Interplanetary metaphor

It took me awhile to realize why I was reading all those novels and stories by Ursula LeGuin. They so often feature these supremely lonely interplanetary travelers, folks who have gone to sleep to traverse the light years between their starting place and their destination. Their families live and die while they are in suspended animation, so that if they return, their loved ones are no longer there, and the culture has moved on.

The lives of these travelers are lonely, but not friendless, for they find companions in the worlds they visit, even love. What they do not encounter is anyone who is truly their own kind. They are outsiders, bringing and outsider view to the places they visit. Often they are under instructions to interfere only with great care in what is going on where they have landed. They might promote women's rights, for instance. Or introduce some new technology. Or stop the progress of a rogue colonizer. But only after careful study of the culture, and with the intention of doing it in a culturally appropriate way. Or in the case of the rogue colonizer, to excise the unauthorized alien presence cleanly.

So yes, I was reading these novels and stories in September and October, feeling drawn to them. Because... it's so much like interim ministry! I'll be walking among the people of this planet, joining in their culture, working alongside them, carefully introducing possibilities by working with the list of interim tasks. Making friends. Finding my usual sources of entertainment in whatever form they are available, and discovering others from among what is preferred locally. (The yoga is not quite the same on this planet, but satisfying. The country dance is a little different. They have a lively program of plays they put on for one another's entertainment.) The Emissary is welcome, and invited to partake, yet always bound by the rules of the Ekumen about what the boundaries must be.

I have chosen this metaphorical interplanetary travel, or rather, it has chosen me, drawing me to this outpost now and another one soon, bearing news from the Ekumen and interpreting it to the people here. This outpost welcomes the Emissary warmly, but I know there are other planets where the Ekumen is seen as the problem rather than as part of the solution. Will I travel to those as well? How might the mission be different?

I am grateful to Ursula LeGuin for her heroes, the lonely observers who enter into relationships and make carefully planned moves that might change things. They, along with my actual colleagues in this work, light the way.