A few more random thoughts

1. Junior High camp started tonight. As I type the counselors are probably busy making sure everyone is getting ready for bed, doing devotions, and trying to get everyone to quiet down and sleep. As stressful as it is, I have to say that I often miss those days. I rather like hanging out with kids of varying ages and maturities. :) Jr. High became one of my favorite week of the summer. Oh well, tonight I got to hang out with crew kids, which is almost as good. Not quite as good because I have to share them with their crew counselors, but still fun.

2. I made Challah bread again tonight, just for the staff. I know it's not Shabbat, but they really enjoyed it last time...and they get a little tired of chicken nuggets and tater tots, so I figured it would be a nice treat. It was quite tasty.

3. We went to the Big Timber Rodeo last night. It was fun. :) The Wild Cow Race was hilarious, as usual. Our teams did fairly well, both of them managing to at least get into the saddle a couple times, but were unable to place.

4. This is the first time that I've shared an actual room with people other than myself (for an extended time) in...well...years. I've shared a cabin or a 'room' but our beds have always been separated by a wall of some sort. I rather miss having a place that I can go to be alone, but only on occasion. I rather enjoy being around people. It's fun to talk and laugh and plot mischief with my roommates before we go to sleep - which is about the only time we are all in the cabin at the same time. Most of my time is spent in the dining hall...with the food...

5. I finally finished one book on my reading list: The End of Days: Fundamentalism and the Struggle for the Temple Mount. It was interesting at least. If nothing else, I have a better understanding of the recent history of Israel in general and the Temple Mount in specific. He seemed to repeat himself a good bit, and I didn't agree fully with his analysis of some of the fundamentalists, but he did make some interesting points. None of which strike me at the moment, but maybe I'll incorporate them into future postings.

6. I've now started reading The Lemon Tree. It's also about Israel and the Middle East...it was recommended by a friend, so we'll see how it goes.

7. I've recently started occasionally glancing at the blog of an orthodox priest (as another friend mentioned him in her blog). Today's post struck me as rather interesting: You Are Not A Bible Character. I will quote part of it here and then take a tangential trail off of it.

The pilgrim fathers who came to America read their situation into the Bible (or the Bible into their situation) with the result that white pilgrims were seen as fulfilling the role of the Israelites in this, the Promised Land, while native Americans were cast in the role of Canaanites. Thus generations of Joshuas arose feeling Biblically justified in the genocide of America’s native population. Some of that Biblical reading continues to echo in the popular imagination to this day. It was Bad theology in the 17th century and it is bad theology today. Stated in a fundamental way: you are not a Bible character.

Disclaimer: I know relatively little about American history, but I am fairly certain that not all "pilgrim fathers" were guilty of this incorrect application of the Bible. However, as that is not to be the object of my post, I beg that you would overlook this statement and take it up with the original poster if you feel so inclined.

To the subject at hand, when the phrase "You are not a Bible character" is used, numerous thoughts pop into my head, including "Jerusalem Syndrome." However, I think it has a broader application to how we, as "evangelical Christians" interpret the Bible. So often we are quick to read a story about a Bible character and leap to an application: "God did such-and-such for them, so surely He will do the same for me." At times that may be an application that can be legitimately made. Other times, it might be wiser to reconsider. After all, we are not Bible Characters. We do serve the same God, but He does not always work in the same ways.

On a slightly different tangent, his talk of the "pilgrim father" interpretation of the Bible reminded me of the Israeli settlers' interpretation. In their view, all Palestinians are the Canaanites to be driven out. As Bible-believing Christians, we often find it easier to support them in their efforts because they are, as far as we can tell, actual decedents of the Israelites and they are actually trying to take the historic land of Israel. But in reality, they are no more Bible characters than we are. They do not have direct revelation from God, as Joshua did; no divine commands to conquer the land. Some of you may bring up the New Testament: doesn't Romans (and other books) clearly state that God still has a plan for Israel? Couldn't these settlers be those new Bible characters? I don't want to give a categorical "No" to that question, though I am tempted. Even assuming that God does still have a plan for the literal nation of Israel (which I'm sure some of you reading this would disagree with that interpretation), defining "Israel" is still a problem. It is the secular state of Israel? It is all Jews? Is it all Messianic Jews? Is it all Zionistic Jews? None of these definitions quite fit what Israel was in Bible times, which makes it difficult to draw any further conclusions. To take it even farther, even if the settlers are included in "Biblical Israel" (whatever that is), many of their tactics and attitudes directly defy God's commandments and how He told Israel to behave to foreigners and strangers.

