The Church in the East

Today I went on my first “real” field study of the semester – and it was for a class I’m not even in: History of the Church in the East. It was a class that I wanted to audit because I know very little about the history of the church, especially before the reformation, which is really rather a sorry state of affairs. However, I decided that for sanity’s sake, I might be better off not taking the course. So instead, I just joined them for their field study today.

It was a rather different flavor of field study than those I had experience thus far, which is to be expected. I really enjoyed it, though.

First of all, I’d like to say that I really like Petra Heldt, the teacher of the class. She was very welcoming of me, a visitor to the class, which I appreciated. She is well known throughout the Christian community in Jerusalem (and Israel) and well respected. I think she has connections pretty high up with pretty much every denomination in the country. She’s pretty spunky, in addition to knowing a ton about all sorts of things, which made the trip fun. The only problem is that she talks very quietly and at times I was unable to hear what she was saying.

Secondly, I’d like to say that I’m really glad to have an umbrella this semester (thanks mom!) While we were blessed enough to be inside whenever the rain (or hail) really started pouring down, it was still handy to protect against the softer rain.

Our morning started by Jaffa gate where we met up with Petra. The best sight there was the Jewish men with their fancy hats covered in plastic bags (while still on their heads) to protect against the rain. Knowing how expensive those hats are, I guess it makes sense. It’s just odd. In my part of the word, hats are to be protection from the elements, not protected from the elements. Oh well.

From Jaffa Gate we proceeded on to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher (or the Church of the Ressurection). Before arriving there we paused to talk a little about the iterations the church has gone through. Originally it was much longer and was entered from the east. Today it is smaller and is entered from the south. It also now has two mosques right next to it (in addition to being owned by a Muslim family), one the Omar mosque and the other something like the Strangulation mosque, I believe. Indeed, in many ways the Muslims are very purposeful in their attempts to strangle Christianity. It is felt very strongly by some of the Christians we visited today.

(These two pillars used to be one really tall one in the original church.)

Once inside the Church we looked around, visited various stations of the cross and various parts of the church owned by various denominations and learned about their significance, their traditions, their stories. We even saw the sword of Godfrey the crusader which, I believe, is still used today to knight the Knights of the Holy Sepulcher. There is a lot of really meaningful symbolism throughout the church, which we Protestants tend to miss. Probably one of my favorite things was at the site of Golgotha in the upper level of the church. You enter the room(s) and all you see are pictures of Christ, being nailed to the cross, or of Mary and John weeping as Jesus dies. And in the midst of the great sorrow and pain of these pictures you look up as if to ask God, “Why?” And then all across the ceiling you see mosaics celebrating the resurrection. What a good reminder that we as humans tend to look only horizontally and all we see are pain and suffering. When we remember to look “up” to God, that’s when we see the whole picture more clearly.


We then left the church and went up above it, through an Ethiopian church, to a roof where the quarters for the Ethiopian nuns and monks were located. We continued on to the Coptic Church where we were welcomed by the Arch-Bishop of the Coptic Church in this region. How impressive is that? He was a very nice man. We sat in a beautiful (though chilly) sort of grand hall and were served juice, cookies, and tea (in china, no less). We were able to ask him some questions. I don’t specifically remember anything he said, but it was encouraging. I think my general attitude towards the Orthodox Church has been changing. While I still don’t necessarily agree with their theology (or theologies, since there are many orthodox churches) or how they do things, etc., I think many of them are truly our brothers and sisters in Christ, and we should be more willing to cherish them as such.

From there we ran, through the rain and rivers running in the streets to a Syriac church were we met with another man. I don’t think he was quite as high on the totem pole, but that’s ok. :) He told us a little about his church, and I think he really shared his heart – his discouragement and even despair about the state of the church, about the persecution they’ve undergone and are still enduring, about all the talk among church leaders with no real change. We prayed with him for the Holy Spirit to come and renew and revive people.

