Saturday, December 13, 2008

Our Town

Five funerals and a wedding... and two pending births. In just two months, Maseno has become like Martha's Vineyard, or maybe even like Cheers, "where everyone knows your name" -- especially if you're the only mzungu living on the hospital grounds.

Shared losses, common anxieties and mutual delight bring us all closer in community. I mourn for them the deaths of Christopher's wife, Kenneth's father, Eunice's son, Margaret's sister-in-law, and Okinye's father. I feel honored to be invited to Peter's and Rosa's wedding. I worry about the price of medicine and maize. I celebrate Christine's and Maureen's pregnancies. I give thanks for the companionship of Gerry and Nan and Linet and Emmah. And they all pray for my mother in her current health crisis.

Our Town. Thornton Wilder and Eddie Coogan would have been at home here. So am I.

Yes, I miss the other "characters" in my life, too! I thank God and all of you every day for supporting and sharing this chapter with me. Thank you for inviting me to be your eyes and ears and hands and hearts as we walk together with the people of Maseno, Kenya. You are the reason I am here. You are also the reason many of the people in Our Town are even alive.

We read in I John 3:17, "How does God's love abide in anyone who has the world's goods and sees a brother or sister in need and yet refuses help?" You have not refused. You have given them (and me) help and hope in countless ways. Asante sana.

No comments: