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September 15, 2001
To the PC(USA) at Large,
The shock and disbelief of what has happened in New York,Washington
D.C., and Pennsylvania this week reaches to all corners of the
world. I cannot imagine what it must be like to actually live
near the areas of destruction. How could hate reach such a pitch?
How can and should we react so that this never happens again?
There will be much discussion about this and people in power will
make decisions on retaliation. It is my hope and prayer that those
decisions will somehow not cause more destruction.
At school we stopped for a minute of silence. I had 18 second-graders
and 16 fifth-graders in my room at the time designated. It was
the period that we team up for "reading buddies." I
suggested that they think, during this silence, of how we need
to care for each other. There was a heavy quiet. These students
were genuinely saddened by this event.
As I go around town I am stopped and asked if I am an American.
Always the response brings support and sympathy. I am grateful
that there are so many loving, caring people in this world.
Church services here include prayers for the United States. I
am sure this is happening all over the world.
God’s love for all of his creation is so important to communicate
at this time. I’m sure that each of you reading this are
doing just that in your own way. Let us hold each other up in
prayer.
As I began this school year in Chiang Mai, Thailand, 2001, I
think back to June, 2000, when I returned from here to the U.S.
for a year. It was a year of challenges and major life change.
I am now on my own, with God’s love, after a divorce. My
mother died in August, 2000, after several months of suffering,
and I was thankful to be a part of her care team. My son is struggling
with depression and my year helped me see this and helped him
locate a doctor and medication to help. Much of this time was
a quiet journey but always with a feeling of God’s presence
in my life. I was able to imagine support from people I could
not talk to and had support from family and a few close friends.
The journey has made me stronger and I realize how important we
people are to each other.
I am now ready to move on and have begun a year of exciting challenges,
a change of teaching levels being one. I now am teaching a full
day of second grade for the first time in 30-some years. There
are 18 students in my class, representing eight countries. From
day to day they are learning to appreciate their differences.
Since it is the rainy season, our first theme was frogs. The five
Japanese students taught the rest of us a song about frogs in
Japanese. How fun! I feel privileged to do what I love to do—teach
children.
One of the perks of being in Chiang Mai is that Julie, my daughter,
and Andrew, her husband, and their two-year-old daughter, Siree,
are nearby. Julie teaches at the same school at which I teach,
so we see each other daily. She has been a big help getting me
started this year.
While I was in the States, I had the opportunity to be a part
of the General Assembly, which met this year in Louisville. I
was one of eight "Missionary Advisory Delegates." Until
this year, even though I am at least a fourth-generation Presbyterian,
I had never been to a General Assembly, never participated in
committee work. I felt it a real honor to be there and was so
proud of our church in action. The balance, fairness, thoughtfulness,
prayerfulness, and openness was impressive. I left Louisville
proud to be a Presbyterian and ready to begin my next journey.
Peace!
Michal Dobson
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