Day 5 of Immersion: Walking His Path

On our fifth day, we continued to visit places from the life of Jesus.  We visited several places in Nazareth and the Galilee region, visited the Golan Heights, and transferred to Jerusalem, our final location, that night.

We began our day at the Church of the Beatitudes.

Above: (at Church of the Beatitudes)  Spot where some believe Jesus spoke the beatitudes. The view of the Sea of Galilee was spectacular.

I took a video of it as well.

View of the Sea of Galilee from the Mount of Beatitudes.

There was a large tour group at Church of the Beatitudes.  There were many women in the group with expensive hair processes and plastic surgery/injections.  I wondered where they were from, mostly because they seemed so wealthy.

One came up and talked to our tour guide.  She wanted to know who we were.

When she found out we were Christians, she walked away and stopped making small talk.  

I asked who they were.  They were an Israeli tour group.

I thought it was strange.  Who did they expect at a Christian holy site?

Above: (at Church of the Multiplication, Tabgha)  Church on the spot where some believe Jesus fed the 5,000. The church has recently been victim of a hate crime (arson) of nearby colonists.

Church of the Multiplication.

This church (on Palestinian land) was recently the victim of arson by nearby Israeli settlers who have gone unpunished.

Palestine is continuously losing land to illegal settlements.  While these settlements of Israelis are illegal, they are also incentivized.  Living in them is cheaper than living in Israel proper.

Furthermore, the Israeli military, for the protection of these illegal settlements, builds a wall around them, posts cameras and military personnel, and builds roads to and from them for trash services and whatnot.  These are more services that Palestinians themselves get in occupied territories.  

Settlements tend to be populated by more extreme Zionists who believe that all of the lands is THEIRS.  They often harass Palestinians and vandalize nearby property.  Violence between settlers and Palestinians is well-documented.

The Israeli government needs to stop protecting and fortifying these settlements, which are effectively continuing landgrabs by Israel.  Each settlement walls off more land from Palestinians and makes their lives more unstable and dangerous.  

Each settlement continues the nakba slowly every day.

There are SO MANY Palestinians who are still living as refugees and in diaspora around the world, yet Israeli settlers (most often from Europe) are given the freedom to invade Palestine and take land from its people with help and protection from the Israeli military.  Where is justice?

Above: Mosaic floors at Church of the Multiplication.

After visiting the Church of the Multiplication, we visited the Galilee shore.  On our way, our tour guide pointed out a spot where some believe Jesus gave the Sermon on the Mount:

Above: Spot where some believe Jesus delivered the Sermon on the Mount. It’s not the most photogenic spot. 

The Sea of Galilee was one of my favorite places.  Many of these monuments to the life of Jesus would not have been there during Jesus' lifetime.  The Sea of Galilee, however, was.  There is something precious to me about touching the water Jesus touched many times and gazing upon the beauty of the hills and the light upon the water.  I imagine Jesus was nourished by the beauty of this region and the stillness of the Galilee.

Above: The shore of the Sea of Galilee. 

Above:  (at Sea of Galilee)  Standing in the Sea of Galilee. It is way bigger than I had imagined and intensely beautiful. 

Above:  (at Sea of Galilee)  Sailing on the Sea of Galilee. The weather was beautiful, so there was no need to calm storms. I did walk on the water, though.  Not really.

After we sailed on the Sea of Galilee, we went into a nearby museum that holds a 2,000 year old boat that was found in the Sea of Galilee.

Above:  (at The Ancient Galilee Boat)  A 2,000 year old boat found in the Sea of Galilee (not the metal part, obviously). It was quite the task to remove and preserve the boat. Perhaps Jesus and/or his disciples used a boat like this.

After sailing on the Galilee, we went to Capernaum, another town Jesus is said to have lived in.  There were remains of a 4th century town and synagogue.

Above:  (at Capernaum)  These are ruins of a fourth Century synagogue in Capernaum. The foundation is from the first century. Scholars believe an earthquake destroyed the first century synagogue in the fourth Century; this one was built in its place. Jesus may have attended this synagogue location in the years he lived in Capernaum. Learning about possible motivations for Jesus’ ministry in Capernaum was very interesting. I can’t wait to get home and start typing up the ways that this trip has not only brought Bible stories alive, but offered unique interpretive lenses.

You can see the foundation from the first century in the image below.  It is much darker than the stone used for the 4th century synagogue:

Capernaum and all of the area around the Galilee were beautiful.

