another viewpoint...

John 14:6 'I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me'.

Dr Timothy Johnson* replies: '...to take this passage and claim that no other understanding or experience of God is meaningful is beyond what I can personally accept or believe. Aside from the very real question of how people who have never heard about Jesus - those born before his time as well as those since his time - could be expected to have this understanding, there is the question of why a given theological formula should be required as normative for all members of the human race regardless of their circumstances or place of birth or cultural background. I believe that the great God of the universe can be revealed in many different circumstances and times'.

from "Finding God in the Questions" 2004

an answer to Dora...

‘Thomas, a fantastic figure who served as an example to each one of us through his energy, love, dedication and joy’.


energy
That energy wherewith you speak
came loaded with the vagaries of age,
each night a welcome gift of sleep
as exhaustion, well hidden during the day,
set in and cradled me in love and pain

love
The love sprang forth as a reflection
of the tender caring of the youth I served;
love so undeserved yet welcomed with joy
in the time of my still mourning a lost love

dedication
Years of striving to succeed professionally
caught up with me anew as I came to know
minds so open to embrace a foreign idiom
making it easy for me to do this needed work

joy
The joy was mine, believe me, and the tears
you shed will always be reflected in my soul,
a reservoir of memories that make each day
a reason to continue; this was your gift to me

bloginfo: This poem was written in response to the quote in the good-bye letter from a student at the end of my second summer there.
blognote: This poem is also found in my poetry website.

Getting ready to go...

Have served as a volunteer English conversation partner for the past two years [2007/8] at the Junta Administrativa de Missöes [JAMI] in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. I will hopefully be going again in March of this year. So I have started this blog to share memories from the last two years and ongoing posts as I serve there again.

farewell poem 2007

Looking back over previous posts in my Turning70 blog, I found an entry that will give insight to what is coming.

3/3/07

serenity, solitude
the sounds of nature, the sounds of songs of praise
this my first afternoon at JAMI, Belo Horizonte, Brasil

I sat outside, alone where the heat had subsided
clouds scudding across the sky

fulfillment, satisfaction
the words of poems, the words of songs of praise
this my first true poem at JAMI, Belo Horizonte, Brasil

I sit inside, alone where heat still fills the room
words scudding across the page

3/16/07

apprehension, sorrow
the sounds of nature, the sounds of kitchen preparation
this my last full day at JAMI, Belo Horizonte, Brasil

I rest inside, alone where morning chill invades
thoughts scudding across my mind
and
I prepare to say farewell!