It is Friday afternoon and a quiet moment in what has been a full week. The time is going so quickly. I am here in Malolos, Bulacan Province, just north of Manila. The Chapter is being held here at University Regina Carmeli.
I have found the experience to be interesting and worthwhile. I am meeting ones from all around the world. Bob from Kenya is teaching me Swahili. I now know there are two very similar words - Jumbo and Jambo. The former means elephant, while the latter means Hello. The Americans are easy to meet and good guys. It is good to see the various ones I know from over the years and to meet new faces. I feel honoured to be sitting beside a former Prior General and just experience him as a good guy. Everyone is friendly and easy to get on with.
Yes, there have been the information and reporting meetings. There have also been the discussion groups. Beyond these, some words stay with me like - transformation, Urdaneta and torneviaje, akuna mutata, eurocentric. They all have meaning for me because of this experience, an experience that is yet again putting me in touch with the bigger picture.
Our world, no matter how vital, can be so small and we do need to step out regularly and see yet again the big picture, the wider vision, the challenging world. I guess this is one of those experiences. Within that frame of mind, I step into the second half of my time here and just try and live the present and take it for what it is.
When I get back to Bangkok, the Ahmeds of my world will be there. They do matter to me and very much help shape my life and ministry. As refugees, they may be rejected by the world and have no home but like this Chapter they put me in touch with the bigger picture, the truer picture of our life. That picture says that we are all interconnected and that goodness does not just lie with those we know, like or feel safe with, or just within our own little, comfortable worlds. Goodness is out there in our world, shared by all humanity. This experience, as do my Ahmeds, remind me of this.
I am John Murray, an Australian, Catholic priest of the Order of St Augustine. I live and work in Thailand and have been here since October 2005. I have many stories from my life journey and would simply like to share some of them. So hope you enjoy and go away sometime with a smile or a helpful little insight.
We gather
to give thanks for my 25 years.
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