Above:  (at Capernaum)  Much of what fed my spirit was simply being in the land. Some sites felt different than others and the sites have varying likelihoods of historicity… but there is something about walking on the land, eating its food, listening to the native birds, and touching the native trees. This, I believe, brought me closer to something real. These are things I believe nurtured Jesus’ spirit and rooted him.

Our final spot was Migdal/Magdala.  The town of Magdala has recently been discovered, along with its first century remains, which include a synagogue that dates to the time of Jesus.  I tried to imagine Jesus and Mary Magdalene walking through this town, going about their lives.  

Above:  Mosaic floor of the Synagogue in Magdala. The synagogue and town ruins were rediscovered fairly recently. The mosaic dates to 26 CE. It is possible that both Mary Magdalene and Jesus spent time here. 

• 
  
• The management of Magdala, however, left me with a yucky taste in my mouth. Their plans for the site and the particular brand of religiosity they brought to it were both very disappointing.  The religiosity was literalistic and evangelical and the plans seemed centered around consumerism, including "rebuilding" the town so that you can shop in the marketplace, too.  It seemed irreverent and opportunistic.

Here is a short video looking around the remains for the first century town:

After visiting Magdala, we began our journey to East Jerusalem, where we would be checking into a new hotel, where we would be spending the rest of our trip.  Of course our van broke down on the way there and we spent a good chuck of the evening sitting on the side of the road, waiting for a new belt to arrive.  We got into our hotel late and tired (yet again).  Worth it.

Here is a version of the history of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict that many people hear.  It is selective in what it includes and does not:

Video about Palestinians who film colonist attacks:

Video about life in one of the refugee camps:

Video showing how difficult it is to find justice for some Palestinians:

"Just Another Day":


There is nothing but water in the holy pools. I know, I have been swimming in them.
All the gods sculpted of wood or ivory can’t say anything.
I know, I have been crying out to them.
The Sacred Books of the East are nothing but words.
I looked through their covers one day sideways.
What Kabir talks of is only what he has lived through.
If you have not lived through something, it is not true.
–Kabir

Spiritual Practice

"Fifty percent of the people in the world are homesick all the time… You don’t really long for another country.  You long for something in yourself that you don’t have, or haven’t been able to find."

— from “The Bella Lingua”

Living God's Word

How do we live and preach the word of God?  Scripture can be pretty contradictory.  In trying to glean truth from the idea that my words and deeds need to be aligned with God, I found that, for me, the “book” of God’s created/ing world needs to be a part of what I consider “scripture” in order for me to contextualize and understand what the larger body of my denomination calls “scripture.”  In order for me to authentically incorporate God into my lived and preaching experience, the Four Sources (Scripture, Tradition, Reason, and Experience) combined with my experience of the Spirit need to be considered equally.  Sometimes they will grate against each other, and that can be where the Spirit manifests.

Spiritual Care

I often forget that I can’t say “yes” to everything and that trying to often makes me ineffective.  Focus is necessary and prayerfulness can help discern where I and where a community can best serve.  Prayer is also an important part of witness; lament and honesty help us to get through the difficult tasks of our work in the world.  In focusing, praying, and living boldly and honestly into a shared future, we can create churches that are elbow deep in the world, yet rooted in Something Greater.

Day 4 of Immersion: Holy Sites

Above:  Today’s first activity. #jolieneinthemiddleeast (at City Of Nazareth)

After a conversation at Sabeel, we began our tour of holy sites in the Nazareth and Galilee region.

One of the first places we went had uncovered a first century Jewish home.  Perhaps it was similar to the home Jesus grew up in or homes that he played in as a child.

Above:  A home from the time of Jesus in his hometown. (at City Of Nazareth)

Above: Some believe this is the site of the Annunciation. (at Basilica of the Annunciation)

Here are some more views of the Church of the Annunciation:

Church of St. Joseph. (at St. Joseph’s Church, Nazareth)

We continued in Nazareth to the Synagogue Church, a church built atop a synagogue that some think may have been where Jesus worshiped while living in Nazareth:

Above:  Some believe this site was that of Jesus’ synagogue. (at The Synagogue Church)

 After this, we went to the Wedding Church of Cana at Galilee.  This spot is supposed to have been the site of the miracle in which Jesus turned water into wine.  This is the jug which they believe Jesus used:

Above:  (at Wedding Church in Cana of Galillee)

Believed to be the site at which the wedding at Cana took place. The Franciscan church believes this is the jug. You may be able to tell that the jug is HUGE.  It's much bigger than I'd imagined it would be.  Apparently first century Jews enjoyed their wine.  There is an Orthodox church across the street that has a jug, too. Somewhat surprisingly, there is a lot of graffiti here.

