Video of Blessing of IMPACT Center

Here is a video of the blessing of the IMPACT Center in Kerala by His Eminence Cardinal Varkey Vithayathil, the major archbishop of the Syro Malabar Church. We visited this center a week before its completion. We hope to return another year and teach there. Our good friend, Fr. Jose Palakeel, is the one handing flowers to the archbishop in the opening scene.

Blessing and Dedication of IMPACT Center

Good News from Fr. Jose (our host in India and our partner in mission):

"It is a matter of great joy for me let you know that the IMPACT missionary animation and communication centre was blessed and dedicated by His Eminence Cardinal Varkey Vithayathil, the major archbishop of the Syro Malabar Church. On this occasion 500 invited guests were present. There was an entertainment program for the guests together with the tea party."

Our Lady of the Sari

The clothes that Indian women wear are stunning. I have never seen so many beautiful, flowing fabrics worn with such grace. Rich or poor, the women in India all look elegant.

So naturally I wanted to bring something home, but after a brief time shopping on our third day in India, as part of our tour of Jaipur, there was never time or opportunity. Plus, I really needed help and though Fr. Jose has many gifts, shopping for women's clothes is not one of them. So I pretty much gave up on that idea.

But, while Jose may not be into fashion, he does know how to make things happen. Once my paper was over at the Scholar's Conference, on our last evening in India, Jose told me he had arranged for me to go get a sari.

Sr. Jacintha Prakashappa, SMMI (pictured with me above) took me out for a wonderful shopping adventure on Commercial Street in Bangalore. It started with a ride in one of those little 3-wheeled open-air taxis I'd seen so many of but not yet experienced. I hung on for dear life as we rounded the corners and swung through the traffic. Like all the driving experiences I'd had in India, it was a thrill.

Once we were deposited on a side street, I honestly didn't know how to act. The street was like a pedestrian mall full of people coming and going, except there were also cars and scooters coming and going! Only the terror of losing track of Sr. Jacintha got me moving. If I lost her, I had NO idea how I'd ever re-connect with my group--I didn't even know the name of the place we were staying as it was a rather obscure Indian name. I was ill-prepared to get lost.

I walked down the street praying I'd not be run over. No one else seemed to worry about the traffic, which of course was their secret. I did kind of get the hang of it and so much wanted to look around at the fascinating sights I'd seen only from a vehicle before. I'd take a glimpse of the stores and then look back quickly to make sure I was still following Sr. Jacintha. I began to get the hang of it and looked down another narrow cross street and there was a huge Brahman cow! Just not Dayton at all.

Sr. Jacintha was a masterful negotiator and knew all about the stores and fabrics. After being disgruntled by the first sidewalk shop, she took me to a Western-type store where I got a tunic and tights outfit, then it was back to the sidewalk shops for a sari. I eventually did get one and the accompanying skirt and "sari fall." (Sr. gave me one of her blouses the next morning, since the lady who makes them at the shop was on holiday.) Then we went to have marsala doce and tea at a wonderful eatery in the midst of all the shops. It may have been the best meal ever (I was famished) and definitely the most amazing shopping I ever enjoyed.

Fran Plude took the full-length photo of me in my sari and dubbed me Our Lady of the Sari. I like that title!

By the way, Sr. Jacintha holds a diploma in Communications from Lyon and Rome and is currently working on a PhD in Christianity at Mysore University. A member of the congregation of Selesian Missionaries of Mary Immaculate, she is Director of Vijayavani Kalavidaru, which presents multimedia, folk and popular theater presentations. She attended our 2-day workshop at United Theological College and the 3-day Scholar's Conference where we presented papers. She has published articles on the Creation and Fall stories in a book of feminist writings, Envisioning a New Heaven and a New Earth. I am honored to call her "friend" and I hope she will take me shopping again someday.

Back in the USA

After what seemed like an interminable night (because we were flying backwards in time into the night and also because I didn't sleep at all during the 14 hour flight) we landed in Newark at 4am EST. As we waited for our 7am flight to Dayton, the sun FINALLY rose. What a welcome sight.

