Vacation

This is the beginning of a two week break. Usually during break we have a daily work parade. This time we are trying something different. The students have been divided into 4 groups and each group is taking on one project. They can work out when to do it as long as it gets done. They can do a little bit each day or spend a whole day working on it and then having the rest of the break free to work in their gardens or whatever. I am working with a small group that is building a "bell tower" though to call it a tower is stretching it. It will only be about 10 feet high but it will hold our bell (actually an empty acetylene cylinder) and have a roof so that the bell ringer can ring the angelus without getting soaked during the rainy season. Another group is replacing the roof over the mothers' kitchen and the other groups are doing other repairs. Today I did some work on the bell tower [I made the cross beam from which the bell will hang and figured out how it can be supported by the metal poles that will have to carry the weight of the crossbeam, bell, and roof] and while I am a bit tired I have a sense of accomplishment. The task I set for myself is finished and I am happy with what I did. It is important to actually finish something from time to time. Most of my work is ongoing and the results won't be apparant for some time to come so to undertake a project with a definable end is important. When God "finished" creation he sighed, smiled, and was pleased and then he rested (but not really). I know what that feels like. Thanks be to God.

Power Grids and Picnics

This past week the students started working on the bell tower. We had originally decided to build the new tower and then to have a prayer thanking God for the service that the tree that has been holding the bell for the past 25 years has provided to the community and then move the bell and cut down the tree. But when they started work on the bell tower they realized that the tree would need to be trimmed before the bell tower could be built or else the falling branches would crush the tower. So while I was in town one of them started trimming the tree. Unfortunately he wasn't paying attention and one of the falling limbs broke the power line that was under it. Not only did the line break, but two of the crossbeams that support our power grid were also broken (the timber was pretty well rotten after 25 years of service). I went into town to get an electrician to come and repair the power line. Selby came and started work. We put up our extension ladder against the pole. He climbed up and then lashed the ladder to the pole. The other pole was higher and the ladder wouldn't reach so we had to borrow a longer one, but even that was too short. So we carried the workshop table out to the pole and then placed a form (think pew) from the chapel on top of the table and then the ladder on top of the form. Again the ladder was lashed to the pole. In order to replace the cross timbers all the wires had to be disconnected but then after had to be reconnected. This meant that Selby was standing on top of the ladder, placing one arm around the pole and using his other arm to pull the wire so that it could be reconnected. I could not stand to watch this procedure and so was helping to support the form and keep it from sliding. Even though I have a basic understanding of electricty and experience working on ladders (thanks to studying theatrical lighting at college), there is no way that I could do what Selby was doing. This is another example of how the Body of Christ works. Each of us has different abilities and talents and gifts. I couldn't do what Selby did; but I don't have to. That is his gift, not mine. There are other things that I do that he can't. Each of us has a unique contribution to make for the upbuilding of the Body. We need to do what is ours to do and let others do what is theirs. Someone once told me never to tell someone how to do something (unless they ask) but to explain to them what needs to be done and then to be surprised at their ingenuity. This allows them to use their gifts. On Thursday my pastoral group went on a picnic. I drove the first group to the picnic site and told them to start getting things ready while I went back for the rest of the group. When I returned I was delightfully surprised to see one of them making a picnic table out of bush material (not to eat at, but to set the food on). He knew what needed to be done and did it. That is how the Body of Christ needs to work. We use our gifts and allow others to use theirs.