From there we ran to the bus by Jaffa Gate and headed to the Monastery of the Cross. As the story goes (if I understood correctly) apparently Lot planted a seed, or maybe a stick given to him by Abraham, and it grew into a tree that was actually three different trees in one. He took good care of it and watered it daily. At some point the tree(s) was cut down and used to make the threshold of the temple. Then, when it was no longer needed there, it was used to form the cross that Jesus was crucified on. Apparently the monastery and church are located on the spot where the tree originally grew.

We ate lunch at the monastery in their old (crusader period?) dinning hall. I believe that Petra said at one point there were around 10,000 people at the monastery and they ate in 10 minute shifts. We got to see the kitchen and the huge pots that they used for food at some point too. They were really huge. I mean, I think that I have some huge pots and camp, but they’re nothing in comparison. The vat would fit into these things, oh, maybe 6-8 times? It took two of us to lift one a couple inches off the ground.

After that we went to another monastery who’s name escapes me…but it was dedicated to John the Baptist and we visited a cave that he supposedly prayed in. It was in the Sorek Wadi and we recognized the place across the valley where we hiked down last semester. It’s really a beautiful area, even more so now than it was in the fall, in spite of the rain and low visibility. There we almond trees blooming all over the place, as well as various other little wildflowers. There were also some piles of hail/snow – almost enough to go sledding on…if you had a really short sled… :)

Our last stop of the day was at a church at Ein Karin (the Spring of the Vineyard). This is supposedly the place where John the Baptist grew up, across the valley from the Monastery with his cave. Apparently also, tradition (or something) says that Herod also sought to kill John the Baptist when he was a babe (at the same time he tried to kill Jesus.) However, and angel kept Elizabeth and John safe by opening a hole in a cliff for them to hide in and then closing it behind them until they were safe. However, angered at this failure, Herod had his men go kill Zacharias in the temple instead. I had never heard this story before, so I have no idea how true it is or where its origins lie, but it was interesting. This church had depictions of the Angel hiding Elizabeth and John. It was rather a unique church in a few ways. First, the painting style was quite unique. Petra said that it was fairly recently done (maybe in the 50’s?) and in a very romantic style. I thought it was quite beautiful, but it was very different from all the other churches. It also has a wall with Mary’s Magnificat in most of the major language of the world. I didn’t get to examine them too closely because they were outside and it was raining and we were headed back to the bus. Maybe someday. I liked that area quite a lot.

That was pretty much our day. It was an enlightening experience. In spite of the heavy rain and the wet shoes and cold nose, I’m glad I went.

Story time!

(Bonus picture here: this is what Jerusalem looked like one day when the wind came up and blew dust all over.)

Well actually, I had been planning to talk about the story of Ruth...but now that may have to wait for another time. Instead, I have a story about my life here at JUC, which I'm sure you all will find fascinating. Well, probably not, but I'll enjoy telling it.


First of all, today has been pretty amazing. We didn't have archaeology this morning which meant that I got to sleep in (which is good because I was up really late last night). I mean, I love Gabi, but a day off is nice too. And THEN I got to play Ultimate Frisbee. And my team (which had all the girls on it) came from behind (like 5 to 1) to win (8 to 6). It was amazing. Yup. And then we had our Shabbat meal which is always nice. Then for vespers we had sort of an international theme with people talking about ministry in Peru, Kenya, Austria, and a couple other places. That was pretty sweet. And then we had game night. With chips. And salsa. (We never get salsa here. Very exciting.)

So it had been a good day so far. Are you following me? Because here's where it really gets interesting.


Some of us ended up playing Mafia for a while, and in the middle of our last game it started pouring. Thunder, lightening, the works. And then apparently a gutter broke or something because the little interior courtyard we have really began to flood - and water seeped from it to the dinning room. And there was enough hail for me to make a pitiful little "snow" ball.


