Little by little (hurry up and wait), we made our way to
Myanmar (Burma) once again. It was
surely worth the long flights for we were met with a world class welcoming
party! Many of the DMin students based
at MIT as well as their faculty director met us at the airport—complete with a
sign. It was a lovely gesture, and we
are grateful to be among colleagues in ministry who are becoming friends.
It always
amazes me that we can circumnavigate the globe as efficiently as we do,
arriving not too far apart from Chicago, Detroit, Philadelphia, Washington, DC,
Boston, and Kansas City, of course. Some
of us came through Hong Kong; others flew through Seoul; and one made a stop in
Bangkok. We are all here, thankfully.
I am always
mindful of how dark it seems when we come into the Yangon International
Airport. While the airport is modern and
quite functional, we are reminded that Myanmar lags behind in the economic
development that makes cities shimmer with light—for good or for bad. Poised on the threshold of greater democracy
and economic improvement, this country is expecting tourism to explode in the
near future.
Today
(Thursday) will be a full schedule, starting early. [I am writing about 4:30 am]. We will visit various Buddhist sites, which
helps orient us to the challenges to Christian witness in this land. We will visit a monastic school as well as
the Shwedagon Pagoda, the beautiful and historic religious shrine in the heart
of the city. No shoes are allowed, so we
will begin to toughen our feet a bit. [You
recall President Obama’s recent visit there—he was barefoot, also.] With
temperatures projected to hover around 100, the thoughts of lingering piles of
snow are far from our minds.
In the
afternoon we will hear a lecture on Buddhism and visit a meditation center. Our MIT hosts are eager for us to observe
with them what shapes so much of life here.
Monks are ubiquitous and remain voices of conscience. Without formal political power, they
demonstrate moral courage and concern for the dignity of all.
Se we begin
our pilgrimage with grateful hearts.
Your prayers will sustain us through our days here.
Molly T. Marshall
No comments:
Post a Comment