Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Trying to Sum it up
First it is so good to be home! I agree with Dorthy, "There is no place like home". Home is where you are you, that isn't always good, but it is comfortable. My dog is at my side, he missed me. He was usually not far from me anyway, but now that I have been gone he is even closer, I don't think he will let me out of his sight. Austin is a 1 1/2 year old Yellow Lab, who is nothing like Marley. He is right at my feet as I type, I think we can learn from dogs. When we got here Susie was waiting, she said she had to wait for us to give us a hug. Susie, Alec and Casey house sat for us and took care of Austin. They are our neighbors and good Friends from Lummi Island and they wanted to see what it was like living on the mainland. There was a basket of goodies and a card from Mary, Mattie and Nathan. Both of the kids asked if they could stay home from school for one day so they could catch up, actually, Mattie asked for two days, one for grandma and one for grandpa
Our trip was long and draining, it will take a while to sort out all my thoughts, at least I hope it will, in fact I hope I never get over some of it. I switch pronouns a lot, I use "I" and "We" almost interchangeably. The trip wouldn't have been the same without D'Linda. We are best friends, We have different vantage points on life, and We can disagree, but We have each others back. On the plane back We kissed and she said people wouldn't think we had been married for 39 years. I wrote about her before, so you know how I feel. I give her a lot of the credit for keeping me sane. We do work well together. I usually bounce things off Her first, she is always trying to protect me, and calm me down. She may be short physically, but she has a giant's heart.
I met Teddy on my first full day in Liberia, if you haven't read my first post you probably should, to understand the impact He had. At first I wasn't as focused on Teddy, but the conditions of all the orphans there. The more overwhelmed I became with the culture there the more hopeless it seemed. Then I came across that old Jewish proverb "If you save one person, you save the world", Teddy became my "one person". There seemed so little I could actually do, so I had to do the most important thing, pray to The Ruler of the Universe. I have vowed to not say a prayer without mentioning Teddy until he is out of there. I have also enlisted the help of you and almost everyone I meet by telling about Teddy. I don't know what will happen to Teddy, but he will not be forgotten as long as I can help.
Culture is a funny thing, I have maintained for a long time it is much more powerful then we give credit. I am even more convinced now. I have been exposed to quite a few on this trip. It is easy to see the differences, but it is harder to weigh whether they are better or worse or just different. It is even harder to realize the impact our own culture has on us. Our culture places great importance on the rights of the individual, even to the point that it hurts the whole. The Jewish culture is almost the opposite. The survival of Israel is the most important thing. In Liberia your reputation is most important. In Spain it seemed to be the "good life" or living well. It is impossible to reduce cultures to so simple of terms, cultures are very complex and powerful. Jesus knew that, that is why He called us to live differently. To take on the culture of The Kingdom of God. He said the greatest command was to love God and He always included that we were to love our neighbor as our selves. He said that people would know us by our Love. That we should be about clothing the naked, feeding the hungry, healing the sick, getting justice for the oppressed, visiting the lonely. He told us that we should treat others how we wanted to be treated. He told us that we would be known for our love. I saw some of that, but after 2000 years I'm sure Jesus expected his people to have more of an impact. The "Holy Lands" really drove that point home. Millions of Christians have visited there and what I saw most of were souvenir shops, pushy tourists, and old church buildings. I met and heard about some remarkable people, but they were the exception, not the average. Jesus called us to serve, but most of us like to be served. Jesus called us to be last, but... I don't have an answer, but I want you to think, along with me, about how much our culture effects us that we don't think about, that we just accept. We really do need to renounce our culture and become citizens of the Kingdom of God. That sounds simple, maybe it is, but why can't we do a better job of it?
