Last Day in Jerusalem

I'm standing in a ritual bath next to the temple steps of Jesus' day. Most think that it was in these baths that the 3000 of Pentecost were baptized. Pretty cool to imagine the scene happening in that actual spot. Also we took a tour that traced the steps of Jesus from the high priest's palace to Pilate's palace to the cross and the tomb. Humbling to trace these steps of Jesus.
We leave tonight at 1 am to catch a flight at 5:30m. This trip has been beyond words in terms of what I've experienced and learned. In Jerusalem I've only begun to get a handle on the land which is so central to the working out of god's saving plan. But I am so much richer for having had this experience. I'm sorry I haven't been able to share more...we've been hindered a bit by the failure of wifi at the hotel in Jerusalem but I hope the few pics I posted helped tell some of the story. I look forward to sharing more of my trip soon with any who may be interested. Thanks for following along!!!!

En Gedi Spring

This spring is one of the areas where David hid from Saul in a cave. It is a lush oasis literally in the middle of desert wilderness -- a perfect place to hide! I also took a float in the Dead Sea today...diving in head first did not happen bc I didn't want a face full of salt!!

Spice Pyramid

Remember why Europe wanted to sail to the far East so badly? Spices!! Check out this spice pyramid we found in the market today. Off to the Dead Sea tomorrow! Still no Internet at the hotel so just posting with my phone. Peace!

Garden of Gethsemane

There's a church here called Church of All Nations. We sat thru a Catholic mass there today. The altar is behind a large rock where tradition holds Jesus wept and prayed before being taken by the Roman guard

Dome of the Rock

This is the view from our hotel room balcony in Jerusalem. Got here Friday nite. Going to walk up the Mt. of Olives today. Having trouble connecting to the Internet on my lap top so posting from my phone...good news is that for now my posts will be much shorter!!!

Church of the Nativity

Tradition holds that this is the cave/spot of Jesus' birth. Went back to this church today.

Mother of All Conferences

Friday, March 9 2012

            Whew!   I made it!  Tonight marked the end of the “Christ at the Check Point Conference.  This was the mother of all conferences.  I’ve been to three day conferences but five days is a new personal record.  One of the speakers said that he counted something like 35 speakers.  I believe it too.  Almost all of the speakers were very, very good including one Korean pastor today who told the story of his own country’s occupation and how his family lost their land and even each other.  It was heartbreaking and at one point this elderly Korean pastor began to cry when he said that hearing the stories of the Palestinian church made him re-live his own experiences.  That was a very moving moment and a reminder that many people around the world have suffered at great deal as a result of war and ethnic/religious struggles. 

            I knew something of what this conference was going to be about before I came but I don’t think I knew the half of it.  Here are a few more things I learned about it in these last days.  The “Christ at the Check Point Conference” had as its speakers leading Christian evangelicals from around the world.  I’m not really in touch with the “big names” but I found out that many if not most of them were at this conference.  The “Christ at the Check Point Conference” had 600 people in attendance from 30 countries around the world.  Finally, this conference has been very controversial especially in the western part of the globe.  Frankly, when we in the West hear the word “Palestinian” the very next word that comes into our minds is “terrorist”.  My guess is that this is true for many; I know it is for me.  But there’s this really cool little secret that has to get out – there is a Palestinian Christian church.  It’s a church that’s mostly been forgotten but these Christians are still in the land and really want to be prophetic about making peace and doing reconciliation.  It’s trite to say but it really is amazing.  I’m blown away by what I’ve seen and heard this week!  I look forward to thinking and writing more about it later!

            So I’m turning the page on the conference and moving on to the last leg of my own personal “amazing race”.  Tomorrow, we will do some sightseeing in the area before moving on to Jerusalem where we will spend a few days taking in the sights and hopefully learning some more!  One of the days we plan to go down to the Dead Sea and float.  I have my swimsuit along and plan to dive right in.  Odds are that I’ll chicken out about the “diving in” part but I’ll let you know.

