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A Sermon Preached at St. Christopher's Episcopal Church, Oak Park, IL
on the U.N.'s International Day of Peace: Sunday, September 21, 2008
by the By J2A Pilgrims who traveled to Oaxaca, Mexico

First Sermon: Julie Strand

After talking about many different places to go on our pilgrimage, I have to admit Mexico was not at the top of any of our lists. The five "jovenes" had our hearts set on going to Italy, but because of the unfortunate exchange rate we quickly learned that Italy was out of the question, no matter how many bake sales we had. Soon the destination of our pilgrimage became clear; we would be traveling to Oaxaca, Mexico. Once again the five "jovenes" shared common feelings; we were skeptical.

Finally, after many years of Sunday school and Rite 13 meetings, the day came to leave on Pilgrimage, which we had been working toward all of those years. The morning we left was very, very rainy and literally turned River Road into a river. In the car, my mom informed a few of us that rain on a wedding day is a sign of good things to come; still we remained skeptical. The rain stopped, we got on the plane, and a long 12 hours later we stepped off another small plane in Oaxaca Mexico.

Knowing that only about 3 out of the 8 of us had a background of Spanish we wondered how communication would be? Within 10 minutes of getting off the plane I got a feel for the language barrier that we had all been anticipating. While going through the tiny customs in the Oaxaca airport the woman in front of me unknowingly dropped her passport, and unfortunately instead of being able to run after her and try to return it, I was selected for the totally random luggage check, which meant I was not able to leave the small glassed-in area. Being one of the 3 who had a background of Spanish I tried to communicate with the woman about the situation, but the time I needed Spanish the most also became the hardest time to form the words. We never found out if she ever had her passport returned but thankfully the trip only seemed to get better from there.

Casa Raab, where we spent our mornings and nights, was absolutely beautiful, and Tony and Rebecca, the owners, made us all feel very much at home. The trend of hospitality did not stop there. Everyone we met in Mexico made us feel like we had known them for much more than a few minutes, even seconds.

Each night we would have time for reflection and to share where we had felt God's presence in that day. After the first night of reflection didn't go exactly as planned, Peter suggested we alter it a bit and share our bests and worsts for the day. Many of our bests and worsts were the same but on occasion they were different. Choosing a best for the trip over all was difficult, but after some thought I decided that for me our first day in Oaxaca was the best.

The first day we visited Monte Alban, the Zapotec Ruins. This is also where we encountered the tour guide who gave us the quote that would be heard for the remainder of the trip. "Excuse me, Jovenes." The site of Monte Alban is truly amazing. And learning about how much meaning every little design and figure on the structures meant was pretty interesting. But by far the best part of the visit was after we finished with the tour guide.

We had the chance to climb the main pyramid, which from the ground looks doable but from the first step became a challenge. With each step being at least a foot and a half high and there being 60 or more of them we quickly became out of breath. After about 5 steps Emma and I decided that we were going to take it all at once, no stopping to turn around, but step after step until we reached the top. When we reached the top we were very out of breath and only wanted to sit. We turned around sat on the top step and looked out, which even more prohibited us from claiming our breath. The view from the top was spectacular; allowing you to see the entire site and all of the country side surrounding it.

Of course there were many others great moments on pilgrimage, some spiritual and some not so much. All in all I went into this trip with no expectations of what was to come and in return I got so much more. I got to know the group very well, and some of us developed friendships, I also took away a lot of understanding and respect of the culture of the Mexican people. The trip home was bitter sweet. Of course I wanted to go home and see my family and friends but and the same time leaving such a beautiful place was difficult. I went from being skeptical to absolutely loving Oaxaca and being very thankful and appreciative of our trip!

Second Sermon: Lily Jordahl

For as long as I can remember, the most important thing in my life has been my relationships with others. So, when I contemplated my experience in Oaxaca Mexico, I could not pinpoint one specific favorite moment, rather a smattering of wonderful encounters with extremely friendly fantastic people. This includes simple everyday people we came in contact with such as out bus driver, Fidel, who was never bothered by our multiple persistent questions on everything having to do with Oaxaca, or the two extremely hospitable husband and wife, Tony and Rebecca, who ran the place we stayed, Casa Raab. In general, most of the people we came in contact with were simply more than ready to share their knowledge with us. This may sound like an obvious trait to possess but truthfully it's not.

The third day we were in Oaxaca was a Sunday, so of course, we attended church. We went to a small Episcopal church with a small congregation of about 15 at most. During the sermon, the parishioners were invited to share their own experiences and stories of how they had gotten to where they were in terms of faith and how they felt about God in general. It was astonishing to me how many were ready to share. Eventually, I got the courage to stand up and tell about my shaky tentative relationship with God and how I was not sure I would ever have a great feeling about the idea of God. Then when I was finished, an older man stood up and said, "I think maybe you've already found him." He felt that all you needed in order to find God was to want to find God. This astounded me. This group of people, who I had never met before were so quick to accept me despite my obvious flaws. It was by far the most emotional moment for me on the trip.

