India Update #2

Dear Friends and Family,

We have been in India nearly a week, and feel like we have made a good adjustment to our surroundings. We had a wonderful experience with Martin and Lindsey in North Kerala in Kannur, and were sad to leave a place we all have said we would like to return to. One of the highligths was attending a Theyyam, or an ancient sacred dance, that is common among Hindus here in Kerala. Dating to a time long before written accounts, the dance involves actors dressing in elaborate costumes signifying legendary figures from the past raised up by the Gods as saintly figures as well as Gods themselves. Held in sacred groves or in the temples themselves, the actors are members of the lower classes who on this special occasion once
a year are possessed by the divinities. This inverts the caste system
for this occasion and the Brahmin or high caste members of the community are required to acknowledge in reverence those they oversee in ordinary life. In the theyyam we attended, the young man was dressed as a goddess with elaborate bright red costuming and make-up and long flowing hair. Drawn into an ecstatic dance by the five drummers and horn player who accompanied him, the theyyam dancer whirled in ecstacy while attendants whirled firetorches and incense . It was truly a spectacle far from the comparatively staid liturgical practices we are used to, and plumbed a kind of worship that was both primal and alluring. It stirred many things in us, I think, not the least of which was the realization we had arrived in a world that lives close to the elemental experience of this natural world, its wonders, its terrors, and its mysteries.

Yesterday, we travelled for 10 hours by train and car to our next destination in South Kerala in the Western Ghats, or mountains 2 hours west of Cochin. Here we are staying in the retreat of Matthew Joseph, a Christian. South Kerala is predominately Christian, and there are churches, monasteries, and other sacred sites in great evidence here, several of which that are Anglican. There is also the most popular national park in South India, the Periyar Tiger Reserve. Earlier today, we took a guided hike through the preserve, saw many birds, and smaller animals, and on several occasions came upon places recently visited by mountain elephants. It is no smal spiritual practice, I think, to be quiet and still enough to take in such magnificent creatures through the senses of smell and hearing, if not sight itself.

There is a large Hindu pilgrimmage underway here and thousands of pilgrims are now walking barefoot and with their bedrolls on their heads to the holy temple, some as far as 150 kilometers over very hard terrain. It brings on a level of humility and awe to witness this level of piety.

As we anticipated, our first week here has been a stirring awakening of our senses, and we feel acutely aware our own existence as we are confronted with the dazzling reality of the world that is India. Though we are far in distance, we feel your closeness, and we send prayers and blessings to you all.

Steve