Takoma Park Presbyterian Church

I was blessed in the morning to worship with the folks at the Takoma Park Presbyterian Church, where my former colleague Rev. Mark Greiner is now the pastor. It was a wonderful morning of worship and song and a delight to be a congregant and not a worship leader. (Much as I enjoy being in the pulpit, simply participating as part of the community of faith is a welcome change every once in a while.)

I'm pleased to report that Mark (and his wife, Kolya and daughter, Sophia) seem to have found a home both at the church and in the community. After worship (which had a marvelous "coffee hour" sponsored by an Asian-American member of the church who had made Indian flat bread and chick pea salad with mint chutney), we went to the local farmers' market for fresh veggies and cheeses and fruit. Our lunch was delicious and the time together afterwards even better. Kolya (and Sophia) treated me to a mini-concert on the, oh, gee, what's it called, all I can think of is Zither and I know that's not right. Anyway, it was delightful and wondrous to see them all settled so beautifully in a place that seems just right for them.

On the Road Again

The next morning after having breakfast with Carie, I was off again. Here we are right before I get in the car. As you can see, Carie's ready to have this baby! (Although her due date is August 22nd, so she's still got a ways to go.)

The road was pretty easy until I got to Jersey Shore traffic; then it slowed down considerably. I still managed to get to Bethesda in pretty good time and had a wonderful evening with Nina, Christophe and their two boys. Christophe cooked which is always a delight - and I requested ratatouille, that wonderful French specialty for Sunday night, which he had (coincidentally?! :) just bought all the ingredients for.

Carie and Co.

My first stop was to see Rev. Carie and her husband, Jeff, and their two cats. Carie is about to have their first child and Jeff took some pictures of the two of us together which I've been waiting for him to email me, so that I could attach them to this post, but they've not arrived, so I decided to move ahead and write anyway.

The trip to NJ was long - I was fine across the Island and fine in NJ, but getting across Manhattan was a horror show. That's the tough thing about driving anywhere off the Island: you just never can tell about the traffic. When, where, or how it might be bad. I took my tried and true faster pathway along the Harlem River Drive and it took me an hour to go five miles. Ah, well...

Once I arrived, it was really good to see Carie. She's suffered a really difficult pregnancy, so prayers are most definitely in order to get her through the rest of it with a safe and healthy delivery. I was, however, pleased to see her happy in her home life and ready to be a mom. If/when I get the photos, I'll post even though it may not work with what's going on writing-wise :)...

Next Stop - Washington, D.C.

Well, I'm on the road again, this time locally. I'm actually stopping first in New Jersey this evening to visit a clergy colleague (who's pregnant, yippee!), spending the night with her and her husband, then heading to the D.C. area on Saturday morning. There I'll visit friends, former colleagues and former parishioners as well as get in a little sightseeing, perhaps, and maybe a movie. (I confess the guilty pleasure of "Hellboy 2" is calling me. I'll let you know what I think. :)

Church & Synagogue - Not

We were then taken to see the church built over where Joseph, Mary and Jesus supposedly lived while in Egypt followed by a local synagogue as well, but neither house of worship would let us take pictures. What I found far more interesting on this our last day was the plethora of satellite dishes atop even the poorest looking homes. You might also note the metal rods poking out of the top of all the buildings. We were told that if you are doing renovations or new building on your property, you are exempt from property taxes, so many, many, many homes, houses, buildings are intentionally left unfinished. Also these dishes that beam hundreds of channels from around the world cost only ~$80 U.S. A one time fee with no continuing cost like we have in America. The upside is that a broader worldview is entering Egyptian (and indeed Middle Eastern) homes on a daily basis, even those who are poorer and do not have access to quality education have t.v. The downside, I was told, is that over 300 of these channels are pornographic, thus giving the impression that Western society is decadent and corrupt. There is no understanding that we in the West do not have these channels on our television sets, nor do we watch them or allow our children to watch them. Their system is "pay once and get it all - good and bad". Ours is "pay monthly and only get what you pay for". But they don't know that...

The Mosque at the Citadel

The Mosque at the Citadel was commissioned by Muhammad Ali in the mid 18oos. It was built in memory of his son and as a sort of de facto declaration of separation from the Ottoman empire. The architect was a Christian who had also designed the Yeni Mosque in Istanbul. Interestingly enough, this means that there are some Christian-like facets to the building: note the landscape scenes in the third picture. The clock was donated by King Louis Philippe of France in 1845. It was reciprocated by an obelisk from Luxor that now stands in the Place de la Concorde in Paris - unfortunately, despite repeated attempts from experts in numerous countries, the clock has never worked. I've added also a photo of what appears to be an anomaly to me - a woman in full black chador using a video camera. I assume she is a tourist like us, but from a country with a far different culture. An interesting site to my Western eyes.

Our Last Night on the Ship

I take a moment to grant kudos to our group: our last night on the ship, we took this photo in remembrance of what was a lovely gathering of people from around the world, different in so many ways, but fun to meet and get to know. Back row (left to right): Peter, Bob, Maggie, Michael and Robert. Middle row (left to right): Rebecca, Gail, Carol, Ruby and Jean. Front row (left to right): Grace, Dale, Jane and Rose. And of course, seated: our tour guide, Mohammed.