As I was drifting off to sleep last night, I heard a low growling coming through the air conditioning unit. At first, I thought it might be the motor slowing down because the power was fluctuating. The noise grew steadily louder. Suddenly, there was a hiss, a screech and a thump as the cats from next door rolled off the roof, hit the sidewalk below, and began brawling with each other. Unable to sleep through the fracas, I opened the back door to chase them away, only to set off the outdoor motion detector alarm, waking up everyone else in the house. The cats moved their battle elsewhere, the alarm eventually shut off, and normalcy was restored.
Preparing for my second year in Honduras, I expected a similar experience to last year; settling in quickly with few surprises. So far that has not quite been the case.
I arrived a week ago Sunday to find my housing situation in limbo. There was a possibility around March of three long term missionaries to be working at Holy Trinity this year. A three bedroom cottage a block from the church came up for rent, and the church picked it up. I already had an apartment at the time so some parishioners who were in need of short term housing were given the house to live in until the next school year when I would move in with the rest of the missionaries.
Fast forward to my arrival last week: the cottage is still occupied by the family and in need of major cleaning and maintenance. The three full time missionaries are down to just me and Dana, an ALCOA scientist from Pittsburgh who is here on a four week mission. While work was done on the house, we stayed in Veronica Flowers’ guest rooms. By the end of the week, everything was finally cleaned out, scrubbed out, swept out and fumigated, minus some moldy cupboards and residual dead pests.
However, when I went to turn on the shower, I found little more than a generous, lukewarm, drip. Apparently this part of La Ceiba has very low water pressure. In order to fix the problem, a significant investment would have to be made in a water drum and electrical pump. I mastered the art of the bucket bath while teaching in India a few years back, but that would be a hard sell to prospective missioners coming from the United States. The cottage project was officially abandoned, and I am living at Veronica’s until an apartment at my residence last year opens up in about a week.
School has been equally turbulent in the past week. The buildings are undergoing a full makeover, but the painters got behind schedule, preventing the teachers from getting their classrooms and office spaces ready until late in the week. They are still doing touch up work as I write. Most of the students waited until the last minute to register for classes, occupying the administration and throwing off teacher orientation. Missing schedules and miscommunication meant that I did not find out what classes I would be teaching until Friday and the text book situation remains unclear.
Yet in spite of all the chaos and uncertainty, the students flowed through the doors yesterday at 7 am to begin the new school year. We had an all-school Eucharist and welcoming assembly before the students retreated to their homerooms for class overviews and rules. It was a wonderful feeling to be standing in front of so many familiar faces again with the entire year ahead. It is like I never left.
This year I will be working with the 9th, 10th, and 11th graders, which should be a little less stressful as their English abilities are more advanced than the younger classes. My schedule is much fuller than last year but I am excited about teaching new courses and solidifying the upper level science curriculum. I will teach the same 9th Grade Physical Science and 10th Grade Chemistry and Biology classes I taught last year. I will also be teaching 11th Grade Chemistry and Biology, 10th Grade Ancient History, 11th Grade Modern History, and help with the art classes. The history and art classes should be particularly interesting as I will be challenged to develop a different approach and format for my lessons.
Looking at the year ahead, there are still a lot of unknowns intermingled with the familiar. I will live in the same place (hopefully soon…), but in a different apartment. I will be in the same school, but with a different mix of faculty and students. I have reconnected with many of my Honduran friends, but I already feel absence of Mike and Betty, who finished their missionary tour last year. I will be focusing on the place I am, but also looking ahead to next year and what I want to pursue. While it has been a bumpy start to the year, I feel the path already starting to level out. Like the cats last night, the disruptions are only temporary distractions to my goals. I know that if I continue to work hard, be patient, and trust in God, the right things will happen.
Commit your way to the Lord;
trust in him, and he will act.
He will bring forth your righteousness as the light,
and your justice as the noonday.
Psalm 36: 5-6
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Sunday, August 1, 2010
A Heartfelt "Thank You" from the Rev. Noreen Suriner, delivered August 1, 2010
I come today not to preach, but tell a story of your history. A little story.
A young 3rd grade teacher came to Gt. Barrington, and while at a New Year’s Eve Party,
She met a priest, dressed in a bright red jacket, Pierce Middleton, shooting craps.
After traveling many miles to church, she visited nearby St. James. While she found the people friendly and the priest welcoming, The Book of Common Prayer was a mystery— The order of service didn’t make any sense and there were no pictures in the book. The priest would say prayers that weren’t there so even after she was directed to the correct place, she would immediately get lost again.
This young teacher held a bible club after school where 30 or so children came each Wednesday to learn simple bible stories, sing simple songs and to work on crafts. They would learn stories such as Mary Magdalene, Moses, Gideon, even Jesus.
Since there were so many children and her apartment was too small, Pierce welcomed the teacher and the 30 children into St. James where for months they enjoyed the great room. Additionally Pierce gave money for the teacher to purchase bibles and snacks for the children.
After a few weeks of attending St. James, and still bewildered by the Book of Common Prayer-it wasn’t so common for her, Pierce invited her to meet the newly elected Diocesan Bishop, Alexander Stewart at Trinity Church in Lenox. He was holding a preaching mission.
The teacher was traveling with friends from AIER and members of St. James, and they headed off to Lenox on Feb 16th. There she was the first person out to shake the Bishop’s hand and exclaimed, “Wow, an Evangelical sermon in an Episcopal Church.”
The bishop, with his bushy eyebrows, intensely asked, “Who are you?”
After hearing she was a teacher and had graduated from a nearby college, He immediately responded with “I am sending young people traveling…are you interested?”
Not only was she interested, she was willing. She had visions of traveling around the country, visiting various churches, perhaps even singing in a traveling singing group….
But he actually meant traveling for Vacation Bible Schools and only in the Diocese of Western Mass.
It wasn’t as extensive as she had hoped, but it was traveling…..
Bishop Stewart asked her to wait to get her information. He had a very full congregation to greet. So she and her hosts waited….. And waited….. And waited…..
Eventually, it was decided the bishop, while well meaning, wasn’t going to get to her. As they walked out of the parish hall, she literally bumped into the bishop. There he got her name and address.
However, she heard nothing for several months. But was convinced he would hire her during that summer, so she passed on summer school teaching job. Just before the close of school, she got a phone call to meet at the Lenox School for boys.
Over Cold Duck as the team for the summer Vacation Bible School was assembled. They toasted. It was then, the bishop said to the young teacher. You will be my first woman priest. This was in 1970 when women priests didn’t exist. We all laughed.
Your congregation, St. James, was instrumental in the first woman in Western Mass to be ordained. Your congregation opened the door for a young teacher, not only to be fed by the Eucharist, to find a spiritual home, to have a place of intellectual growth and spiritual nurture.
It was also a place for service.
I tell this story, because your congregation welcomed this young teacher into the Episcopal Church. Your congregation started this young teacher on a meaningful spiritual journey. I tell you this story because this young teacher, now a retired priest, comes to say thank you.
Thank you for being God’s instrument to propel the woman to become the Bishop’s first woman he ordained; To become the first woman to serve as the President of the Episcopal Clergy Association;
First woman to serve as a Church Pension Fund trustee, and finally as Vice Chair.
After 36 or so years, this priest, comes to you, St. James, to Say with a grateful heart
Thank you.
Thank you.
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