The Until We Meet Again Tour had always planned a trip to the Hudson River to take photos at sunset. Tonight I walked to Harlem Piers for that purpose. The weather had other ideas. The storm rolled in as I arrived. I beat a hasty retreat, spent a few minutes huddled with some others under an awning, and did not get too wet.
But another trip appears in order.
The Until We Meet Again Tour took part in the Racial Ethnic Leadership Institute as part of my new work as Coordinator for Leadership Development, Racial Justice, and Networking.
We stayed in Detroit and met at Windsor University in Canada. On 17 August, we went for dinner in downtown Windsor. June Lorenzo and I did some exploring. We were pleased to see these signs in a number of stores.
Filed under New York, Photo, Uncategorized
The Until We Meet Again Tour moved into a new phase on 1 August 2016. That day began the transition to my new position as Coordinator for Leadership Development, Racial Justice, and Networking. I will continue working in New York.
From 15 to 18 August, I went to Detroit, Michigan and Windsor, Ontario for the Racial Ethnic Leadership Institute. It was hot and humid, which seems to be a common complaint for the summer.
It was good to be with friends I have know and with whom I will now work closely. And it was good to make new friends. The adventure continues.
Filed under Photo
The Until We Meet Again Tour for today saw most of my time spent at the Shire packing, cleaning, and walking packages to the U.S. Post Office. The tour included finishing the appraisal for the final Princeton Theological Seminary field education student who served at the Presbyterian Ministry at the United Nations.
He was the 36th.
36 field education students, volunteers, and volunteer interns who worked at the ministry from 2011 through this summer when I left.
36.
36 unique individuals.
Each with gifts and skills; each with challenges; each with faith and grace.
Each served Jesus Christ.
Each touched my life.
Each is remembered.
To each, I say thanks.
36.
Any time you have an opportunity to make a difference in this world and you don’t, then you are wasting your time on Earth.
– Roberto Clemente
Today Roberto Clemente would have turned 82.
Tomorrow the world marks World Humanitarian Day.
Coincidence?
Clemente was a great baseball player. He was an even greater humanitarian and human being.
I wear his jersey today as a reminder of his challenge to make a difference.
Feliz cumpleaños, Roberto. Te recuerdo.
See you along the Trail.
Today’s Until We Meet Again Tour involved me staying at the Presbyterian Ministry at the United Nations. My friend Hazel came to see me with dinner and a painting she had made. Thunderstorms had begun wandering through the city in the evening. While they did not cut much of the heat and humidity, the storms did make me wary and the painting remains at my office until it can be brought home without concern for its safety.
High temperature and high humidity have impacted the Until We Meet Again Tour. They have combined to keep me indoors more than planned. I have made it to the gym a bit more often although even there the air conditioning struggles to keep things cool.
The Until We Meet Again Tour involves visiting people and places. Preparations for the move play a role, particularly as the day of departure draws near, preparations that can take place inside in air conditioning. Packing of books, there are a lot of books, is among those preparations.
Heat and humidity have disrupted the Until We Meet Again Tour.
They have made life difficult for others as well.
13 August 2016
Morningside Gardens
Manhattan, New York
The Until We Meet Again Tour hopped a 1 Train, which some riders claim are hotter than the infernal regions although I have no frame of reference to judge that, and went to Good Shepherd-Faith Presbyterian Church to preach.
As with all the congregations visited on the tour, Good Shepherd-Faith holds a special place in my heart. Good Shepherd-Faith was one of the first congregations to invite me to preach in New York. It may have been the first. It definitely was the first congregation where I preached on Easter Sunday.
On this day that came a day after the killings of Imam Maulama Akonjee and Thara Uddin near the Al-Furqan Jame Masjid mosque in the Ozone Park neighborhood in Queens; and day after the killing of Sylville K. Smith by a police officer in Milwaukee and the protests that followed, it was a challenge and an honor to preach and search for words of hope in a time of profound grief.
This was the last Sunday I will preach in New York – until we meet again.
Thanks to Elder Michael Nelson for taking the photo that includes me.
Filed under Current Events, Easter, New York, Photo, Worship
Along the Graybeard Trail 