            I’m thankful and surprised at how well I’ve felt on this trip – no sicknesses, really not very tired except for one night, and just feeling a lot of energy.  I think I’m still as charged today about the trip as the first day I left!  Again, thankful for life and the gift it is and especially thankful for those who have kept us in your prayers.  Blessings and more blessings as you head into the weekend!!!  

Guard Tower & Wall

Love Your Enemy

Thursday, March 8 2012

Love your enemy.  I wrote about this a couple of days ago but it’s hard to get around this command in Palestine.  It’s humbling to hear Palestinian Christians and Messianic Jews talk about their experiences of learning to love their enemy.  We have the theology of love but most North American Christians haven’t had to put it into practice the way Christians in Palestine have.  Preaching love for enemies and actually doing it are two different worlds and this is not lost on me as one who preaches from Sunday to Sunday.  Today, I listened to speaker after speaker who have real enemies and who have taken Jesus’ word as a direct order.  One man I’ve listened carefully to is Sami Awad – a Palestinian Christian born and raised in Bethlehem.  He has an incredible story which is too long to relate here but see if something he said grabs you the way it grabbed me:

“You can’t talk about loving your enemy until you’ve achieved oneness with them.” 

That’s a lot further than I want to take things.  Love for my enemy means putting up with them but not becoming one with them.  It’s difficult to get my mind around what that would mean in real-time with a real-world context like Palestine.  I’m challenged here because my “love your enemy” theology has only been done in theory and not in practice.

            Mike Kooy and I took a field trip (sponsored by the conference) to the ancient city of Hebron.  Remember that place?  Abraham settled there when he came into Canaan.  When Sarah died he bought a cave there.  In fact, we took a tour of a mosque built over the tomb of both Sarah and Abraham.  It used to be a church (via the Crusaders) but was turned into mosque once the crusaders were defeated by Saladin.  Hebron is of interest in modern history too because it has been literally cut in half between Palestinians and Jewish settlers.  In order to accomplish this the Israeli government blocked off key roads and even divided buildings between Palestinians and Jews.  The mosque of Abraham and Sarah is divided into two halves with a section for Muslims and for the Jews.  The picture I posted is of a netting or fence stretched over the top of a marketplace roadway which is beneath the apartments of some of the Jewish settlers.  Garbage is thrown down on the Palestinian shoppers by the settlers so protection had to be constructed over the marketplace.  Just take Oak Lawn as an example and imagine erecting a barrier that would cut it in half.  It’s almost impossible to imagine such a scenario.  What I saw today was tragic, sad, and nearly unbelievable. 

            I’m hearing and seeing all of this from the Palestinian side.  There are, of course, two sides to this story.  This comes out very clearly listening to the conference speakers.  The danger is to paint a one-sided story.  When that’s done, people/nations get demonized; victim mentalities prevail; and it becomes impossible even to think about reconciliation.  I appreciate the fact that this perspective is emphasized by the Palestinian Christians speaking at the conference.  I’ve been writing about one side of the story and it’s important to at least recognize that this is one-sided.  But it cannot be denied that, on the whole, the Palestinians have taken the brunt of the suffering in this conflict.  Like the city of Hebron, they are a people who have been cut off by the wall.  Life gets hard when you effectively become a prisoner within your own town.  Your world shrinks down to the size of a few square miles and that brings on a whole host of hardships.  Again, that’s one side but it is safe to say that it is a more difficult one. 

            Friday is the last day of the conference.  I never expected to be challenged in the way that I have been in the last few days.  I do pray I can be a good steward of the perspective gained here.  On Saturday, Michael Kooy and I will be heading to Jerusalem for a few days of seeing the sights.  Looking forward to that too and to share our times with you.  

Hebron market street

That's trash thrown on Palestinian shoppers by Israeli settlers.

Our little pastor posse

Christian Zionism

Wednesday, March 7 2012

            Woke up late and came back to the hotel early – that’s one way to summarize today.  I was supposed to go to the Israeli check point early this morning so I had set my alarm for 5:00 PM.  It never went off because it was set for 6:00 PM.  There’s actually an old Seinfeld episode about alarm clock mishaps in hotels so this has to happen to other people, right?  I was disappointed because I really wanted to go.  I came back to the hotel after dinner today and didn’t stay for the evening speaker.  By my fifth or sixth speaker today everything started to sound like “blah blah blah blah.”  Better for me to get some space so that I can refocus for a new day!

