Friday, December 05, 2008

Blasts from the Past

I feel over- whelmed tonight with friendship. The internet is a miraculous thing to me. I have no idea how it works, but it's such fun! Tonight, I've been "talking" with students from my first years of teaching simultaneously, even though one is in Michigan and the other is in Oregon. At the same time, I was playing games with my sister and instant messaging her all the while. Crazy! Last night I reconnected with others from grade school and my early high school years. It's been so interesting to find out what has happened to each of them since I last saw them, decades ago.

Earlier today I had a message from a classmate in 8th grade. He is now a pastor in Wales, of all places. And even earlier a student who graduated 10 years ago came back to give a chapel talk to the students. In the 10 years since he graduated, he's made and lost millions, but just recently found his focus and is now a lay pastor for an area church. Such fun to see the current students learning from graduates!

The student from Michigan was in the very first American Literature class I ever taught 30 years ago. His family built boats (still does). Three years ago, he and his own family went to Peru to build a unique boat, a floating church for a congregation that lives on the Floating Islands of Lake Titicaca. Coincidentally, I took our senior class that year on a mission trip to the same region in Peru and we saw the church that this "boy" helped build. We literally missed each other by days. Another student in that first class was along on the trip as a doctor. I would love to have seen them, but it was quite satisfying seeing their work and hearing the excitement of the people as they talked about their new place of worship.

[I'll not mention, but briefly, that the internet was also re- sponsible for all but destroying my computer last weekend and it took the entire weekend to get it back (that and $145 to the guy who restored it properly...). It's a love-hate relationship I have, I guess.]

Pictures are of Lake Titicaca, Peru...taken in December 2005. These people literally live on straw islands that float in the middle of the highest navigable lake in the world. The floating church is docked for the moment, but it can float from island to island as needed, just like a boat! Pretty cool!

3 comments:

La Tea Dah said...

What a wonderful way to spend a Friday night! The Internet can be such a blessing --- it's really fun to connect with those of our past.

LaTeaDah

Ruth said...

I like your pictures from around the world. The internet, like any technology can be used well, or badly. It is a wonderful tool for connecting with others.

R. Aastrup said...

La Tea Dah--That Friday night kicked off more connections. This week, my 8th grade Bible teacher found me! Wow!

Ruth--I love your blog, too. I always enjoy your perspectives on God and nature...