Not to Worry

One never knows what is going to be available at the shops in town. Coffee (that isn't instant) has not been available since the beginning of the year even though it is grown in PNG. Kraft cheese (almost like velveta) also has not been available for months and months. It is the only kind of cheese I can store without refrigeration. Real cheese is even more rare. But yesterday there was Philadelphia Cream Cheese at the one shop. I bought an 8 oz package and have been enjoying cream cheese on Australian bush biscuits for a couple of meals. Tonight I finished it by using the remainder in an omelet. I haven't had cream cheese since January and it was a delight. I have learned to stock up on things when they are available because you never know. Popondetta was without flour for three weeks so I couldn't bake my usual bread. Fortunately the college was on break so there wasn't the Sunday coffee hour (I make two loaves as my contribution to it). The water pump broke down and needed to be replaced. I ordered one from Port Moresby but it had to be shipped from Australia. I ordered it on Tuesday and it was in Port Moresby by Thursday but it still hasn't made it to Popondetta, a half hour flight. So we have been without water for over a week. (We fetch water from the river and we have had a couple of heavy rain storms and I filled all my various containers with rain water.) No one has complained. Most of the students were using river water before coming to the college and so the lack of pumped water is familiar to them. You "roll with the punches" and take advantage of things when they are available and "not to worry" when they aren't. "Not to worry" is something I hear a lot. It is often a response to "thank you" but is also used at other times. No coffee. Not to worry. The pump is delayed and so we are without water for a few more days. Not to worry. The truck has a problem and so the children have to walk to school. Not to worry. PNG is sometimes referred to as the "land of the unexpected" and we are told to "expect the unexpected". When the unexpected happens. Not to worry. Not worrying is possible because of faith. When St Laurence was being martyred by roasting on a gridiron, he is supposed to have said "You can turn me over now, I'm done on this side." Keeping one's humour in the midst of adversity is a sign of faith. Acceptance of things that cannot be changed is a part of the serenity prayer (along with changing the things that can be changed and knowing the difference). Not to worry says it all.

Biru Prison

Today I led the service at the prison that is just outside of town. I took the third and fourth year students with me. We will be doing this about once a month and also about once a month going for some fellowship with the inmates. I have served as a chaplain at county jails in the US (both San Francisco and Long Island) but the prison was quite different. The chapel is open to both prisoners who come in through the fenced yard but also to the families of the prison guards who live on the compound. Inmates, children, wives, all together. Many of the inmates wore prison uniforms of denim with orange stripes. But some of them wore civilian attire. Some wore jewelery (something I don't ever remember seeing in the US jails.). The inmates led the singing as the community gathered and at various times during the service. Volunteers read the lessons and the students led the intercessions. At the time for the sermon we had a discussion. Since it was the feast of Mary Magdalene we talked about her. How many people regard her as a prostitute and forget that she was the first witness of the resurrection. Then we talked about other Bible personalities: Moses, the murderer who led the people into freedom; David, the great king who was also an adulterer; Doubting Thomas who was also willing to go to Jerusalem with Jesus even if it meant dying with him; Peter who denied Christ but also confessed him to the Lord. We discovered that just about everybody in the Bible has good qualities and less desirable ones: they are real people and not "holy-holies." Then remarked how that in Christ there is a new creation, the old has passed away and the new has come. So we can focus on the new and put the past behind us. It was wonderful to see the faces of the inmates as they realized what was being said. I was tempted to use an old poem that seemed appropriate but I felt that the English would be too confusing to them (English is a 2^nd or 3^rd language for many of them). The poem is (author unknown)

Matt Talbot was a drunkard. Dismis was a thief. Magdalene a prostitute, and Thomas without belief. But they are up in heaven, a smile'n on us now. Each has a gilded halo oer a badly battered brow. The moral of this story is your not definitely damned. Your "wasness" doesn't matter if your "isness" really am.

Anticipations

Next Sunday is the 25^th anniversary of our chapel dedication. It will be a big celebration. I have been working on it for almost a year since I discovered that it was a gift from the Anglicans of Japan as a way of saying "sori" for the role of their country in PNG during WWII. We are celebrating the anniversary on the Feast of the Transfiguration which is also the anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima. The students are all busy with preparations. We will be blessing the bell tower, the new hall, and the remodelled kitchen during the service so finishing touches are being done. Grass is being cut. Yesterday we scrubbed the entire chapel from top to bottom. People from Jonita will be singing/dancing some of the mass music and will also assist in the traditional welcome of our guest of honour - the general secretary of The Anglican Church of Japan. We are expecting a large turnout and everyone is getting excited about it. I think that this is the first celebration of this kind that we have had at the college since I've been connected with it. The closest thing is the welcome home of the then principal, Roger Jupp, after his election as the diocesan bishop in 2002; but this promises to surpass that. I am finding it fascinating to discover what the people here regard as important parts of the celebration. Traditional dancing/singing at the mass is definitely important. Decorating the chapel and surroundings is important. Having a timetable of events with a Master of Ceremonies is a big deal. The flurry of activity this past week as the event draws closer is in marked contrast to the lack of preparation earlier in the year. The students are starting to realize that this delay on their part means more work now but they are cheerfully taking it on. There is a sense of excitement and anticipation. Items (skits) are being prepared and rehearsed. It promises to be a good weekend and it is great to see the whole community putting aside petty differences to come together in this way.

