Blogging the Border: why and where I went, and with whom

A few months back, I saw at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral (where I go to church) that one of our priests was planning a trip for parishioners to the Arizona-Mexico border. She used to work for Border Links, an organization that leads educational and inspirational trips to the US-Mexican border. In addition to previous vacations for pleasure to beaches and other parts of Mexico, I had gone with my previous congregation, Valley Presbyterian Church, to Sonora, Mexico, before on a similar trip.

I speak Spanish, and it's no surprise to those who know me that I am partial to the mountains and high deserts of southern Arizona. I set out the weekend of May 6-8 with 6 other people from my church, plus the priest, one person from Tucson, and three people who flew out from Brooklyn, NY. The trip was not only enjoyable, but meaningful. I knew I wanted to re-activate this old blog to tell the story, but I wasn't sure what the story was...how do I frame it? Was it about the migrants I met, the wall I saw, the long time members of the communities on both sides of the border who call this place home? Was it the inspring conversation and learning, or the motivation given to me by people who felt called to come to this place, call it home, and make life better? It's taken me a while, and although I consider myself to normally have decent writing skills, I still do not know what to say or how this will turn out. But I know I have to get my thoughts down and tell of my experiences before I forget. And who will read this? Who knows! But here it is. (more to follow on http://mattsmadlymusings.blogspot.com)