            Today’s conference topic had mostly to do with something called Christian Zionism.  Truth be told, this isn’t something that a lot of folks from my tradition (Reformed Christian) have heard a lot about.  If you haven’t either then you should know that there is a large swath of what’s called Christian evangelicalism in America that promotes Christian Zionism.  Believe me, I am no expert but basically it works by taking mostly Old Testament prophecies and the book of Revelation and constructing a theology that says that Jesus will return once the Jews have “taken back” the Holy Land.  Christian Zionists want Israel to flourish and completely take over Palestine so that the stage is finally set for the second coming.  This is sort of simplistic to say but if you want to know a key reason the United States is such a huge supporter of Israel, it has to do with what are called Zionists – both Christian and Jewish.  As you can imagine, this theology ends up being quite a problem for those who live in Palestine and are not Jews – i.e. Arab Muslims, Arab Christians, and Israeli Christians (yes, the last two actually exist in Palestine).  Arabs have lived in Palestine for thousands of years and essentially the goal of Zionism is the displacement of all the Arabs from Palestine.  I’m at a Christian conference in the Palestinian town of Bethlehem so you can imagine how Christian Zionism ends up being an extremely hot button topic.  Again, my own Christian tradition has never held to a theology of this sort but that doesn’t mean that we haven’t been swayed to some extent by the mainstream American tenor that advocates it.  It is a serious issue that should be paid attention to but for the purposes of this space it’s a case of “enough said”.  If you want to talk about it later, just let me know and I’ll try to help fill in some of the blanks I’ve left here.

            I’m still loving the food here and there is no shortage of it.  Today, I went to lunch with sort of a networking group and then dinner with a different networking group.  I know it’s easy to get tired of restaurant food easily but I think it’s more just not being hungry when I eat!  Another plate is put in front of me and I just look at it for about two minutes: “Can I really eat this?  I’m still full from my last meal.”  And then I eat it all.  Yikes!

            Tomorrow holds a field trip to Hebron so that’s going to break things up for me.  I’m looking forward to the experience and to sharing some of it with you.  Thanks for tracking with me on this little trip and thanks especially for your prayers.  Peace, or since I’m in Palestine: Salaam!

            

Blessed Are the Peace Makers

Tuesday, March 6 2012

            The conference began today.  You know the drill: speaker and then another speaker and then another speaker and then another speaker and then, oh yeah, one more speaker!  They were all very good and I’ll share in just a second but here’s a little secret about me – I’m terrible at sitting still for very long.  I always have been which is one of the reasons I stand on Sundays during church instead of sit.  So while a day like today is challenging for everyone, it ends up being a just a liiiitttle extra challenging for your truly!!  (insert feeling sorry for me now)  I’ve been wondering what my posts will be about for the rest of the week during this conference but as I listened to some of the speakers it dawned on me – some of what was shared today can be heard in only a few places in the world because much of it comes from Christians who have suffered a great deal for the cause of Christ.  As a North American I’ve actually never heard first-hand what some of the speakers shared today.  Maybe you’re like me and would be blessed to hear this also?!

            So a quote from a Palestinian pastor, Labeeb Madanat, who has been up to his eyeballs in peace making between Israelis and Palestinians.  He told his story of how he went from bitter hatred for the Israelis to learning how to genuinely love them.  This quote comes from this pastor – a man who actually had a friend and work partner killed as a result of the conflict in Palestine:

“We can become so consumed with our own pain and suffering that we cannot feel the pain and suffering of our neighbor.  God calls us to deny ourselves regardless of who has suffered more.  It requires us to deny our own pain.  Jesus wants our relationships to be defined by what he has done for us while we were yet enemies of God.  We easily say: But what about our pain?  What about us?  But we begin correctly when we begin with forgiveness.  Are we victim or are we victor?  We can always play the victim or throw the pity party.  But this is not what Christ wants us to do or be.  The world sees foolishness and weakness but God sees it as strength and wisdom.”

