The Mena House Oberoi

We traveled to the hotel, which is simply gorgeous. I've never seen such ceilings and marble and fresh flowers and the VIEW. Jimmy Carter stayed here this past week while he was in Egypt meeting with leaders from Hamas, which gives you an idea of the caliber of the accommodations. Here's a shot of Grace standing in front of the hotel and the view from our room's balcony.

The Trip from JFK

We left NY JFK yesterday a little bit late - the flight was supposed to take off at 6:30 p.m. and we didn't leave until 7:30 p.m., but it was safe; all was well, if a little lengthy. I remembered such a short time ago when I took my first ten hour flight and how painful it was. This one was a bit better for me because I knew what to expect, but it was a little tough on Grace and Mother. Here's a couple of photos - of our arrival in Cairo and our exit from the plane onto the tarmac where we were driven to the terminal via bus.

Cairo, Here I Come

It's hard to believe what a travelin' person I am, but it's almost time to head East again. This time I'm going to Egypt for 10 days with my mother and daughter. A pleasure trip (literally part of it "a pleasure cruise"), but I will also hopefully be meeting with some Presbyterians at the Evangelical Theological Seminary in Cairo and possibly with a friend of friend's parents who are Muslim and live in Alexandra. Once again, opportunities about to broaden my horizons, and I am soooo grateful for them. More later...

Resurrection Time

It is now post-Easter Sunday, and even though we continue to liturgically honor Eastertide for the next seven Sundays until Pentecost, our culture considers it "over". As I consider Easter, the meaning of resurrection and the deep and abiding need that we have for it, I am amazed that we are in such a hurry to celebrate and then forget it.

I am pondering death a lot lately - not the large and impending death that we all will know, and perhaps to some degree fear (at least the prospect of oblivion, of our lives being over and not having mattered, that sort of fear) - but the little deaths that we experience every day. Stephen Sondheim wrote a song for the play A Little Night Music that goes: "Every day a little death, in the parlor, in the bed, in the curtains, in the silver..." etc. and so on. Little deaths: of hope, of self-esteem, of dreams come true. And the more we invest in them, the less we are able to live in the good news of Jesus Christ, in the resurrection, in a life that is supported by a God of second chances.

I need the resurrection, new life, new beginnings - not just Jesus', but the knowledge that every day there's the opposite of a "little death", there's a little LIFE, there's hope, there's a reason to keep on keeping on. So this is where I'm going to focus in these days and weeks ahead. As I continue to enlarge my world-view, reading and writing about what's going on in my neighborhood and around the globe, I am also going to enlarge my resurrection view, my ability to see and perceive the new life and new possibilities around me.

Post-Easter Musings

I've now been back from the Holy Land for exactly two weeks - today is day fourteen, and I continue to wrestle with what is right and what is righteous.

I have also just finished reading Asne Seierstad's A Hundred & One Days about the days before, during and immediately after the "liberation" of Iraq, and I feel torn in a hundred and one different directions about the situation in the Middle and Near East. There are cultural differences, it is true, but do not all people deserve to live in dignity?

I also wrestle with the nature vs. nurture issue here. It seems to me that when one grows up in a society in which children play "Israelis vs. Palestinians", what can they do but grow up to hate and hurt one another?

Also clearly we as Americans are seen in very specific but varying ways: as saviors, as devils, as an undeniable part of the peace process, as an undeniable hindrance to the same. We are imbedded in the situation, yet seemingly unable to effect positive change.

Now is a time in the Christian tradition when we celebrate resurrection - Jesus' and the resurrections we experience in our own lives, large and small. Yet it is difficult to believe in resurrection in the midst of anger, hatred, hopelessness and despair, much less be a part of the positive process towards peace and reconciliation.

This is my post-Easter prayer. That God shows me the ways in which I am to experience and express resurrection power - in my congregation, my community, my country, my world. That sounds huge. I guess it is. I long, however, to make a meaningful difference; perhaps that is all anyone wishes to do.

The Last Supper

I guess I do write this title a bit "tongue in cheek", especially as at this moment, we are in Holy Week only a few days from the date we celebrate Jesus' Last Supper with his disciples. Certainly, there was not the import to this one that there is to that one, but it was nonetheless a poignant evening. We took a moment to share our thoughts with one another about moving moments during the week; this was a treasured time for me. Here you see photos of Pat leading the reflection time and our wonderful leaders, AJC Program Coordinator Jael, and Tour Guide Aharon.

The meal, like all our meals, was wonderful - we ate at a Moroccan restaurant called Darna. The tiles and decorations had come from Morocco and it was a beautifully appointed place. Of course, the final photo is of one of our waiters "performing for us" the amazing feat of pouring out end of supper tea from a height.

Free Time (part 2)

We have just a bit of time left before we go to our closing dinner together and some of us decided to head back to the Old City for a teensy bit more shopping. It truly was a teensy bit more - we only made it into one store. The owner was a salesman extraordinaire and basically got all the money each of us had, in exchange for wonderful necklaces, scarves and earrings.

As we headed home, I literally had one shekel to my name. Kimberly, Brenda, Steve and Greg were pretty much in the same shape as I, so we followed our original plan and walked home. This wasn't as easy as you might think, because Jerusalem streets wind about the hills and valleys in very confusing ways. We asked eight people - yes, really 8 - before we were able to find someone to give us directions "home". It wasn't difficult, but it was a little bit of a walk. Anyway, it was wonderful, as this whole experience has been.