However, while that moment was extremely striking for me, what also moved me to an extreme was how my group came together.

Although we have all known each other for years on end, we had never had a relationship I would call extremely close. But, as we took part on this pilgrimage, we developed friendships which I think I will always remember. I distinctly remember the group, not only sharing our experiences with God which was important, but also sharing our own inside jokes and laughing so much. These moments were moments which meant a lot to me because while the trip was in general a trip to reflect about God, it was important to me that our group could genuinely enjoy each others company in ways we had not throughout the years we had known each other.

While it was breathtaking and beautiful to stand on the ruins of Monte Alban and look out over literally the entirety of Oaxaca, and swimming in the mineral waters of Herbe de L'Agua, was an experience like nothing else I have experienced in my life, the trip would have been nothing more than a wonderful vacation without the people. The people surrounding me throughout the duration of the trip helped me find hope that my faith in God could grow, and new faith in simply the friendliness of the world.
Third Sermon: Geordie Ebright

We arrived in Oaxaca in the afternoon; by this time most of us were tired of being in a small space with little room to move. As our plane began to land most of saw a massive rainbow in the sky that lightened our spirits as we entered an unexplored country that we would be staying in for the next week.

Once we gathered our bags we began the long drive from the airport to the Casa Raab. Our driver spoke little English but we managed to share what little language we knew with each other. While everyone else chattered I looked at the city and all the new places we would see there, one thing that caught my attention were the stray animals, mostly dogs wondering around not caring about the surroundings. Although that put me through a lot of stress I was relieved when at the casa we found it was a dog shelter and I was happy that there were people who cared about the dogs in this massive city. Since we could not use our electronic comforts there I spent most of my time with the dogs.

The next few days we spent taking a tour with our guide Vidal who took us to a number of places and told us about the culture. There are too many places for me to talk about but some of the ones I found most interesting were the mineral springs. Because of where it was you could look over a massive valley that really showed what the area we were in looked like without the city. When we shared our view on God I was not sure what to say since I did not feel a strong connection when we started our trip, but it did change as time passed. We also had our disappointments; for instance at this one place we talked with Bible translators who did not seem to be for all they stood for by sharing their knowledge with the people of Mexico but instead changing their beliefs. Over all my time with the rest of my youth group was an exciting one, we learned about each other and became a family for the week.

Fourth Sermon: Emma Graham

When I went on the pilgrimage, I was not expecting much. I set my expectations low and did not take it as seriously as I should have, at first. I thought to myself, great, a religious trip… just what I need. After the first night in Oaxaca though, I knew that the trip would be a great experience.

To tell you the truth, I was a little anxious about the trip, as I did not hang out with any of the other "pilgrims," except for every other Sunday morning when we were half asleep, and talking to each other about religion was the last thing we wanted to do. However, as the days passed in Oaxaca, we grew closer and it was much easier to talk to them. Part of it was having to spend every waking hour with them, but I think we realized that we had much more in common than we originally thought.

As we started talking, we realized that none of us had a strong belief in God. We began to worry that we were required to have a religious experience where we would suddenly have a strong connection with God. We talked about our worries late at night with each other in our rooms and we expressed our fears to Trish and Peter who sympathized greatly with us and knew exactly how we felt.

One night, under the stars, after nightly Compline, we began talking about our religious values and what we wanted and expected from the church and God. We were surprised to hear that Paris had struggled with her own religious beliefs for most of her life. This was definitely not what we expected to hear from a priest! For the rest of the trip, this struggle with our belief in God became one of the unofficial themes of the trip.

Although I never had that instant connection with God, I had many spiritual experiences. Oaxaca is for the most part, a poor city. They do not have many of the comforts that I am used to in the U. S. and it was kind of hard to get used to my surroundings. But the thing that touched me most was that, although people in Oaxaca do not have much, they are still very happy to live their simple lives and are so gracious towards foreigners for visiting their city, as the economy of Oaxaca is based mostly on tourism, and to a lesser extent, mezcal, a form of tequila. Their graciousness made me realize that although we have great, material things in our lives, we take most of it for granted. Although I will probably not give away my material comforts, it did make me think about how I live and how I might change how I think about the world.

Fifth Sermon, "Oaxaca Connection": Trish Joy, J2A Leader

Unlike some people, I was really excited about going to go to Oaxaca. Monuments, Colonial Cathedrals, Pre-Hispanic Temples - I couldn't wait to see them.

