Day 1 Wedneday May 8-Thursday, May 9, 2019

Time to start this new adventure! 7:30 am, Wed May 8, 2019, 1st flight from New Orleans to Houston. The woman in the security line ahead of me had to throw away $30 of essentials from Walgreens. Her flt to Dallas was cancelled (grateful Houston flights are not), and she was told she could fly standby and check her bag at the gate, but alas, her goods were confiscated..They will evidently be hearing from her. Some opportunist should park themselves next to the security trash can and rescue all the dangerous, bomb-making chemicals from the bin: a new can of tinactin spray, Full bottle of Luciderm, Happiness and Sunshine Bath and Body Cream and deluxe hair products.  They let me keep my bag of epsom salts (thought epsom salt baths might be nice after full days of touring) after testing it for cocaine. A little Asian boy is losing his voice from screaming, much to his mother's chagrin. Father, give him, his mortified mother and all his aggravated flightmates, Your peace. When Bill said, see you next month, I got choked up. 

I met Gayani on the flight from Houston to Los Angeles.  We were given an extra 1.5 hours to visit, waiting in line on the runway for the okay from traffic control, since cancelled Dallas planes had been rerouted to the southern route we were on.  About an hour into the waiting, a young man seemed to suffer a panic attack and began to scream, "I don't want to fly, I don't want to fly, I gotta get off this plane!" which voiced pretty much everyone's sentiments at that point. Thankfully, he seemed able to settle down after that, and we were in the air shortly thereafter.  .

Gayani is a pediatrician from Sri Lanka.  I was embarrassed not to know the location or language of her country, but she respectfully briefed me, that Sri Lanka is a beautiful island off of the southern tip of India. When it looked like our delay might prevent my getting to LAX in time to join our international tour, she gave me all kinds of travel tips (having herself traveled extensively to every continent but Antartica and Australia), and suggestions of places to see, should I need to meet up with the group in Athens.  Thankfully, I made it to the international terminal at LAX, met up with our wonderful group of 50 fellow believers, and onto the British Airways flight to London.  I really don't know how I would have navigated the London Heathrow airport, the mazes of security lines and made our connecting flight to Athens, if I had been flying solo. The best part of travel is the people.

We got to talking about life and faith, and she shared with me the principles of Buddhism, which stem from the core belief that life is suffering, and the only way to gain peace in the midst of it, is to meditate, and to get to the point of not being tied to a particular outcome but being only in the present moment, and waiting to be released from this life, hopefully into nirvana.  I can see some of the wisdom of the principles of contentment, releasing control, and safe-guarding ones' thoughts, but it is sad to think that this is all the resources some have for dealing with the trauma of life, the despair of sin, and the uncertainties of the future.  She admitted to not being a good Buddhist, when it comes to the bombing of her country, 3 weeks ago, on Easter Sunday, because she is filled with anger and rage.  She has many friends in Sri Lanka, from the Christian community, including her dear friend Davika.  Davika and her husband Ravi, and their three children, 7 year old son Dinesh, 4 year old daughter Mali, and baby boy, had been at the packed church on Easter morning.  Ravi and other thoughtful husbands, had left the better seating in the front of the church for their wives and children, and stood in the back, never knowing that this would put his little family in the middle of the terrorist blast.  She said there was a pregnant woman in a burkah, with a bomb strapped around herself and her baby, who had been a part of detonating the blast, blowing up herself, her child, and many other women and children in this historic church on Christianity's holiest of days.  Suddenly, a horrific account I had heard of on the news came to me in living color.  Davika is in the hospital with a severed spinal cord, a traumatic brain injury and one eye gauged out, on life support.  Ravi is unwilling to unhook her from life support, but Gayani sees no hope for another outcome.  Little 7 year old Dinesh also lost his life in the blast. Ravi now faces raising little Mali and their baby boy, without his wife or firstborn.  Gayani keeps asking herself, "Why Sri Lanka, of all places?! Why did the terrorists have to choose my country, and our people?  We are a peaceful and tolerant people! We don's matter to anybody.  Why Sri Lanka?"  The whole country is in mourning, and she said she was comforted by the fact that some Muslims had come forward to condemn the attack, and was horrified to learn that the government had been given several warnings, both from concerned members of the Muslim community, and the US government, that an attack was being planned upon the Christian community on Easter Sunday, and nothing had been done.  No precautions had been taken.  No warnings had been issued.  I asked how the community was healing, and where they were meeting to pray.  She said that the Christians are terrified to assemble in churches, and that she had begged her brother to take her nephews out of Catholic school, fearing that the Catholic schools could be the next target.  She said that the attack has done everything the terrorists intended to do. I decided not to mention that what others intend for evil, God will use for good, because I didn't want her to feel as if I was slapping a bandaid on the situation, but I pray that God will indeed use this for the eternal good of the people of Sri Lanka, and Christians and unbelievers around the world. Please pray with me for Ravi and his family, as they face losing Davika, mourn the loss of his son Dinesh, and for the entire country of Sri Lanka, that Christ be glorified and His church built up, in the midst of this horrific trauma.
Feels weird to transition from that to lighter topics, so I will end this entry here.  Please pray