Paying Taxes to Caesar

The second day of our workshop on "Biblical Stories in the Digital Culture" here at United Theological College began with a video meditation on the story of "Paying Taxes to Caesar." It was the section of the story that the participant had chosen to learn and tell in today's epic telling of Mark. So last night he produced a video for our morning prayer! It was very good and so was his telling. This is his picture (he took his wallet out as a prop in the story).

Our program here concluded with a public lecture that Tom gave entitled "Experiencing the Resurrection of Jesus Christ in Digital Culture." The hall was full, which was very gratifying and the lecture went well with thoughtful questions afterwards.

Tomorrow early a.m. we head for our last venue: the Navaspoorthi Kendra (NSK) also here in Bangalore where we will all present papers at a 3-day Scholars' Conference for Bible professors from the many theological colleges in Bangalore.

This is definitely not a Liz Rand cookie

Okay, I'm really pretty adventuresome with the food here and have even learned to eat with my hand in proper Indian fashion. (Though I still do sometimes scandalize Fr. Jose by wanting to put rice in my soup. I have to do it when he's not looking.)

However, today during the afternoon break I happily got my tea (made with hot milk and sugar--yum) and saw to my amazement little plates with large cookies. Or so I thought. I took a bite and went to warn Tom, as you can see in the photo, "These are NOT Liz Rand chocolate chip cookies." Not even oatmeal. Not even close.

Actually, the "cookie" was really quite tasty once someone informed me it was a lentil treat (with lots of other food things in there and of course spices) and I got my taste buds straightened out about what to expect.

I really love the food here and eating is definitely a three-times-a-day adventure.

Lion Hunt

Today was the first of a two-day workshop Tom and I are leading on "Biblical Stories in Digital Culture" at the Church of South India United Theological Seminary in Bangalore. Did I mention Bangalore is the high tech center of India (and to some extent of the world). But here, it is known the "The Garden City" of India, and indeed it is lovely with its many trees and large parks. It is the most Western feeling of the cities we have visited.

But as to our workshop, you can see Tom faithfully begins each biblical storytelling workshop in true Boomershine style, with a Lion Hunt. Though I sometimes have to convince him to do it, even when he thinks there won't be time. It always works, even in these highly academic settings.

And did you know the lion is the national animal of India? (I guess I wrote that in a previous blog.) So a Lion Hunt is most appropriate here.

Goodye, Kerala; Hello, Bangalore

We finished our time in Kerala with some sightseeing in and around Cochin. This included a gondola ride on the river and canal. The photo that identifies the profile of this blog was taken by Fr. Jose last year and sent to me with other pictures of Kerala. I have dreamed ever since of a gondola trip in Kerala and now my dream has come true. It was peaceful and scenic. There was much human activity along the canal banks including women washing clothes in the canal, children playing, old men sitting in the late afternoon shade watching the tourists float by. There were also domestic animals, mainly goats, to enjoy and water fowl and birds. Someone saw a snake but I missed it.

We flew to Bangalore day before yesterday and have done programs in three seminaries since arriving. This is somewhat of a marathon now until we leave, with tonight being my only break. I am accessing the Internet from the library of the United Theological College. This is the first Protestant venue we have been in. I have to confess, I certainly enjoyed singing a familiar old Methodist hymn in chapel this morning!

The picture of the "Lotus Jesus" adorned the auditorium of the first seminary where we led a day-long biblical storytelling workshop. That was the CMI (Carmelites of the Immaculate Conception) seminary. We stayed overnight there. The large group are seminarians and professors at the second seminary, called St Peter's Pontifical Seminary. Fran Plude was the primary speaker there, with Tom speaking briefly about sacralizing digital media and me running the Powerpoint. Fran is pictured with the Rector. She talked about the significance of cell phones. There was a murmur in the crowd and she perceived that they might not be allowed to use them. She asked, "Are you allowed cell phones?" I have never heard such a roar as in unison they replied, "No!" from 200 young men in a large echoing hall. It was a very fun and dramatic moment. Fortunately, as you can see from his smile in the photo, the Rector has a good sense of humor.

Ayurvedic Pharmeceuticals, Tea, and Spices

Today we toured the entrepeneurial ministries of the Peedmade Development Society. There is the Sahyadri Aturvedic Pharmeceutical division, an organic tea production business, and an organic spice factory.