Anyway, we squeegeed out the dinning hall, and then my roommate headed upstairs to our room...to discover that both the stair and our room (and the room next to us) were also flooded. So we brought the squeegees up and William and Dr. Wright helped us get everything drained and cleaned up (my floor needed to be mopped anyway!) Note: by this time, it's well after 12:00am. What a day. Hail, squeegees, and dry mopping. My life is complete. :) (Thankfully nothing too important got wet and we had some help in cleaning up.) Basically, it reminded me of camp and home and made me smile.

(This is Kjetil, helping us squeegee our floor.)

Oh, and I just realized that today is (or was, rather) my half-birthday. Pretty good celebration, all together, I think. :)

(Do you see how reflective the floor is? That's water.)

...and the winner is....

Yesterday was election day in Israel. Which means that by today, most of the results should be tallied and we should have a pretty accurate idea of who will be the new prime minister, right? Well, maybe not.

Before I elaborate any further, I wish to make it known that I make no claim to any great knowledge of Israeli politics. However, a couple people have asked, so I will attempt to explain the little that I've learned in the last couple weeks. (If you have any further questions, you're on your own, but maybe this will help you know where to start looking.)

First of all, when you vote in Israel, you don't vote for a person. You vote for a party. There were somewhere around 30 different political parties vying for votes in this most recent election. While the main ones would probably seem fairly "normal" to us (right, left, stances on the economy, and Gaza being sort of main points of discussion) they range to the utterly bizarre (Holocaust survivors in favor of legalizing marijuana). Each party gets a certain number of seats in the Knesset (120 seats total), depending on what percentage of the vote they get. To get any seats, they have to get at least 2% of the vote. Other than that, if your party gets, say, 20% of the popular vote (which could be enough for that party to "win" the election), then you get 24 of the seats (or possibly more-to make up for the parties getting 1% and no seats), to be filled with the top members of the party. No one party ever wins a majority. The prime minister usually (or maybe always thus far) comes from the party that received the largest percent of the popular vote. He or she then has to form a coalition government. (Obviously, if only 20 percent of the legislative branch agrees with the prime minister, not much will get done. So they make deals and apparently "recruit" other parties to agree with them. They need at least 61 seats in the Knesset to form a coalition government. When the coalition falls apart, they hold new elections.)

This time the two main parties in the running were Likud, headed by Benjamin Netanyahu, and
Kadima, headed by Tzipi Livni. The Likud party had been leading in the polls, with an ever decreasing margin over the last couple weeks. As of yesterday, however, it appears that Kadima actually won a slightly larger percentage of the popular vote, giving them one more seat. (Though apparently this won't be totally certain for another week or two). Does this mean that Livni will be Prime Minister? Well, maybe.

The thing is, first of all, it's a very narrow win. That gives them less bargaining power with the other parties. Second, Livni already tried and failed to form a coalition government this fall after Ehud Olmert stepped down. There are various other reasons too, but suffice it to say that Netanyahu still has a shot at being Prime Minister.

Whether this is good or bad, and what all this will mean for Israel, Gaza, and the West Bank, well, only time will tell for sure. I'm sure analysts are attempting to predict what might happen, but I will not.

Fortunately, as I was reminded in our own elections, our hope is not built on who our president or prime minister is. Our hope is in the God who created the universe and who is still in control of it. Our hope is in the blood of Jesus Christ, His Son. Our citizenship isn't really here - it's in Heaven. So as you pray for America, please pray for Israel too. And then remember to trust the God who establishes and removes rulers.

The Temple Mount

This morning (or rather, yesterday morning - I've had some issues with uploading pictures) Amy and I took advantage of a canceled class to make another attempt to summit the temple mount. Don't get the wrong impression. It's really not much of a "mount" and not at all difficult to climb. It is, however, difficult to find a time that it's open. I think it's supposed to be open from about 8-11am. But that means very little here.

Today we got there around 9:30 and were in luck! It was open, and up we went.

