The Bishop’s Blog

Well, we are back from our travels.  Back at home.  Back in my own bed.  Recovering from jet lag and fatigue and exhaustion. 

What a wonderfully amazing trip!!!  I am grateful to The Rev. Mike Schuenemeyer, Executive for Health and Wholeness Advocacy, Wider Church Ministries, UCC for extending the original invite to be a part of the delegation for this trip.  I am grateful to Pam and Jay for also being willing to go on such an adventure.  We had a most wonderful time together.  I am also grateful to my Amistad UCC congregation for their willingness to carry on in my absence so faithfully.

I do realize as we’ve begun to talk about our trip that I’m not quite back, some of my parts are still over there.  Re-orienting myself back to the ordinary has been a bit difficult.  Pam and I were speaking about this to one another the other day.  I also have not had the opportunity to rest fully since our return.  We came back to collect  some belongings and Alisia and Makenzie and headed to STL for my Mom’s wedding which I co-officiated.  It was a wonderful weekend of activities, spending time with family and such. 

So I look forward to a few days of rest and relaxation, giving me time to do further reflection and thinking.  I am thinking about though, the importance of this trip in our lives right now.  Why were we allowed to go now?  To what end and purpose will it have on our lives and the people we touch?  This felt like an important and meaningful trip.  So, how will its importance and meaning be manifested?

I’m certainly glad to be back home.  I’m glad to get back to work.  I’m glad for our time together over in the middle east.  And I will continue to pray for peace and reconciliation for the conflicting parties in the part of the world.

Ashe’,

+JS

Cairo! 

Egypt!

Africa!

Once again, I’m on the continent.  I here with Pam and Jay.  Africa. The Motherland.  The birth of all humanity. 

We have left the group we’ve been traveling with and now we are somewhat on our own.  We had a long day of travel, however, once we landed I was energized.  It’s a wild scene here.  Africa is raw, chaotic, almost out of control.  Standing in lines, pushing and shoving, just a mess.  More about that later.

However, I am so pleased to be here in this ancient land of the Pharoahs and the Pyrimads.  Since our arrival, we’ve visited the Egyptian Museum, The Nile River, Memphis, Saqqara, The Pyrimads & the Sphinx, as well as the Sound and Light Show at Giza.  We have gone to the famous Khan El Khalily several times.  We’ve also been hustled by so many cab drivers, hotel workers and street vendors, it’s not funny.

We also have had the priviledge to be here during the visit of our Vice President.  Actually, we were in a cab in traffic that was held while the motorcaid thunder through.  The Egyptian President Mubarak lives on the same street our hotel is on.  It is interesting to have been here, too.

These are just my first reflections.  More to come.

+JS

Well Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday have been very interesting indeed.

Monday, we took a day trip to Tel Aviv.  On the way, we stopped at an intention community founded some time ago named Neve Shalom, http://www.nswas.net/.  We’ve lived in a community simular to this during our time in Chicago.  So, the stories told to us by our host, Rayek Rizek (the Mayor) who shared very honestly with us, prompted by Pam’s question.  He shared candidly, that it’s very difficult to come from so many different backgrounds…..Israeli, Palestinian, Christian, Jewish, Muslim, etc. and think one can live in one great big happy family trouble free.  It takes work.  I appreciated his earnest presentation of this unique community and certainly applaud their efforts.

We left there for Tel Aviv proper.  We arrived at lunch time and grab it on our own on the beach.  We was simply great to spend some time taking in the sea.  Tel Aviv is on the Western side of Israel on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea.  We had lunch with two of our traveling companions.  Have a wonderful lunch by the sea.  Leaving there, we were off to meetings with two organizations, Physicians for Human Rights and New Profile (an anti-militarism grassroots group).  Both representatives were passionate about their work.

I was struck by the ordinary’ness’ of Tel Aviv.  This was explained to us as "how regular Israelis live."  Very western.  Very modern.  Highways, city and suburbs.  Very familiar.

Tuesday was a special day for us.  We decided not to go with the group to Gaza.  Just didn’t feel safe with us as a family traveling into a very difficult setting there in Gaza.  So we decided to head off on our own with the help of Alternate Travel Tours and our guide/driver Hosama we took off to Nazerath.  We visited the city of Nazerath, Cana, Tiberias, the Sea of Galilee, Capernaum and holy sites in between.  We spent a wonderful tourist day.

We visited the Wedding Church of Cana where Jesus performed his first miracle, we visited the church at Tabgha where Jesus performed the feeding of the multitute with fish and loaves of bread, we visited the River Jordan near the place where Jesus was baptized of his cousin John.  This was a holy and fun time.  We ate at a restaurant by the Sea of Galilee, a wonderful meal.  We ended our day at the Dead Sea. 

