Oia and Kamari

Bryan and I are a bit sick. Too much vacation, I guess. We went to Oia today to see what everyone was raving about. It definitely is beautiful there. Then we took the bus to Kamari to sit on the black sand beach. For 6 euros you can rent two beach lounges and an umbrella for the whole day. We figured our pale bodies might handle a couple hours. It was magical.
Public bus transportation here is hit and miss. We met a couple this morning who had been waiting 2 hours for a bus to take them about 2 miles. They had already missed the tour they had paid 30 euros a piece to experience. Since the bus seemed to only be going one way, we went that way.
So we are planning on walking back home via the cliff walk. It takes us to our front door. Have I already told you that we do have the most amazing accommodations. We are headed back there now for another gorgeous sunset over the sea.

Catching up -- September 27

Bryan and I are at an internet cafe in Fira, Santorini. I have 15 minutes left to update my blog so it will be short and sweet. We took a three day cruise to Mykonos, Kusadasi, Turkey, Patmos, Crete and then we got off the boat in Santorini. Seeing that many islands in three days was rigorous but we saw amazing things. Now we are spending our time sitting on a little private balcony looking over the caldera and doing a lot of sighing. It is so amazing. We are catching up, resting and enjoying the view.

Seeing the site where European civilization began was mind boggling. Walking Curetes Street at Ancient Ephesus was indescribable. Walking up the steep street and steps to St. John's Monastery in Patmos and seeing a 5th century copy of the Gospel of Mark transported me to a different time. I can't believe how packed full of goodness this experience is. I am so grateful to be here. It helps me understand more of what I read in the Bible.

I am eager to post pictures of the places we have been but not eager to leave Santorini. Wow, what a place.

The Monasteries of Meteora

Bags in the hallway, breakfast buffet and on the bus by 8:20 a.m. Bryan and I now have the routine down for a tour by bus. Today was the Monasteries of Meteora. It depends on what day you arrive which monasteries are open to the public. Our guide wanted to be the first people into St. Stephen. We tied with another group.

A nun took our money and made sure we understood no pictures. The church was covered with beautiful, intricate icons. The Holy Skull of St. Charalambos is kept in the church and we were allowed to kiss the box that holds it, if we so desired. The monastery began to house nuns in 1961 when fewer and fewer monks were coming to Meteora and they ran an orphanage at St. Stephen. When we entered the second chapel we met a nun who had come to St. Stephen in 1961. I left a card asking the nuns to speak the name of my mother, next time they gather to worship.

Our next stop was the Monastery of Roussanou (St. Barbara). It is a much smaller facility and the nuns process honey and sell it in the gift shop. While the churches are incredible the part that amazes people is that they monasteries are literally perched on the top of tall, thin rock formations. At least one of the monasteries is accessible by a small car attached to a cable that runs to the road.

The rest of the day was spent driving back to Athens with hopes of a settlement for the truck drivers. We encountered no confusion until we were very close to our hotel. The police had shut down Omonia Square because of protests by the truckers. The closer we got to our hotel the more police we saw.

Tomorrow morning we leave on a 3 day cruise through the Greek Islands. We will get off on Santorini and stay several days. The travel agent told me that this is the part of our trip in which internet connection will probably not be readily available. So if I can't blog, know I am having a great time or I am sea sick and desperate.

Trucker Strike in Greece

It was overcast this morning as we headed to Delphi. I was glad for a cool morning. The archeological site of Delphi is on the side of a hill. It is steep and surrounded by mountains. When our guide had finished giving us her spiel she gave us 50 minutes to make it to the theater and the stadium. I figured that was surely enough time for me to take my crippled knee and walk up the side of the hill. It was arduous for me. Part way up I asked a man from our bus if the hike up was worth it. "Depends," he said and kept on walking. I'm not quite sure what it depends on but I thought it was worth the hike. I was late back to meet the travel guide. Oh well....the story of my trip.

The museum at Delphi was our next stop and filled with treasures found at that site. I saw pieces I recognized from books. It definitely is a different experience to see them up close and to see the place where they were found.

