The Pope Visits London!

  80,000 people in one place...all singing Shine, Jesus, Shine...waving their flags and cheering...soaking in the warmth of the sun and the wonderful fellowship...

Amelia & I were excited to hold a flag too!

  Honestly, it's been difficult for me to put this experience into words.  Even though I'm not Catholic, it was such an amazing thing to be a part of. I think I was more excited about the whole day then most of the Catholics in the group!

  Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think that in my lifetime, I would be in the same city as the Pope, let alone the same park! This past Saturday, 8 of us from SPEC hopped on the bus/train/tube and headed to London for the Evening Vigil in Hyde Park, an event taking place on the third day of the Papal visit.  The Papal visit through the UK was centered around the beatification of Cardinal John Henry Newman (For all my fellow Lutherans out there, beatification is the third of the four steps in the canonization process, which is the process of being declared a saint).  I learned so much about the Catholic tradition that day,  it was amazing!  The afternoon was filled with music and dance performances from all over the world, as well as inspirational messages from various social justice speakers from the London area.  Then, as 6:00 rolled around, the helicopters in the air started getting closer and closer and the video screens showed the procession into the Park.  Pope Benedict XVI arrived in his Popemobile (that's what they actually call it!) and was welcomed by the cheers and songs of the enormous congregation.  If you've never seen what 80,000 people looks like, or listened as 80,000 different voices were lifting up prayers, it's pretty hard to explain the kind of emotions it can bring. There's just something about hearing the power of the "Hallelujah Chorus" when it's with a choir of 80,000 that simply cannot be matched.  The Vigil service itself lasted about an hour and a half, but we were in Hyde Park for over 8 hours.  

The stage was incredible.

   When the service was over, we were leaving the Park(and if you've never seen 80,000 people trying to all leave at once, it's hard to explain the frantic chaos that seems to commence) and I could hear music was still playing but I couldn't tell what it was exactly.  I slowed my pace a bit to strain my ears to hear the song and I realized it was a big group of kids, they were from Ghana, and they were singing "Siyahamba" (We are Marching in the Light of God).  

                        I had goosebumps for the next hour.

You Better Believe It!

What a great way to start the morning!

   Yes, it's true. Krispy Kreme doughnuts, a sign that God truly does love mankind, is a global delicacy.  Amelia and I went to St. Anne's Lutheran church in London again yesterday, then we spent the afternoon with Erin (our friend placed in London) and Olya (a fellow team member from Ukraine) and went to some markets on Liverpool street then we went to check out the Tower Bridge. We even got a quick glance at the Tower of London (which became a rather grim prison, where many beheadings took place under Henry VIII, as well as various other royalty). 

Erin & the harp!

   Although I have to say, the highlight of my day was when we were walking through one of the tube stations and we heard a man playing the harp by one of the escalators(street entertainers are a rather common sight in London, especially in the tube stations). As we walked by, Erin ran over to him to get a picture by him and I pointed to her and said, "She plays the harp too!"  At that moment, he stood up and offered her his seat and let her play his harp! It was amazing!  She played in the St. Olaf orchestra, which isn't the Concordia orchestra, but she's still quite a talented musician. =) Since we've been here, she's been talking about wanting to rent a harp because she misses it so much.  It was so incredible to hear her playing in the middle of a tube station in London.  Needless to say, she was pretty giddy the rest of the day.

Olya(Ukraine), Amelia(Minnesota), Erin(South Carolina), Me(MT!)

All-American Breakfast

Highlight of my day:
    As I was walking to breakfast after morning prayer, Hannah, whose room is right next to mine, was saying how she loved visiting her aunt in Los Angeles because she always got to bring such amazing stuff back with her (Hannah's from Stevenage, about an hour away). Just then she pulled out her bag full of Lucky Charms...and I squealed like a little kid.  Last week I was talking with Ange, a seasoned volunteer from Manchester, and she informed me that Lucky Charms have been banned from this country.  Apparently, kids were bouncin' off the walls too much with all the sugar from the cereal so now stores aren't allowed to sell them (you can bring them in the country, it's just a store trying to sell them that's not allowed). Of course, I raced down the stairs and grabbed a bowl the second she offered to share her treasure with me.  I don't have anything against the corn flakes and rice krispies we've been having every morning(which I learned quickly that it is unheard of to add sugar to your cereal, imagine that), it was just so...comforting to see those little horse-shoe shaped marshmallows, I couldn't help myself.  But wait, it gets even better.  The moment I sat down with my delectable bowl of cereal, I remembered that earlier this week, Hannah had given me a little "Jif To-Go" peanut butter cup after I told her how disappointed I was at the lack of peanut butter in this country (well, they do have it, but it's about £5 for a tiny little jar).  So I ran upstairs to my room to get the peanut butter, slapped it onto a piece of toast, sliced some bananas to put on top, and had myself the most American breakfast I could think of (if only I had some chocolate milk).   Yes, I got laughed at. But I had never enjoyed breakfast so much.  The whole time I was thinking, "Mom would be so proud of me."

