[Oe List ...] Mystery

Thu Oct 20 19:55:56 PDT 2022

Dick,
Thank you for sharing your amazing journey in the land of mystery.  May the
rest of your trip and program continue to reveal mystery to you.
Blessings of Peace,
Judith

On Thu, Oct 20, 2022 at 7:27 PM Richard Alton via OE <
oe at lists.wedgeblade.net> wrote:

> Airplane trip to Africa
>
>
>
> Just copied the Land of Mystery chart from Frank Knutson and then had an
> awesome trip to Kenya that manifested this mystery. I knew this trip would
> be different. Being COV19 housebound for like two years, it was a big
> decision to get out in the real world again… never know what is out there.
> It was a huge task to just get a Kenya visa. Trying to figure out how to
> get through the Kenya COV19 public health check station was nerve racking.
> But I did it and it was an amazing adventure and the people I found out
> there, made it all worthwhile.
>
>
>
> This has happened to me before when strange people just show up in my
> life: Found my Chicago seat for the first leg of Chicago to Qatar and then
> onward to Nairobi. The plane was almost full, but my window seat was still
> empty- would be a great help if the seat stayed empty. And just then a
> young lady burst through the plane door with two gigantic bags and came
> running down the aisle screeching to a stop in front of me. Hands me her
> passport- “Hold this!”- and throws one of the bags over my head to the seat
> next to me… “Be back!”. This was the beginning of a thirteen-hour
> remarkable trip with this thirty-one-year-old American school teacher
> presently teaching in Bangkok, Thailand. The stories she had to tell about
> her seven years there. The most amazing part was her side business of
> raising ten dogs of which none weighed more than 2.2 kilos- so I got to
> personally meet all ten dogs, their names and each’s adventures- photos,
> videos and awards. Much better than watching movies. Oh, yes and her name
> is Kay which just happens to be one of my daughter’s names. And this Kay’s
> mom also raises dogs- a long family history of dogs… an amazing world we
> live in that people do such things
>
>
>
> My second encounter was at the Qatar airport. Of course, we missed my
> connecting flight. The explanation was that since Qatar was hosting the
> Soccer World Cup between November 18 and December 18 this year and they
> expected millions of spectators, they had put in a huge number of new
> systems that were still being figured out like how to get people from the
> planes to the terminal.
>
>
>
> So I waited my five hours for the next flight and got in line for my
> Nairobi flight. I am pretty good at chatting with people. The African lady
> standing next to me- an older woman who had a strange looking passport- so
> asked her what country she was from. She explained that this was the new
> East Africa Regional passport. “Nice- you are from Kenya? “Yes”, she (her
> name turned out to be Charity Gathuthi) had just come back from Australia
> from visiting her daughter. “Nice. What did she do?”: “A water consultant”.
> “What do you do?” Well, I am retired in Chicago but still work on local
> community development and was attending a gathering of people to look at
> climate change. I used to live in Nairobi- Kawangware
>
>
>
> Charity looked at me really funny, like I was from another world. “Are you
> with ICA?” Yes, you win the prize for an astonishing guess. “Well, I know
> and have worked with the ICA staff, Nathan Ambunya, Patrick Mbullu and
> Henry Mpapale plus I did Kenya Cooperative consulting work for many years
> with Terry Bergdall. Have been away and have not had contact with ICA for a
> while.  But you tell Patrick, Nathan and Henry to give me a call.” Now that
> was amazing- like finding a needle in a haystack. Makes you wonder how many
> related ICA people are out their wandering the planet.
>
>
>
> Now, I told you about the Thailand Kay encounter. Kay has unbounding
> energy in relationships with other people. She was standing in the toilet
> line and started talking to a stewardess and it turns out that they may all
> look the same, but they are from different countries- part of Qatar wanting
> to be the future Global airlines. So sure enough, I found two Philippine
> stewardesses. Found out a lot about the Philippines and other countries
> like Tajikistan. So, I am sitting there reading a book by Momaday called
> Earth Keeper in preparation for presenting the ICA’s new Climate Change
> Manual- look up and there is an African Stewardess standing in front of me;
> “What a great sounding book- Earth Keeper” I am from Zimbabwe and we need
> earth keepers. I will come back, and you can tell me more.
>
>
>
> The page I was reading when she interrupted me: *“And so Great Mystery
> you who dwell in the endless beyond, you who spoke the first word and made
> of your breath the mountains and the waters, the trees and the grasses, the
> man and the woman and the child, hear me in my small voice. I am your
> thankful creature. My people and all the birds and animals are your
> thankful creatures. Hold us! Hold us in your hands and make us worthy of
> your blessing. Tell us the old stories of your greatness, that our minds
> and our hearts may be nourished with wonder and delight. Let us see your
> likeness in the stars and let us hear your voice in rolling thunder and in
> the wind and rain. Be with us forever in the sacred smoke of your being.
> These are my words, my offering to you, Great Mystery ( Earth Keeper by
> N.Scott Momaday)*
>
>
>
> And this is just one journey from Chicago to Africa. Life is amazing if
> you dare to go out and meet it.
>
> Dick Alton, Co-Director, ICA Kenya, 1980-86; still believes that one
> should write a witness on one’s birthday and mine is quickly approaching,
> so this reflection
> --
> Richard H. T. Alton
> ICA Global Fund
> Methodist Eco-Sustainability T/F
> T: 773.344.7172
> richard.alton at gmail.com
> Make Plain the Vision, Habakkuh 2:2
> Won't you be my neighbor?
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>
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