All are businesses designed to assist local farmers and workers, "tribals" and poor people, and also to protect the environment. The men pictured are the priest who directs the spice division and the production manager. They are standing in the Director's office. The magnificant view from his window is also pictured.

Peermade Development Society

"...that they have life and have it abundantly" is the vision of the Peermade Development Society. We are staying at its "camp headquarters" (pictured here) in the mountains of Kerala. The goal of PDS is derived from this vision statement and that is "empowerment of village communities especially the tribals, women, children and the marginal farmers towards sustainable development by conserving and enhancing local resources in order to have fullness of life."

There are many strategies to attain this goal including organic tea production (see the picture of the terraced tea bushes), Ayurvedic pharmeceuticals (see the factory) and organic spices.

The statue of Mary greets visitors at the front gate. I like it because the facial features and clothing of Mary and Jesus look somewhat Indian, rather than European.

Along the path to the herb nursery and pharmeceutical factory is a statue of an ancient sage of 5000 BC, Agastya, who, legend says, came from the north to this region and invented many medicinal treatments.

The Road Into the Mountains

Another 5-hour road trip with another (thankfully) expert driver took us up into the mountains to the "Peermade Development Society" headquarters which is located in the midst of tea plantations. We are staying here for 3 days of R & R. More about PDS tomorrow.

The way here took us along 2-lane roads lined with shops, homes, villages, towns often crowded with pedestrians, school children, cycles, dogs, goats, and cows. I managed to catch two sleeping next to the median.

Then it was a one-lane, paved road, then a one-lane mud lane, then again paved as we wound our way up and down the mountains ever-winding our way with many a hair-pin turn through rubber, banana and tea plantations.

I sat up front so I could catch some photos out the window, but it was a challenge: both to get the photos and also to maintain cool. The photos are fuzzy because they were taken out the window at what seemed like break-neck speeds.

You can see the icon of Mary on the dashboard in my photos. I was glad she was there; I alternately enjoyed the thrill of speeding past all the obstacles, passing scooters, trucks, buses, and 3-wheeled taxis just in the nick of time before some huge bus or lumber-laden truck came barreling head-on toward us.

We passed many churches and also many Christian shrines, in the style of Hindu shrines. We passed some mosques as well, but I never was able to photograph one. In the towns there would often be arches announcing various things like a feast day.

St. George Church, Cochin

Friday evening and again Sunday morning we visited St. George Church (of St. George and the Dragon fame--note the statue).

It is in an area where the Christian community is very old. The cross by the street is very old. They have saved a sanctuary that is at least 500 years old and next to it built a large church only 5 years old (the old church is shown on the edge of the photo at the right of the new one).

The new church has incredible stained glass windows depicting salvation history. Pictured is the window of Jesus feeding 5000. It depicts his disciple passing out the food. I picked this one to show because my most popular contribution to the workshop was teaching the song, "Five little loaves and two little fish" based on that story. It was a big hit as most of the participants work with children, and they love to sing.

Seminary of St. Joseph, Cochin, Kerala

After seeing St. George Church we visited St. Joseph Pontifical Seminary in Cochin where we had tea with Dean Tomy who was a seminary classmate of Fr. Jose (though we learned not to say "classmate" which is the title of a movie here and judging from the reaction not to be connected with).

Pictured is the Gothic style church at the seminary, a statue of Joseph with the infant Jesus (central symbol of the sanctuary and seminary), a lion at the entrance (the lion is the national animal), and one of several long, cool, peaceful walkways.

Behind the seminary runs the largest river in Kerala. Students used to bathe and swim there, but too many have drowned so they no longer are allowed to do so.

Epic Telling of Mark

The picture looking out the window is the view from the new IMPACT center, including the Toyota minivan in which we travel around Kerala. I used this photo to create a powerpoint for our introductory session of the 2/1-2 day workshop we conducted here on "Biblical Storytelling in Oral and Digital Culture." We titled that session "Biblical Storytelling: A Window Into the Sacred." I told about (and showed in the powerpoint) the view from our home in Dayton, Ohio USA and then invited the group to tell a partner about the view from their home window. It was an ice-breaker that seemed to work well judging from all the talk that ensued. Most of the conversation was in the local language, Malayalum. One of the sisters spoke good English so she translated at times.

