November 21, 2009

November 21, 2009 - Signing off  

     I am sitting in the Library at St. George's College (the only place I have been able to get internet access these 3 weeks).  The sun has set on our last day in Jerusalem.  In a couple of hours we will head to the airport in Tel Aviv, where we have a flight back to the United States at 12:40 am tomorrow morning!

    We are looking forward to being back in the United States, for many reasons.  This has been an incredible experience these three months.  I am ready to be back with you.  We will go to North Carolina to re-connect with my family for Thanksgiving, then head to Florida to spend a few days with Susan's family.  We are looking forward to "re-entry" at St. Paul's on December 6th.  We have had many worship experiences these last months, but nobody does it like St. Paul's does it.  

     I will not be blogging anymore.  It has been a good discipline for me, and I hope that you who have been following us around have had some sense of what we've been up to.    Thanks to all of you who have made this possible, especially the staff and Vestry who, I trust have kept things in good order, since they and Susan have made sure that I have stayed "out of the loop" on absolutely everything.

Peace, and God's Blessing on all of you.

   Bob

November 18 & 19, 2009

Bob’s Sabbatical

November 18, 2009 – Nablus Visit and Sabeel

 

            One of
the Diocese of Jerusalem’s outreach ministries is St. Luke’s Hospital in the
West Bank town of Nablus.  Episcopal
Relief and Development is funding the Administrators’ position, and Susan
especially wanted to visit, if possible. 
Canon Bob Edmonds at the Diocesan office arranged for us to go.

            We were
supposed to leave at 10:00 am.  The time
got moved to 10:30.  We are on
“Palestinian Time,” Canon Edwards told us. 
We finally left at 11:15 am for the one hour drive.  Amin, the Diocesan Property Manager is our
driver, and Haleem Bashlawi, the Diocesan Financial Officer comes too.  They have a meeting with Dr. Walid Kirreh,
the hospital administrator.  We were
stopped at one checkpoint for a passport check.

            St.
Luke’s started in 1895 (cornerstone, set on May 24^th – my birthday,
1900 –NOT my birth year!).  Today it is a
60-bed hospital with 71 employees.  It
runs a clinic in a nearby town as well.  Like
other ministries, it serves mainly Muslim Palestinians (i.e. St. George’s
School in Jerusalem has 940 students, 40 of who are Christian, and only two of
those are Anglican.)

            When we
arrive, we meet Dr. Walid, chat for a few minutes, and are served Turkish
coffee.  Then we are introduced to Mrs.
Salwa Khoury, who is in charge of Public Relations.  She shares this year’s dramatic increase of
patients and services over last year.  We
are served a special pastry Nablus is famous for, Knafah, which is cheese
wrapped in honey-soaked “shredded” pastry with chopped pistachios on top –
served warm. It is wonderful!  Mrs.
Khoury, who has been with the hospital for 18 years, goes on to say how proud
they are of their ministry.  We notice on
the tour she gives us that there are more than a few pictures of the Bishop.

            This
little hospital is the referral hospital for all neurosurgery and renal surgery
in the West Bank.  Much of their
equipment is old (autoclaves – 18-20 years old, washers and dryers that don’t
work, only 4 old incubators in the neo-natal unit – we saw a baby in one that
had just been born at 25 weeks, weighing 2 lbs.- in a place where there were over
1100 deliveries through October of this year). 
We asked about getting used equipment, and she said that the Palestinian
Authority and the Israeli Government usually will not allow this.  The hospital recently got a CT scanner from a
hospital in the USA, supposedly working. 
They paid to have it shipped and set up, and then it did not work.

            Fr.
Ibrahim Nairoz, the local Anglican Priest arrived to talk with us.  Of the nearly 200,000 residents in the Neblus
region, only 700 are Christians – mostly Greek Orthodox and Roman
Catholic.  He serves two congregations.  (Haleem tells us later that the offering on
any given Sunday is about 50 Shekels, or $15). 
Fr. Ibrahim refers to himself as a “bridge-builder.”  Since it is against the law here to
proselytize, “the only way to teach people about Jesus is to show them,”
through things like hospitals and schools, good deeds, etc.  His teenagers are currently working with Muslim
and Samaritan youth on website project.

            We ask,
“what can we do?  He said that visits
like ours are important, he will tell his people about us on Sunday.  Our prayers for him and them are
important.  Telling their story is
important.  Of course, money helps too,
especially for things like Christmas food baskets that can be shared with his
people and with non-Christian Palestinians.

