Hello, Everybody,

   It is Sunday evening here, July 27.  I have had a memorable week.  Let me tell you about it.
 
   I have enjoyed some time off from the routine of leading others through retreats.  I requested such, saying I did not want to work 12 months out of the year.  With the extra time I talked two other Jesuits into going with me last Thursday, the 24th, on a hike to an extinct volcano about 60 miles west of here.   I took us one hour and 40 minutes to drive that distance, some of it through mountainous roads, others through towns and villages that make one go so slow, then too some road construction etc. The last three to four miles were through a sandy, dusty road.  Two sections were so loose that we nearly got stuck in sand.  The site where we were going to climb is called Mount Longonut and has been quiet since 1867.   It is a national park as well, and there were a number of other hikers and campers present on the grounds or climbing ahead or behind us that day.

  The climb was rather challenging, some of it steep, like a 45 degree grade as we approached the top, and then the trail was not that well kept.  Much of the footing was on trails with volcanic ash everywhere, very fine, dusty stuff, light grey in color.  Thankfully it was overcast during the whole day; otherwise we would have baked in the sun.  As it was we still worked up a good sweat.  Halfway up we rested and looked back in the direction from where we had come.  What a treat for what we saw:  two herds of zebras, two herds of water buffalo, one lone giraffe munching leaves from the tops of the trees, and then one herd of white antelope.  They were all grazing, so there had to be a water source somewhere in their chosen area.  I did not anticipate seeing all of this.  For me it was such a bonus to see all these animals.  I wish we had had binoculars.  Unfortunately, we did not.

   We drank our water and ate our chocolate during the climb.  When we got to the top we had a grand view--7600-7700 feet above sea level--in the famous Rift Valley, with a range of impressive mountains across the valley.  In the valley is much farming and grazing.  When we left I saw two typical scenes of rural Kenya:  a father and daughter walking on opposite sides of  a wooden flatbed drawn by two donkeys.  It look as though they had a load of maze stalks or maybe sugar cane and were taking it to store or be processed.  The other scene was that of a woman with a babushka and her head and then strapped to her back, resting laterally across her shoulders, was a bundle of long sticks, maybe kindling for all her cooking needs.

   Anyway, when we got to the top of the volcano, we saw an impressive scene, a rim that is 5 miles around and a crater that dropped down maybe 1500-2000 feet below.  At the bottom is a forest of trees wo thick that people cannot walk in there.  Halfway up on one side of the volcano's inner wall there was a small flow of steam constantly moving upward, geothermal steam from the belly of the volcano.   We met numerous hikers up there while many of us huddled under a gazebo for a midday lunch of sandwiches, water, and more chocolate.  They were from Holland, Austria, Mexico and about 25 spirited school children from Kenya.  So typical of many German-speaking people, one father of an Austrian family had a garage bag with him and was picking up debris and empty plastic water bottles in an effort to clean up the site.  Later, we took lots of photos with each other's cameras and chatted some.  It was a nice addition to the awesome view and a time to congratulate each other in making it to the top.  We spent maybe 45 minutes up there and then began the descent, what turned out to be much more difficult than the climb up.

   It took me as much time to go down as I spent going up:  one hour and 45 minutes!  I had to stop often and rest my legs, which were working very hard to brake the momentum downward and not give out and leave me hurt.   As I said, the trail was quite poorly kept in numerous places, with dropoffs and ankle twisting surfaces in some parts.  Numerous times I simply sat down and slid along on all fours, moving myself by my hands planted behind me.  Of course, the dust I was collecting and dirt on my skin, in my backpack, and in my shoes was something else! (I ended up looking as though I had been in a dirt-throwing fight with a number of others in a big free-for-all!  Pictures were taken of me in this mess!  Lots of laughter!) My main concern was to guard against my thighs and the muscles on the outer sides of my upper legs collapsing out of fatigue. Should that happen I anticipated a broken shoulder or arm or worse.  That is why I rested often and made sure I did not do something foolish or hasty.  This made for more than one hour of the most difficult hiking I have ever done.  Eventually I made it to the bottom and was so glad to see our car.  I got in so thankfully and said to myself that I was glad I did the climb but I am sure it will remain a once-only-in-a-lifetime experience. Never again that climb!!  One of the Jesuits made the whole trek as well up and down while the other one, an 80 year old man, cancelled out about a third of the way up.  He had had carotid artery surgery once in his life and should not have said 'yes' to this adventure.  He was gasping for air at one point and lay out on the ground for 20 minutes before wisely going back to the camping grounds and waiting there for the two of us to finish.  Our car-driver stayed with him just in case he needed immediate help.

   On our way home, while still in the mountains we stopped briefly at a little church/chapel beautifully constructed by Italian POWs during World War II.  They had also done much of the work in carving out from the sides of the mountain what ended up being the main road through the mountains.  I am also told that during that time there were wild animals in the forests, including lions, and some of these POWs while working on this road died from attacks by these animals.  How awful!  Such animals have been hunted out by now.