I think the tour we went on was very good. It was good, partly because there were some problems. I have told you about Daphne, we talked with other group members and most of us had expected to have a Christian tour guide. Daphne gave us a Jewish perspective and some insight into Her culture. If we had had a Christian guide feeding us the "party line" we wouldn't have learned as much, or been challenged to think about some long held beliefs. There were traffic and schedule problems, and there were crowds that have different rules on personal space. I got caught in one crowd of oriental women that were more intimate with me than some girls I have dated.
The people in our tour group were a good mix, mostly Catholic. We were on the go most of the time and didn't have as much time to just talk as I would have liked. One person was in a wheelchair and he was traveling with his wife, son, daughter and Mother and father-in-law. They had to stay in different hotels than us a few times because of accessibility problems, so we didn't get as much interaction with them. There was a Pastor from Bakersfield, Garvin, and his assistant, Danielle. Garvin was a very sincere person who was very touched by Teddy's story. Danielle had some pipes, she sang for us a few times. In one Church from Crusader times with reverberating acoustics she sang and it could have been the most inspiring time of the whole time in Israel. I would pay money to listen to her sing there anytime. Another time she sang for us she was so overcome with emotion she couldn't speak for quite awhile. The only other time we had music was in the boat on the Sea of Galilee and that was inspiring. I think music is a better way to connect with people and God than old church buildings, and you can do that anywhere.
Mary Willis, 16, and her sister Lea Hannah, 18, were in the group with their parents Roy and Tracie. They were beautiful girls inside and out. It was wonderful to be around such polite, intelligent, fun teenagers. I think one of the best times was floating in the Dead Sea with them. They just enjoyed it like little kids. It was really neat to float so high in the water, it was more like you were on the water than in it. When we went to old Jerusalem a man offered 400 camels for the girls, I'm pretty sure it was in jest, but from then on Roy didn't take his eyes off of them. Roy is retired from the Navy and gives most of the credit to Tracie for his daughters. What ever they did they should bottle it and sell it, maybe they could make more than 400 camels?
There were 23 in the group and we got along very well, Daphne said we were a very good group and that she enjoyed us. She gets paid, and I'm pretty sure she never tells a group they were the worst, but I think our group was good. We exchanged email addresses and I'm going to send pictures of Teddy. They all said they would pray for him, Garvin said he would get his whole church to pray.
As I reflect on the whole trip I was struck by the remarkable people I have encountered. There is evil out there, lots of it, but there is also hope. I think two of those remarkable people are Rusty and Jamie. They had the "American Dream". They were in their early thirties, had a new big house, new cars and all the toys. Rusty was part owner of a very profitable construction company. They had very little debt and were on their way to the top. Then they turned their back on it all and left for the third world. They have seen a very different life there. They have given away much of what they had left. They have seen need and despair up close. They have saved lives and given hope. I am so proud to know them. I hope when I grow up I can be like them.
Finally, when I left I had no intention to write a blog, it just kind of happened. I didn't even know how, I read my kid's blogs, and look at a few things online, but I'm not that into computers. I don't have any plans past this last blog about the trip. I appreciate the comments that I have received, I have tried to respond to most of the comments, but haven.t always done that. The future of this is in your hands, if I have written anything that has helped you please let me know, if I can answer any questions, or at least give you my thoughts let me know. This has been a good exercise for me, it makes me collect my thoughts and articulate them in a rational way, anyway I tried. What ever happens I hope I have been able to communicate a little of what God has shown me on this trip. I know some have had a hard time trying to post a comment, so just email me direct if you want jack@lairdmail.com.
Saturday, March 13, 2010
Kissing Rocks
I might have been a little harsh in my last post. I keep wavering between trying to see some holiness here and just crass commercialism. I’m still waiting for someone to try and sell me autographed pictures of the apostles and something carved from the original cross. There are souvenir shops at every attraction, hotel and stop sign. There are merchants trying to sell you all sorts of things, but they aren’t as aggressive as they are in Mexico, so it’s not bad.