Our workshop was held at the Claretian Provincial House, a large new beautiful building, constructed to maximize air flow and light while minimizing heat, since like most places it is not air conditioned. I don't know when I have been so hot for so long, but we gradually are getting used to it. Hot, humid, Houston-like weather only moreso. We are in the tropics after all. The land of spices and bananas of many varieties. Little sweet bananas that only grow in Kerala. So tasty!

Back to the workshop: Participants in the program included several young men from the Jesus Youth Movement and many sisters from various religious communities. They had difficulty understanding our "American English" as they are accustomed to "Indian English" and most did not speak any kind of English well. Nevertheless in 2-1/2 long days we taught enough about biblical storytelling that we were able to conduct an epic telling of the Gospel of Mark in which everybody participated. It was truly remarkable.

Kerala

Finally back online! In am writing from the upstairs study/residence of the Missionary Society of St. Thomas here in Cochin, Kerala, staffed by three priests, including our host Fr. Jose. Only have a little time before we take off again, so this will not begin to capture all we have seen and done in the past few days.

After our event for journalism students in New Delhi I spent a day sightseeing but Tom got sick and so he missed out. We were quite worried about him and wondered how he could travel to Kerala (a day long journey by plane) and then lead the workshop here. But fortunately he recovered and has been fine since. We are all faithfully taking our meds. It has been interesting sleeping with nets in a couple of the places. I think of our Nothing But Nets funding campaign to help prevent malaria. A good idea!

Fr. Jose has been very busy with all the last minute decisions and directions that such a project as building a center entails, as well as making all the arrangements for our programs and caring for all our needs. He is an amazing person. Did I mention he also presides over mass at various churches at the same time? AND serves as our tour guide. We are blessed to be his friend and associate.

Ghandi and Bahai

Jose took Fran and me to see the burial place of Ghandi, Rajghat, pictured here. It was an important site for me to visit as Ghandi is one of my heroes. His development of principles and practices of non-violent resistance to oppression is one of the great human achievements of recent history, I believe, and I pray for increased attention to his life and work. The orange things in the picture are marigold blossoms which Hindus use for devotion.

As we slowly made our way to see Ghandi's burial site, from the south side of New Dehli to the north side of Dehli, we sometimes were inching our way through monstrous traffic and other times caught in gridlock. I now understand the true meaning of "t

raffic jam." But at one place where we moved along at normal speed for urban traffic, I saw coming down the other side of the road in the midst of the traffic an elephant carrying a large load of some sort of branches. Just another of many kinds of transportation used in Indian cities. How I scrambled for my camera! But alas, it was another one that got away.

Here is a photo of the Bahai House of Worship of the Indian sub-continent. "It is the latest of seven edifices raised in different parts of the world...inviting peoples of all religions and races to worship the Creator of the Universe and to express the love between God and [humanity]." It is a remarkably beautiful space for prayer and meditation. As has been true of all the worship spaces we've visited here, ancient and modern, we removed our shoes before entering. The architectural design is inspired by the lotus flower, a symbol of purity that is "inseparably associated with worship and religion in India."

Social Media in India

One of the things I learned yesterday during my discussion with the students on blogging is that Orkut is used a lot more than Facebook here. Most of them were on it. Also, keeping a blog updated is a challenge. I found that comforting!

New Dehli Wake-Up Call

Today I awoke to mooing mixed in with the constant honking of a nearby road. At first I thought I was imagining it but then I remembered where I was and that cows are perfectly at home in the city, though sometimes they look a little confused. Then there was honking, mooing, and call to prayer music. Then there was honking, mooing, call to prayer and an owl hooting. Jose had informed me at the Taj Mahal where I first heard an Indian owl, that it is good luck to hear an owl in the morning. So I decided it was time to get up.

Tom spent the night awake and sick so our touring plans for the day were cancelled. We still plan to visit Ghandi sites this afternoon; hopefully Tom will feel well enough to accompany us. We came fortified with many meds; now we'll test the effectiveness of at least one. I am actually glad for the time to work on this blog and have added a number of pictures to past posts.