25^th Anniversary

Yesterday's celebration was wonderful. Fr Laurence Minabe arrived on Saturday and was given a traditional welcome by some of the students and nearby villagers. He was surprised when they pointed spears and arrows at him and then had a young boy take him by the hand and lead him into their midst. He seemed to dance as he was escorted by various groups to the hall for light refreshment. Then on Sunday we had the service. Various parts of the dance were sung and danced in Oro Kaiva by some of the locals. The diocesan bishop presided and blessed the new hall, remodelled kitchen, and new bell tower. Fr Laurence, the General Secretary of the Anglican Church of Japan, preached a moving sermon reminding us that smallpox was wiped out by the simple thing of vaccinating children. Peace can also be encouraged by small actions like having Japanese and PNG Anglicans working and praying together. He said that the Church in Japan was indebted to ACPNG for showing them that reconciliation is possible. The service was followed by a bung kai (feast) with lots of groups performing dances, skits, etc. For me the highlight was some of the Aipo Rongo students and their families and friends forming a bamboo band. Bamboo flutes were blown, large pieces of bamboo were played by hitting the open ends with a flip-flop. An empty can was turned into a "gut fiddle" and a few guitars were added to the mix. The thing that was so wonderful was that everyone was working together. Japanese and PNG nationals, people from the college and the surrounding villages, students from all five dioceses of the church. It showed that different peoples can cooperate with each other and support each other. It was a welcome sign n a time when the church seems to be fracturing over all kinds of differences.

Relatives

In PNG it seems like everybody is related. The chaplain's brother's wife died and the other two national staff are also related to her. Juliet's sister is married to the deceased's brother. As near as I can understand the other is related because his grandfather and her grandfather were cousins. Many of the students are related to each other. Some call each other "uncle" but that term is used to describe more than one kind of relationship. What I would call "uncle" is sometimes called "small father" and first cousins are sometimes referred to as brothers and sisters. When people introduce themselves it is almost always in terms of family. "I am the first born of four" one might say as well as saying where his mother and father are from. This helps people to figure out how they might be related. In the US we tend to identify ourselves in terms of employment or career which is one way of defining ourselves as separate from others. Here it is the connection with others that takes precedence. The rugged individualism of my culture gives way to a real sense of community. But this sense of interrelatedness can have its drawbacks. Feuds and tribal warfare is fuelled by a sense of needing to protect and revenge for harm done to a relative. When I was stung by a wasp, the community killed the whole nest because they had attacked me and the community needed to address this wrong. This past week the neighbouring village of Jonita took up weapons (bush knives, spears and guns) against another village because of a brawl that involved drunken youth of both villages in which some youths were hospitalized. So an over identity with relatives can have a down side. The wantok (one talk) system of support that is a hallmark of PNG culture helps to supply a safety net in a country with almost no social service system, but can also be a burden when a single wage-earner finds that he must support an ever-increasing number of relatives. But, still and all, I think that there is something to be said for looking to see what we have in common with others rather than emphasising what sets us apart from them. Perhaps one way to peace is to look for commonalities rather than differences.

