Relevant

My friend Jimmy, who I met at the FTE conference, recently posted this quote on his blog (check it out at http://jimmymccarty.wordpress.com/). Jimmy commented that the words of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., are as prophetic today as they were in 1967 when he spoke this message at Riverside Church in NYC:

"It is with such activity in mind that the words of the late John F. Kennedy come back to haunt us. Five years ago he said, “Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable.” Increasingly, by choice or by accident, this is the role our nation has taken: the role of those who make peaceful revolution impossible by refusing to give up the privileges and the pleasures that come from the immense profits of overseas investments. I am convinced that if we are to get on the right side of the world revolution, we as a nation must undergo a radical revolution of values. We must rapidly begin the shift from a thing-oriented society to a person-oriented society. When machines and computers, profit motives and property rights, are considered more important than people, the giant triplets of racism, extreme materialism, and militarism are incapable of being conquered…The Western arrogance of feeling that it has everything to teach others and nothing to learn from them is not just…A true revolution of values will lay hands on the world order and say of war: “This way of settling differences is not just.” This business of burning human beings with napalm, of filling our nation’s homes with orphans and widows, of injecting poisonous drugs of hate into the veins of peoples normally humane, of sending men home from dark and bloody battlefields physically handicapped and psychologically deranged, cannot be reconciled with wisdom, justice, and love. A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual doom….Every nation must now develop an overriding loyalty to mankind as a whole in order to preserve the best in their individual societies…"

"Travel - I've had my share, man/I've been everywhere"--Johnny Cash

Well, I haven't been everywhere, but the past two weeks have felt like it. I just completed my three-city tour of the U.S., with stops in New York, Boston, and Chicago. The first week was my US-2 endterm in New York City, in good ole Alma Mathews house. It was a time of reflection, joy and bittersweetness, as we US-2s said goodbye to our programs and each other.

Then, I flew into Boston for a whirlwind trip to find a place to live. Mission Accomplished! After 10 meetings with potential roommmates and apartments, I think I have finally made my choice. I want to give a big thanks to Ben, my wonderful host for most of the trip--and thanks to Amy F-F for making it happen! The second half of that stay was at an Episcopal monastery, which provided much needed silent retreat, even if I didn't get to take advantage of all the "retreating" that was possible. But that's ok--I have an apartment and I didn't lose my mind. Done. And. Done.

My final destination was the FTE conference in Chicago (or actually Evanston if you want to get technical about it). The conference was great, but I have to admit that I was a little done with traveling and small talk by that point. I wasn't much of a joiner. I'm just introverted enough to have needed a little more down time. I still got a lot out of it, despite United Airlines canceling my first flight and losing my luggage. Then, they delivered my luggage way later than they promised. Surprise, surprise. Yeah, wearing the same clothes for three days...joy. I guess I'll have to figure out a way to get around that pesky 3 oz. liquid thing next time, so I can just check the bag!

All in all...good times and good people. Glad to be home...at least for two more months. :(