Best day EVER!

 

 

Needless to say, Hannah is my new best friend.

Church on Sunday Morn

St. Anne's Lutheran Church, London

  This past Sunday, while most of the team attended Mass at the Westminster Cathedral in London, us Lutherans decided to venture out and find a Lutheran service.  It was Amelia, Margareta (from Germany), Helena (from Sweden) and myself who jumped on the tube and walked a few blocks and arrived (about 20 min. late, of course...because of the tube) at St. Anne's Lutheran church. It was such a bizarre experience as I had spent the morning preparing myself to hear a Lutheran sermon preached by somebody without a Minnesotan accent ( I wasn't sure I was going to be able to cope with it, to be honest).  It was a shocking moment when we walked in and realized the Pastor had an American accent...we later found out he was from Oklahoma!  What are the odds of that?!  Of course, being from OK, he was a big country music fan...so he and I shared a good bond over our after-service refreshments of tea and biscuits (cookies).
  Church attendance was pretty low that morning, they said it would pick up next week when all the kids come back with the start of the school year. Everyone was so friendly to us, especially after the Pastor introduced and welcomed us at the end of the service, there's nothing like the good ol' Lutheran hospitality.
  I have to say, my favorite part of the whole service was the Lord's Prayer.  Right before we began, the Pastor invited the congregation to say the prayer in whatever style or language was closest to them.  As we prayed, I heard German and Swedish on one side of me with Spanish, Latvian and Swahili being spoken across the aisle, each with their own rhythm and each with their own expression.  Now that's not something you get to experience everyday, especially in hometown, MT. As I stood there, my head bowed and hands folded, I'd never felt more connected to the world than I did at that very moment.  To think, we are all singing the same song with the same purpose, just different words, is so incredible.  There are no words to describe such an extraordinary feeling.

     I cannot wait for the new songs I will learn to sing this year.

Courage to get out of the Boat

  Today was a day filled with song, prayer, team-leader talks, small group discussions, wonderful food, personal reflection, a ropes course, mass and a learning session about the Rosary.  Our last session tonight was especially meaningful to me as it focused, again, on community and the idea of living as individuals within this group for the rest of the year.  Hannah, one of the many new friends I have made, gave us some insight on things that may come about as this will be her fourth year living in this type of community.  She talked a lot about the fact that everyone here is scared(at one point or another) but everyone here has to take a risk.  As we will be living, breathing, changing and growing within this community, we must learn how to be ourselves but also push ourselves to try new things.  As she talked about the story of Peter becoming a "fisher of men," she stated, "To walk on water, you have to get out of the boat."  So while it's good to find comfort within this community, you should also find that the community is pushing us to be something greater.  All of us here have a mission, we have a purpose, and if we all can realize that about one another, we can help each other in their mission. 
   This makes me think of a concept we discussed at our Chicago orientation a few weeks ago: the idea of "Namaste"(pronounced nah-mas-day).  In India, people greet each other by placing their hands together in front of them (as if in Sunday-School prayer position) and bow as they say "Namaste" which means "My soul is meeting your soul and I am going to see how God is within you." 
   The last thing Hannah said in her talk also seemed to strike me in an intriguing way.  As she talked about living in community with others and learning how to make that sort of lifestyle work for you, she wrote on the board the popular verse from 1 Corinthians 13:4 that says "Love is patient, love is kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude....(and so on)" and then she posed the ultimate question.  Her question was, can you replace the word Love with your name?  What a grounding thought. 
  So, among many other things, today I learned about the importance of being courageous.  I will admit, I was rather nervous leading up to the praying of the Rosary, I didn't know what they were going to think of me when I told them I'd never done the prayer before.  I figured I just had to jump in (though I don't think I had much choice as the last thing I wanted to do was be disrespectful) and be open to the new experience. Turns out I was not the only one who had never done it before, 2 of the girls from Germany were rather nervous about it too.  In the end, I learned a lot about the tradition and they made it very clear that it's okay if it doesn't exactly line up with my own tradition, they aren't expecting me to change my beliefs just for them. They just want us to experience it and learn about it so we can help the kids to learn about it when they come on retreat. 
Just as Hannah had said about having the courage to be yourself and stay strong in your faith(and it couldn't be more true):  If you don't step out of the boat, you'll never walk on water.

