breathforthebones

I am an ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church (USA). I am also a teacher, a retreat leader and a technology coach. And I am a child of the South. I love warm weather and sunshine and southern hospitality. RC Cola and moon pies were not just things I read about, they were childhood staples! I like walking in the gentle mountains of the southern Appalachians and splashing in the coastal waters of Georgia’s golden isles. Wading trout streams in the southern Nantahala is time in sacred space. Curling up under a shade tree with a good book is my idea of real relaxation. And yet …

I love to travel. I have hiked the Swiss Alps and seen plays of Shakespeare in his hometown. I have sat with Palestinian Christians in Bethlehem and had tea in the shadow of a Jewish settlement. I have been with Pakistani Christians and listened to their stories of living faithfully in the presence of terrorism. I have been to Cuba and seen how rich life can be – even with almost no material wealth.

My deeply rooted southern self is enlarged by encounter with others. My world is expanded when I am in relationship with those who are different from me, with those whose experiences are radically different from mine. I am not fully myself when I am not established in community with others.