Looking back while going forward

15 hours in a van is a long time.

Enough time for quiet companionship,

sleeping, 

catching up,

sharing memories of other Mission trips,

and other friends who have shared the journey.

The stories and re-membering create community,

weaving past and present 

into a single garment of shared experience

forming the foundation for this years trip.

We've arrived safely.

A child stood on his seat in a restaurant,

holding the railing of the chair back

as though to address a courtroom,

"Nobody knows what's going to happen next."

Then he turned, sliding back down to his food,

as relieved and proud to say the truth

as we were to hear it.

Coleman Barks

~~~~~~