Above:  Beautiful art in Cana of Galilee. (at Wedding Church in Cana of Galillee)

When we went to the Wedding Church at Cana of Galilee, a group was singing inside:

We next went to Mt. Tabor, the site where Jesus' transfiguration took place and is now where the Church of the Transfiguration stands.  We got there close to sunset, which meant the views were beautiful.

Above: View from Mt. Tabor, believed to be the site of the transfiguration. (at Church of the Transfiguration)

Above: (at Mount Tabor) Church of the Transfiguration

Above: Inside the Church of the Transfiguration

Some of the church dates back to at least the year 427:

Above:  (at Church of the Transfiguration)  Mosaic floor that predates 427, when the emperor outlawed putting crosses on floors. 

Walking the ground of the holy sites brought the stories alive.  To breathe in spirit while gazing through cold air into a shaking sunset, glistening on the horizon is to breathe in God.

Video of a day in Nazareth, although Google mistakenly threw in a few from Jordan.

Good explanation of the Israel/Palestine history:

Someone who films colonist attacks.

This below video is of an Israeli settler (who is living illegally in Palestine with the protection and support of the Israeli government-- effectively taking more land from Palestinians and exacerbating relations between Israelis and Palestinians).  He is climbing a wall that appears to divide the settlement from a Palestinian building, which flies a Palestinian flag.  This video is of an Israeli settler in Palestine trying to remove the Palestinian flag from Palestinian property.  In a different video that uses a clip of this encounter, subtitles show that the settler is saying that the land is "his."  This is the mentality of Israeli settlers: Palestinian territories belong to them, by virtue of their Jewish identity.

Sermon Material

As a UCC person, I both feel at home with the use of extrabiblical sources and a need to incorporate biblical sources into my own sermons and my presence as a potential UCC minister.  Today my minister used scripture from Matthew, from Buddhist text, and from poetry from David Whyte.  She challenged me to understand scripture as a source and to expand my own vision of what constitutes appropriate “source” for sermon material.  While accepting many sources as having spiritual value, I also find it hard to establish what constitutes appropriate source material within a community which seeks to understand both biblical and extrabiblical contexts.  I feel, as a UCC person, called to utilize scripture from either the Hebrew Scriptures or the Christian New Testament, despite the reality that such sources may or may not, on the surface, speak to the context of my home congregation.  The liturgical calendar asks me to consider textual sources that I may not be at home in, yet it asks me to frame my own understanding of scripture in the terms of a particular passage.  I find this, as a person raised outside of the church and unchurched in many liturgical themes, to be problematic.  

In considering what constitutes appropriate source material, I feel that I am asked to reconsider biblical material that I might otherwise be inclined to look past.  Since my church does, in more general terms, utilize liturgical scriptural material, I feel obligated to conform to the liturgical calendar that has sustained my tradition.  Despite that feeling, I find myself often at odds with what I feel is the central consideration of a particular passage.  While my tradition asks such specific things of me, I find such specificity both problematic and comforting. It might be harder to imagine my own reference points if I reject the liturgical calender, but it may also challenge me to consider vantage points I might be inclined to look past.  

For those of us who find ourselves outside of more constricting calendars, the source material can seem simultaneously liberating and challenging.  Preaching from poetry may allow more seamless transitions into spiritual understandings, but it may also present more challenging theological transitions.  I feel as though biblical sources have the advantage of generations of consideration while challenging us to find something unique in material that has been passed along for generations.   I don’t always know how to respond to such challenges, especially as a person who entered the biblical tradition later in life and who may lack the biblical background that many preachers have.  However, I try also to see this as a unique vantage point that allows me the capacity to approach the biblical tradition without the theologies that have weighted it down for generations and to reform that tradition.  I look for moments of “other” in scripture and I hope, with reason or without, that liturgical sources will allow me a passage to find a space for the unspoken truths that have existed between the lines and lacked voice.  While this may not always be the case, I hope to foster an ability within myself to see the unseen and speak for those on the mountain top who may have originally found themselves looked over.  

The mountain top may not be barren, but in order for us to fill in life in the unspoken spaces, we need to seek those places in scripture and outside of it that challenge us to fill in those spots and create a message that considers the perspectives of those who I might not immediately find in a biblical story.