But you know how it is when you're traveling. Those expectations? When we got to Monte Alban it was spectacular but I was hungry and kept thinking, "When are we going to have lunch?"

And the Baroque Church of Santo Domingo was very imposing and ancient, even from a distance. It was in the center of the city and we walked a long way to get there, getting lost several times in the process. In the museum that surrounded the entrance to the church itself we became separated and I was lost again. I asked for directions to the entrance of the church and after (I thought) carefully following the directions (given in Spanish) I found myself in the men's room.

Much more walking and many more directions later, I found the rest of the group and much more walking and much, much later, we found ourselves inside the famous gilded Baroque cathedral. It was impressive, but I was tired. My feet hurt. No moments of transcendence.

Meanwhile, I was really loving Oaxaca, just not in the way I thought I would. I loved our van rides. Not because of resting my feet (but that was nice) but because I loved talking to the van drivers. Usually it was Fidel, sometimes his son (also Fidel), occasionally Enrique.

Whoever it was, they always seemed to know everything about all of the plants that surrounded us. "This is the castor bean that castor oil is made from". "This is the agave plant that the best kind of mescal, or tequila, is made from" It was the same with Mario, our guide at Monte Alban. "This is a copal tree. Incense is made from the resins, but the leaves can be made into a tea for headaches." It really made me wonder what it would be like to live so connected to the plant life around you that you would be on familiar terms with each plant you saw and know all of its uses.

In fact in a lot of ways life in Oaxaca was lived in close connection to the natural world. The place we stayed, Casa Raab, was set up like a traditional Mexican home. Long and low, one story, built around a beautiful courtyard with gorgeous plants: pomegranite and kumquat trees and exotic cactuses. There was also a swimming pool, which I don't think is traditional, but was very nice.

Anyway, every room opened onto the courtyard, with the doors and windows left open and all the dogs and puppies wandering in and out. I loved this way of living, with the inside so connected to the outside, and no firm boundary between the two.

But back to those van rides. Each day we would set out from Casa Raab in a different direction. Whatever the destination, whatever tiny village we were passing through, every so often our driver would slow down and wave and greet someone. Maybe a cousin, his neighbor's grandmother, an old school friend. So it wasn't just a connection to the natural world. There seemed to be a deep level of connection in the human world as well.

The most exotic thing about Oaxaca, though, was the everyday connection to God. You know, already, that there were plenty of impressive monuments to God, both Christian Cathedrals and Zapotec temples, like Monte Alban. But what I was most moved by was the connection to God found in the most mundane of places.

Every market had a shrine. Right above the dead chickens, with their heads still on and their feet sticking up in the air would be Our Lady of Guadalupe. If it was a big market, it had several shrines. In fact people would direct you: to find the herb 'herecho' you'll have to go down to La Virgen de Soledad, which is a little like saying chamomile can be found by the Virgin of Loneliness.

Shrines were everywhere. Once, on a hairpin turn on a mountain road, our van nearly collided with a few people replacing the fresh flowers in a shrine set into the concrete of the highway embankment. Shrines seemed to be lovingly cared for, with attention given on a daily basis.

In their homes, people had saints' tables. They're sort of like home altars. This practice started with the Zapotecs centuries ago, but the idea of living with God in your dining room easily accommodated the Catholic saints and Christian customs.

Well, you know how traveling is. You go with expectations, you come home with souvenirs. While I did spend some time in gift shops, the souvenir I most treasure is this experience of connection - connection with the natural world, other people and God in ordinary, daily life

Sixth Sermon: Peter Walters, J2A Leader

Before I begin, I'd like to say a few things: First, on behalf of our group, I'd like to say thank you to this congregation for the many ways in which you have supported us and our pilgrimage to Oaxaca.

Also, you've heard the term "jovenes" used on several occasions in some of the other sermons this morning. It's a Spanish word which, when translated to English, means "young men and young women." Trish and I struggled for three years with the question of how to refer to the people in this group. We did not want to dishonor them or the J2A program, which is all about recognizing their emerging adulthood, by calling them "kids." "Youth" seemed too churchy, and just wrong. On our first day in Oaxaca, our guide at the ancient ruins of Monte Alban referred to them (many, many times) as "jovenes", and it stuck. They've been the jovenes ever since.

Finally, to the jovenes - it's been an honor and a privilege to work together with you over the last three years, and to have had the opportunity to travel as a "pilgrim" together with you last month. You all are remarkable human beings, and I'll always feel a deep connection with you.

It was difficult to prepare this sermon, because the pilgrimage was a rich experience for me. There were many things I could have talked about this morning at length. I've decided to talk about the unofficial theme of our pilgrimage, which Emma referred to in her sermon. In my mind, that theme was "questioning" - specifically, questioning the existence of God.

