felix hominum

Out of Egypt have I called my son

Today we are in Petra, the "red rose city half as old as time".  We made our trek up to the top of Mount Sinai, had a communion service at the top, and then reconvened at the monastery.  The monastery itself is quite a wonder.  The monks make the claim that it is the oldest continually operating monastery in the world, dating back to the fourth century.  Inside you can see a leaf of the Codex Sinaiticus - the oldest fragment of the New Testament in the world, as well as the "Christ of Sinai" - the oldest icon in the world. 

The trek up to the top is either on foot or on camel.  I opted to walk up with Salaa', a local Bedouin who was helping guide our group onto their camels.  Sinai is quite a popular pilgrimage spot, and we heard languages from every continent as we ascended.  In any given day there might be up to 2000 or more pilgrims, tourists, wayfarers and seekers of all kinds coming to the top of mountain to be in a place which has been called holy for many generations.

The local Bedouin tribe have a monopoly on the Sinai camel ride business.  It has been that way for generations, ever since the Emperor Constantine commissioned them for the task of looking after and protecting St Catherine's monastery.  After their conversion to Islam during the time of Islamic expansion, the local tribe continued to offer their services to the monastery.  Inside there is a letter of "protection" said top have been granted by Mohammed himself:  the original document is still on display in the monastery, with Mohammed's hand print on the leaf of paper as a seal.

Later that afternoon we turned off the beaten path and headed out into the desert.  Our first stop was the site of some nawamis.  Those who have read "Walking the Bible" may recall them from a description in that book.  It is believed that these are the oldest free standing roofed structures in the world, dating back to 3500 BC.  We also met up with some local Bedouin who still live the traditional life of the pastoralist-nomad.  "A wandering Aramean was my father".

We arrived in Jordan last night , after taking the local ferry across to the Jordanian port of Aqaba from Neweiba.  The ferry is used by the locals:  out of several hundred passengers, there were maybe 20 westerners on the boat.  Sharen and Evelyn got invited by a Jordanian lady to come and sit with her.  I got invited a few moments later, and we had a great conversation  between the three of us and her family:  brothers, sisters, friends from Amman.  In the end we exchanged emails and cell phone numbers in case we have some free time while we are in northern Jordan.

One of the benefits of leaving Egypt and heading over to Jordan is the new freedom to have prayer.  While we were in Egypt we were informed of a recently enacted law that prohibits Christians from having a "religious meeting" in "unapproved" places and at "unapproved" times.  So for example, we were not allowed to simply gather in a room to pray together.  This law is rather new, apparently in response to the growing conservative movement within Islamic Egypt.  Sinai has an exemption from this law, given that it has a rather special status with it's exemption and protection letter from Mohammed himself.  I will have a few more bits on this as we go along.

Breakfast is calling.

the fleshpots of Egypt

Yesterday folks had their introduction to the the Egyptian Museum:  the world's greatest garage sale waiting to happen.  If you spent 30 seconds at each object on display, it would take 6 months just to get through the main section. 

[Of fascinating note to those who have some knowledge of icons is the collection of funerary portraits from the time of Christ.  The style and technique have a clear resemblence to the art of iconography in the orthodox tradition]

For lunch we took everyone to a local "family style" restaurant, which served excellent Egyptian cuisine.  This was in preparation for the afternoon's visits, which included some Crusader era fortresses and then a trip to the Khan el Khalili.  The Khan, or Souk, is the largest market in Africa, and if something is available for sale in the world, you can find it at the Khan.  Part of the experience is the whole bargaining with the merhcant in order to settle on an agreeable price.  Readers of the Bible will find cultural echoes of this ancient middle east tradition in the conversation between Abraham and God over the fate of Sodom.  "If you find 50 righteous men, will you spare the city?  If you find 40 righteous men, will you spare the city?..."  And so the  story of their discussion may seem strange to us, but it is a perfectly acceptable form of conversation in the middle east.

Westerners are of course looked upon as limitless ATMs,dollar signs appear when they walk around the corner.  However, with a little bit of guidance (and some intervention) our group did quite well on the bargaining front.  It also helps from time to time when I talk to the merchant in Arabic:

Merchant:  for you madam, a good price!! You are canada?  You may buy this for only...

Pilgrim:  well, I really do like it... how much is that in dollars instead of Egyptian pounds?

Merchant:  very little, very little, come to my shop and have tea, and I will wrap it for you...

Me, watching from the sidelines:  (in arabic),  there are 9000 stores in this part of the Khan, and I know that every one of them has item x.  In fact, two alleys over I can get 3 of those for half your price;  I will take my group there and come back and show you our full shopping bags when we are done."

Merchant to canadian pilgrim:  You are good to visit our country.  I will show you a better one, perhaps for you I will make special deal,...

At which point he then counter offers with a lower price than he gave originally, until a bargain is met.  Let me tell you that a little bit of arabic saves a lot of egyptian pounds.

Today we are heading opff to the desert, stopinng at Ein Musa (the spring of Moses) and making our way to Mount Sinai.  We will catch some sleep and then take some camels partway up, after which we will hike to the summit...