Education and Learning

Yesterday I made altar candles. We save candle ends and parings and then I melt down the wax to make candles. Pillar candles are not always available and tend to be a bit expensive when they are. I brought some wicking with me and use some pvc pipe as a mould. One of the students saw me going up to the chapel to collect the wax and asked me what I was doing. When I told him he wanted to help so we each made one candle. The easiest way to learn is by doing. Last evening when he came and we took the candles out of their moulds Oscar was thrilled at what he had done and rightfully proud of his handiwork. This morning another student asked me to teach him how to make candles so in a couple of weeks I will do that. A couple of other students want me to show them how to make bread. I usually bake bread on Fridays and Saturdays so for the next couple of Saturdays I will have a student baking bread with me. Two of the SSF brothers from the friary spent the night with me on Friday and I made pizza. It was their first time to have it and enjoyed it and want me to teach them how to make it. I am delighted that they are asking me to teach them these things and enjoy doing it. I was talking with one of the students who asked me where I had learned to teach. I said that I did not have any training in education but learned as I went along. He responded that he found my style of teaching different from what he was accustomed to but that it was more helpful to him. Sometimes informal education can be as good or better than formal. Most of what I have learned that is useful didn't come from books but from experience. The teachers that I remember most fondly were the ones that taught me out-of-class and lots of what they taught that way was not in the curriculum. I hope I am following in their footsteps.

Martyrs of PNG and Fathers' Day

Sunday was a twofold celebration. First it was the Feast of the Martyrs of Papua New Guinea which is always kept on the Sunday closest to 2^nd September. This feast bears witness to the eight Anglican martyrs who were killed during Word War II. There is an altar marking the place of martyrdom that I go past every time I go into town. The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church and it is because of the dedication of these national and expat martyrs that the Anglican church continues in PNG. It was also Father's day. In PNG, like Australia, this is the first Sunday of September. Jesus always called God his Father and that he did so bears witness to the kind of father St Joseph must have been. Being a good father (or pater familias as I am at the college) has theological importance. If a father abuses power or authority or prestige then it is possible for children to misunderstand the nature of God. The martyrs of PNG were faithful unto death and remained in the country even though they had the opportunity to leave, but they needed to maintain the example of the Christ - Immanuel, God with us - that they were proclaiming. May God help us all to be good fathers (or mothers) even if it means being faithful to death. Accepting martyrdom (or other hardship) is not the same as seeking it. May God give us the grace to persevere in faithfulness, love, and service despite any inconveniences or difficulties that may result.

Bush Walking

Yesterday I walked through the bush. Father Henry, who is the clan chief in Jonita and whose Father gave some of the 265 acres to the college, wanted to show me where the boundary markers were. So we walked: Father Henry; Frank, also from Jonita; Cephas, our librarian; Verity, a third year student; and I. Parts of the way we could walk on trails but parts of the way we had to cut through the bush. We couldn't go in a straight line because we had to go around trees and find places to cross a couple of creeks but Frank led the way and we made it. I am not used to walking through the bush and so I had to look to see where I was walking so I would keep a good footing. As a result I wasn't able to observe much of the scenery but the others collected various leaves and other things to take back with them. Once or twice a familiar hymn ran through my mind. "When through the bush and forest paths I wander...and hear the creek and feel the gentle breeze." It sometimes surprises me when an experience sparks a memory of a hymn or psalm, but then I remember that psalms (and many hymns) are designed to portray our human situation and express the gamut of emotions and experiences. So I shouldn't be surprised when they ring true in a context outside of the chapel. But, that is what it is all about: earth and heaven joined, man reconciled with God, and thinking of hymns while walking through the bush (or washing dishes or...).