The rest of the day was spent on the road to Kalambaka, at the north end of central Greece. We are now at a hotel underneath the Monasteries at Meteora. I read that at one time there were 24 monasteries perched on the top of the unusual rock formations around us. There are only six left: five inhabited by men and one with women. No more than 10 people live in any one of them. It used to be that people had to climb a rope ladder to get to the top or to be pulled up in a net. Tomorrow we will visit two and we will drive up to them in large tourist buses. My but time changes. Male tourists are required to wear long pants and women must wear skirts and have their shoulders covered. If women show up without a skirt they will give you a loaner for your visit. Luckily I brought a skirt so I don't have to wear a "loaner skirt."

I had never heard of the Monasteries of Meteora until I started doing travel research on Greece. I told Bryan that it was one of the places I really wanted to go. I will let you know if it was worth it after I have visited. I am a bit nervous about it because our guide told us today that it looks like the truckers strike will be ramped up tomorrow. The plan is for the truckers to block most of the main thoroughfares. She wants us to see the monasteries and get on the road as soon as possible. Our itinerary calls for us to leave Friday morning on a cruise of the Greek islands. It may be no problem or I may get a sermon illustration out of it.

A Day in Ruins

Second day on our tour of classical Greece. We got up early to beat the crowds at the Olympia ruins. Not possible. I was amazed at how many people were following guides around the grounds. Jonathan Reed suggested I bring a particular book with me that maps the archeological sites of Greece. It was extremely helpful. We were there about 3 1/2 hours, which was better than 20 minutes.

The rest of the day was spent on the road to Delphi. We saw just the part that houses the Temple of Athina. Tomorrow we will do the rest of Delphi before heading to Kalambaka. Our last day on this land tour will be spent visiting the Monastaries at Meteora. I can't wait.

Greece is a beautiful country. Around every bend there is a new gorgeous sight where I can imagine myself sitting by the sea with a cold ice tea enjoying the day.

Internet use tonight is costing me 15 euros per minutes so more when life is cheaper!

You Have 20 Minutes

If I could describe our first day on a four day bus tour of Greece I would say, "You have 20 minutes." After getting stuck in a traffic jam leaving Athens our tour guide shortened every experience of the day. (Truck drivers in Greece are on strike and they are blocking a major road and parking their trucks along other major thoroughfares.)

Our first stop was the Corinth Canal. What a spectacular place. We had 20 minutes to see it.

When we arrived at the Theatre of Epidaurous our guide told us we had 20 minutes. Impossible to experience this magnificent theatre and get all the right pictures in that short of a time. Luckily we were not the last people back on the bus.

We saw the Tomb of Agememnon and Mycenae. She said, "You can probably run to the top and make it back in 20 minutes." I don't run. I don't even walk very fast. Luckily, I was not the last person back to the bus.

We arrived at our hotel last night at 8 p.m. and were told we had 20 minutes until dinner.

The View....the View....the View

Bryan and I are in Athens, Greece. We did not bring our laptop so I am using the hotel computer with no ability to download pictures. Too bad for you because I have some good ones. Bryan did a semester of his ULV experience here in Athens. He is flooded with memories as we walk the streets and see the sights. I imagine him as a 20 year old Bryan.

We are staying near the Acropolis in a hotel with a rooftop garden. We went up there last night for the view and could not believe the view. The hilltop, Parthenon and Temple of Athena are lit up at night. No one is allowed up there after sundown. The beauty and the stillness of it made me feel reverent. Bryan and I didn't speak. We just sat and soaked up the sight.

Our room also looks out on a little Byzantine Church and the Acropolis. When you open your curtain in the morning and look out it is amazing all over again. Today is Sunday. We got up early....I mean really early....and went back to the rooftop to sit and stare some more. We actually watched as the automatic lights that shine inside the Parthenon and the temple clicked off.

So far we have visited the new Acropolis Museum, the National Archeological Museum, the changing of the guard at Parliament, ridden the subway and been invited into every store and restaurant in the Plaka. The new Acropolis Museum is brilliant. Underneath it they have uncovered an ancient city. They built the museum over it with glass floors so that you can look down and see Ancient Greece.

Tomorrow we leave on a four day trip to the Corinth Canal, Mycenae, Delphi, Olympia and the monastaries at Meteora. It may be the jet lag but I have been weepy ever since I arrived. I feel steeped in gratitude....for a church family that gave me the time and the means to make this fabulous trip; for a husband with whom I enjoy traveling; and for being alive in such a huge, beautiful and long lasting world.