I was going to edit this quote to shorten it but I keep reading it over and can’t bring myself to do it.  The words certainly speak to me as one who enjoys being the life of the pity party.  But then I think: What do I have to complain about?  Whatever hardships and difficulties I have (if any) are nothing compared to Christians living in a land like this.  These are Christians that are actively practicing the gospel under some of the worst conditions on earth.  They are living what has to be the most difficult life possible.  They are working to love their enemy.  I know I can talk about loving my enemy but I’m not sure that I actually ever have done it.  What would that take for me to learn to do that?  What would have to change within me?  Would I actually be willing to change to love my enemy?  Truthfully, I don’t know.  Just being honest. 

            Remember Michael?  He’s the restaurant owner who asked “How are you with God?  And with the Holy Spirit?”  Our little pastor posse found him after lunch and we had coffee together.  It was fun to visit and laugh.  We got to hear a little more about his family and his life in Bethlehem.  He exudes thanksgiving to God in a way that I’m not sure I’ve ever seen before.  I think that’s what drew us back to him.  We just wanted to sit and enjoy his love and laughter some more.  We ended our time together with prayer and promised to meet again before the end of the conference.

            Got to get up early tomorrow morning (5:30 am) and go on a field trip to watch what happens at the check point of Jerusalem every morning.  Any Palestinian that wants to go into Jerusalem has to first get a permit (and I’m told that’s an iffy proposition) and then get in line to go through the security check point.  It can take up to three hours to get through the check point so people that have to be in Jerusalem early start lining up at 3:00 am.  Jerusalem is just 6 km away.  I’m also told that sometimes Israeli guards can be somewhat abusive during the process.  At the very least, it has to be degrading to go through that just to leave your town to get to the next town over.  Obviously, the check points are there for a reason and the history of bombings against Israelis has been well documented for a long time.  I’d probably want a check point too if I lived in Jerusalem.  But it sounds like the check points have become far more than just a “check”.  It is a way to control and marginalize an entire people group that lives in the same land as you do.  I’m sure more stories to follow on this one.

            Got to get to bed!

Lunch in Taybeh...first course.

Crazy

Tuesday, March 6 2012

            Today was one crazy and amazing day.  I did the kind of travel that a lot of travel bugs dream of: We (our little group of four pastors) took a rental car into the Judean Wilderness which was absolutely crazy looking.  This is the area where Jesus experienced his temptation before the start of his formal ministry.  Hills.  Desert.  Endless rocks.  Almost endless.  Don’t know how you walk into the middle of that and come back alive.  We drove to an ancient town called Taybeh – the last Christian town in the West Bank.  It’s 5000 years old and 2000 years ago Jesus and his disciples fled to Taybeh (John 11) after the Pharisees determined to kill Jesus upon the resurrection of Lazarus.  Once we made through the winding roads to the city, we met up with Maria whose husband runs the only brewery in Palestine.  He’s also the mayor of the town.  She gave us a tour of the brewery and we tasted lots of really good beer!  Then she took us on a tour of the town which ended up at a restaurant (Peter’s Restaurant) which they opened up just for us and put on a huge spread.  Crazy good food.  The restaurant is a renovated old stone house very much like the kind that people lived in during Jesus’ time.  It was an amazing site with spectacular views.  The sun was shining and we just sat on an open patio and enjoyed the meal and relaxed.  Absolutely out of this world!!

            Maria talked at length about the struggle to remain viable as village with the realities of Israeli occupation and new settlements popping up all the time.  There is a Jewish settlement visible from Taybeh.  There is 50% unemployment in Taybeh which is one of the reasons the brewery is located there.  They are doing whatever they can to stimulate economic activity.  It can be difficult to be successful with the realities of Israeli checkpoints.  For instance, Maria shared that her company’s delivery trucks have to make deliveries into Jerusalem using only certain military checkpoints.  This can add hours to delivery time depending on the destination.  To make matters worse, they are required to have a truck on the other side of the check point to complete the delivery.  This only adds to the cost of selling the beer and makes it much more difficult to compete.  As I listened to Maria, I was amazed at her focus on economic recovery and determination to succeed in the face of overwhelming odds.  Truly something.