Who Am I?

Who Am I?  This is the first question we were to ask ourselves.
Terry, one of our directors, led the sessions tonight and he shared with us some very profound nuggets of knowledge that I would like to share.  As he focused on the theme of "Who Am I?" he shared with us some of his own story and where he came from.  He asked us to think of things we remember from when we were little and then think about whether or not they define who we are today.  He asked us to list things that make us happy, then think about whether or not we are defined by them.  He asked us how others describe us, and whether or not we let ourselves be defined by those terms. 
I have always found it so fascinating to think about where we all came from and why we do certain things certain ways.  It's amazing to think that even identical twins have different fingerprints.  Not a single one of us matches up exactly with someone else, we are beyond unique.  (Makes me think of my mom's favorite saying, "You're unique, just like everyone else." Thanks, Mom) Terry said if there is one thing we learn this year, let it be courage- courage to be ourselves.   We have to realize that we were created for great things and we must embrace our individuality: the community is not whole without us. 
If you think about your hands, and everything that they have done, every live they have touched, every hand they have shaken, every thing they have created. It's amazing to think about how capable we are of doing anything we wish for, the power is in our own hands.
  Terry asked us to write down "God does not make mistakes and God made me."  What a thought. I'd never heard it put quite like that but it makes complete sense, I think I might use it as my new mantra for the week.  I was also struck by the quote Terry used by Oscar Wilde, which I will leave you with now.  He said, "Be yourself.  Because everybody else is already taken."

Let the Induction Begin

  Today was the official start of our 3-week Induction period, of which the first three days will be spent in a retreat for ourselves.  After a morning of last-minute clean up, we welcomed the other 13 volunteers that will be living here with us this year.  Home countries now include: America (only the two of us!), New Zealand, Germany, Sweden, Zimbabwe, North Korea, and various parts of England. What a great mix! I made a sweet deal with the three German girls that I would help them with their English if they help me with my German. =)

   In our first "session" tonight, our Directors, Jon and Terry, filled us in more on the purpose of SPEC and what we should hope to get out of the year.  It was then that I realized I am in the right place.  As Jon described the unique culture of SPEC, he talked about the importance of learning to "feed others" while also "feeding yourself."  It's not only about the youth we will be working with when they come on retreat at SPEC, it's also about the community that is built within our team.  It's not about the destination, it's about the journey along the way.  I have always valued the idea of being my own individual but at the same time, belonging to something greater than myself.  When I think about it, it is because of the wonderful community I found at Concordia that I found who I am and it is because of the wonderful community I found in my home congregation at Zion Lutheran Church that I found my way here.

  Praise the Lord for the gift of community!

London...finally!

Lookin' classy at the Houses of Parliament

I have been waiting to go to London since the 3rd grade, in Woltermann's class, when we did a project that asked us where we would go if we could go ANYWHERE in the world.  My wish came true!  This past Sunday and Monday (which was a Bank Holiday for all of U.K....much like Memorial Day in the U.S. but a lot more places actually close down) Amelia and I traveled to London!  I was so excited for our London adventure but was still suffering from jet-lag a bit so the process of actually getting to London was more of an adventure than anything!  Needless to say, after a bus ride, a train ride, a tube ride, and another bus ride(DOUBLE-DECKER!)...we made it to our friend, and fellow YAGM, Erin's house.  We spent Sunday runnin' around the city with two other American friends I'd met last summer, who were in London for a semester abroad.  On Monday, the two male YAGM who are in England came and met up with us too!  We saw SO many incredible sights!  I'll run through a quick itinerary of our two days (I'll go into more detail later): We saw Big Ben, the Parliament, listened to a organ recital in Westminster Abbey, explored Camden Town, saw the London Eye, Buckingham palace, walked along the Thames River, passed the National Theatre and National Gallery, saw the Tower Bridge, briefly explored Tate Modern, then ended the night with a nice dinner at The Black Friar, said to be the oldest pub in London. Oh, we also crammed some of us together for a classic phone booth picture, you can't leave London without a picture like that=)

Next time we should try to fit 5 more!

All in all, let's just say that I am unbelievably, overwhelmingly, can hardly contain myself, totally excited that I will be living here...in England...this close to London and all its beauty... for a year.  My umbrella is definitely going to be put to good use in the next 11 months.