Ahhh India....

3AM  Peace and comparative silence at last...the traffic and thunderstorms and voices have quieted.  Only the scuff of a lone man's sandals on the concrete street, a rickshaw stoically pedaling in from a distant village,  the whistle of a passing train, then a cock deciding it must be morning.  I fall back asleep, my body slowly adjusting to the rhythm of the other side of the world.

4AM  Traffic picking up, autorickshaws adding noise and fumes to the graying light, pedestrians streaming in to the town, crows feuding in the coconut palms, little striped squirrels scolding, the smoke of cooking fires adding to the haze.

5:30-6AM The noise tells us morning has arrived.  Motorbikes, goods carriers, bicycles join all the other conveyances in profusion, each with its own warning sounds--bells, clappers, tinny horns which each driver seems compelled to use when overtaking other traffic.  Some autorickshaws have added sound systems...plus the muzzeins calling over loudspeakers, and Hindu temple chants broadcast to the crowds.  The decibel level is approaching deafening.  A buffalo wanders through the chaos, mooing softly on its way into an alley.  The sun rises hot and red above the housetops.  Tuesday officially arrives in south India.

O Lord God, please let Your Voice be heard above the noise of life, and open hearts to You.  Use us to glorify Your Name in this part of Your world.  Be with us as we go out and touch lives today for Essu Kristu, our Lord.