Passover Remembered

Here is a poem by Alla Bozarth-Campbell that was read a lot during YAV orientation. It has been on my mind lately and in the season of Easter, I thought I might share it with you. Its an amazing poem that I find applies to my year.


Passover Remembered

Pack nothing.

Bring only your determination to serve
and your willingness to be free.
Don't wait for the bread to rise.
Take nourishment for the journey, but eat standing,
be ready to move at a moment's notice.

Do not hesitate to leave your old ways behind–
fear, silence, submission.
Only surrender to the need of the time–to love tenderly, act justly and walk humbly with your God. 

Do not take time to explain to the neighbors.
Tell only a few trusted friends and family members.
Then begin quickly, before you have time to sink
back into old slavery.
Set out in the dark.
I will send fire to warm and encourage you.
I will be with you in the fire and I will be with you in the cloud.

You will learn to eat new food and find refuge in new places.
I will give you dreams in the desert to guide you safely home
to that place you have not yet seen.
The stories you tell one another around the fires in the dark will make you strong and wise.

Outsiders will attack you, and some will follow you,
and at times you will get weary and turn on each other
from fear and fatigue and blind forgetfulness.
You have been preparing for this for hundreds of years.
I am sending you into the wilderness to make a new way
and to learn my ways more deeply.

Some of you will be so changed by weathers and wanderings
that even your closest friends will have to learn your features
as though for the first time.
Some of you will not change at all.

Some will be abandoned by your dearest love
and misunderstood by those who have known you since birth
and feel abandoned by you.
Some will find new friendships and unlikely faces,
and old friends as faithful and true as a pillar of God's flame.

Sing songs as you go, and hold close together.
You may at times grow confused and lose your way.
Continue to call each other by the names I've given you,
to help remember who you are.
Touch each other and keep telling stories. 
Make maps as you go,
remembering the way back from before you were born.

So you will be only the first of many waves of deliverance
on the desert seas.
It is the first of many beginnings–your Paschaltide.
Remain true to this mystery.

Pass on the whole story. Do not go back.
I am with you now and I am waiting for you.

–Alla Bozarth-Campbell

St. Patrick

With St. Patrick's Day coming up on Sunday I thought I would post about him and my trip to Downpatrick, Northern Ireland.

Yesterday I went with a group from Friendship House to Downpatrick where we visited the Saint Patrick Centre and the Down Cathedral where St. Patrick is buried. While I was there I learned a lot about his life. So I am going to tell you about what I learned.

Saint Patrick Centre in Downpatrick

Patrick was born somewhere in Great Britain, so he was British not Irish. At age 16 he was captured by pirates and taken as a slave to Ireland. He was enslaved for 6 years then he escaped. Later in his life he became a priest and then a bishop. After that he decided to become a missionary and return to Ireland. While he didn't bring Christianity to Ireland, as a missionary he played a major part in converting the Irish into Christians. He is the patron saint of Ireland.  He also didn't drive the snakes out of Ireland, that's just a myth. He supposedly died on the 17th of March, which is the day we celebrate his life. What we know about his life comes mostly from his writings; however, much of his life is still unknown. (Saint Patrick Centre) (BBC website)

Me at St. Patrick's Grave

My trip was brilliant! It was a lovely town and I learned so much. It's really cool to think about Patrick and his life. I can't even imagine being captured, put into slavery and then escape just to have God call you back to save the very people who enslaved you. That takes a great deal of forgiveness and compassion. To have to trust God and follow his call no matter where it leads is a task that many people, including myself, still struggle with today. But when we follow God's call He can lead us to do great things. If Patrick hadn't listened to God history would be completely different. We probably wouldn't celebrate St. Patrick's Day. 

Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me,
Christ in me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ on my right, Christ on my left,
Christ when I lie down, Christ when I sit down, Christ when I arise,
Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me,
Christ in every eye that sees me,
Christ in every ear that hears me.

(Saint Patrick's Breastplate)