June 30, 2002

Singing hymns at First Presbyterian Church of Wilmette.

First Presbyterian Church of Wilmette was our worship home for two years while Marthame was on staff there. They continue to be our strongest source of financial and spiritual support, and so it was wonderful to come back and share with them. We worshiped on the shores of Lake Michigan, as we did so many times in the summer months, sharing in communion before moving worship inside on the church grounds.

We learned that one of the home-bound members of the church (who turned ninety this year) had tried to come to worship, but her wheelchair was too big for the chairlift. And so she had to return home. It's a good thing construction on the elevator begins tomorrow. We stopped by to see her as we continued on our pilgrimage point, the Original Pancake House and its bacon blessings. Not a lot of pork products "back home".

In the evening, we gathered back at the church to share our program. There were a number of folks from Wilmette, but also from Park Ridge, Morgan Park, and a number of other communities around there. They braved the incredible heat (we had almost forgotten how hot Chicago can be in the summer), and as we closed, they gathered around us to lay hands on us, to pray for us, and to send us forth again in safety and blessing. What gifts we are receiving! We are trying to discern how to share these intangible gifts with our brothers and sisters in Zababdeh.

We came somewhat expecting to find a more suspicious, more patriotic, more hardened American culture. While we have witnessed that, and while perhaps that is the prevailing trend, there is far more nuance, far more discussion, far more debate than we could judge from overseas. That is heartening.