Ferry Magic

Fifteen hours on a ferry. Whatever would we do? This is the question that crossed my mind as we made our plans to cross the Adriatic Sea from Italy to Greece. What we needed was some magic -- fairy magic the kind that would make a long journey tolerable. We gathered our luggage and set off to catch a bus from the train station in Bari to the ferry terminal. As we found our way to the pick-up point, a couple from Korea looked lost and a bit confused. We asked them, are you going to the ferry? Although they were familiar with English, it was clearly not their first language. They said yes and we invited them along with us. The two became four and our numbers continued to grow. Soon a couple from Australia joined us and then a couple of kids from the US, one from Colorado and another from California. We bumped into two girls from the states of Ohio and Pennsylvania and they too were on their way to the ferry and then a young woman traveling alone walked up to us and asked if we were going to the ferry. Her name was Amelia and she was traveling across Europe from Brazil to Romania. Suddenly Carly and I found ourselves surrounded by young kids from all over the world find their way to the ferry. Nothing happens quickly throughout Europe -- it's that "hurry up and wait" mentality and in our waiting, we created a community -- a community of young people (Carly and I were old enough to be their parents) that formed in our common purpose to find a way to the ferry that would take us fifteen hours South and East of Italy to Greece. What would we do? Well, that wasn't a concern anymore. We were a part of a community -- a ferry community that would be together for fifteen hours or more.

Why would I reflect upon this particular event? Well, I'll tell you that once we got on the ferry we met so many other young people -- each of them from the many corners of the world, each of them bound together by a common purpose, to experience a world where our nations were historically divided by power, greed, religion (particularly Christianity), and a myriad of cultural differences. Each of these young people knew intuitively that if we are to have a safe, healthy, and happy future we could no longer hide behind our boundaries, our dialects, and our language, our futures must be experiences that bring people of all nations together. These young travelers chose to do what many of us are afraid to do -- travel, meet new people, appreciate different cultures, and learn about the people of this world who are more than the folks in the United States, Indiana, or Evansville. These young travelers will be the ambassadors of tomorrow's world and because of their travels, their courage, and their willingness to engage the world in acts of kindness, charity, and understanding, I believe the future will be more hopeful than the present.

There is a song that I remember learning as some U.C.C. gathering some time ago. The song or hymn, if you like, is entitled, "Walls that Divide". Here is the refrain of this wonderful song:

Walls that divide are broken down
Christ is our unity.
Chains that enslave are thrown aside
Christ is our liberty

I've thought of this song often as we traveled throughout Europe. The people we have met, the young people we have talked with, the experiences we have had, reminds me time and again that our world is not so large that we cannot take the time to understand the people of the world. We study the same history, we listen to our music, the universal language of love and understanding, we rejoice and we suffer the same way, and our hopes remain -- our hope for a better tomorrow, a future that knows unity and liberty, that walls are broken down and the things that hold us back, the chains we've willingly put upon our own wrists and ankles will one day be broken and our hearts will sing of justice and unity, righteousness and love. Lao-tzue once said: "...a journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step."

So, fifteen hours on a ferry seems ludicrous and one that seemed forever ago, but while we journeyed across the Adriatic and Aegean Seas, the magic of community was shaped and formed and we left the ferry, not only renewed and refreshed, but confident that the younger generation will show the world a different way to love. And so I babble on -- I babble on about ferry magic, about community, and about a moment in time when we experienced the shrinking of the world and with all creation proclaim with God -- it is good! May God continue to bless our world with young, courageous, ambassadors that can experience the cultures of this world and show us how to love.