Seeking Shalom - Island Style

Pulau Tioman: Speeding Away - Nov 2013

Shalom is a Hebrew word that I've grown accustomed to hearing on the North Coast of Borneo. Roughly translated, it means 'peace' and is often used as an introductory greeting by speakers addressing gatherings of Christians in worship and meetings. Pushing deeper, however, it also carries with it connotations of completeness, wholeness, health, welfare, safety soundness, tranquility, prosperity, perfectness, fullness, rest, harmony, and the absence of agitation or discord. In short, it is what I've been yearning for since the bottom dropped out on September 28 and my world flipped over entirely in the course of a single weekend.

I'll be honest, October was rough - brutal even. There was anger and there was mourning and there was weeping and gnashing of teeth. There was bargaining and negotiating, endless looping of the question "What if . . ." and vain attempts to roll back the hands of the time. There was depression, there was quiet, there was calm, and then it just was.

As October gave way to November I began to move on - seeking shalom. I found it, or parts of it at least, on the sun-dappled shores and palm-fringed beaches of Malaysia's tropical islands - places of refuge and retreat. I found it in time spent with loved ones and friends, enjoying the moment and the presence of one another. I found it in a posture of gratitude, trading bitterness and sorrow for the joy and the wonder that I have been able to call this place and these people 'home' for nearly four years.

Over the course of three weekends I hopped islands and found my way forward. There was Pulau Tiga with C, she who rides elephants, and its mud volcanos and sunsets. There was Pulau Tioman with the guys, and a long weekend of sea, sky and scotch. Finally, there was Pulau Mamutik and my last official trip with a YAGM crew - a day of celebration and of leave-taking and playfully moving on.

As the long day wanes and my time in Malaysia draws to a close, I enter these final weeks with an open heart. Even as the chaos of closing surges all around, I find myself buoyed and propelled forward by tropical memories and the promise of shalom.