We spent most of our time on the eastern side of the platform, alternating between looking across at the Mount of Olives and back towards the Dome of the Rock. We even climbed up on the wall encircling the platform for a better view.
It had been rainy and cloudy, but every now and then the clouds would clear and few rays of sunlight would alight on the golden dome, making it shine almost as brightly as the sun itself.(As beautiful as the Dome itself is, with its amazing architecture and mosaics, I think it looks even better surrounded by green trees and a blue, cloudy sky.)

One thing that both Amy and I remarked on was the amount of trash they have even there, on the 3rd holiest Muslim site in the world. Then again, it does seem to be a bit of a construction site, and I have yet to see a completely trashless construction site.

As we were about to get down from the wall some guy started yelling at us to hurry and leave. I think they were closing to tourists. We were quite a ways from the entrance where we came in so we took quite a bit of time in trying to get out (and still ended up going out a different exit) but at least we had a little extra time to snap a few shots - without extraneous tourist blocking the scenery!

After we had exited we came across some sort of tour group, accompanied by none other than my archaeology professor, Gabi Barkai. I'm quite sure he doesn't know my name, but he seemed to recognize me and we talked for a second. (Back home I run into people I know around town all the time...I think this may be the first time it's happened in Jerusalem.)

As we made our way back to the school we passed the Dormition Abbey and decided to stop there too.
It is a beautiful church, built by Kaiser Wilhelm for the German Catholics, I believe. It is one of the traditional sights where Mary supposedly died or "fell asleep." They have some very beautiful mosaics in the main sanctuary (including a floor mosaic with the signs of the Zodiac, the minor prophets, the major prophets, and the trinity), and then some other interesting things in the crypt.
So that was yesterday's adventure. I'm going to have to make an effort have more of my own adventures, since I won't be doing as much group travel as last semester.

The Process Continues

The process of trying to understand the conflict here, that is.

I certainly don't have it figured out yet. However, if you are interested in learning more yourself, here's a link to an article I found to be informative and humorous.

I was also just introduced to the short movie "West Bank Story" which can also be described as rather informative and humorous (especially if you've ever seen "West Side Story" or any other musical). It's about 20 minutes long, and in my opinion, well worth the watch. If the embedded video below doesn't work, try the link above.

As a side note, you may wonder why both the article and movie are humorous. Frankly, the humor helps us avoid utter despair. For people who live with this daily or even think about it daily, it can be very discouraging. You start trying to think of solutions: "If only the Jews would do this, if only the Arabs would do that..." And then you realize that those are concessions that will never be made. And even if they were made, they might just make more problems. And even if they did help, there are still hundreds of other problems. Seeing a little humor in the situation can help lighten the burden.

Humor aside, though, as I examine the situation here and learn more and more about it, I am left with the realization that, as cliched as it sounds, our only real hope for peace in the Middle East is found in Christ. Different people might have different ideas of what this looks like, whether peace will only occur at the second coming of Jesus to the earth or whether it can happen slowly, though one changed heart at a time. Either way Jesus is our only hope. And for now, while we may not be able to solve the entire Middle East Crisis, we can do our part to bring the peace of Christ to individuals. In spite of what look like insurmountable difficulties, let us not give up or despair.

"And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart." ~Galatians 6:9 (NKJV)

Things that make me giggle a bit

Geeky jokes, related to...
Biology...Computer Science...

(I'll be 1C in August!)

Electronics...Math...Statistics...
Egyptology...

"Bad" puns...

Characters who don't like pink...

I have to agree with this. Actually, I'm voting for orange. Maybe with green stripes.

And in real life...
Drinking coffee (or tea) with friends while random men attempt to run electrical wires above your heads...
Oddly decorated olive trees...

Happy Monday! :)

Roses and Lizards

Although I am, of course, an exceedingly normal person, I will admit to one or two minor quirks. For example, I like to walk while I read, especially if I'm reading anything that tends to put me to sleep. Especially if I've just spend the rest of the day in class sitting. So today, in the beautiful 70-degree weather, I went outside, A History of Israel in hand, camera slung over my back, and began to stroll around our garden. While I did eventually finish my reading (about Cyrus and Ezra and the return from exile), I must confess that I was distracted once or twice.