            “What
major difficulties do you face?” we ask. 
His reply is that it is not the Muslims. 
He said that they get along o.k. with each other.  The #1 problem is the Occupation.  The poor cannot leave to find work,
checkpoints are invasive (people have died in ambulances waiting to pass, women
have given birth while waiting to pass through).  “It is as if we are living in prison,” he
says.  Examples:  he requested permission to take 50 women to
Bethlehem.  Because of the distance, he
wanted to go one day, spend the night, and return the next.  They were given permission, but told they had
to be back by 7:00 pm.  He has to ask
permission to come to Jerusalem for clergy meetings – sometimes they say yes,
sometimes no.  No reason is ever
given.  Palestinians cannot leave the
West Bank to go to the airport in Tel Aviv. 
Instead, they have to go to Amman, Jordan.  Fr. Ibrahim said, “it is Apartheid all over
again.  You can just feel the oppression
all the time.”

            As we
returned, the difference between the West Bank and Israeli sections was
clear.  Roads are well paved, well lined,
well marked in Israel.  In the West Bank
they are rough, unlined, etc.  The wall,
or “separation barrier” where it is a fence continues to be built.  Where there are Jewish settlements, the wall
snakes around to include them, often encroaching on property of Palestinians. New
roads, which cannot be used by the Palestinians are built to the settlements,
and sometimes between settlements, cutting between homes and fields, and even
dividing parts of towns, making it impossible for people to harvest their crops
or visit family and friends.

            What a
difficult day.  What huge issues these
people face.

 

That was yesterday, Wednesday.

Today, Thursday, Sister Ellen
and Sister E.S. from the Order of St. Helena, Susan and I went to Eucharist and
lunch at Sabeel headquarters.  This is an
ecumenical Christian ministry seeking justice for Palestinians.  The major concern today seemed to be “Christian
Zionism.” There were about 30 people there. 
Some were volunteers who have come to work here for a week, a month, or
even a year.  Some were young, just out
of college, others were older.   There were
people there from Holland, Great Britain, Germany, Sweden, the USA and from
Jerusalem.

I repeat: What a difficult
day.  What huge issues these people face.

Peace,

    Bob

           

 

 

           

November 16, 2009

Bob’s Sabbatical

November 16, 2009 – The Way of Resurrection

 

            The town
of Emmaus no longer exists.  There are
four places that have been identified as possibilities, based on different
readings of Luke 24:13 ff. and the distance from Jerusalem (some texts have 60
stadia (7.5 miles) and others read 160 stadia (19 miles).  A few years ago part of an ancient Roman road
were found when a pipe-line was being installed.  It is within the range of 60 stadia.  There is no town, but it is a road that went
somewhere.

            Before
we leave the college to walk the “road” we are reminded by Andrew that the
story in Luke is very specific, and talks about both Jesus’ presence with the
two disciples, but also about his absence. 
The absence is important, as is his absence from the tomb.  It means we cannot limit Jesus to a place and
time, nor to our expectations.

            For the
past two weeks we have been on a journey of the past, and have considered many
different aspects or roles that Jesus played (plays) in our lives.  No one description fits for all places and
all times.  Now we head back home, to a
journey of the future.  As we return, we
will indeed find Jesus in our Galilee, our places of mission.  We will never capture or keep him, but we
will glimpse him in the people and places we serve.

            We head
to Moza (Motsa?) to walk a bit of ancient Roman Road, as did the two disciples.  The road is rough and overgrown.  Occasionally we see the pavement stones, but
otherwise it is just a path.  Andrew has
told us that this is something of a parable of life.  We are going to need to help one another on
the path.  As we walk, Andrew asks us to
think about what questions we might have for Jesus at this point in our
pilgrimage, and what questions Jesus has for us?

            When we
got to the piece of road, we walked in silence. 
As we went on the sometimes loose rocks, it occurred to me that helping
others can be risky.  The helper often
has to stand on less “safe” ground in order to help others get to safe places.  Perhaps that is part of ministry (ordained or
lay), to be willing to stand on less safe ground as we help others on the path
of life, and especially on the path to Jesus Christ.

            After
our walk, we went to Abu Ghosh, another place that has been identified as
possibly the location of Emmaus.  We went
to a Church on a hilltop, Arc d’Alliance (Ark of the Covenant) for an outdoor
Eucharist together.  When the Israelites
placed “God” in the Ark of the Covenant and carried it with them, this area is
said to be one of the places they stayed for a time.  The following is the collect we used for our
drive, and for the Eucharist:

O God, whose
greeting we miss

And whose
departure we delay,

Make our hearts
burn with insight

On our ordinary
roads

That as we grasp
you in the broken bread,

We may also let
you go,

And return to
speak your word of life

Through Jesus
Christ. Amen.