In the Crown

Today I climbed 354 steps to the crown of the Statue of Liberty. Only 30 people are allowed to do that per hour. When we reserved our tickets back in March I was sure that my knee would be completely healed. But with the help of a cortisone shot and some pain medication I got to the top with relative ease. There is a double helix up the middle of the statue so that those who are going up do not run into those who are coming down. When we arrived at the top it was just my sister and I at the top of the crown with two park rangers. We had the place to ourselves and it was an awesome view.

A Vibrant and Progressive Church

The whole stated reason for a trip to New York City with my sister was to attend a progressive, vibrant church. I chose Judson Memorial from it's website alone. I think it should win the "Best Church Website" award. It is located just south of Washington Square and is completely surrounded by the NYU campus. The brochure you can pick up on your way in to church says, "We're interested in changing the plight of the marginalized, and in noticing when the emperors have no clothes. We think the arts make life worth living and celebrate the secular and sacred in all that we do, including worship and how we use glorious spaces. A church that's a little bit different -- and committed to making a difference."

The sanctuary is a large space with moveable chairs and beautiful stained glass. The music had traditional hymns ("How Great Thou Art"), contemporary music (a song by Bruce Springsteen) and music that made me weep ("Up to the Mountain" by Patty Griffin). The sermon was relevant to the day and location, dealing with the importance of memory and how we manage our fear. The preacher was dealing specifically with 9/11 and the issue of building an Islamic Cultural Center two blocks from Ground Zero.

Three new members were brought into the church. Instead of vows the new members spoke their own statement of faith. Part of the ritual was to invite the congregation to respond to the new members' request to join the church by voting with a vocal "Amen." The loud decibel level of the response was beautiful and spoke of the congregation's intended welcome.

I was moved by the service and the obvious love the members had for each other. You could tell they wanted to be there. My complaint about many progressive churches is that they spend much of their worship time telling themselves how good and right they are. There was none of that at Judson Memorial. Instead, there was a call to be involved in passionately and compassionately making a difference in the world. They are involved in immigration rights, the new sanctuary movement, women's productive rights, LGBT events, and working with the addicted. Before I went to church I watched a youtube video of the pastor on the Bill O'Reilly show talking about immigration and the new sanctuary movement. She held her own!

Again, I missed the children in worship. They weren't there at all. In fact, at first I thought there were no children in their church. They run their Sunday School during worship. There is something deeply moving to me about how the children at La Verne CoB minister to us and lead us.

Unfortunately, no one welcomed us the whole time we were there, except for the pastor at the door as we left at the end of worship. During this sabbatical, I have been constantly reminded of the absolute importance of hospitality.

Fela Kuti

"Fela!" is the Broadway musical we saw last night. It is about Fela Kuti, a Nigerian musician and political activist. He developed Afrobeat; tried to run for the Presidency of Nigeria under his newly formed political party called MOP (Movement of the People); and survived numerous beatings at the hands of the police. His mother was thrown out of the second story window of his home during one of many raids. She died from her injuries. Fela Kuti took his mother's coffin and left it on the steps of Dodan Barracks, the Supreme Military Headquarters of Nigeria. He wanted to show that political power could not remove the freedom of the mind. Fela died in 1997 from complications of AIDS.

The actor who plays Fela in the musical, sings or plays saxaphone in all but one of the musical numbers. The dancing is an intense mixture of gyrating, vibrating, shaking and jumping. "Fela" spoke to the audience throughout the musical and even required us all to stand up and practice our own dance.

My sister had scored third row tickets with the aisle on my side and the stage runway

next to her. The dancers were so close and so intense that repeatedly we felt as if they would fall off the stage and into our laps. When it was over and the lights had come up my sister looked at me and said, "I'm exhausted." It was a most amazing production. I had never heard of Fela Kuti before and was grateful for the education.

We left the theater in search of dinner and discovered we were just a half block from Times Square. The place was packed. After a show like "Fela!" it seemed right that we should find ourselves surrounded by so much light and color and energy.

Walking in NYC

A year ago my sister came out to visit me in Southern California and I convinced her to try on a pair of my favorite shoes, Mephistos. She bought two pairs. One pair was an exact twin of a pair I own. That is fine. She lives in Kansas. I live in California.

Yesterday, after walking over 10 miles (my sister wears a pedometer) we came back with sore feet, only to discover that we had worn each other's shoes all day. I think there is a saying that you should walk a mile in your sister's shoes, isn't there? Well, I've walked ten.

