Let's Talk About Generosity

Let's talk about generosity. 

While in Iceland we visited a search and rescue team. These teams exist all over Iceland and are completely made up of volunteers. They are on call 24 hours a day and the team we visited today respond to 1,000 calls a year. Iceland is beautiful, but has potential dangers ranging from people who are lost, volcanoes, avalanches, earthquakes, storms at sea, gale force winds, and the whole range of trouble tourists find themselves in. With all the situations that may arise the search and rescue has extensive training to be ready. The services of search and rescue do not come at a cost to the country of Iceland but that does not mean there isn't a price. The men and women who volunteer spend 18 months training before they are sent on a call. They buy all of their own uniforms and provide their own equipment (larger items, such as vehicles, comes through fundraising and donates), they are ready to be gone for up to 24 hours at a time sacrificing time with their families and being away from work. It is no small commitment to be on the search and rescue team. 

The people who serve understand the importance of helping your neighbor. They understand that the conditions of Iceland be brutal and deadly and that with out the willingness to help that people won't survive. The neighbor is not only the people you know and love, it is whoever is in need. The search and rescue does not restrict their live saving measure for people who are Icelandic, or people they know. It is the true understanding of neighbor, that all you come in contact with are your neighbor. 

The generosity of Iceland does not stop within the borders of the country though. Eight years ago when the earthquake hit Haiti the people of Iceland did not stop to ask themselves if they were interested in helping Haitians. They did not ask if the people where good enough. They did not ask what the Haitians had done for them. Instead, an international team was organized in two hours. A plane and pilot were freely given. The government of Iceland told the search and rescue group to get there as fast as they could and the government would pick up the cost. The international rescue team was the first team to arrive in Haiti. 

This is an act of love from a country that values the lives of all people. Thinking about the people of Iceland rushing to the aid of the Haitians makes me emotional. It is a spirit of generosity that values all human life. No country is too poor, or different, or worthless to help. 

On the heels of the anniversary of the earthquake I felt particularly moved walking around the search and rescue facility. I am filled with gratitude for brave people who run to the aid of their global neighbor.  It is an example of true community and how we are called to interact with one another. The country of Iceland continues to remain ready to help people all over the world. May they be an example for all nations. 

God of all people, you call us to love our neighbors. Help every nation of the world be generous with their resources, time, and compassion. Reinforce the dignity of every human and nation. Bring us closer in community to our neighbors at home and across the globe. Amen. 

Perspective Shift

Each person does see the world in a different way. There is not a single, unifying, objective truth. We're all limited by our perspective. - Siri Hustvedt

When one travels to a foreign country, often the view of the world changes a person's perspective.

This entire trip I have been in awe of the view while driving by the mountains. The Iceland landscape is sparsely filled with little houses with a background draped in massive mountains.

As we have been sipping coffee and tea in various houses and churches, my perspective of what it means to be a Christian has changed as well.

In my last blog, I talked about intentionality within ministry. I now have started to shift my thinking to what sort of perspective I am viewing the church at.

As I start to develop my own place in ministry it is important for me to keep the gospel in perspective. How am I preaching the gospel to a wide variety of people whose perspectives vary greatly?

I feel as though I am a house standing at the foot of a mountain. I am one person in a sea of Christians. Taking this perspective into consideration I hope to better be able to understand how I can take a variety of traditions, beliefs and translations and develop a dialogue between all of these people.

It is a perspective of understanding the individual yet considering the community.

Peace,
Coco

Career Change: Fox Hunter

“The rural church is the backbone of the Church of Iceland .” -Vice Bishop Kristján Valur Ingòlfsson

While there are struggles that go with the territory if there rural church, Pastor Ingolfur Hartvigsson did say there are more joys that come with it. 

One such joy is everyone looking out for one another. “If your neighbor knows you are struggling, you will wake up the next morning with food on your doorstep.“ Pastor Hartvigsson said. 

An expectation of a Pastor in a rural setting is community involvement. The involvement can range from many things. Fox hunting, fishing, rescue squad etc.

 A goal of the trip is to find take aways we can bring to our settings of ministry back home. I have always felt called to serve in a rural community so I found particular interest in our conversation with Pastor Hartvigsson. 

I grew up in a rural town of 3,500. As I got older I realized my parents have played many roles in the community and I have always found it inspiring. 

Reflecting on my experiences at home and here in Iceland, I have begun to think of the ways that I can serve both my church and my community. 

While it may not be to the extent of being a professional fox hunter, I think being active in the community will help strengthen the bonds between my congregation and I. 

Peace

Coco

Gracious God, help to remind us of our work as the church. Guide us as we minister to those within our congregations and out in the community. Thank you for the ministry of the Church of Iceland. 

Amen

A new sense of smell

Being my first international cross-cultural experience, I was not sure what to expect.  Sure, Sam gave us the itinerary and syllabus for this journey.  I expected to see and hear a foreign language.  I expected to encounter and taste foreign foods.  I expect to learn about and experience cultural and religious customs very different from my own.

But what struck me first and foremost from the moment we got off the plane (and continues to captivate my attention), is what my good old olfactory senses pick up. 

A hint of sulfer in the water, the aroma of Icelandic coffee, the fragrance of a glacial wind, the smell of hangikjöt, the volcanic ash-laced soil, even a faint bit of neftόbak – all of it hits my nose like a ton of bricks!

I’m not gonna lie, I didn’t think the first thing I would be compelled to write about in this cross-cultural experience would be the smells of Iceland.