I counted 36 buses in front of the hotel yesterday. There were more around the corner out of sight. In defense of Daphne, I may disagree with her on history and theology, but when it comes to getting us around she is a Pro. She has been good at shuffling our schedule to avoid the busiest times at attractions and restaurants. She is on the phone more than Carli Costello checking on things ahead of us. She even tried getting our flight changed to get us home a little faster, but it looks like Monday afternoon is when we’ll get to Seattle. We are really homesick and I miss my bed.
We were at the Western Wall and the Muslim Quarter of old Jerusalem Friday. Friday is the holy day for Muslims and they go to the temple at noon and get out at about 1:00. Daphne got us there early so we could be out of there by 1:00, she said that they had a radical speaker and he could get them riled up and sometimes they riot afterwards. There were lots of riot police at every corner, more than she had seen before. She is always telling us everything is safe, but she was clearly nervous. We were away from there at 1:00, but nothing happened. She said that the Muslims in Jerusalem were peaceful, but many Palestinians come into the city on Fridays and they are the ones that cause the problems.
The only other time that I have seen her concerned was Thursday afternoon. We were in front of the Church of all Nations, beside the Garden of Gethsemane, which is next too a very large Jewish cemetery. Some Ultra Orthodox Jews started coming by, just a few at first then enough to block one lane of traffic, then the whole road. She told us not to take their picture because they have been known to come and break cameras. She told us not to look at them and they wouldn’t bother us. Apparently a high rabbi had died and they were going to the funeral. Jewish law requires burial before sundown. Daphne said that the Ultra Orthodox cause a lot of problems. She said they are all on public assistance and “breed like rabbits”. The biggest problem is that they vote in a block and the present administration needs their votes to stay in power so they won’t do anything about them. Those have been the only times that there has been any concern; we have felt very safe all the time.
We have seen lots of sites, too many. I am getting real tired of old rocks. It seems like there is something on every block. We can’t stop at everything, but we have seen plenty. They are all starting to run together. I have taken lots of pictures, but I’m not sure I’ll be able to differentiate them. I have seen way too many people kissing rocks. So many of the sites have multiple churches claiming to be on the exact site of this or that. Nothing dates back to Christ, everything here has been built, destroyed and rebuilt numerous times. Christian Churches are destroyed and Mosques built on the site, then they are destroyed and churches rebuilt and so on. So many of the locations are based on tradition, there is no real proof. I have seen lots of emotional people. I can understand that being here imagining what Jesus went through can trigger great feelings. I just can’t see kissing rocks that may or may not have been touched by Him. I know that most of these people are sincere, but it still looks like idolatry to me. I really don’t want to do or say anything that could take away from an emotional connection with God, but it sure seems misguided. This place is rich with history and tradition, but the thing that stands out to me is that no one gets along. All the different Churches fight over turf with each other and the Jews and the Muslims. There are a few Churches that are owned by a few different traditions that are in need of repair or restoration, but it can’t happen because they don’t agree. All of this just doesn’t seem like how Jesus would want it.
This may be my last blog from here, or I might have some time tomorrow, you’ll just have to wait and see.
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Jet skis on the Sea of Galilee
We have been without Internet for a few days now, I could have paid for it, but I’m too cheap and I didn’t have my thoughts collected. I don’t have Internet now, but I do have some thoughts. I’ll write them down and when we get to Jerusalem later today I’ll post them even if I have to pay.
It is about 4:00 Thursday morning. I have developed this sleep pattern that I can’t seem to break. I will usually fall asleep easily, but only sleep for a few hours, then lay awake for quite a while eventually getting some more sleep. While lying there I think about many things, projects on the farm, things I’ve seen, and what I want to tell you. Well I’ve sorted out some thoughts and can’t seem to get back to sleep so I guess I might as write them out.
