Thursday, April 15, 2004
"Welcome home"
I walked into a shop today and the man told me, "I want to tell you one thing first, my friend: Welcome home." That is the most minimal example of the wonderful Arab hospitality we have thus far enjoyed. And yes, Beal, I have a selection of pictures to your specifications! Everybody enjoys being in photos with the Americans. (This keyboard is difficult to type on because it is Arabic.) This morning's session was very good, but to a certain extent, everybody is saying the same thing. During our lunch break we skipped over to St. Geroge's Cathedral for noon Eucharist with the Dean. Eucharist in Jerusalem...wow. After the first afternoon session, Bob and I decided to skip the rest of the day and go around Jerusalem. I was feeling shortchanged by the conference schedule somewhat, given we have absolutely no time to view and tour the city. So, today, we made our own time.
Our first stop was at the Church of the Holy Sepulchere. When you first walk in there is a small shrine around the slab upon which Christ was laid for preparation for his burial. I felt overawed. I didn't know what to do or how to react, so I followed the example of some of the nuns there, knelt before it, ran my hands over it, bent over and kissed it, said a prayer and rose. The we went further into the church (inside which every Eastern sect of the church has their own chapel) and came to the tomb. The tomb! Again, I didn't know what to do. You have to bow down to get into it, which is totally lit by candlelight. The first room inside is a room for mourners to gather; many people were overcome with emotion at this point. The second, much smaller room, is the actualy toomb itself where our Lord was laid and from which He was resurrected. The Gospel was alive. Once we finished our devotions, we climbed up some steep stairs to Golgotha and venerated the spot upon which the cross stood. It was totally adorned in gold and silver, lit by hundreds of candles. There I lit a candle for Seabury-Western, prayed, and left, after touching the spot where the cross went in the ground and the holy blood dripped down. It has not totally hit me what I have done this day.
We left there and did some shopping in an open air market where we made friends with a shop owner named Ghassan. He pointed us the way to the Wailing Wall, our next destination. It's amazin how close everything is together! When we got to where we thought the entrance was we were stopped abrubtly by Israeli police and detained for a few moments before the announced to us that we could not go in, it was just for Muslims. They told us to leave. As it turns out, we were at the entrance to Haram al'Sharif, the Dome of the Rock. We followed directions and climbed down some stairs to where the entrance to the Wall actually was. Now there we were really stopped and detained a long time by men and women, younger than me, with guns as big as they were. We were searched thoroughly, made to wait a long time for no good reason, had to walk through a metal detector and finally approached the Wall, which had many praying Jews in front of it. We touched the Wall, I prayed for peace for Jerusalem and we left out the back entrance towards the Mount of Olives.
Our afternoon sojourn continued. We hailed a taxi, who was so grateful for the business, to take us to the Mount of Olives. He said he had worked 14 hours this day already and had made 50 shekels, which is roughly $13. We talked and grew to be friends with him. Arab hospitality is marvelous. When we got to the top he refused to charge us on the basis that he said he really liked us and that Jerusalem needed more good men like us in it, who make peace and not war. He parked the taxi and acted as a tour guide for us, telling us what everything was, up to and including the church in which he was married! Then, it was time for me to ride a camel. I got on the camel's back and got ready to have my picture taken, when the camel stood up! I almost fell off! It walked around and I laughed insanely! I was riding a camel around the mount of olives! After that experience was over, the taxi driver invited us to his uncle's shop so he too could have our business and there they treated us to a cup of tea, sweetened with honey. Delicious! The shop was wonderful and I bought many gifts for people there. But, the most beautiful part of the shop was no trinket or product, but a young lady. (See Hope, I said lady!) Now, some of you who know me, know well my weakness for Arabic women, and let me tell you, this young lady was so beautiful to make your heart melt, and when she smiled at me, wow. Her eyes sparkled and shone with a brilliance only rivaled by the sun setting below the Dome of the Rock. When Bob said we had to go, I was torn! I think I will come back here to live for a while and maybe find a wife, because...well...wow.
We got back in the taxi, where our driver confessed to me that the young lady had smiled at me as we had walked out. This is a very good thing for you, he said! Then, he invited us to his home for dinner and dessert. Now, in the States, that sort of thing doesn't happen at all and if we had not already had dinner plans I would have loved to join him and his family. We hastened back to our dinner, for which we were a little bit late, but it was so worth it for such an afternoon! One I will not soon forget!
Tomorrow we rise very early and head to Ramallah, where President Arafat is expecting us for lunch and wants to meet us all. Can you believe that?? I hope that we can get there, but the checkpoints between here and there are awful and may not allow us to pass. If we do get there, I am unsure how I feel about meeting Arafat. While he is the leader of the palestinians, he does have a dark past. We'll see how it goes. Tomorrow night, I will be meeting with my friend David (from Caux) and he will be showing us around West Jerusalem and some of the nightlife there! I am excited!
So far, this city is amazing and I love it dearly. The people are so friendly and so warm. Their generosity is so genuine and they badly need us here. No one is in the shops. No one dines at the restaurants. There is simply no money and families are so destitute it makes your heart cry. With that in mind, it makes this man's invitation to dinner so much more meaningful, especially since he has seven children! One week here is no where near the amount of time necessary to do everything you want to do. I plan on coming back many times and Michelle's suggestion of me applying for the year long position of sacristan at St. George's is looking like a fantastic idea. We'll see what happens. Now, I have to sign off this long post and write my ethics post. Salam!