New York, New York....my kind of town

I wanted to come to New York City to visit Riverside Church. I didn't want to come alone so I asked my sister if she would come with me. "Absolutely," she said. Since we were planning on coming anyway, why not spend a week and see a Broadway show or two. We promised each other we wouldn't go crazy and wear ourselves out.

So, after 24 hours in New York, how are we doing? Well, I decided before I even got here that I wanted to go to Judson Memorial church instead. Riverside Church is going through a difficult time, following a church fight over the salary offer to a new pastor. I wanted to visit progressive churches that are vibrant.....and not in the midst of a church struggle.

We got up this morning eager to experience New York City. We were in the subway by 10 a.m. Before lunch

we had visited St. Patrick's Cathedral, Rockefeller Center, and Bryant Park. After lunch we went to the New York City Public Library. I got to see a Gutenberg bible and I discovered they have three books by my grandfather. Then we walked the Brooklyn Bridge. I can see why so many people who visit New York City walk this bridge.

We returned to our B & B hot, sweaty, exhausted, and just in time to get ready to leave for our first Broadway show, "Billy Elliot." So much for not wearing ourselves out. We have promised each other to take it slower tomorrow.

"Billy Elliot" was phenomenal. My sister managed to get us tickets on the third row. We could see the perspiration on the upper lips of the cast members. As the parent of a union organizing son and a gay son, I felt emotionally spent when the show was over. "Billy Elliot" alone was worth the trip. The fact that I get to be here with my sister and eat Fair Trade Chocolate just makes it perfect.

Its all about the food

I am in New York City with my sister, Gayle. She flew here today from Kansas and we met at JFK. We got to our B & B by about 5:30 p.m. I got up at 4 a.m. this morning and had a direct flight on a plane that did not offer me a meal. I was starving. We found a Thai restaurant a few blocks away that offered the most incredible food: crabmeat with a mango dipping sauce, summer rolls with a peanut tamarind sauce; crunchy shrimp in a lime curry dressing. Just writing about it makes me happy all over again. On the way back to our B & B we found a store that serves organic, vegan, fair trade chocolates. We ate a few: pistachio apple, dark chocolate mint, pecan praline. We brought the rest back with us. So far I have been in New York City three hours and it has been all about food!

Tomorrow we will start exploring. The room is so tiny we can't possibly spend much time here. In the evening we have tickets to "Billy Elliot."

Missing My Community

One of the churches I wanted to visit on my sabbatical was All Saints Episcopal in Pasadena. It fits my criteria: progressive and vibrant. I have never been to worship at All Saints but it seems to be the marker by which we judge ourselves as a church. (Never mind that they have 18-20 program staff members and a much larger church budget.) I went to their 11:15 service today, excited about all that I would learn.

Immediately upon walking on to the All Saints campus you find outdoor tables under canopies that tell you all you need to know about them. There are booths for small groups you can join; sign ups for upcoming activities; information on issues in the Middle East; a welcome table for first time visitors; a scale model on their building campaign; and an action table (complete with ways to donate to help flood victims in Pakistan and petitions to sign on pending legislation). There is a festive and welcoming feel before you ever walk through the open door to their sanctuary. Their tag line is: "Wherever you are and wherever you find yourself on your journey of faith, there is a place for you here."

The sanctuary is filled with symbols, carved wood, beautiful stained glass windows and organ pipes. The service begins with pageantry, as the cross and candles are brought down the center aisle. People turn to follow the procession of the cross and some even bow as it passes. There was a summer choir, which processed along with many clergy and liturgists. The bulletin was lengthy and included the words and to all songs and the scriptures of the day.

Worship at All Saints is well done and you can clearly see that people are glad to be there and feel very welcome. The preacher for today had just returned from a four month sabbatical. As she shared the announcements she spoke of visiting in many other churches during her time away. She said that worshiping with other churches had shown her how special All Saints' worship is and what a beacon it provides.

Her comment made me smile. I enjoyed being at All Saints and there were several things that I thought would be nice for us to incorporate into our worship and church life. But it made me miss the congregation I love. I missed the way we do things at La Verne CoB. I missed having the children in worship; people sharing their own joys and concerns; less formality; and the World music of our services. It is good to visit other churches and be reminded of how much you love your own faith community.