Must go now and some some arabic coffee...

arrival in Cairo

After about 22 hours of travel time we arrived in Cairo yesterday afternoon.  For those who have not been to Cairo before, the trip in from the airport is an adventure in and of itself:  Cairo traffic is like a video game gone terribly wrong.  I like to play a little game with the pilgrims as we arrive:  count the number of working traffic lights in this city of 20 million.  You can guess the answer.

After checking in to the hotel I introduced some of our folks to a local shopkeeper, Musa (or Moses).  He runs a little out the way place just off the Corniche a Nil.  After Musa and I had a few glasses of arabic coffee, I gathered everyone together for a tour of his store, and and introduction to the middle east bargaining system. 

The evening capped off with a group of us sitting out in front of Musa's shop, as there was a soccer match between Barcelona and Egypt in Cairo last night, broadcast on Egyptian TV.  By the time the game had started, there were about 25 of us gathered on the street in front of his shop:  police, soldiers, taxi drivers, other shopkeepers...  Chairs and coffee seemed to appear out of nowhere, and Egyptian street hospitality was in fine form.

Today we took the group to Giza (home of the Pyramids and Sphinx) and then spent the afternoon with the Coptic community in Old Cairo.  The Copts are the 'original' Egyptioan Christian church, tracing their roots back to the apostle Mark.

Hi to all back home [especially to Emily Grace!], and we are all doing well. 

The Manga Bible

Just in case Anthony was wondering what other reading I'm doing these days:

for those who know manga, you  don't need to ask.
for those who don't know manga, you don't want to ask.

augustine on biblical interpretation...

intus utique mihi, intus in domicilio cogitationis nec hebraea nec graeca nec latina nec barbara veritas sine oris et linguae organis, sine strepitu syllabarum diceret:  'verum dicit'...

Confessions XI.iii

Unless you read a bit of Latin you probably will depend upon a translation in order to understand what Auggie saying here.  He has been writing about Moses, to whom Augustine attributes authorship of Genesis.  Augustine engages a basic question:  how does one hear and understand (audiam et intellegam...), how God in the beginning made the heavens and the earth?   Hmmm, well, a pretty straightforward and simple project of interpretation if there ever was one.

Augustine's first impulse is to address the issue of reaching the author of a text:  what if he were able to converse with Moses, to speak with him?  Would that answer the fundamental question about the origin of creation?  The first problem is language.  If Moses spoke to Augustine in Hebrew, it would be useless, while if Moses were to converse in Latin, then it might be more profitable. (XI.iii)  But then Augustine comes to a foundational question:  how would he know whether or not Moses spoke the truth (...an verum diceret)?

And here at once is the most dangerous and most comforting of realities.  In reading the Scriptures and seeking for meaning, he has to look

intus utique mihi, intinus in domicilio cogitationis nec hebraea nec graeca nec latina nec barbara veritas sine oris et linguae organis, sine strepitu syllabarum diceret:  'verum dicit'...

External forms of assistance in reading the Scriptures are helpful (author, language and context), but the kind of knowing which Augustine searches for will be found 'within' him, in the inward house of his thoughts, where truth ['Truth' - as in the second person of the trinity, in whom 'are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge' X.xliii ] speaks to him without the form [= limitations?] of human language.  Augustine ends this introduction to the question of understanding creation with a rather non-academic sort of plea:  parce peccatis mea - "pardon my sins". 

Mercy comes before knowledge, and understanding the meaning of scripture is dependent upon the presence of the Word.

[Side note:  do you ever just mindlessly close the door to the bathroom, even when you know that no one else is home?  Just wondering...]

I'm going to try to have a further look at Confessions X-XII while over in the middle east, so there might be sporadic bits of this in amongst pictures of bedouin campfires and such...whenever I find an internet connection...

How to get from NYC to Paris

I dare ya...

1. go to www.google.com
2. click on "maps," above the search bar...
3. click on "get directions"
4. type "New York" in the first box (the "from" box)
5. type "Paris" in the second box (the "to" box)
6. click on "get directions"
6. scroll down to step #24

 

HT:  Rantings (of DOOM)

on meeting the risen Christ

At sol cafe we talked a bit about the encounter which doubting believing Thomas had with the risen Christ.  And before we go any further, why do we always saddle gospel characters with such adjectives as would befit them in the first stage of their journey, rather than the latter stage?  Like the Prodigal Son, why isn't he simply referred to as the Restored Son.  But I digress.  Greatly.

A few of us were gathered a couple of days ago and the comment was that the early disciples didn't settle for a second hand experience of the risen Christ.  In some ways Thomas also represents, apart from the demand for a "materialist proof", the desire to have a first hand encounter with the risen Christ.  I'll just let that simmer.

The heart of the matter is this:  how have I encountered the risen Christ?  In my own life I can recount 4 ways in which I believe I have had a "first hand" encounter with Him.  This is not sophisticated stuff, but simply a few things which I've shared with the good people of St Tim's this last week.  You see, I believe that the risen, living Jesus still wants to meet us.  And doubters who want to find out if Jesus is risen (as opposed to those who don't want to find out) will still be able to say "I have seen the Lord".