                                               
(Janet Morley)

            The
Church was very plain inside, but had lovely ceilings.  The statue atop the Church of Mary holding
the child Jesus struck me.  If you look
closely, you see the child has a communion host in his outstretched hand.  The words of the collect echoed as we took
communion together for the last time as this particular pilgrim group, “that as
we grasp you in the broken bread, we may also let you go.”  It is about time for me to let go of the
sabbatical, and to come home where we can be about finding the Christ in one
another and all those we seek to serve through St. Paul’s.

    Peace,

        Bob

 

 

 

 

           

November 15, 2009

Bob’s Sabbatical

November 15, 2009 – O Worship the Lord

 

            The
night before last, when Andrew was lecturing on the Church of the Resurrection
(or Holy Seplechure), he mentioned that it is possible to spend the night
inside.  He said that when the Church
closes, the literally lock you in, and at various times during the night there
are various liturgies that take place, especially on Saturday nights.  Six of us decided we wanted to try it (Susan
not being one of us).  Yesterday, when we
visited the Church, Andrew confirmed with the Franciscans that it was o.k. for
us to come back that night.  He showed us
where the toilets were, and said that we had to check in with the Franciscans at
6:45pm.

            I packed
my backpack with a jacket, water and a Bible. 
Our little pilgrim band set out for the night.  When we arrived, we checked in with the
Franciscans, who asked us to wait nearby. A few minutes before 7:00pm security
people went through the building, making sure everyone but us (and 6 or 7
others who were staying as well) was out of the building.  Sure enough, at 7:00pm we heard the huge
metal doors clang shut, and a padlock was put in place.

            At
first, it felt like a huge cavernous building as the silence set in.  There were plenty of lights left on, and
candles burning, but it still felt a little like a cell.  With the all the rock and thick stone walls,
and with  no light from the outside, if
felt like we were underground.

            People
spread out to do our own thing.  It took
a while to settle in with the quietness. 
Basically, we could go anywhere we wanted.  I decided to spend some of the time reading
the Gospel of Luke.  After awhile, I went
upstairs to the Rock of Calvary Chapel and read for a time.  Later I went and spent some time in the Holy
Seplechure.  It was nice not to have
people waiting for you to move on, and I had some quiet prayer time.  I moved on to read some more down in the
Chapel of St. Helena.  I came up and
found an unnamed chapel, with no cross, no icons, no decoration.  It seemed much more symbolic of the empty
tomb than the Holy Seplechure with all the decoration, candles, etc.

            We had
been told that they would open the doors at 11:00\pm for a Greek Orthodox
service.  About 10:45 clergy and some
others appeared and put carpets out in front of the Seplechure, lights came on
in the Basilica, communion ware was carried into the Seplechure.

At 11:00 I heard the doors clang open and the sound of
rushing footsteps and muted voices. 
Within 15 minutes it felt like the place was crammed with people.  They were lighting candles and trying to get
into line to go into the Seplechure, which is apparently open for visits until
midnight, when the service officially begins. 
Already, about 15 Greek Orthodox clergy have vested and gathered behind
the Altar screen, and chanting has begun, eerily filling the space with sound.

            Here
endeth the quiet for the rest of the night!

            By midnight
there had have been between one and two thousand people vying for spots with
views of either the  Seplechure or the Sanctuary in the Basilica.  Many women came with fold-out seats, which
should have fore-warned me.  I managed to
find a spot to stand, pressed by the crowd, near the door where I could see
both ways.  At midnight they stopped
people from going into the Seplechure.  I
notice the smell of incense and heard the jangle of a thurible.  The service had officially started.  There were no service books, people moved
about as we heard different voices chanting parts of the liturgy from behind
the Altar screen.  Occasionally a .  thurifer would pass through, leading someone
carrying a book or Altar vessels one direction of the other.

            The service
ended up going on for 3 hours and 15 minutes. 
As soon as it was over, the Greek Orthodox folks were ushered out.  I was finally sitting down, with my legs
crossed, when some came by and point at them. 
I knew we were not supposed to sit with crossed legs in an Orthodox
Church, but I was so tired and my back hurt that I had forgotten.

            Instead
of locking the doors again, 4 more clergy arrived along with a small group of
worshippers.  A different carpet was laid
out, more Altar vessels carried into the Seplechure, and chanting in a new
language began, with a very talented thurifer leading the procession of
Armenian clergy in to begin their service. 
This time the congregation was very small (less than 10 people), but that
did not seem to matter.  The entire service
was chanted, and an hour and 15 minutes later, they were finished.

