Dear Friends,

One thing I love about the CLF is that we are an international community. Just today—and it’s barely past noon in my time zone—I’ve  interacted electronically, in various ways, with people on five continents!  (Europe, South America, Australia, Africa and North America—both US and Canada).  My interactions ranged from casual to some depth, but each of them was real, personal connection, between me and someone I know by name.

It occurs to me that we at the CLF are tremendously fortunate to be part of this global community. Perspectives other than the ones we’re surrounded by make us think more creatively. All of the places we live have strengths and weaknesses. The borders between them are often arbitrary and political in nature, even if we begin to believe that they matter. (OK, maybe not islands that are also countries, that’s a little more geographic!)

In April, I’ll be heading to the more southern part of my own continent—to Mexico. I’ll stay a month. It’s not vacation; I’ll continue to minister with all of you, but I’ll be doing it from a different setting. I’m excited to see what I’ll learn (more Spanish, I hope, for starters!) and how time there will affect who I think I am and what I think I know. I’ll spend a couple of weeks in Mexico City and a couple of weeks in San Miguel de Allende. (If you’re from either of these places and want to meet up, let me know!)

You don’t have to go to another country to change your perspective. People do it by taking classes, reading books, watching movies, listening to each other, all the time. But as the seasons change, I commend it to you as a spiritual practice. Do something, often, that makes you see things differently!

Warmly,

Meg