When and where and how have I met the risen Christ?  In prayer, in Scripture, in the Sacraments, and in those things I can only describe as acts of love or mercy.  Where have you met the risen Christ?

statement from the bishops of Rupert's Land

which would cover a bunch of anglican dioceses in canada.  fwiw:

In the course of our prayers for General Synod in Winnipeg in June 2007, the Bishops of the Province of Rupert’s Land wish to draw the wider Church’s attention to two concerns regarding the resolutions which the Council of General Synod (CoGS) is forwarding to General Synod about the blessing of same-sex unions.

Our first concern is with Resolution #3—“that the blessing of same-sex unions is consistent with the core doctrine of the Anglican Church of Canada”, and thus consistent with Christian core doctrine. In the two months remaining before June, we do not believe that it is possible for members of General Synod—or the broader Church—to undertake the required education and discussion to be in a position to determine whether the blessing of same-sex unions is scripturally sound and theologically consistent with core doctrine. While there has been a huge amount published on these matters from both sides of the question, there is no one Canadian Anglican position paper that we as a Church own and can use to help others engaging this question. If the blessing of same-sex unions is consistent with core doctrine and right, then it is incumbent upon us to help educate Anglicans, and other Christians, in Canada and around the world. Accordingly, we request General Synod to direct the Primate’s Theological Commission (PTC) to prepare a report that answers this important question. This request to the PTC needs to be carefully worded and more comprehensive than the 2004 request about whether the blessing of same-sex unions is a matter of doctrine.

Our second concern is that the set of resolutions which CoGS has drafted does not squarely address the effect of passing those resolutions on our membership in the Anglican Communion. If the blessing of same-sex unions proves to be scripturally sound and consistent with core doctrine, we believe that General Synod needs to develop a vehicle for considering whether it is better for us to stay at the table and insisting on ongoing conversation with all of the other parts of the Communion—particularly those where gay and lesbian relationships constitute illegal or even criminal activity—or to walk away now from our Anglican brothers and sisters, and our ecumenical partners, thereby communicating that “I have no need of you” (1 Cor. 12:21).

We are deeply mindful that these concerns and requests will cause great frustration within the Canadian gay and lesbian community. However, we believe that it is important to be sure of our doctrine, and not to unduly quickly walk away from the international table, especially as the Canadian Church has a unique contribution to make to the Communion in light of the developing experience of civil same-sex marriage within Canada.

We offer these comments in the name of the Risen Christ.

[statement posted here, along with some other stuff over here]

HT:  Statguy

light blogging, cairo street maps

The post-Easter blogging has been pretty light, as the festivities of the season, along with the some nicer weather have allowed the felix clan to enjoy the great outdoors a bit more.  As well, there is that post Easter lull that professional clergy-pretenders are prone to.  Some spare time has been taken up with last minute prep stuff for our pilgrimage to the holy land.  We are taking off next Monday, April 23:  flying into Cairo, heading over to Mt Sinai, up through Jordan, stopover at Petra, and then across the Jordan river and around various sites where Jesus ministered.  Just under 3 weeks altogether.  I'll be updating the blog with stuff as I find internet connections along the way.

A few local events

After a thoroughly joyful Easter, and a subsequent lack of blogging, it is about time to catch up with a few happenings.  There are two public service announcements on the go for the locals.  The first is a fund raiser for the local campus ministry at the University of Alberta.

University Chaplaincy Annual Dinner:   Meet the new University Chaplain, the Rev. Dr. Lisa Wang, at the University Chaplaincy Annual Dinner and Silent Auction to be held May 24, 2007 at 6 p.m. at the Faculty Club on campus. 

Guest speaker:  Dr. Jane Samson, Dept. of History Topic: Anglican in the South Seas: Missionaries and Islanders.

Tickets are $45, and must be purchased by May 18.  For more information contact Susan Fredette at 459-0795 or Lisa Wang at 492-4620. We would also be happy to accept donations of items suitable for the silent auction.  For more information please contact the Rev. Emma Vickery at 439-1470.

Second is an EFM ("Education for Ministry") event, which is open to the public, not just for EFM grads.

EFM – Education for Ministry:  2007 Reunion

We are very happy to advise that the 2007 EFM Reunion is well on the way to happening.  It will take place on Saturday; June 16th, 2007 hosted by St. Augustine’s Anglican Church from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM.  In order to defray expenses, there will be a registration fee of $25.00, which will include lunch.

Dr. Patricia Bays will be our guest speaker.  She is a very well known Anglican writer and speaker, who has been an EFM mentor for many years, and will speak on her book, “ Anglican Diversity – Challenges for the 21st Century.”  After lunch, Dr. Bays will lead workshops on documents like the Windsor Report and the St. Michael Report; both are important in the life of our church right now and the controversies about them reflect some of the church’s important issues.