In the eye

Day turns to dusk as I slurp up some 'eye of the storm' moments. Two days ago I handed the last of the semester's essays, and since I've been tending to many of those overlooked life details. Even had a little time to wander in parts of Brisbane I hadn't seen yet, and had another 'it's a small world after all' interaction. At a beautiful Nepali restaurant in a suburb of Brisbane, I met a woman from Kathmandu who is good friends with the coordinator of the youth organization I worked with there. There were waterfalls of memories as we swapped stories and I listened to the background music, gazed at photos of the Himalayas, and skimmed over all the familiar dishes on the menu. I echoed her frustrations regarding the ongoing selfish behavior on the part of government leaders that acts to add more fuel to violent conflict there. She misses home, her work there... I see why. I almost feel a similar calling to address the cries of my confused nation.
Tomorrow morning I'll be on another plane headed to Salt Lake City for a World Peace Symposium, which is part of the Rotary International Convention. It's the tenth anniversary of the launching of Rotary's Peace Fellowship. I have mixed feelings of excitement to be amidst hundreds of peacemakers, and humility considering the immense resources that have been invested to gather so many of us... But it will be a good opportunity to learn what alumni have been doing before settling into a few weeks of rest and reflection back home in Arizona. Soon enough, it'll be time to walk through another door on a new path of discovery... to wonder again where might my talents meet the needs of the world.