When we decided to make Israel part of this trip, it just seemed like a good thing to do because we were going to be in the area. I have always wanted to see what it is like. I guess I also thought that walking the same ground Jesus walked would help me to better understand Him. My prayer on this trip was for God to open my eyes and ears and let me really see. I may be premature in my conclusions because we still have Jerusalem to visit, but I have some very clear examples. I have tried to remain open, I realize that I don’t know all the answers and that I am positive that I am wrong about some things. As I listened to our tour guide, Daphne, she pronounces it daff nuh, I kept getting upset with what I felt were inaccuracies. I spoke up a few times, but D’Linda kept telling me to bite my tongue. The first example was when she said that Jesus was not a wood carpenter, but a stone carpenter. I had to ask her about it, her reasoning was that they build mostly with stone and that they didn’t have much wood around the area of Nazareth. I said that even for the stonework they would have had to have built false work for the arches and scaffolding, and the doors were wood and they did have some furniture. She was pretty confident that she was right though. On the grand scream of things whether Jesus was a carpenter or a mason really doesn’t matter, but the thought of being wrong on something so simple really bothered me. The Bible is the most scrutinized document in the world, why had I never heard this theory before? At almost every stop Daphne would say something that I thought was inaccurate or flat out wrong. I was trying my best to be open to everything, I was surprised that nobody else was speaking up. I didn’t want to reject all she was telling us, but I didn’t want to swallow the camel either. It was really bothering me, I had prayed for open eyes and ears, should I close them?
You know when you are watching a movie and something strange happens and you hear the sound of the needle being drug across the record, well that happened. I went for a jog early Tuesday morning along the shore of the Sea of Galilee. I was looking at the boulder-strewn shore imagining how hard it must have been for Peter and Andrew to land their boat, when the needle went across the record. I came to a yard full of jet skis. All of a sudden I could imagine Jesus walking on the water as jet skis whizzed by. Later in the day we were on the Mount of the Beatitudes, Daphne was telling us that we couldn’t speak in the church that was there, and that after we went through it we should walk alone quietly around the gardens, but the needle was going again, there was a groundskeeper using a bucket truck and a chainsaw to prune some trees nearby. That needle went across the record at the Jordan River. We got there and there were hundreds of people being baptized. They have a dressing room there and you can get a white robe and go into the river and get baptized. The white robes were the kind that once they got wet they were see through, but that wasn’t the needle. The needle was a group of Japanese teenage girls holding their noses, because across the river was a stable and the smell was very pungent. I have to admit it really stunk there, and I don’t mind farm smells.
One saying I had heard in the past kept going through my mind, I don’t remember who said it or even the exact quote, but here is my paraphrase. “Proximity to Holy people or places doesn’t make you Holy any more than standing in a garage makes you a car”. I certainly don’t want to take anything away from the many very sincere people coming here to draw closer to God, but you can be every bit as close to God right where you are, and it might smell better. This place might have some historical significance and interesting ruins to look at, but these old rocks that have been fought over time and again have no special powers. I thought of all the lives that have been lost trying to control this piece of ground. I know that a lot of people believe that this place has significance in prophecy, but don’t they think God can pull it off if he wants to?
30% of the Israeli economy is tourism. Most of that is American Christians. All of the souvenir shops have everything priced in US dollars and if you buy something they even give you change in US $. Would you want to have your leading industry be catering to a religion you don’t believe? That is probably the biggest needle scratch of all. How much more useful could all that money be if we used it to change the world, feed the hungry, heal the sick, set the captives free. Instead we are making people wealthy who think we are misguided fools.
Daphne had said at one point that Ahab was Solomon’s son, I waited until there was no one else around and told her I was sure she was wrong about that, she said she was sure she was right, but would check here Bible later. When she walked away she made a phone call and came back and said that I was right. Later she asked a question about who the Samaritans were, no one spoke up, she looked to me and I answered it. We sat at the same table at lunch and she asked me what I did. I told her I was a carpenter. She said she didn’t believe that, I said that I had been a building contractor. She wanted to know what schooling I had, I told her that I just read some, I’m not sure she believed me. I should have just stuck with the carpenter, she must have something against them.