One of the first things I noticed was some strange wildlife that seemed to be building a home in one of our trees.

Actually, there was quite a bit of life - a variety of birds and bugs, and even one cute little lizard I caught crawling around on a rock.

Tangent: I've decided that I like lizards. And since we don't have them in MT, I have to enjoy them whenever possible. For example, I was sitting in my Second Temple history class tonight, studiously taking notes, when I happened to see movement by the front upper left corner. Yes, it was another lizard (two in one day!!) Unfortunately, I was so enamored with it that my teacher was distracted by my adoring gaze and I was forced to explain what I found so fascinating about the wall behind him. Yeah, I'm kind of a dork. Oh well.

But back to the garden, most of the more interesting wildlife wandered off to more promising locals as the sun continued its downward journey. This enabled me to spend more time concentrating on my book.

Speaking of which, can I take a moment to say that it bothers me when people automatically assume that any supernatural explanation for an event is clearly wrong? The author of my book (who, by the way, at least claims to be a Christian) assumes that the second part of Isaiah was written by someone other than Isaiah during (or maybe after?) the Babylonian captivity. And why does he assume this? As far as I can determine, because Isaiah mentions Cyrus by name. Clearly the original Isaiah would have never been able to predict something this precise. (Though oddly, the author accepts Isaiah's prophecies about the Messiah). Perhaps the author has other reasons for making this assumption. Perhaps the grammatical structure is clearly different in the second half. Whatever his reasons, I wish he would at least explain them. Anyway...I have many other thoughts on this subject, which I will probably save for another time.

That delay can, perhaps, be blamed on some of the distracting flora of the garden. We still have one or two roses blooming. The picture just doesn't catch the incandescent glimmer when the sun hits the petal.

I like flowers.
Probably even more than lizards.
If a flower had suddenly started crawling across the wall in my class, I probably would have been even more distracted.

Eventually a few more fauna specimens showed up, the rare picturus colorerus. (Yeah, I know, I should learn real Latin sometime.) That's Tom, one of the grad students, with the daughters of the man who makes the campus run. :)

With all that said, I've nearly survived the first week of class here! And the two make-up classes! (Yeah, we have to make up the classes before we even miss them this semester...which has made this week especially long.) I just have archaeology tomorrow (3 hours, no break... yeah, it's a doozie). And then a weekend! So I can catch up on all my reading! Perhaps I'll go for another walk...

First Impression, Second Impressions

This new semester has been sort of an odd juxtaposition of new things and old things. I spent a full semester in this room, (sorry, it's rather poorly stitched together, but you get the idea)
at this school, in this city,
in this country. Some things are wonderfully familiar. On the other hand, that semester was in the fall, with an entirely different group of people and classes. Some things are amazingly different. I will try to sort my thoughts into those two categories, and probably fail miserably, but hey.

First Impressions?
1. New students started arriving on Friday. I think I've met most of them, though certainly not all, and I don't remember all of their names. There are a lot of Steve's, Matt's, Mark's, and Jo(h)n's. (Feeling Biblical, parents, weren't we?) Good recipe for confusion.
2. It's a much smaller group than last semester, which is sort of nice. At least in some ways. There are a total of 34 students living on campus.
3. There are two new girls here for the grad program - yay! More long-termers.
4. There are actually more guys than girls on campus this semester, though most are undergraduates, for you wannabe matchmakers out there. :) Nonetheless, that's a rather unique situation from most Christian contexts I've been in.
5. There is one Canadian, one Norwegian, one from Hong Kong, and a couple MKs from Kenya. I guess that adds a bit to our cultural diversity. :)
5b. I think I'm still the only Montanan on campus. (One student's wife grew up in MT.)
6. It's kind of different to be one of the "returners." Perhaps a little like it is at Clydehurst? One wants to be helpful and welcoming, and still avoid being a know-it-all. It's so great to see the other returners - it's comfortable being with them. But on the other hand, one wants to avoid any semblence of a new-people-excluding clique.
7. I ate my first whole kumquat the other day. It was a bit weird, but tasty.
8. I went to Jerusalem Baptist Church on Sunday with a few other students. It was interesting, but I don't think I'll make it my "home." I do need to work on finding/deciding on a home church, though.
9. I discovered today that there is a Mechanical Engineering major here. Yay! Someone who will get some of my geeky jokes!
10. I finally brough my first JUC shirt today.
11. I finally went shopping at Shabban's and got a couple skirts. His "new" remodled shop is now open.

