Sunday, March 23rd 2008

Sunday, March 23, 2008 - Durban, South Africa

The day opened with a genuine walk – a Fun Walk funded by the Government Division of Parks and Recreation. Raj Bamsi of that division, a Mr. Kamal Panday, a member of the Kwa Zulu-Natal Parliament, shared a seat with me to start this 7km walk in conjunction with the Chariot Festival. Short speeches kick-started the walk (or run, whatever you wanted). As in the previous night’s program I indulged a bit in cross Canada pilgrimage talk. People here are curious about the grizzly bear encounter, a road experience I won’t easily forget. The hour and a half trek had my attention taken up by a freelance journalist and while I told of the grizzly bear story we landed on topics more personal about his domestic situation which is not perfect. I offered some suggestions about agreeing to disagree on matters involving his spouse when a strain arises in a conversation. Too often two people or two groups of people each insist on rightness and the opponent being wrong. As a sacrifice or service to the Lord often times you will find that compromise plays a major role in arousing a peaceful situation. What I mean by that is not necessarily reducing one’s own standards in order to please but allowing the other party to be as they are allowing space for them to grow.
Deep down inside I felt a huge appreciation for one monk on the previous day’s interview. It came to me now as a reflection but the person interviewed right next to me was Partha Sarathi and even though he has attended this festival in robes his usual attire is army fatigues. Yes, he is an American soldier as a sergeant stationed in Iraq. His stories of sacrifice and the optimism he maintains despite the life of utter austerity is heart wrenching.

14km