CHRISTMAS & 2005 YEAREND MUSINGS
Glenn
R. Short
I began 2005 by joining the
Charlottesville Thomas Jefferson Memorial Church,
Unitarian-Universalist (TJMC,UU), and the Democratic Party in
January—no connection.
The following are just some other highlights of my year.
As a member of the Drama Group at the Charlottesville Senior
Center, I appeared in a pseudo radio presentation (we used fake mikes)
of "You Can’t Take It With You" and later Neil Simon’s "Chapter Two".
BUT MY BIG 2005 EVENT took me in November to India to visit our
partner church in the state of Meghalaya, in northeasternmost India
above Bangladesh and not far from Myanmar (Burma).
Meghalaya is a (majority Christian) small state both in size and
population, occupied basically by three tribes with a mere sprinkling
of Hindus and Moslems. The capital, Shillong, was formerly a British
summer hill station in the 5,000-ft.-above-sea-level foothills of the
Himalayas.
In all of India there are perhaps 12,000 Unitarians in 35
congregations. But 34 of these congregations are in the Khasi Hills of
Meghalaya. The members are mostly Khasi tribal people. In the 1870s a
young Khasi man, a Christian convert, began to question his new-found
faith. After much study he discovered Unitarianism, which he declared
was the ideal religion for his fellow tribesmen because it was so
similar to the Khasi tribal religion. He then proceeded to convert many
of his people to Unitarianism. (The 35th congregation was founded in Madras--now Chenai--in the 1700s.)
Our partner church in the village of Nongkrem, 8 kms. outside of
Shillong, welcomed the two Charlottesville visitors like royalty. The
last previous personal visit of Virginians occurred six years earlier.
In the course of a week we overnighted in a church official’s home,
visited other nearby churches & homebound church members and saw
the traditional home (under construction with no metal of any kind) of
the tribal queen. The Khasi are a matrilineal society where the family
name passes from the mother. On a tourism day we visited the wettest
spot on earth and from a mountainside overlook saw inundated Bangladesh
far below.
I had two Andy Warhol moments in India. (You know he said everyone
is entitled to 15 minutes of fame in a lifetime.) The last Sunday in
Nongkrem, my companion Janis & I were expected to speak from the
pulpit. She spoke on the logic of faith. I told the congregation that
because of my white beard it might have been thought I was an elder of
my church. I confessed I’d only joined the church in January unlike
almost all of them who’d been Unitarians for generations. I explained
that when I became a member I received a gift book entitled, "A Chosen
Faith", which signified the choice most of our congregation had made. I
sang a hymn and ended by declaring how important this visit was to me.
Then I secretly sighed feeling my obligation was fulfilled.
However, as the service ended mothers began bringing up babies for
me to kiss—on both cheeks as is the custom. Then in the excitement of
the moment, the mothers also requested kisses. It was 20 minutes before
I could leave. Had an election taken place just then, I’d have won
hands down.
Then later in the Kaziranga Nature Preserve in Assam State, we went
on an elephant safari searching for rare, one-horned, Asian rhinos.
When the Preserve opened for the season on Nov. 1st some 85
tourists—mostly Indian—rode elephants into the park during the course
of the day. The next day an excited hotel employee asked if I’d seen
the newspaper he held in his hand. I protested that I couldn’t read
it—as it was in the Hindi alphabet. Then he pointed out the front-page
photo (see enclosed reproduction). There I was on the elephant. Andy
Warhol had struck again!
I hope that you and yours are well and enjoying the new year.
©2005 Glenn R. Short
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