Wednesday was a short day with meeting with B’tselem (a human right watch group) whose work focuses on monitoring human rights violations in Israel.  Then we made a very difficult journery to the village of Nu’eman which is between Jerusalem and Bethleham.  We had to walk I would say a mile to a mile and a half up and down hills on a dirt road full of trash along the sides.  Made this way by the government to keep the villagers from using this way in and out of the village.  Once we arrived in the village, we were quite a spectacle.  We met a woman, who spoke to us about the difficulty of life for her family in this village.  I was very moved by her story.  We also met with a leader of the village sharing a cup of tea with his family.  They shared their story as well and thanked us for making the difficult trek to his village.  I was moved again by this man’s story, he and his family’s example of courage and perserverance against such oppression and poverty.

Thursday, the 10th is a travel day for us.  We will journey from Tel Aviv to Amman, Jordan and then on to Cairo, Egpyt.

Blessings,

+JS

The last two days have been quite interesting. 

On Saturday, we began our pilgrimage to Bethlehem.  The city of our Lord’s birth.  We left Jerusalem for Bethlehem on the Hebron Road, an ancient highway from Jerusalem to the city of Hebron.  Many have traveled that same way on roads to and from Jerusalem for thousands of years…an amazing feeling to be aware of for me.

Once we arrived in Bethlehem, we were faced with the present day reality of the city, the residents and particularly the Palestinian people, Bethlehem is a city that is completely fenced (walled) in.  There is a "security fence" that surrounds the city.  No one can come in or out of this ancient city without passing through a security checkpoint.  More about this later.

Our first stop was with a remarkable pastor/minister/prophet….The Rev. Mitri Raheb, pastor of the Christmas Church, click on this link http://www.holyland-lutherans.org/bethlehem.htm, for more information.  They have an incredible ministry emerging from the great needs of the people of the area.  Rev. Raheb is an inspirational leader who’s vision, courage and personal/prophetic witness is an example to us all, an example to the world.  Bless you, Rev. Mitre Rehab. 

We left there on to our next appointment with staff of YMCA of Beit Sahour, here’s there link http://www.ej-ymca.org/site/Display-Doc.cfm?DocID=33, engaged in wide range of programs assisting people through the region in direct services as well as the regular resources you’d imagine they’d be involved with…quite an impressive operation.

Then it was arranged that we’d be lead for the rest of our time in Bethlehem by local guides, George Rishmawi and Sam (Siraj) who’d lead around Bethlehem to be exposed to the realities of the Palestinian people under the oppressive Israeli occupation, as they referred to it.

We ate lunch in a most traditional Palestinian Muslim way under a big tent overlooking a housing project owed by Greek Orthodox Church here, that’s been scheduled for destruction.  I have to say at this point that as we drove through areas of the region of Bethlehem, I could not help but be reminded of neighborhoods back in the United States, neighborhoods that I’ve been most familiar with, "the hood". 

We ended up with a visit to The Church of the Nativity, the traditional holy site of the birth place of Jesus. 

On Sunday, we were on our own for worship service, and I chose to go to Ethiopian Orthodox Church, on the roof of the Church of the Holy Sepulchur in the Old City.  I arrived at the service a few minute before 7 am and for nearly the next two hours participated in a most wonderful worship in Arabic.  Being somewhat familiar with Orthodox worship rituals, I was able to follow along with the service.  Afterwards, I along with two other colleagues from our group who had joined the services were invited to the monastery of this extraordinary Ethiopian Orthodox monks for breakfast and an informal visit.  The leader of the monastic community was the chief presider of the services, was a kind and gracious person and although he spoke little english, we communicated with one another.  There was a nun of this community who joined us who did speak english and was able to translate for us.  I will not forget this community and the exceptional hospitality that was extended to us by this community of believers.

And finally we spent the afternoon with friends and partners from the Jerusalem Open House, whose work on behalf of LGBT people in Israel has been a inspiration to the world.  We were invited to watch a documentary film of the organization.  I was personally pleased to met some of the staff and one of the organization’s board member and to hear they story.

We returned to our hotel for some time of debriefing and dinner with several Americans, working here in Jerusalem.

I continue to be in awe of the privilege we’ve been given to be here in the place.  The land, the people, the setting is overwhelming, and is somewhat familiar.  The places we’ve visited are places I’ve taught about, preached about…and now to be here, seeing, touching, experiencing first hand is just AMAZING.  And let me say, I’m equally troubled by the realities that we have been confronted with by the people who live here.  The stories of struggle and heartache, pain and difficulty, have been hard to hear for I resonated at a deep level with them.

I am still processing all of this and certainly I’ll have more to say in the coming days, weeks and months to come.

Ashe’,

+JS

Yesterday was a great day.

Our day began with breakfast and then we rushed off to meet with a couple of our UCC ministry partners here in Jerusalem.  We first met with a wonderful woman named Cedar Duaybias who is a current board member of the organization SABEEL.  This is a Palestinian Ecunenical Christian Group with all kinds of programs to help folks here detail with what she called the "tragedy on both sides" of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict.  I enjoyed listening to her as she weaved her very personal story along with the historic elements of a very deep and complicated narrative.

