For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat,
I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink,
I was a stranger and you invited me in
Matthew 25:35 (NIV)
A new friend in Peggy’s Cove, Nova Scotia
Summer travel is a ritual for many and comes in different forms. It is more than just going to new places. That was the case for my wife and me as we traveled to Nova Scotia. It was a preplanned itinerary from Canada by Design. We wanted to be surprised and learn about our neighbors to the North.
We were not disappointed! The people we met were generous with their conversation. We learned about their lives. We noted their courtesy in their driving habits. We saw the love of the place they lived. I know we could easily be identified as tourists and an important part of the economy, but their interactions seemed more than transactional.
There were two surprises that we experienced that were about the values of this place. While in Halifax at the beginning of our trip we visited the Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21. This was an honest history of the reality of people on the move but certainly not on summer vacations. They capture the complicated stories of both welcome and rejection. It is the continued challenge of a multicultural world.
Bronze Sculpture outside Pier 21
The second surprise was another museum in Baddeck, Nova Scotia. It was the Alexander Graham Bell Historic Site. I always thought of this man as American, but he was born in Scotland and died in this small town of Baddeck. He was a curious and ingenious person who began his many careers by helping the deaf to communicate.
Alexander Graham Bell Historic Site
After his death, his secretary for many years, Catherine McKenzie, wrote a biography titled, “Alexander Graham Bell: The Man Who Contracted Space”. His curiosity led to his ingenuity and his amazing career but his calling was to build relationships and connections between people. We still have that challenge today.
References
McKenzie, C. (1928) Alexander Graham Bell: The Man Who Contracted Space
https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015007047429&seq=7
Hage, M. L. (2016). Invited.
http://healingagents.blogspot.com/2016/01/invited.html
Hage, M. L. (2021). Strangers-Neighbors-Kin.
http://healingagents.blogspot.com/2021/05/strangers-neighbors-kin.html
Hage, M.L, (2024) Healing Disconnections
http://healingagents.blogspot.com/2024/05/healing-disconnections.html
