love when the plane soars between the towering pillars and feathery canyons that look so substantial I sometimes imagine I could just step out and walk on them. 

I even love night flights if the weather is clear when you can see roads and cities laid out below you like jeweled necklaces on a black velvet pallet.  Witnessing a thunderstorm on a night flight and from a safe distance is an awe inspiring spectacle like no other.  You're witnessing the raw power of the dynamic and endlessly restless atmosphere that protects us.

However even from that height, it's also possible to see the scars we have left upon the land.  Houses are barely more than tiny motes, cars and people completely invisible.  But irrigated patches and crop circles testify to our presence here.  Wind turbines appear as white tooth picks, quarries as gaping wounds.  We're not quite high enough to not notice the effects we have on our home in the cosmos.

A long flight across country can be often be tedious.  You are essentially held captive in a hollow tube with little leg room and few amenities.  But as long as I have a window seat and decent flying weather it is also a time for me to reflect, a time to savor, a chance to allow myself to feel the awe and reverence for this incredible gift.  And to appreciate and feel gratitude for this fragile world and the One who created it. 

Finding Altars in the World

"The last place people look <for the spiritual life> is right under their feet, in the every day activities, accidents and encounters in their lives."

"An Altar in the World: A Geography of Faith"  - Barbara Brown Taylor

Coming from a Catholic upbringing where religious study was limited to mandatory Religion classes in elementary and high school, the thought of joining an adult Sunday school class after I became United Methodist was an alien concept to me.  But after a 34-week Disciple Bible study, I began to understand how uplifting, sustaining and nourishing it can be to be part of a circle of faith and a faith community at large.  My husband and I joined a class soon after the Bible study concluded and have been members for nearly 20 years now. 

By most standards, our class is a little eclectic.  Although we have actually studied Scripture on occasion, we prefer to read and discuss more topical books on spirituality and faith and our current book of study led to the title of this blog in general and this post in particular; Barbara Brown Taylor's, "An Altar in the World: A Geography of Faith".

I can't remember the last time I have read a "religious" book that resonated with me so strongly that it moved me to tears right out of the gate.  Seriously, I cried twice in the first chapter alone.      Maybe it's because I have also walked the lava flows on the Big Island of Hawai'i and felt the same raw power in the earth beneath my feet and the newness of black rock that is younger than I am that Taylor describes so vividly in the first few pages of that chapter.  Maybe it's because throughout the book, the author voices so eloquently feelings that I have harbored for years and I now feel vindicated and no longer alone.

By Taylor's reckoning, even the tiniest, sometimes most inconsequential things in our daily lives can be a source of meditation, introspection and spiritual nourishment in their own way.  From learning to love and accept ourselves in our own skin, to embracing and recognizing the simple joys that can be found in physical labor.  Even allowing ourselves to find the inner strength that lies deep within the core of each of us when we face physical pain.  Chapter by chapter, she leads us by example through the moments of her life where she found reasons to feel reverence and awe in the chaos and quietude of everyday living and encourages us to do the same in each passing day.

In any case, this book is a treasure and I highly recommend it to everyone.  And in this spirit I gratefully dedicate this blog to Barbara Brown Taylor.  Thank you for sharing your insights into finding your way through your personal geography of faith.  Through this blog I hope to do the same.  This is my way of sharing the altars in the world that I encounter along the way on my life's journey and my personal journey of faith.