Ideas

Do a survey and create a database…

What are your skills?  What can you be a resource for?  Substance abuse?  Computer repairs?  Dinners?  Listening?  Tutoring?

Theology

(old)

As a practical Christian, I am not particularly excited about taking Intro to Theology this semester.  I am, however, happy to have started the first textbook and find that it intends to address the space between folks like Sam Harris, Richard Dawkins, and Bill Maher and that of the Religious Right.  

I have long been frustrated with secular extremists, despite agreeing with most of their criticisms of religion, because I find their tone and argument equally as extreme as the religious adherents they criticize.  I feel like secularists are prone to criticize religion for “starting” all of the world’s problems, violence, and war without acknowledging that science has created the means by which religious violence is carried out.  They are essentially arguing that “Guns don’t kill people, people kill people” without realizing it.  They also fail to recognize that the most powerful force against unrestrained scientific “advancement” of weapons technology and genetic engineering is religion.  

I’m excited to engage the space in between because it is where I find myself living most of the time, trying to convince people that science is not blameless and religion is not the root of all evil.  Not every church looks like that one you grew up in and many of them don’t require the dogmatism that many believe is inherent to religious bodies.

Maybe theology won’t be terrible.  

An Argument for Culturally Diverse Music in Church

Gifts of music have been central to Christian worship throughout history.  Biblically, we are called to widen our circles and welcome everyone to the table.  Early Christian worship was diverse and reflective of the cultures of its people.  Vatican II and the changes it brought about for Christendom challenge us to create worship that is accessible for a variety of people and within their contexts.  The Nairobi Statement on Worship and Culture challenges us to incorporate cultural gifts from other cultures.  We know, as Christians, that in order to expand our circles of compassion and create peace and understanding between a diversity of peoples, the cultures and concerns which represent these diverse groups must be given space within our communities.   That said, there are challenges associated with changing worship formats and authentically presenting music that is unfamiliar to a congregation.  These are challenges that we can meet and that Christendom should meet if we intend to continue creating meaningful worship for diverse congregations.

Christians throughout history have sought to accommodate a diversity of followers and make welcome many people to the table.  Jesus challenged his followers to open their definition of neighbor and welcome those to the table who society was inclined to exclude; part of extending these metaphors into contemporary worship is to create worship that is meaningful and welcoming to a variety of people.  Selections of church music that reflect only one dominant culture are comforting to many but also serve to exclude individuals who may not share the dominant cultural roots of our congregation.  The writings of Paul show us that Paul sought to challenge the paradigms of his contemporaries and change rules regarding diet and circumcision that were alienating to those who were not born into Jewish contexts.  Today we recognize that such radical inclusivity is part of what grew the early church.  Musical selections that represent only "high culture" or a particular tradition can be exclusivist and serve to turn people away from a church.  Like Jesus and Paul, we need to widen our welcome; one way to do that is to provide musical selections that can speak to a diversity of cultural contexts and the experiences of a variety of economic and educational backgrounds; even folks with Western, Anglo roots may be very unfamiliar with classical or high culture selections if they didn't have the economic privilege of exposure to these types of music.  We all want to feel at home in our churches.

Christian Churches throughout history have recognized music as an important element of worship.  James White articulates music as one of the seven main categories of Protestant worship.  Vatican II acknowledged the challenge of creating worship that allows for active participation from laity.  Part of that process began by Vatican II was to incorporate music that was more accessible to parishioners by instituting the folk mass, which incorporated folk music.  There are many beautiful songs that are easy to learn and can help those in the pews who are normally asked to bend to meet the dominant cultural context feel more at home and welcome in our church.  They can also help those in our dominant culture to experience and learn about the different ways in which others celebrate and experience God and Christ.  The Nairobi Statement on Worship and Culture challenges us to not only celebrate our own cultural roots, but to celebrate and utilize the gifts and genius of other cultures.  While it can be easy to remain within the walls of our own contexts, Christians are and have been worshiping in many places and in many ways; learning and experiencing the beauty of the gifts that other cultures have brought to an experience of God and Christ can help us to grow our own experiences.  Music can be a primary and accessible way for us to faithfully meet the challenges of the Nairobi Statement on Worship and Culture.