            A Roman
Catholic priest appeared, and a Franciscan brother brought another carpet to
roll out in front of the Seplechure (carpets cannot be shared?).  In the dark behind the Seplechure, three
people are chanting some service, grabbing the time when they could.  The Roman Catholic service was about to start.  Since it was almost 5:00 am, and we had been
doing Church since 11:00pm, we decided to head back to the college in the
dark.  Unlike yesterday when we did the
Stations of the Cross, the city was not yet stirring.  It was very different walking down the narrow
streets, which now seemed wide since no shops were open with displays jutting
into the street.

            At
9:30am Susan and I went to the Cathedral for the second of their three Sunday
Eucharists.  This one is in Arabic, for
their local Palestinian congregation.  The
Bishop, who is Palestinian, was the celebrant. 
This was my third Eucharist of the day, none of which was in English.

    Peace,

            Bob

P.S. I did not take many pictures last night, since I was really in the Church for reasons other than a photo-op.

 

 

           

November 14, 2009

Bob’s Sabbatical

November 14, 2009 – Via Dolorosa

 

            We woke
up at 5:00am in order to leave the college at 6:00am for Stations of the Cross
in the Old City.  We began in the
courtyard, then walked, in silence, carrying a wooden cross about the same size
we use at St. Paul’s during Holy Week, and an icon of Jesus on the Cross.

            When we
arrived at the first station, on the Via Dolorosa, we began (as we did at each
subsequent station) with a chanted versicle and response, then a single verse “hymn,”
followed by a reading, another versicle and response, another reading and
closing collect.  People took turns
carrying the icon and the cross from station to station.  Susan and I each carried the cross.

            That
early in the morning, Jerusalem was fairly quiet, but the city was stirring to
life.  As we moved, at times we stood
near piles of garbage bags waiting for collection.  Other times we had to part, like the Red Sea,
to let carts full of fresh bread through. 
School children ran around and between us (Palestinian schools close
Friday and Sunday, Jewish schools close Saturday and Sunday).  Many people paid no attention to us at
all.  This was probably true the day
Jesus carried his cross to Calvary, “just another criminal on his way to his
punishment.”

            The last
station was in the courtyard of the Church of the Resurrection (aka “Church of
the Holy Seplechure”), where we were told, by the janitor we think, that we
could not sing or pray there!  We ended
up going inside and whispered our final prayers and readings.  On our way out, the courtyard was full of
groups having pictures taken, and guides yelling information about the Church –
but no singing or praying allowed – go figure!

            We went
for breakfast nearby, then back to the Church of the Resurrection, climbing
down two stories of steps into the St. Helena Chapel, part of which was a
quarry, once upon a time.  We made our
way up one level to Adam’s Chapel, where we could see part of the base of the
Rock of Calvary.  Next we climbed two
levels up to the Shrine where we could crawl under a low Alter, reach into a
hole in the floor and touch the rock.  This
was very moving, having done the Way of the Cross earlier.  We went back downstairs to the main level,
where we saw a typical 1^st Century crypt. 

            We were
given money for lunch and the rest of the day to ourselves.  Susan and I went back to the Western Wall
before heading back to the college.

Peace,

   Bob

 

           

 

 

           

November 13, 2009

Bob’s Sabbatical

November 13, 2009 – Behold the Man

 

            The
Palestinian Perspective last night was delayed because the speaker way held up
at one of the various checkpoints he had to go through just to get here.  That is a way of life for Palestinians.  His presentation was titled: “Shattered
Peace, Israeli Militarism and Unilateralism.” 
That pretty much says it all, in terms of their perspective on life and
the future here.  He certainly did not
agree with militants, but spoke to the utter frustration of being “invisible”
and powerless, saying that most Palestinians would be more than willing to
share territory, have a parallel government and be free to move about.  They do not sense the same willingness from
the Israelies.

 

            We began
our day this morning at the top of the Mount of Olives, at Bethphage.  We were at a chapel that commemorates Jesus’
arrival in Jerusalem (note the palm branches) in the fresco behind the
Altar.  They also have a stone in the Church,
which is actually from the Crusader era, purported to be the “mounting stone”
Jesus used to get on the donkey.  The
stone is taller than most donkeys.

            We were
reminded of the contrast between Herod’s Kingdom and the Kingdom of God.  Herod also arrived in Jerusalem this week,
from Caesarea Maritina.  He came with
chariots, steeds, armies, etc. as a show of Roman power for the Jewish Passover
festival.  Jesus, head held high, but
riding on a simple donkey, purposely distinguishes himself from the likes of
Herod.  Above the entrance is a carving
of two crossed hands.  One is Jesus’ and
the other is St. Francis’, who received the stigmata, and visited Jerusalem.  We were in Assisi, in the rain, three weeks
ago.