But here’s the thing - for many years my sense of smell has been almost non-existent; I’ve long associated it with sinus issues that I can only vaguely claim I inherited from my father.  Given this assumption, it’s no wonder that up until we arrived in Iceland I was so preoccupied with what I would hear, see, taste, and feel – that I was completely taken aback by what my nose was teaching me.

Often when we talk about expanding our cultural horizons or our worldview, we use words like “view”, “lens”, and “vision” – words and language that draw attention to what we see.  Yet these experiences that expand our understanding of ourselves and the world can’t help but transform all the ways we perceive and experience the world.

So, perhaps my nose wasn’t broken after all?

I’ve been told that smell is the sense most strongly associated with memory.  If that’s true, then I suspect that Iceland, like neftόbak, will be in my nose (figuratively) for a long time.

To close, I’ll borrow a prayer/blessing from John O’Donohue’s book, To Bless the Space Between Us, called “For the senses” – a prayer I offer for my companions in this Icelandic journey.

May the touch of your skin

register the beauty

of the otherness

that surrounds you.

May your listening be attuned

To the deeper silence

Where sound is honed

To bring distance home.

May the fragrance

Of a breathing meadow

Refresh your heart

And remind you you are

A child of the earth.

And when you partake

Of food and drink,

May your taste quicken

To the gift and sweetness

That flows from the earth.

May your inner eye

See through the surfaces

And clean the real presence

Of everything that meets you.

May your soul beautify

The desire of your eyes

That you might glimpse

The infinity that hides

In the simple sights

That seem worn

To your usual eyes.

God Made the Automobile

Ever since we left Dubuque , I feel as if the true unspoken hero of the experience so far has been the automobile . The roads out here ( as well as back home ) are always covered in ice and snow and sometimes are quite dangerous . It appears that no matter how tough the conditions may be , we end up at our destination. Without the automobile , it would take us an incredible amount of time to cover the ground that we have traveled , and to bring us each to each into presence of friends we had yet to meet . Between the new experiences : foods like lamb and AB milk; sights like waterfalls and rock formations ; music like Icelandic hymns and lullabies , there are always neighbors to show me more about myself than I could find out on my own . I am never one to pass up an opportunity , so I've had the chance to snuff tobacco with Gunnar , play "house of the rising sun " with Ingólfer and eat fish jerky with a carload of people, as well as taste my new favorite drink "malt og appelsín" . This is all a humble reminder that the world , even with the invention of the automobile is an incredibly vast place with experiences beyond my imagination. We are only a short way into the trip , but every time we jump into these automobiles , I know that another experience lies just ahead .

Creator of distance ,
Thank you for the opportunity that is your creation. in the vast expanse of land in sky , I find myself enjoying life and it's  experiences . I find great distance between me and who I can be in you , and although it gets shorter with each passing day and mile ( or kilometer), I can enjoy it in the company of friends in the automobile .  Thank you for the automobile so that I can appreciate more than those before me , and for getting us home .
Amen .

Let's Talk About Coffee

Let’s talk about coffee.

Coffee is one my favorite beverages. As my friends, roommate, family, and internship congregation can attest to it is common to see me wandering around with a cup of coffee in my hand. I absolutely love being at coffee shops drinking coffee and it downright impossible for me to finish a sermon with out the company of a cup of coffee.

Much to my delight here in Iceland I am never far from a cup of coffee! We have been offered coffee at every location. Coffee in Iceland is strong and rich and enjoyed in the company of others. Conversation has happened over steaming cups as we learn about what life is like here in Iceland. Coffee has been a welcome beverage as we come in from exploring out in the cold and is served any time of the day. Instead of just being a kickstart to your day it becomes a time to slow down. Drinking coffee together is not meant to speed your day up but instead focus it in to the moment. In Iceland I don't take my coffee cup with my to run about my day, instead I sit down with people and savor the moment. 

The hospitality that has greeted us in Iceland has been exceptional. People have opened up their homes to our group and share openly about their country. It is an experience that I would have missed out on if I had simply come as a tourist. I am giving thanks to God for the hospitality and the coffee, but most of all for the people of Iceland who welcome the foreigner into their home to share what they know. It is a blessing beyond compare.

Creator God, thank you for coffee. Thank you that it has become a beverage that we can gather around to share stories of our lives. That it is a sign of hospitality and greeting to all in the home. Bless those who so willingly offer it to the stranger so that through the sharing of coffee and stories we may become friends instead of strangers. May more people be gifted with ability to sit down and slow down long enough to learn more about those around them. Amen.  

Nordic Lands J-Term 2018

Back in 2007, in the midst of final preparations for the first J-Term Immersion trip to Iceland, I would not have guessed that a decade later a sixth group of students from Wartburg Theological Seminary would be preparing to head over again to the land of fire and ice.

With the generous support of many friends in Iceland, the Bishop of Iceland, and Wartburg Seminary’s commitment to cross-cultural theological education, we have provided immersions to Icelandic church and culture to twenty-nine ELCA seminarians, some of whom are approaching their tenth ordination anniversaries.  In January 2016, we added a few days also in Norway.
In both Iceland and Norway friendships continue to grow.  

This year (2-22 January 2018) our merry band of theologians will be in both Iceland and Norway.  In addition to building friendships, the world becomes the horizon for our theological education in a deeper and more complex way.  Colleagues in ministry, sisters and brothers in Christ’s church, become our teachers as they generously share their lives and wisdom and settings with us.
This is the motley crew that I’ll accompany this January — numbers 30-33. Clockwise from top left: Coco Lyons, Halcyon Bjornstad, Daniel Grainger, and Shadoe Hanson.  Look for their reflections on this blog starting after 3 January 2018.  

Peace in Christ.

Sam