            After our lunch in Taybeh, we made our back to Bethlehem for the start of the conference I’m attending called “Christ at the Check Point” (www.christatthecheckpoint.com).  Tonight was the opening ceremonies and the guests of honor where there to briefly speak.  The Prime Minister of the Palestinian Authority, Salam Fayyad, was chief among the dignitaries there and he spoke for at least a half an hour on the work of his administration to attain Palestinian statehood.  He was a very good speaker and obviously super intelligent.  At the end of his speech there was a three minute break and I really had to use the bathroom so I ran out.  As I was making my way back, I got stopped by the entourage of the Prime Minister.  I waited for them to pass but the Prime Minister stopped to shake my hand.  I was sort of surprised so didn’t know what to say except to say, “God bless you.”  Crazy.  Oh yeah and just for those who just thought of this – yes, I had washed my hands!!

Church of the nativity

Monday, March 5 2012

            It’s early Monday and I’m sitting in the hotel lobby by myself.  There’s still only four guests here – the pastor group I’m with, but I’m told more guests on the way??  Sun is shining this am and I have lots of thanksgiving and gladness to be on this trip.  Thanks to everyone from my family to school to church for helping make this possible.  Speaking of gladness, or better yet joy, mine doesn’t come close to the jubilation of the owner of the restaurant where we had lunch yesterday.  We walked down the street and picked a random restaurant that looked pretty nice.  The owner, Joseph, saw us and came to greet us.  He’s a very large and strong man and I was actually afraid when I saw the hugs he was giving my other group members.  When my turn came, I braced myself and tried to be warm at the same time without getting hurt.  His greeting?  “How are you with God?  And with the Holy Spirit?”  I’m travelling with three other pastors and this greeting caught each of us a little off guard.  I loved it, though, and am going to keep it in my back pocket for later use (beware).  Joseph is a Christian and had been to church that morning twice at different churches.  He explained to us that he gets super pumped up on Sundays because he worships his God and that he cannot contain himself.  We noticed!  Joseph sat with us to eat and then ordered for all of us.  Before we knew it, quite a spread was being laid out before us!  We talked with Joseph for an hour about our shared faith, about life in Bethlehem, and inevitably about the Jewish/Palestinian conflict.  This last topic dampened Joseph’s joy (but not for long) as he shared his perspective.  He pointed to a Jewish tour bus across the street and said, “You see that driver?  He is Jewish and when he takes his breaks in our town.  Nobody bothers him.  He’s free to go where he pleases and do what he wants.  But I cannot do the same in his town.  I am restricted and called “dangerous”.  Even for someone as effusive and strong as Joseph, pain and anger easily find a foothold.  When it came time to leave, we asked for the bill but Joseph would have none of that: “You are my brothers.  This lunch is my gift to you!”  Wow.  And by the way, there were four pastors at the table and they were not about to say “no” to a free lunch.  It’s the “pastors’ way”…

            Had a chance to go to the Old City in Jerusalem yesterday – my first chance to see the city.  Saw the Western Wall at the temple mount and walked around.  The difference between the look of Jerusalem and the look of Bethlehem is striking.  Put simply, Bethlehem looks “second world” while Jerusalem is very “first world” and the Old City area is definitely upscale.  I’ll be back to the Old City on the latter part of my trip so likely more on that later.  We went back to Jerusalem to get my luggage – yeah!!!  I kissed my suitcase when I saw it. 

            My mental picture of Bethlehem has obviously changed.  This is no “little town of Bethlehem”.  Still, with as urban a setting as this is with the craziness of the traffic and people and smells, I saw from my hotel window a shepherd down below with a pretty large flock of sheep.  This was not serene pasture setting.  He literally had his flock on a little patch of grass with buses and mopeds and trucks flying around them.  How he got there I’ll never know.  I’ll never think of “while shepherds watch their flocks at night” the same again!!  Craziness.  I did take a video and tried to upload it but it literally took all night and never work so no videos on this site.