   W came home, I ate a great dinner, and with it drank an ice cold beer that tasted SO good, then showered and collapsed in bed for 10.5 hours. My thighs and legs on the outer sides were so very sore and have been so up to this afternoon, 72 hours later.  For the first two days I did not want to walk up to my office since to return I would have to walk down and that would be difficult on my thighs and muscles at the knees.  No problem now.  There is  minor soreness now but nothing like on Friday and Saturday.  Still, this morning, after a sleep last night for about 7.5 hours, I slept two more hours.  It helped to have it drizzling outside and overcast with temps around the mid to low 50s.  Good sleeping weather, and a good way to spend some of my Sunday!!

   The newspapers here in Nairobi are always reporting front page news on the local fighting between the two major political parties.  It could be compared to Mitt Romney still being very prominently in the public eye and forming a big rally of Republicans near the Washington Monument to challenge Barack Obama and his present policies and then setting forth an agenda of 13 points on what needs to be done to turn around the USA. It would all be very public, not in the Congress, but in public.  This is what has happened here in the last three weeks with the head of the party that lost the national election last year.  Unfortunately, the parties are identified largely with the two largest tribes in the nation.  Tribalism so influences where people stand politically.  At the same time both parties admit that probably the #1 challenge to this nation is the internal corruption of bribery as a way of procedure.  There is so much of this and it is compromising the security of Kenya's citizens.  There seems to be little national loyalty on the part of the police and even the military; when people can be given a bribe, they will look the other way at the expense of the safety of its citizens.  If this issue is not faced squarely and sanctions effectively brought against violaters, this nation is going to get isolated and largely ignored by the international community.  No one is going to want to visit here or do business.  It is sad in light of the potential this part of the world has!

  Last Tuesday was the feast day of St. Mary Magdalene.  I was asked about an hour before mass time to lead the mass for someone who gotten caught in traffic and was supposed to lead the 5:15 PM mass for the retreatants.  So, prepare quickly I did!  I did get into the theme, that of the gospel reading (John 20:11-18) in which the risen Jesus meets a distraught Mary Magdalene next to the tomb on Easter morning.  She thinks he is the gardener and wants him to tell him where the body of Jesus is, but once she hears Him call her by her name, she recognizes Him and knows Him to be alive and risen.  It is then that her most important moment comes.  He gives her the focus of the rest of her life.  It will define her forever. She has seen Him and so He tells her, missions her, to go forth and tell His brothers (the world) that she has seen the Lord.  She has seen Him alive and no longer dead.  And the gospel writer implies, of course, that this is what she did for the rest of her life as the early church began to form.  And, as I emphasized in the homily, we are a resurrection people, meant to recognize in our daily experience where the risen Christ has shown up, to recognize His presence and realize we too have seen Him, and we are supposed to make it a point to do what she did: to tell others in whatever way we can the ways in which we have SEEN Him in and around us, in our lives and in the lives of others.  We are to gain our spiritual eye-sight and spread the good news as she did that we have seen the Lord.  The problem is:  we are so often suffering from spiritual near-sightedness, focused on our fears and concerns, on trivia, idle curiosities, and  future goals that we are largely blind and out of touch with the way God's gifts are right there in front of us.  We are blinded by so much instead of seeing the risen Savior right there in our daily experience.  For many of us we don't know how to see nor are we free enough, spiritually alert enough to see this reality "behind the veil" of our daily routine.  But when we are blessed in the Spirit with a growing awareness of our name as called by Him, we, like Mary Magdalene, awaken to the meaning of our day, of our life, and so in the midst of our jobs and caring for our families, we see the meaning of it all and make sure that we witness, that we share with others th ways He came to us during our day and gave us His peace,  "broke bread with us", and consoled and encouraged us to live well our day and the life the Father is giving us.

   Three days ago the publisher of my book sent me three possible front cover designs.  All three had merit but one was especially fitting.  I like my choice!  Then too, another employee of the company asked me to help her finalize the short statement that goes on the book jacket and gives the reader a very quick sense of what the book is about.  Also, I had to write an updated short bio that tells the reader who I, the author, am. This too will be printed on the back cover.  Lastly, I am preparing five names and addresses of published authors who might be willing to read the final version of the text and give a formal recommendation that can be quoted on the back cover.  Details, details!  See how involved it is to publish a book!  I am still on schedule to have it available for sale come next January.

  God bless.  I am off to bed.  Have a great week.  Enjoy your summer.  Happy St. Ignatius feast day next Thursday (the 31st) to all you who consider yourselves sons and daughters of St. Ignatius and his spiritual vision!

   By the way, last Wednesday, the 23rd, I marked 11 months since I came to Kenya.  Wow, almost a full year!

Bernie