A Few Thoughts...

 Will the real Jesus please stand up.  The images of Jesus portrayed in Israel and are difficult to follow.  In Nazareth a Muslim banner, obstructing the view of a church, proclaims a quote from the Koran that "God does not beget, nor is he begotten.". While at the same time, the whole community seems to cater to and benefit economically from the pilgrimages.  As Christians, one of our essential claims is that Jesus is eternally begotten.  Human and God in one.  Jesus is still not accepted in his home town. The Jewish guides I've overheard seem to focus on Jesus' role as a Rabbi.  Jesus would have had a prayer shawl.  Jesus taught the Torah.  Jesus' knowledge came from training, not divinity.  Capernaum was the perfect place for Jesus as it was too small for a full Rabbi.  In Capernaum, Jesus would have been a part-time teacher of the youth and able to spread radical ideas into the surrounding areas. Jesus' teaching are simply too c...

Did you know that Christians ruled the Holy Lands during two periods, each of which lasted longer than Texas has been a state?  During both the Byzantine and Crusade periods the Holy Land was ruled by Christians for hundreds of years.  I knew, but forgot.  This land, like the food, has produced an overlapping set of cultures.  Canaanite, Jewish, Greek, Roman, Byzantine, Arab, Catholic Crusaders, Ottoman, British, and now Israeli.  The most difficulty thing is that we don't understand Israel and the complexities and nuances of its history at all.   Our translator and guide has been fantastic.  He has helped us to grow a lot in our appreciation and love for all Israelis: Christians, Muslims, and Jews.  However, three days in a country does not make me an expert on the nuances of Israeli political life.  And, a nation like the U.S. with less than three centuries of experience is challenged by conflicts and nuances that are older than our nation....

 Today, I visited Capernaum.  My images of a city were shattered and replaced by a small, very small, fishing village of about 30-40 families of 8-12 people each.  The stage of Jesus' ministry was much smaller than I imagined.  And, it was poor, very poor, even by first century standards.  Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John give Capernaum a place in the beginning of Jesus' gospel.  John suggests that Jesus spent a few days there, but Mark suggests that Capernaum was a significant base of operation for Jesus from which he launched his three year ministry.  Walking through the ruins of Capernaum, we knew that Jesus had at the least walked along the main roads and spent the night in Peter's mother-in-law's home.  So, we walked where Jesus walked.  It was a holy place, but I was struck by how much it reminded me of Haiti.  Capernaum was small, crowded and poor.   Today, there is a church with a glass floor built over the site of Peter's moth...

This morning as I wait to travel to Israel, I'm incredibly excited about being able to walk where Jesus walked.  I have been asked to lead a devotional for my group at the Mount of Beatitudes, the place where Jesus gave the Sermon on the Mount (read Matthew 5-8).  Every time I begin reading to prepare I become overwhelmed by the beauty and authority of Jesus' sermon.  To think of delivering a message in that spot where Jesus taught and spoke seems overwhelming.  But then, I remember that isn't that what we as Christians are called to do in every way, every day?  We walk where Jesus would walk.  We speak what Jesus would speak. In a world full of hurt and broken lives we are called to walk and speak int the situations that Jesus calls us through our baptism to care about.  As I journey on this pilgrimage, my prayer is that God will continue to lead me and challenge me to grow in my awareness of God.

Mamba is a type of Hatian peanut butter mixed with cayenne pepper that is used with every meal to supplement it with more calories.  By itself on crackers or on toast it is okay.  But, as Matt in our team pointed out, with a little of the sweet jelly it is "glorious".  It is funny that I've known crackers, peanut butter, jelley, and cayenne pepper all of my life, but suddenly placed together, they're glorious. The church in Haiti was a lot like this delectable mamba treat to us.  The church this morning gathered, we gather in the states also.  The church this morning sang, we also sing.  The church shared the word proclaimed too, but like a little cayenne pepper in the peanut butter, the urgency and expectation created an amazing experience of shared hope.  It always amazes me how comfortable worship feels.  The movement of the Spirit beyond language becomes a refined form of worship that provides a common thread that binds our hearts in Christian...

I have always wondered why we eat certain things and not others.  I have always been intrigued by religious prohibitions on certain forms of food and drink.  When our children were born, I would observe them teething. They put everything in their mouth.  So, my guess had always been that we eat things because of what children found did not make them sick.   However, this morning I have a new theory about why we eat chicken.  About the third day the rooster kept the earliest humans up, they killed it.  It took another thousand years before it was tasted.  They just wanted to sleep!  There is one outside my window that I can hear through my ear plugs that has been roostering since one that would make a good lunch and let me get some sleep ;) Just a little humor to start this morning.  We are excited to be headed to La Tremblay this morning so that we can worship with the community we will work in.  We have and early start, worship starts a...

What a different experience the second trip to Haiti has been.  Better and different in many ways.  Knowing what to expect really changes the experience.  The lack of sleep on the first day was anticipated.  Instead of focusing on my own experience as a team member, I focused more on the experience of the team. Gone was the intense fear of the unknown.  Fear had been replaced by knowledge and a sense of preparation.  The airport and chaos of tap-tap travel was not nearly as daunting.  But, do I risk loosing a spiritual part of my journey because some of it seems familiar.  It is difficult to measure. Incredible, visible progress has been made in Haiti.  Tent cities remain, but in many places clearing of the tents had happened.  There we significantly fewer tents than in June.  Also, the cars had been cleared from the streets.  In June, abandoned cars were everywhere.  Today, tragic was still crazy, goats tied to the front ...