Emersion and Immersion

Sometimes these two words can be confused with each other.   One is the act of emerging from something and the other is the act of deeply engaging or diving into something possibly to the point of saturation. 

Well, I find that sometimes things emerge when we immerse ourselves in a new culture: new discoveries, a new sense of self, and new loves.  Sometimes this can come in the form of a new way of eating, for example, last night for dinner we made the following two Croatian salads, which we’ve grown to love:

• Bean salad – We used brown and white beans with pumpkin oil, salt, pepper and a mild onion
• Tomato/Cucumber salad mixed with Olive Oil, mild onion, salt pepper and topped with a Croatian cheese

What also emerges from my immersion is sometimes a new appreciation for parts of the culture I’ve from, but also appreciation for new aspects of a culture that bring new life to me, new perspective to my way of thinking, a broadening of my horizons. 

And sometimes it comes in the form of relationship building, or understanding a new concept of time, or just learning new ways of doing life. 

And I love the mutuality that can come with integrating into a culture, where those in the culture accept us and want us to be a part of it with them, but also want us to share our culture with them.  I’m looking forward to learning more and more about this new culture, what ministry and church will look like and how God changes me in the process.

Betsy