-R
I walked into a shop today and the man told me, "I want to tell you one thing first, my friend: Welcome home." That is the most minimal example of the wonderful Arab hospitality we have thus far enjoyed. And yes, Beal, I have a selection of pictures to your specifications! Everybody enjoys being in photos with the Americans. (This keyboard is difficult to type on because it is Arabic.) This morning's session was very good, but to a certain extent, everybody is saying the same thing. During our lunch break we skipped over to St. Geroge's Cathedral for noon Eucharist with the Dean. Eucharist in Jerusalem...wow. After the first afternoon session, Bob and I decided to skip the rest of the day and go around Jerusalem. I was feeling shortchanged by the conference schedule somewhat, given we have absolutely no time to view and tour the city. So, today, we made our own time.
Our first stop was at the Church of the Holy Sepulchere. When you first walk in there is a small shrine around the slab upon which Christ was laid for preparation for his burial. I felt overawed. I didn't know what to do or how to react, so I followed the example of some of the nuns there, knelt before it, ran my hands over it, bent over and kissed it, said a prayer and rose. The we went further into the church (inside which every Eastern sect of the church has their own chapel) and came to the tomb. The tomb! Again, I didn't know what to do. You have to bow down to get into it, which is totally lit by candlelight. The first room inside is a room for mourners to gather; many people were overcome with emotion at this point. The second, much smaller room, is the actualy toomb itself where our Lord was laid and from which He was resurrected. The Gospel was alive. Once we finished our devotions, we climbed up some steep stairs to Golgotha and venerated the spot upon which the cross stood. It was totally adorned in gold and silver, lit by hundreds of candles. There I lit a candle for Seabury-Western, prayed, and left, after touching the spot where the cross went in the ground and the holy blood dripped down. It has not totally hit me what I have done this day.
We left there and did some shopping in an open air market where we made friends with a shop owner named Ghassan. He pointed us the way to the Wailing Wall, our next destination. It's amazin how close everything is together! When we got to where we thought the entrance was we were stopped abrubtly by Israeli police and detained for a few moments before the announced to us that we could not go in, it was just for Muslims. They told us to leave. As it turns out, we were at the entrance to Haram al'Sharif, the Dome of the Rock. We followed directions and climbed down some stairs to where the entrance to the Wall actually was. Now there we were really stopped and detained a long time by men and women, younger than me, with guns as big as they were. We were searched thoroughly, made to wait a long time for no good reason, had to walk through a metal detector and finally approached the Wall, which had many praying Jews in front of it. We touched the Wall, I prayed for peace for Jerusalem and we left out the back entrance towards the Mount of Olives.
Our afternoon sojourn continued. We hailed a taxi, who was so grateful for the business, to take us to the Mount of Olives. He said he had worked 14 hours this day already and had made 50 shekels, which is roughly $13. We talked and grew to be friends with him. Arab hospitality is marvelous. When we got to the top he refused to charge us on the basis that he said he really liked us and that Jerusalem needed more good men like us in it, who make peace and not war. He parked the taxi and acted as a tour guide for us, telling us what everything was, up to and including the church in which he was married! Then, it was time for me to ride a camel. I got on the camel's back and got ready to have my picture taken, when the camel stood up! I almost fell off! It walked around and I laughed insanely! I was riding a camel around the mount of olives! After that experience was over, the taxi driver invited us to his uncle's shop so he too could have our business and there they treated us to a cup of tea, sweetened with honey. Delicious! The shop was wonderful and I bought many gifts for people there. But, the most beautiful part of the shop was no trinket or product, but a young lady. (See Hope, I said lady!) Now, some of you who know me, know well my weakness for Arabic women, and let me tell you, this young lady was so beautiful to make your heart melt, and when she smiled at me, wow. Her eyes sparkled and shone with a brilliance only rivaled by the sun setting below the Dome of the Rock. When Bob said we had to go, I was torn! I think I will come back here to live for a while and maybe find a wife, because...well...wow.
We got back in the taxi, where our driver confessed to me that the young lady had smiled at me as we had walked out. This is a very good thing for you, he said! Then, he invited us to his home for dinner and dessert. Now, in the States, that sort of thing doesn't happen at all and if we had not already had dinner plans I would have loved to join him and his family. We hastened back to our dinner, for which we were a little bit late, but it was so worth it for such an afternoon! One I will not soon forget!
Tomorrow we rise very early and head to Ramallah, where President Arafat is expecting us for lunch and wants to meet us all. Can you believe that?? I hope that we can get there, but the checkpoints between here and there are awful and may not allow us to pass. If we do get there, I am unsure how I feel about meeting Arafat. While he is the leader of the palestinians, he does have a dark past. We'll see how it goes. Tomorrow night, I will be meeting with my friend David (from Caux) and he will be showing us around West Jerusalem and some of the nightlife there! I am excited!
So far, this city is amazing and I love it dearly. The people are so friendly and so warm. Their generosity is so genuine and they badly need us here. No one is in the shops. No one dines at the restaurants. There is simply no money and families are so destitute it makes your heart cry. With that in mind, it makes this man's invitation to dinner so much more meaningful, especially since he has seven children! One week here is no where near the amount of time necessary to do everything you want to do. I plan on coming back many times and Michelle's suggestion of me applying for the year long position of sacristan at St. George's is looking like a fantastic idea. We'll see what happens. Now, I have to sign off this long post and write my ethics post. Salam!
-R
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