There are many challenges that accompany incorporating unfamiliar music into worship.  We can meet these challenges by surveying the strengths of our congregation and researching the musical selections we choose to use.  We want to make sure that we don’t present material from other cultures superficially.  Before we begin to blend more variety into our musical selections, we should research selections that might speak to similar issues as we deal with in our own worship.  Finding pieces that resonate with sermons and scripture selections will help to ensure that our music choices don’t feel out of place.  We also need to make sure that our inclusion of new material is not appropriation.  We should survey those in our church to see if there are hymns or music pieces that people would particularly like to hear: music that they grew up with or that they miss from their past church.  We should also ask if these individuals would be willing to help contextualize this music for those of us who are unfamiliar with it and help us to learn how such music is presented in their home context.  We want to avoid presenting music in ways that exoticize it and we want to make sure that we go beyond the surface of our musical selections.  While we want to challenge our congregation, we also want to make sure that they feel invited and not pressured to learn about and participate in experiences of music unfamiliar to them.  I think that if we involve people from our congregation in this process and do our research, we can can begin to widen our selection of musical choices in ways that are authentic and meaningful.

Jesus and Paul began a challenge of widening our circles from the beginnings of the Christian movement.  Throughout history, Christians have sought to meet this challenge by seeking participation and cultural diversity in worship.  Vatican II and the Nairobi Statement on Worship and Culture and two wonderful examples of Christians trying to create authentic worship that can speak meaning to a variety of peoples.  Both of these examples highlight music as a meaningful way that laity participates in and experiences worship.  While there are many challenges that come with changing worship patterns, as well as challenges that come with efforts to incorporate diverse cultural material authentically, we can meet these challenges with research and by inviting participation and input from our community.  As followers of Jesus, it is our ongoing goal to welcome people to his table and to create meaningful worship experiences for everyone.

I Just Watched 'Missrepresentation'

Do it.  Wonderful.  Great, approachable movie about women, primarily women in the entertainment industry.  

What kind of world are we creating?  What messages do we send our children?

Blessing the Dust by Jan Richardson

by Jan Richardson

All those days
you felt like dust,
like dirt,
as if all you had to do
was turn your face
toward the wind
and be scattered
to the four corners
or swept away
by the smallest breath
as insubstantial-
Did you not know
what the Holy One
can do with dust?
This is the day
we freely say
we are scorched.
This is the hour
we are marked
by what has made it
through the burning.
This is the moment
we ask for the blessing
that lives within
the ancient ashes,
that makes its home
inside the soil of
this sacred earth.
So let us be marked
not for sorrow.
And let us be marked
not for shame.
Let us be marked
not for false humility
or for thinking
we are less
than we are
but for claiming
what God can do
within the dust,
within the dirt,
within the stuff
of which the world
is made,
and the stars that blaze
in our bones,
and the galaxies that spiral
inside the smudge
we bear.

Ash Wednesday

I practice Lent. Some years are more rigorous than others, but I’ve practiced Lent since becoming a Christian. I get asked why I “do” Lent.

Why do I need to give up something to prove my love for God? What is the point of it?

I enjoy practices of willpower. That’s a completely non-religious reason. For the past few years, part of my Lenten commitment has been to maintain a vegan diet. Many people think that it’s detrimental to my health, but let’s be honest- I have few friends that understand food well. As someone who’s struggled with eating disorders and as a vegetarian, I’ve done a lot of research into how food behaves with the body. That said, I feel awesome when I maintain a vegan diet. I have more energy, I sleep better, my skin is better… I also just learned a couple of weeks ago during a conversation with family that my mother can SEE the difference in me when I am vegan. She said something along the lines of how I glow. That part of my lenten commitment is a benefit to my health.

Because of my ethical views on animal agriculture in this country, Lent also affords me a period of time to re-focus on my commitment to a vegetarian lifestyle.

For 40 days, my eating habits make me a better citizen of the earth as my carbon footprint is reduced.

For 40 days, my diet serves as a constant reminder of Lent. For me, Lent parallels the 40 days during which Jesus meditated before taking on his ministry. To generalize Jesus’ experience in the wilderness: Jesus went into the wilderness for 40 days, fasting. During this time, he was tempted by Satan. What I take from this story: Jesus gave serious consideration to his commitment to ministry. He was tempted by other ways, but ultimately he knew the path his life needed to take.

Lent is about raising my values into my consciousness in a serious way and meditating on what that means in my life. I find myself again every year. I become more in touch with myself and feel rooted in my faith. When Easter arrives, it is with joy that I feel my faith resurrected. Lent takes me out of how mundane life can feel. It takes me away from my anger at Christians on newscasts and reminds me why I wear a cross around my neck every day: because I love Christianity; it is beautiful. All of the ignorance in the world can’t take that beauty away from Jesus.

Lent is my cocoon.

Holbrook

School building.