Second Impressions?
1. I've been pondering how different it feels to arrive here in the winter (spring semester) as opposed to the summer (fall semester). While it's not terribly cold (it reminds me of spring in Montana, or the the weather during staff training) it's also not terribly warm. Jackets, coats, sweatshirts, hats, scarves, and gloves are all rather welcome.
2. This contrast was especially apparent as some of us returning students accompanied the new geography students on their first "field study" around the Old City. On our first tour I remember distinctly being very warm and sweaty. Especially when we went and saw the tomb of Joseph of Aramathea inside the Church of the Holy Sepluchre. This time, I have to admit that it was really nice to go inside that rather tight and enclosed area of the church to soak up a little extra warmth.
3. Speaking of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, I finally got to go inside the actual "tomb" of Jesus for the first time. (Since we had heard most of Dr. Wright's teaching on these things before, some of us we a bit less attentive to him and a bit more attentive to other details).4. I also love listening to the different groups chanting in the church.
5. I'm getting more used to the smell of insense.6. I feel fairly comfortable in my ability to avoid getting helplessly lost in the Old City, but I'm not entirely certain of being able to find anything on the first try. :)
7. I've been here nearly a week and have yet to be bitten by a mosquito or see a lizard. Cats, however, are still quite common. In fact, I seem to be seeing cats everywhere today. There was a cat outside my window when I got up this morning (my window looks out on a 3-story-high roof) and there was one peering over the stairs at me just now.
8. I saw my Hebrew teacher today. After he told me that he forgot I was coming back but he was very good to see me, he told me I did very well on my final last semester. Well, that's encouraging. :)
9. It's a little greener than it was in the fall, but we are still in desperate need of rain.
10. Pretty sure all the warm weather last semester has turned me into a wimp. :)
11. People in Jerusalem are still crazy. I mean, well, I guess different cultures react different ways to their "holy" city. I, for one, have no desire to parade around the town with drums, dancing and singing. Apparently some people do. Whatever makes your socks go up and down.12. I've come to have a higher opinion of the value of tradition than I had at the beginning of last semester.
13. I still have much to learn about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict...but I rather dislike it when people pick a side and cling to it tenaciously. Biblically speaking, there are clearly right and wrong aspects of both sides.

Random thoughts:
1. I found out yesterday that some people are not familiar with the phrase "Don't look a gift horse in the mouth," not to mention "Don't sniff a gift fish." ;) I suppose they also would be confused by "Beware of Greeks bearing gifts" and, of course, "Beware of bears greeking gifts" would be a total mystery. (If you get the reference in that last one, major kudos.)
2. I learned that about 30,000 people live in the old city. In has an area of about 220 acres. My parent's house is situated "on" about 80 acres. Multiply that area by three and the crowd the population of Bozeman into it. That's crazy.
3. I'm looking forward to having a falafel. :)
4. I got to sit in a hammock!
5. This is one of the driest winters in Israel since...I don't know when, but apparently quite a while. And they're already in a drought.
6. It did rain the other night, and I went up on the roof with Amy to see the lightening.
7. I'm going to quit trying to think of other things that have struck me since returning and just publish this post.