Last Day in Lui

Today we are all packing and having debriefing meetings and last-minute computer trainings and such. We feel good closure: My list of things to do and find out is mostly checked off. Deb has gotten to see her old friends and revisit lots of experiences and issues, and Dan has collected stories and observations for many sermons to come. Our time here has been marked by joy, but we're coming back with lots to chew over and discuss with our parish and diocesan communities.

Yesterday, while I was hanging out by myself, I wrote a long reflection on the tension between a feeling I call "alone on the planet" and a strong sense of connection to and communion with other people. I will spare you the whole long thing, but I do want to say that nowhere do I feel them simultaneously like I do in Lui. Alone-on-the-planet is richly available on a dune in the Sahara or the streets of Chicago, and communion is best at home, but only here in Lui have I experienced them both at once. God is present in both feelings -- more directly in the former and through other people in the latter -- but the constant presence of both feelings here has brought me to recall the name of the film about the Lost Boys of Sudan, God Grew Tired of Us, and say no, God never grows tired of us, and if there's anywhere we can realize it, that place is Southern Sudan.

That's it from me till we're back in Uganda, where we will be staying at the MAF guesthouse and expect to have Internet access. Part of the sense of communion I mentioned is my awareness of the connection with both my Moru friends and my friends back home at the same time, and this seems like a good time to say thank you to everyone who has been reading my blog and holding all eight of our team of missioners in your hearts and prayers. The feeling of your support is almost palpable, and it has carried us. Please don't drop us now! We expect to be home Thursday night, 8 January.