“Why are you here?”
On a visit to Macedonia in late December of last year and in anticipation of the New Year and Christmas holidays, the customs officer at the airport in Skopje politely asked me where I was staying. “Skopje” was my honest reply. And then he asked, a bit more gruffly, “Why are you here?” I was taken aback for the briefest of moments, before remembering that we are still in the middle of a global pandemic. And then I answered him, plainly, and honestly: “To visit family and friends — it’s Christmas!” He waved me on with what appeared to be a faint smile underneath his required mask.
As I write this, my 800th column for and about Macedonia, it’s a good time, methinks, to pause and reflect on why I am here in and with Macedonia. After all, on May 25th of this year, 2021, I will have been in and with Macedonia for 25 years, having landed in a somewhat smaller Skopje airport on May 25, 1996 for a three-day visit, and after a week-long business trip in Croatia, to see, and then decide, if I would come back in July to take a three-month long gig working in Macedonia and Kosovo.
So, back to the question from the customs agent: why am I here?
The most honest and direct answer: the people, the Macedonians, my family and friends. That’s why I am here.
A quarter of a century ago, when I first came to Macedonia, the Macedonians said “Welcome into my home.” The Macedonians opened their homes, at first, and then their lives, to me, a total stranger.
Because the Macedonians opened their homes and lives to me, a total stranger, it was easy for me, a total stranger, to come into their homes and their lives and, in turn, grow to know them first as friends, and then as family.
Though I am currently writing these words from my home in Southern Arizona my thoughts are never far from Macedonia.
When I get up in the morning, I pray for Macedonia (on Monday’s I pray for everyone I know by name — it’s a long time of prayer). When I look at the clock during the day — or night — I often consider what the time is in Macedonia and think about what specific family and friends are doing. When I log on to the Interwebs and Google Machines in the morning, one of the first things I do is check the news in Macedonia. And I do that throughout the day and before I go to bed at night. And I write these columns, engage in a (nearly) weekly podcast on Macedonian matters, talk weekly with Macedonian friends, and much more.
To put it differently, I want to know what is going on in the lives of my Macedonian family and friends and what is going on in Macedonia and the region. And all of that takes an investment of time, an investment of understanding, an investment of reading, thinking, and praying and, these years, at least, an investment of traveling to Macedonia as often as I can.
It should be obvious, but if you care enough to be involved in the lives of people, then that takes an investment of yourself mentally, emotionally, physically and, certainly for me, spiritually.
And as I have invested in Macedonia and Macedonians, and they in me, I have come to love the land, the history, the culture, the cuisine, the Orthodox faith, and more.
I have also come to identify with Macedonian causes, seeing in Macedonia and the Macedonians a type of “underdog” fighting to keep the Macedonian identity, history, culture and much more. And so the Macedonian battle has become mine — and always be. After all, there is right and wrong, good and evil, justice and injustice, truth and lies. These are facts. And because of these facts, I prefer to be, not on the “right side of history” (because there is no thing) but on the side of what is right, what is good, what is just, what is true.
And here is what is right, good, just, and true: Macedonia exists and flourishes in many ways. The Macedonians, as a people, exist and thrive in many ways. The Macedonian language, history, culture, Orthodox faith, and much more exists and blossoms. And all of these things will continue to exist, flourish, thrive and blossom if they are nourished, cultivated, cared for…and loved.
And that is why I am here, mentally, emotionally, spiritually, and physically (though not all the time on that last part, but perhaps, in the future).
Thank you, my Macedonian family and friends.