            Our next
stop was at Dominus Flevit (“the Lord Wept” [Luke 19:41]), part-way down the
Mt. of Olives.  The chapel is shaped like
a tear-drop (Berlucci, again).  It had a
chalice in the window behind the Altar (“let this cup pass from me” [Matthew
26:39].  We had about 45 minutes of quiet
time.

            We
walked down the steep hillside toward the Gesthemane and the Kidron Valley.  It started to rain.  This is not Good Friday, but it is Friday the
13^th.  We thought about how
much and how far people, and Jesus walked. 
He didn’t ride horses, camels or donkeys.  Riding one on his entry to Jerusalem was not
the norm for him.  As we gathered in a
garden, wet and cold, we were reminded that it was cold that night in
Gesthemane as well – Peter sat in the Caiaphas’ courtyard warming himself by a
fire while Jesus was being questioned inside.

            There
are thousands of people here today, all trying to get into the Gesthemane Basilica.  We walk up to a nearby garden area, where we
are the only group!  Again we have time
for silence.  [Follow-up on yesterday’s
note about silence:  No other tour groups
to bother us today, but since it is Friday, the Moslem holy day, the speakers of
minerets in Jerusalem carry loud calls to prayer that make it very hard to
concentrate.  Someone commented that this
is a way for the Muslims to make their voices heard, but we are not sure it
does not aggravate the situation.  Later
we learned that a similar thing will happen from the Jewish area later today,
at the beginning of their Sabbath.]

            One
thing I have appreciated this time is that the course has been good about keeping
the chronology of Jesus life.  We have
visited places to get a feel for life under Roman rule in the First Century as
we have traveled around, but we began our walk with Jesus in Bethlehem, went to
Nazareth, came back through Jericho, and are pretty much keeping visits to
sites in good order.  My last visit here
was very different.  We went to whatever
was close by, just to be able to say we had been there.  This time it is easier to appreciate Jesus’
life, ministry and last days.

            Peace,

              Bob

           

 

 

           

November 12, 2009

Bob’s Sabbatical

November 12, 2009 – The Last Supper

 

            Yesterday
was Jocobien, our guide’s, last day with us. 
She shared a moving poem about stones, “Temporary Poem of My Time,” by
Yehuda Amichai.

            This
morning began with a lecture by Andrew.  He
noted that the words and actions of the Eucharis are sometimes so familiar to
us that we become desensitized to its power. 
We miss the “shock” that the Apostles must have had when they were
expecting another Passover meal, and got something very unexpected.  Andrew went on to discuss three themes
related to the Eucharist: Passover, Remembrance and Covenant.

            We then
went to the Syrian Orthodox church of St. Mark, where we were “welcomed” by
Sister Justinia.   Though forewarned, she
immediately spoke to one of our party who crossed his legs in the Church.  Later, she yelled at someone she thought was
about to take a picture of the icon on a side wall, the only thing we had been
told not to photograph (supposedly painted by St. Luke the Evangelist).  This one of two sites claiming to be the “Upper
Room,” where Jesus shared the Last Supper with his Apostles, and where he later
appeared to them when they had locked themselves away.

            Sister
Justinia, after a long story of miracles old and new, explained that the “upper”
room was actually down one floor, because, in Jerusalem, “if you want old, you
have to go down.  Indeed, this is the
third city that has been built on top of what was the Jerusalem of Jesus’ day.

            After
lunch, we headed to St. Peter Galicantu (cock-crow) on Mt. Zion.  This is the site of the High Priest Caiaphas,
where Peter denied knowing Jesus 3 times, and where the cave where Jesus was
imprisoned overnight.  There are some 1^st
Century steps leading up to the site – ones Jesus and the Apostles may have
walked down on their way to Gethsemane after the Last Supper, and more surely,
ones he would have been brought back up after his arrest in Gethsemane.   The present Church is fairly modern (at least
two earlier ones preceded it), with wonderful mosaics.  I tried to get a picture of one of St. Paul.  Look closely, on the left.

            Once
again, we were given time for quiet, meditation and prayer.  As Susan noted, it is nice to be given this
time, but it is very hard to take advantage of it.  There are so many tour groups parading
through, that finding quiet spots is almost impossible.

            We will
have Eucharist at the Cathedral before supper tonight, and after supper, a
presentation by Xavier Abu Eid, a Palestinian Christian, on his perspective on
the Peace process and other issues for Palestinian Christians. 

Peace,

   Bob