Then we moved to our next appointment with Rabbi Kellerman, a faculty member of Hebrew Union College.  We were recieved by her and given a tour of the campus.  Quite a spectacular place, positioned just beyond the Jerusalem government area.  Rabbil Kellerman was the first ordain women of the Reformed Jewish movement here in Jerusalem.  So, she is somewhat of a celebrity.  She spent more than a hour with us, telling her story and giving her opinions of the situation here.

We next move to stand with some remarkable women from a group called, Women in Black, Israeli women who weekly stand against the occupation of Israel in Palestinian territories.  We were engaged by a number of people while they past  by this most busy corner.  Two young Israeli men, Elisha (American) and Daniel (English) engaged Pamela in an extraordinary conversation.  Several others chimed in as they heard other and understand each other.  I have to say, my beloved was superb in facilitating this conversation for more than 45 minutes of our hour witness with these women.  After the witness, we then talked with the leader of this group, Gila Svirsky, American born former orthodox Jewish woman who’s passion and fire we felt from the beginning. 

And finally, our evening was full with meeting the Rabbi and Cantor of Congregation HarEl, the first Reformed Jewish Congregation of Jerusalem about to celebrate 50 years of service to downtown Jerusalem.  And then stayed for Shabbat Service with wonderful music and a warm reception of us by the members of the congregation. 

Just a couple of reflections about the day: the Israeli/Palestinian conflict is very complex, with no simple solutions.  I have become very aware of my personal affinity for the Palestinian story/narrative.  Meeting Cedar Duaybias and hearing her story was joy!  During our 1 hour public witness with Women in Black, a German man walked up and took my picture without my permission, yet again.  I spoke to the man, saying to him that I would have like it that he asked me first before taking the picture.  He later turn up at the Shabbat Service at Congregation HarEl.  I was able to have a breif conversation with him learning his name, Wolfgang from northern German.  Lastly, it was great to meet Elisha and Daniel, the two young Israeli men.  The human connection, the human story is the essence of life for me.

More to come,

+JS

Here are my first impressions from our Middle East Visit.

Well, we’ve arrived in Israel.  I am blessed to be traveling with my beloved, Lady Pamela and son, Jay.  Flew in from Newark leaving Tuesday evening, about 12 hours later arriving on Wednesday early evening in Tel Aviv and was recieved by our driver who lead us from the terminal to the bus for our 31 mile trip over to Jerusalem which will serve for us as our home during our stay in Israel.

The Holy Land is a most magical place.  And Jerusalem a most special center of this majesty. The spiritual home of Judaism, Christianity and 3rd most holiest city for Islam.

After settling in to our rooms we had dinner and did our first of what will be a daily ritual of debreif among us with our guide, Cathy who is our missionary serving here in Jerusalem.  She has arranged much of our Israeli trip.  She seems to be very knowledgable and passionate about this place and the people with experience from a wide variety of spaces.  I’m very appreciative of her with her care and attention to us ranking very high in my book.

We had some dinner, debrief (this was really an orientation session, where we went over the schedule and got ourselves adjusted abit.) Cathy also entertained a few questions that the group had and then we all retired for the evening, each of us feeling jet lagged and exhausted from the trip over.

After a good night sleep, we woke up, got some breakfast and was off to visit the Old City.  Our hotel is in East Jerusalem, occupied Palestine, just a block away from the Damascus Gate entrance into the Old City. So, we began our day on this walking tour of the Old City. We visited this most remarkable part of history.  We stepped back in time it seemed.  Our guide for the morning was George who shared an awful lot with us regarding what we were experiencing, seeing.

The Old City is divided into to four section with the Jewish Quarter, the Muslim Quarter, the Christian Quarter and the Armenian Quarter.  And in each section, the accompanying holy sites.  The Western or Wailing Wall for Jews, the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock Mosque for Muslims, The Via Dolorosa (The Way of the Cross), The Stations of the Cross to The Church of the Holy Sepulcher which is said to house the tomb and the traditional site of Calvary.

Then we spent our afternoon with Angela who shared with us her impressions from an activist perspective.  She is a representative from an organization here working to stop the destruction of homes where Palestinians live.  There is a very complicated political reality here in present day Jerusalem with security and diversity and fear and anger mix together to make for one heck of an experience once one is exposed to it.  We visit the Greater Jerusalem Region by bus to see how governmental policies are having its effect on the people of the area. 

Quite a profound day overall. 

Lastly, let me speak to a couple of early personal reflections so far.  I don’t mind admitting to having some rather high expectations for some mystical/magical experiences of our visit here from the outset.  I do fully expect to be moved and touched in deep and meaningful spiritual ways.

Secondly, my experience of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher was very intense.  From the shoving and pushing to the yelling in line waiting our chance to see the Tomb of our Lord, to having pictures taken of me by other visitors without my permission has left me with some intense emotions of my own.  I will explore these feelings in more detail in the coming post.

This is all for now.

Ashe’,

+JS