This week
I had the chance to visit the Arabic Evangelical Alliance Church on Sunday. The service was very similar to one in any church at home- it opened with a time of praise and worship, followed by a sermon, announcements, and closing prayers. The service was entirely in Arabic, but thankfully they provided the English-speakers with headphone translation during the sermon. It was interesting to see their perspective and interpretation of Scripture, particularly from a replacement-theology point of view. A reading of Psalm 87, for example, that included in verse 2, “The LORD loveth the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob,” was applied directly to the Church. At the end of the service a day of prayer and fasting was proclaimed for the International Bible Society in Gaza, which has recently been threatened by terrorists and bombings.
I’ve decided to observe the Liturgical calendar as much as I can this Easter season. Being in Jerusalem has provided me with an amazing opportunity to explore the ancient traditions of Christian faith, with places like the Church of the Holy Sepulcher just a walk away from my dorm. That being said, I was able attend an Ash Wednesday mass with some Catholic friends to mark the beginning of Lent. We left campus at 5:30 in the morning to ensure we would arrive at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher for the 6:30 service. Once we got there, we realized the group of parishioners would be very small for the English service (there were about ten of us, including a few clergymen). The interesting thing about the service, though, was that it was presided over by a cardinal. That’s right -- a prince of the Roman Catholic Church conducted a nearly-private Ash Wednesday mass for me and my friends at the traditional sight of Christ’s crucifixion. Now, don’t get me wrong, I thoroughly believe in the “priesthood of all believers” and am convinced that all people, regardless of their outward piety or position, are desperately in need of Jesus Christ and the grace that he offers. Still, it was really something special to see a church official in such high authority offer a service to such a small group of believers on the hill where tradition marks the place of Christ’s crucifixion.
A few days ago I was really hungry in the morning, so I went to my cupboard for some whole-wheat pita made fresh a day and a half before. I pulled a piece out and, being in a sleepy haze, immediately bit into it. Come to find out, what seemed like a million ants had reached my breakfast before me. I got a mouth full of the crawling arthropods along with my pita. There seem to be a lot more bugs here, at least as far as ants go, than back at home. I wonder if it’s because all the sand here makes it easy for them to build sprawling ant-empires. Maybe, though, it’s just because a lazy American doesn’t wrap up his pita well enough.
I’ve decided to observe the Liturgical calendar as much as I can this Easter season. Being in Jerusalem has provided me with an amazing opportunity to explore the ancient traditions of Christian faith, with places like the Church of the Holy Sepulcher just a walk away from my dorm. That being said, I was able attend an Ash Wednesday mass with some Catholic friends to mark the beginning of Lent. We left campus at 5:30 in the morning to ensure we would arrive at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher for the 6:30 service. Once we got there, we realized the group of parishioners would be very small for the English service (there were about ten of us, including a few clergymen). The interesting thing about the service, though, was that it was presided over by a cardinal. That’s right -- a prince of the Roman Catholic Church conducted a nearly-private Ash Wednesday mass for me and my friends at the traditional sight of Christ’s crucifixion. Now, don’t get me wrong, I thoroughly believe in the “priesthood of all believers” and am convinced that all people, regardless of their outward piety or position, are desperately in need of Jesus Christ and the grace that he offers. Still, it was really something special to see a church official in such high authority offer a service to such a small group of believers on the hill where tradition marks the place of Christ’s crucifixion.
A few days ago I was really hungry in the morning, so I went to my cupboard for some whole-wheat pita made fresh a day and a half before. I pulled a piece out and, being in a sleepy haze, immediately bit into it. Come to find out, what seemed like a million ants had reached my breakfast before me. I got a mouth full of the crawling arthropods along with my pita. There seem to be a lot more bugs here, at least as far as ants go, than back at home. I wonder if it’s because all the sand here makes it easy for them to build sprawling ant-empires. Maybe, though, it’s just because a lazy American doesn’t wrap up his pita well enough.
posted by Jason | 11:15 PM
1 Comments:
Hi again, Jason - We have a great family photo of the 5 of us in front of the Treasury also - such a magnficent view! If you are still in Jordan, there is a neat place about 1/2 hour outside of Amman called Kanzaman. It's an old ?Crusader castle which is now a restaurant - cooking over a huge grill - with many small shops, including one where you can dress up in your choice of costumes (Bedouin, sheikh, etc.) to have your picture taken. We laughed as we saw our teen-looking waiter from the restuarant have his taken lying down on Pasha pillows with golden robes, as if he were a Hashemite prince, instead of a clean-up guy! It was funny!We wondered which girl he'sd send it to who he was hoping to be impressed! Did you ever read the "Left Behind" series? One of the end books takes place in Petra with the Jewush believers taking refuge there... interesting. Ma shlomchah? In Him, Beverly Bull
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