Independence Day and Vanilla

Yesterday was PNG's Independence Day. The college celebration began with a flag raising ceremony at 8:00 followed by Mass and then tea. We had a lik lik kai (small meal) about three in the afternoon prepared by the men students. Then evensong at 5:00. The mamboo flute band played a couple of numbers after morning tea. Today was the feast of the Stigmata, which was not observed at the college but Brothers Oswald and Selwyn, who are students at the college, and I went to the friary after the college Mass to celebrate the feast with them. We had a picnic (savloy sausages and lamb flaps done on a grill) down by the creek. During a bit of free time at the friary Brother Oswald showed me how to pollinate vanilla flowers so that they will produce the pods for sale. Then we spent a while pollinating them. I do not see how they could pollinate themselves or even be pollinated by a bee or other insect. It seems like they have to be manually pollinated in order to produce. I found myself musing on the different ways that events are celebrated. Independence Day here is a big event (PNG received its independence from Australia in 1975) marked by traditional dancing and singing as well as the patriotic aspect. The country needs to both foster a sense of national unity while recognizing the wealth of local cultures. Independence Day does both. The feast of the stigmata (Francis received the imprint of the five wounds of Christ on his own body) both incites us to seek to emulate Christ's love revealed on the cross as well as to be willing to share in his suffering. St Francis said doing what has been given us to do as he did what was given him to do. It is tricky to pollinate vanilla flowers. It is tricky to balance unity and diversity. It is tricky to remember both meanings of the word passion and to not lose sight of either.

Warts and Psalm 109

On Friday the college vehicle was in town. Francis, our mechanic, was driving since the regular driver, Ross, had finished for the day. Francis had just returned to town from the marker and was parked in front of PriceRite to collect students to return them to the college. Fridays are student shopping days. Suddenly Philemon,a village policeman from the neighbouring village, demanded to be driven to the market. Francis refused. Philemon said something to the effect that Ross drives people from his village where they want to go and so Francis should do the same (he and Francis are from the same village). Then when Francis refused, he reached in and took the keys from the truck and walked away. Francis had to take a pmv (bus) out to the college to get the spare key and then take the pmv back to pick up the truck and resume the shopping runs. The matter was reported to the regular police and we will wait to see what happens. The gist of it is that Philemon was upset with Ross but took out his anger and frustration on Francis, the students, and the college in general. I am left reflecting on how sometimes we do that. We are upset with one person and take it out on someone else (or blame ourselves). I suspect that a lot of domestic violence is due, at least partially, to this phenomenon. Addiction can be rooted in trying to escape from self blame (shame). The weak often suffer from this kind of displaced anger (think of bullies in school). I wonder how much Iraq is suffering because of bin Laden (who is not from Iraq). We all get angry and frustrated from time to time but what do we do with it? Do we turn it in on ourselves or do we seek some way of venting it. Or do we take it to the Lord in prayer? (God, I am angry. Help me to deal with my anger.) Or do we let it fuel our good works? (We get angry at some injustice and seek to remedy it.) Or do we let our anger turn into resentment as we nurse our grudges (note that the grudges need to be nursed to turn them into resentments). We talk about "righteous indignation" but what makes it righteous and not just justified? Psalm 109 is one of my favourites. I read it - or rather pray it - when I am angry. It becomes a way of offering my anger (which is part of who I am) to God. God wants me totally (anger and resentment and all the rest) and not just the parts of me of which I am proud or think are good. God loves me and wants me - warts and all. Am I willing to give my warts to God?

Formation and Education

The Diocese of Popondota had its synod this past week. Synods seem to take place about every 3 years with a smaller council meeting more often. Because the college is located within the diocese I was invited to go and present a report about the college. Father Gabriel was also invited to present a report about a project that he has been doing with the third year students as part of their Christianity in Melanesia course. My report was well received and at one point I was asked what courses we taught. I replied with the general listing of Bible, Church History, Theology, Ethics, Philosophy, Pastoral theology, liturgy and Melanesian culture and religion. I was then asked if we taught spirituality. We do have a couple of courses in spirituality, but that, like prayer, can not really be taught. You can introduce people to various spiritual disciplines and forms of prayer but prayer and spirituality are not something to be known about but to be practiced. It is one thing to know about different forms of prayer and another thing to pray. Some things cannot be taught. They can be encouraged but they need to be discovered for one's self. You can teach someone a prayer but it is just a form until the attitude of prayer is developed. That is where formation comes in. Formation is not the same as education. The college tries to do both but you can take courses and be tested in education. Formation has to be lived. As Brother David used to say it is caught, not taught. Let us not get so caught up in education that we forget about formation.