This theme emerged on its own quite naturally, and very early on - within our first 24 hours in Mexico. It wove its way into much of what we did and talked about. It was evident on Day 1, at the ruins of Monte Alban. After a (very lengthy) guided tour, and some time to wander the grounds on our own, I found myself together with just one of the young men in our group. He said that he was amazed by the accomplishments of the people of this ancient civilization - their mastery of mathematics, astronomy, and architecture. But he didn't feel any closer to God. Why would or should this help him to find God???

Similar questions arose a few days later, when visiting a group of Bible translators. Led by a husband-and-(particularly smug, fundamentalist)wife team, this group had worked for decades translating the books of the New Testament into the many native Zapotec languages, so that the Good News of Jesus Christ could be shared with the "heathens." Our group was left feeling that their fundamentalist certainty was certainly troublesome - and that our uncertainty was preferable. I later learned that even our beloved Paris Coffey was a hair's breath away from reaching across the table and taking back the gift we had just donated to their mission (she refrained).

Each night while we were in Oaxaca, our group had check-in - a time set aside to get together and talk about what had arisen for each of us during the day. Uncertainty, and questions about the existence of God, perhaps most powerfully arose at check-in on the evening of our first day in Oaxaca. We decided to meet outdoors that evening. We pulled chairs into a loose circle, dragged out some iron candle stands, lit candles, and began to talk. Somehow the conversation turned to belief. Each of us talked about our struggles with belief in God, ranging from "I'm not sure what I believe" to "I'm certain that, at this point in my life, I don't believe that God exists." The most profound moment of our entire week in Oaxaca occurred for me at check-in that night. One moment after a young woman in our group had just shared that, at this point in her life, she was certain that God did not exist, she exclaimed, "Oh my God you guys - look at the stars!" And before any of the rest of us could even lift our heads to see them, she exclaimed again, "Oh my god - I just saw a shooting star!!!"

Now I'm a city boy - born in New York, raised in Detroit, I've spent the last 20 years of my life in Chicago. I've never in my life seen a shooting star, and I'd dearly love to see one before I die. That shooting star was, for me, the presence of God. I'll be the first to admit that I could be wrong. I would never deride anyone who argued that the shooting star was nothing more than a bit of debris from outer space, which ignited on its entry into Earth's atmosphere, and was simply burning out as it traveled across the sky. None of us knows for certain. But I'll also be the first to admit that I could be right. I hope that I'm right. In fact, at this point in my life, I choose to believe that that shooting star was a quiet, peaceful, beautiful, impeccably well-timed announcement from God, saying simply, "Here I am."

Closing Song: Written and Sung by Sam Clark-Mchale

Hey there Oaxaca Been a while since I last saw you Never seen so many mountains So much life that can be found in you I know You are the best of Mexico Yes this I know.

Hey there Oaxaca The Zocalo's the place to be There're always good times to be had On every day and yes its free Its got it all Next to those tall cathedral walls It's got it all.

Oh it's what you do to me (x4) What you do to me.

Hey there Oaxaca Monte Alban was the best Heirve el agua was amazing The tula tree it was the biggest tree I've seen I fell in awe of everything Of all I've seen.

Hey there Oaxaca I could go on for an hour Seven days seemed far too short But yet a little bit too long Hey, I'll be back I'll see you further down the track I will come back.

Oh its what you do to me (x4) What you do to me.

What is pilgrimage?

Today we honor the United Nation's International Day of Peace - a fitting day for our J2A Sojourners and their leaders to preach about their recent pilgrimage to Oaxaca, Mexico. It's fitting because there is truth in the song that says, "Let there be Peace on Earth and let it begin with Me," and because pilgrimage is a time to discover and reflect on ourselves, our relationship with God and one another, and our part and place in God's world.j;lkfdsa

Pilgrimage is a central part of the Journey to Adulthood curriculum our church uses with young people. At the end of their fourth year together, at the age of 15 or 16, the J2A group travels to a "distant land" in search of God and their own destinies. With the suspension of normal activities, relationships and obligations that sustain our day-to-day lives, individuals are free to reflect on their relationship with God and God's place in their lives.

Pilgrimage is common to most religions and is a powerful part of our Christian heritage in which seekers touch places where others have sought and found God. It is also a time to experience other cultures, to understand the good and harm that has been done in the name of God, and to engage in adventure and reflection that is part of the rite of passage into adulthood.

Many of the blessings of pilgrimage take time, which means that although our pilgrims are preaching today about their initial insights, it will take longer to process their deeper meaning. It is not, however, a trip that will ever be forgotten; it is a journey that changes lives.