Despite the good luck owl hoot, I also woke up in bad shape today: with a migraine. I think it was triggered by the heavy smog in the Dehli metropolitan area. There is a great deal of dust in the air from all the construction and heavily travelled dirt roads. It is hot, hazy and the air is "close." The air smells terrible at times and was particularly strong early this morning. It reminds me of Gary, Indiana years ago. The plug-in mosquito repellent contributes to the bad smells so we turned that off. We wear mosquito repellent to bed and faithfully take our Malarone pills.

Did I mention the food is wonderful?! We have acclimated to the varieties of very different dishes and their "pungent" nature. Especially here at the NISCORT "hostel" we have become quite spoiled. Sr. Amelia (I am delighted we share names) serves a scrumptious meal and encourages us to eat far more than we should. Also, I have taken to drinking tea steeped in hot milk (rather than water as at home) and sweetened with the delightful granular sugar they use here. It is a good thing these Indian clothes I am wearing have drawstring closures and baggy pants!

Which reminds me: I love the scarves Indian women wear, even adorning Western styles. But I have definite scarf management issues. Today I asked a couple of women how they keep from losing their scarves off their shoulders and received a welcome lesson. A gentleman in on the conversation added to my enlightenment on this issue. As I suspected, it involves life-long practice. Poise and posture are clearly also factors, and occasionally pins with heavier fabrics.

Taj Majal and NISCORT

We arrived back in Delhi safely last night after a morning of sightseeing in Agra, visiting the incredible Taj Mahal at sunrise. My first view of it, misty in the early morning haze, made me think of the images of heaven in Revelation.

In New Delhi we are staying at NISCORT: the National Institute of Social Communications. The vision of NISCORT is "to serve as an effective communication think-tank and as a centre for advanced learning, training and research in matters related to the communication revolution, which is sweeping practically every aspect of the life of the people of India, and give to the mass media of the nation specific thrust, which will promote and uphold the cherished media values and morality." NISCORT is owned and run by the Catholic Bishos Conference of India.

Our fellow traveler, Dr. Frances Plude is the main speaker for today's presentations to journal

ism students on digital culture.

Tom gave a presentation on "Peace Journalism" which included creative discussion among the students about current conflicts in India and how they might practice Peace Journalism vs. War Journalism.

As an example of non-professional journalism and public media, one of Dr. Plude's topics for the day, I gave a presentation on blogs. I invited students to post on my blog so hopefully that will happen. They were so attentive and kind to us.

During the day, students took photos and ran camera as part of their training. Pictured is Fr. Thisai Gerry, an experienced producer who is attending NISCORT to receive a Masters in Broadcast Journalism. In the evening Gerry drove Tom and I, along with the student pictured behind him, to visit Swaminarayan Akshardham, an elaborate and huge new Hindu temple and educational/entertainment complex.

Road Trip

Fr. Jose had planned a two-day program for us to lead in Delhi immediately upon arrival. As it turned out, the program was not possible which was at first a disappointment as we were eager to begin teaching biblical storytelling, but on the other hand we were grateful to be able to sleep in after two days of travel with minimal rest. And the alternative plan Fr. Jose arranged turned out to be an incredible 3-day road trip visiting the cities of Jairpur and Agra which I will never forget. It gave us a chance to see India past and present close up.

We also experienced the amazing anarchy of Indian roads. We spent 5-8 hours each day on these roads with a driver who would certainly win the Indy 500. Only a video could tell the tale of this experience, which I'll produce at home. Until then, this photo of the donkey-drawn cart tailgated by a colorful bus will have to do. At least they were approaching us on their side of the road, which was not always the case!

At the end of our first long day of driving and touring we enjoyed traditional Indian music and dancing at a Jaipur restaurant. I got a lesson in dance--much fun!

Unfortunately I hadn't yet learned how to crop photos correctly in iPhoto and I messed up my favorite picture without having the sense to save an original. Painful lesson.

The flower lei was given to me in the ancient Hindu temple to the goddess Shilla we visited today.

Our first day in Delhi we met with Fr. George Plathottam, SDB (far left) who is the executive Secretary of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of India (CBCI) and Fr. M.D. Thomas who is the Director of Commission for Religious Harmony for the CBCI.

The new logo pictured here shows symbols that represent the many religions of people who live in India.

I learned that "Hindu" is more a geographic designation than a religious one and that there are many varieties of Hinduism.