            Peace and blessings to you on this day.  And by the way, “How are you with God?  And with the Holy Spirit?” 

            

Sunday, March 4

            Okay, I know what day it is and I’m not seeing two of everything.  It’s going to be a good day!  The name of the hotel I’m staying at is the Alexander Hotel.  Some might call it Spartan but it’s clean; I had plenty of blankets for the cold night; my back is feeling great so the mattress gets a passing grade; and I had a hot shower this am though the line between scalding and ice water was razor thin.  The feel of the hotel’s neighborhood is very urban with lots of car and foot traffic.  The police are constantly back and forth in front of the hotel lobby window and I’m not sure yet if they ever actually turn off their sirens.  My room is on the sixth floor and from the window the hilly terrain jumps right out at you.  Multi-story buildings surround and houses as far as the eye can see.  I mentioned last night that the hotel owner pointed out the most recent Jewish settlement near Bethlehem.  He did that from the back window of the lobby from which you can see quite a distance.  Although you enter the lobby on street level, when you go to look out its back window you are five stories up and there’s a sprawling valley of urban expanse before you.  It’ quite striking now that I’m actually seeing the area by day light. 

            Breakfast is at 8:30 this am.  There are only a handful in the guests staying in the hotel right now.  The owner said that it will soon fill up quickly as we progress further into Lent.  He and his wife will cook up breakfast for us.  From there it’s impromptu walking tours; go to church; and a wonderful free day before the start of the conference tomorrow.  

March 3, 2012

            I’m sitting in the lobby of our hotel in Bethlehem.  Tired from travel to be sure but other than my luggage being left in Paris all went smoothly.  The Alexandar Hotel is located on Manger Street which is a busy little corridor with all kinds of traffic whizzing by, honking horns, and basically chaos.  The hotel owner took us down the street to a friend/relative who has a little restaurant.  Had some amazing falafel sandwiches!  Since we haven’t had a chance to get cash, the restaurant owner told us to just pay a little later in the week!  So I gather things work a little differently in the Middle East than back home!  Pretty cool looking around here; going to be fun exploring for a week!

            Ramping up for this trip, I did a lot of reading on the land and history of Palestine.  Thanks to my friend and fellow pastor Michael Kooy who directed me in the readings. Full disclosure here – I knew almost nothing of the tragic history of this area which in too many ways has come to define its people.  I’m sure more reflection on this will come later.  But for those who may not know, Bethlehem is a Palestinian town kept in check by Israel by means of four military checkpoints which serve as the only entry points into the city.  When we arrived, the hotel owner was pointing out the newest Jewish settlement which has been planted just east of the city.  For nearly a century, Jewish settlers have been moving into Palestine and there are precious few areas left where their presence is not felt.  The hotel owner asked Michael and I to pray for them because tensions continue to escalate!

            I’m afraid to keep writing here because my head is spinning from sleepiness.  I’m looking forward to (hopefully) sleeping tonight and then being able to string a few coherent sentences together for future posts.  Thanks for checking in…ttys.

A pre-trip post to give some context for this blog.  A classmate at Loyola (thanks Amy!) asked me if I was going to be blogging on this trip and the thought hadn't crossed my mind.  But then I thought about how I was going to be keeping a journal for this trip to count as an elective for my coursework at Loyola (thanks Susan!) and figured I might as well blog it!  So here it is...for better and probably mostly for worse.  My elective is going to focus on issues of justice and community in the West Bank so most of my noodling will center around those topics.  What I gather on the trip will serve as the fodder I use to write a paper upon my return.  So beware that my thoughts will be incomplete and often inconclusive!  Also, I plan on giving myself permission to throw grammar, punctuation, and spelling rules out the window.  Starting now i will type and not worry about sentence structure and how things sound and whether a sentence is too long or if my words are pithy and concise.  Can you tell that iv'e alreayd started/  Good.  Thanks for reading and hope to be posting ssoon.  Blessings.