If I settle on the far side of the sea,
even there your hand will guide me,
your right hand will hold me fast. Psalm 139:9,10 NIV
I have just returned from a year’s sabbatical teaching Family Medicine in Central Asia and Nepal.
Funny, the things I notice when I enter a new country: airport style, open spaces, trees, flowers, architecture, facial features, languages, group dynamics, food sightings, clothing, advertisements, sacred places, colors, vehicles, garbage, electrical wiring, odors...
One thing that caught my attention early on here in Kathmandu: couples walking...holding hands.
Many are the subtle oppressions - imprisonments, if you will - of some central Asian countries: security risks, dress and travel restrictions, dust, heat, cold, language barriers, religious limitations, power outages, chaotic streets, pot holes, clutter, walled enclosures, garbage, odors. But one of the more challenging for my wife and I: no male-female touching in public.
Oh, there is plenty of culturally appropriate public touch among the same gender. Men easily and often shake hands, give three kisses, commonly walk hand in hand with their friends, if not with arms around each other. Women, more subdued, also walk hand in hand, arm in arm. But only once, perhaps twice, in the eight months we were in the capitol city did I see a male-female couple holding hands as they walked. Such amorous behavior in public is taboo.
Even with the irregular surface of roads and walkways, even in the slip of “mud season,” should a woman fall, she is left to righting herself alone, perhaps with the help of another woman nearby, but certainly not by a man, even if he be her husband.
When we first arrived in Central Asia, this was a frequent source of irritation--perhaps more accurately--anger for my wife. She felt isolated, ignored, vulnerable if I did not walk beside her or hold her hand if she felt unsteady.
In transit from the capitol to Nepal via Thailand, we renewed the joy of touch, to walk hand in hand, arm in arm. Even more so, since her hip replacement less than three months prior made her susceptible to falling. And, with all the airports, long walks, stairs, buses, taxis, hanging on to purse/backpack, carry-ons, passport, cane...there was much need to hold on to one another.
So, it was refreshing to see a young couple holding hands as they walked down the busy street of the Pulchowk neighborhood in Kathmandu and to be reminded of the joy, the comfort, the security of being held in firm grip by the one we love...by the One who is love...no matter where we are.
If I settle on the far side of the sea,
even there your hand will guide me,
your right hand will hold me fast. Psalm 139:9,10 NIV
I, your God,
have a firm grip on you and I’m not letting go.
...‘Don’t Panic.
I’m right here to help you.‘ Isaiah 41:13 The Message
even there your hand will guide me,
your right hand will hold me fast. Psalm 139:9,10 NIV
I have just returned from a year’s sabbatical teaching Family Medicine in Central Asia and Nepal.
Funny, the things I notice when I enter a new country: airport style, open spaces, trees, flowers, architecture, facial features, languages, group dynamics, food sightings, clothing, advertisements, sacred places, colors, vehicles, garbage, electrical wiring, odors...
One thing that caught my attention early on here in Kathmandu: couples walking...holding hands.
Many are the subtle oppressions - imprisonments, if you will - of some central Asian countries: security risks, dress and travel restrictions, dust, heat, cold, language barriers, religious limitations, power outages, chaotic streets, pot holes, clutter, walled enclosures, garbage, odors. But one of the more challenging for my wife and I: no male-female touching in public.
Oh, there is plenty of culturally appropriate public touch among the same gender. Men easily and often shake hands, give three kisses, commonly walk hand in hand with their friends, if not with arms around each other. Women, more subdued, also walk hand in hand, arm in arm. But only once, perhaps twice, in the eight months we were in the capitol city did I see a male-female couple holding hands as they walked. Such amorous behavior in public is taboo.
Even with the irregular surface of roads and walkways, even in the slip of “mud season,” should a woman fall, she is left to righting herself alone, perhaps with the help of another woman nearby, but certainly not by a man, even if he be her husband.
When we first arrived in Central Asia, this was a frequent source of irritation--perhaps more accurately--anger for my wife. She felt isolated, ignored, vulnerable if I did not walk beside her or hold her hand if she felt unsteady.
In transit from the capitol to Nepal via Thailand, we renewed the joy of touch, to walk hand in hand, arm in arm. Even more so, since her hip replacement less than three months prior made her susceptible to falling. And, with all the airports, long walks, stairs, buses, taxis, hanging on to purse/backpack, carry-ons, passport, cane...there was much need to hold on to one another.
So, it was refreshing to see a young couple holding hands as they walked down the busy street of the Pulchowk neighborhood in Kathmandu and to be reminded of the joy, the comfort, the security of being held in firm grip by the one we love...by the One who is love...no matter where we are.
If I settle on the far side of the sea,
even there your hand will guide me,
your right hand will hold me fast. Psalm 139:9,10 NIV
I, your God,
have a firm grip on you and I’m not letting go.
...‘Don’t Panic.
I’m right here to help you.‘ Isaiah 41:13 The Message
