On October 6th, my roommate arrived. Her name is Juyeon Han and she is from Seoul, South Korea. She lived and served last year, in Nottingham, England through the Time for God program. Time for God or TFG is a partner program that the ELCA coordinates with, here, in the United Kingdom. Juyeon is really great and it is nice to have some company in my flat.
In mid-October, I travelled to London for a Time for God conference. I was so happy to see all of my fellow UK YAGMs as well as meet new volunteers from Germany, Scotland, and South Korea. This conference was a time to meet with the TFG administrators and reflect on our service so far and start to look to the future. The theme was vocation so we explored different ideas of ‘call,’ ‘journey,’ and ‘service.’ We took time to look at the path our lives have taken so far and where they may be headed in the future. An image of life that really struck me was an image of my life as a tapestry. The back of a tapestry is not beautiful, it makes no picture and can look messy and disorganized, but you can see where and how the fibers connect. However, all of these fibers on the back, as messy as they may seem, make a big, complete, and beautiful picture on the front.
Here in Bath, I am surrounded by history. The Abbey is full of memorials of those who have gone before. The city itself is a testament to time and how we, as people, leave our mark. I am already very aware of the fact that I will be coming home after a year. I can’t help but think of what I might leave behind or what I might take away. I don’t think that they will be resurrecting any great monuments to my name or claiming any day to be a holiday in my honor. But I still wonder if I will be missed when I leave. What can I do to leave my impression?
Sometimes leaving a mark is in the little things and it doesn’t always come from where you expect. When we were at the conference in London we were given the opportunity to plan worship. For our worship service, we had a passing of the peace. It was a small group and most of us knew each other. We gave hugs-we’re not too afraid of H1N1. I didn’t think much of this, hugging is something we do in the culture I know. One of the other volunteers, Darren, grew up in Scotland. He said to me after the service that he really liked that we did that. Hugging was something new to him. He said that even as a boy he very rarely had hugs.
So again, no monuments or holidays, but in being with each other and being ourselves we must remember that we impact all whom we cross paths with. Furthermore, we must remember to look at and listen to those whom we meet. Even over a meal, in a brief conversation, or just in a hug we might catch a glimpse of someone else’s perspective and experience in this world.
Pictures from Bath:
Victoria Park
Pictures from the TFG Conference in London:
O-H-I-O in London!
Out on the town.
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