8. To stop you before you start thinking I'm "anti-Israel" let me just say that many of my teachers are settlers themselves, or are at least sympathetic, and that I like them all quite a lot. I also understand some of their passion and drive to create and protect a Jewish homeland. However, I am striving to see both sides fairly, which means that I see the wrong done by both sides, and settlers are not exempt. Kicking a Palestinian off his land and then waving a Bible in his face saying that it is your deed to his land is definitely an improper use of the Bible.

9. I should go to bed. I have about 220 people here and they'll all be hungry tomorrow morning.

Camp Life

I've now been at camp for a full 8 days, and have, in general, been far too busy to either think about anything or do anything exciting.  Even if I had done anything other than cook, I would have had time to write about it, so I suppose its just as well.  

We had a week of staff training: cooking 3 meals a day, trying to remember how the kitchen works and then teach my new cooks about it.  Trying to plan meals and remember recipes.  Add to all that various inconvieniently timed manditory staff training meetings and an oddly timed Sysco delivery and you get a picture of my week.  

Not that's it's been bad.  It's really gone pretty well.  The cooks are learning well and doing good work.  The rest of the staff has been encouraging and helpful.  There have been occasional moments of missing Israel and a couple times when I've thought, "Why in the world did I agree to work here this summer again?!"  Mostly, though, I've been too busy for either, which is probably good.

I have been able to bring small pieces of Israeli food here - Challah for our Shabbat evening meal, Tabouleh, Bedouin tea for myself.  It helps.  

It's a bit odd...before coming here, some returning staff people had expressed an interest in hearing about Isreal.  However, no one has really bothered to ask anything about it beyond, "So, how was Israel?"  Perhaps it's as hard to think of questions as it is to think of answers: "Uh, it was great.  I learned a lot."  It is understandable.  After all, people are quite busy.  Still, it's a little sad.  I feel like I've learned so much and changed in so many little ways...but I have no one to tell about it.  I'm going to need to work on finding an outlet.  I don't want to be the know-it-all who always talks about Israel, but I also don't want to have to bottle it all up.  We'll see how it works out.  

Anyway, here at camp we have survived staff training and our first meal with campers.  As we continue I'd appreciate your prayers for unity in the staff and for God's work in our lives and the lives of our campers.  

Random thoughts.

1.  I've been state-side for nearly 3 weeks now.  

2. Which means that I've adjusted to somethings, at least.   For example, I rarely look for a trash can in which to throw my toilet paper any more.  

3. I found a resturant in town that serves falafel, which I find quite impresive, considering the size and location of my town.  It's pretty tasty too.  I might just have to visit it more often...

4. I'm working on integrating some things from Israel into life here.  For example, tonight for dinner I made "mujadarah"- a middle eastern dish including rice and lentils and fried onions.  Here is an example recipe, though it's not the exact one I used.  In honor of Shabbat I also made challah bread, which turned out quite well.  The recipe I used is the first one on this page.  

5. The other day I bought mint and sage so I could make Bedouin tea.  The mint reminds me of Jordan and the sage reminds me of Dahab...and both make me want to go back...

6. I head up to camp tomorrow...or I guess it's today now... so that I'll be able to settle in a little bit before I have to feed everyone (perhaps single-handedly) on Sunday.  

7. I'm kind of sad to be leaving town again, just as I've started to re-connect with some old friends...but on the other hand, I'm rather looking forward to having a demanding schedule again.  I'm hoping that new friends and lots of work will help take my mind of missing Israel and friends from there.  

8. I've started reading Jerusalem Post headlines online.  I find that when people find out I've been to Israel, the first thing they ask about is the current political situation.  If they were to ask about the political situation during the time of Solomon, I might be able to help them, but they never seem to be interested in that.  The joys of being an ancient history major. :)  So I've decided that over the summer I need to educate myself more on the modern state of Israel and current events there.  

9. Lately, removal of outpostAmerican pressure to stop settlement growth have been the subject of debate in the headlines.  It's interesting to see different perspectives batted around.  Settlers are among the most extreme people in Israel, unwilling to give up even an inch of the land they believe they are Biblically entitled to.  I'll quote from this article:

"Israelis must acknowledge that just as Israel's right to exist cannot be denied, neither can Palestine's," the US president said at Cairo University. "It is time for these settlements to stop."

Such statements are rejected out of hand by residents here, who view the increase in American pressure as misguided and ill-informed.

"I think it's symptomatic of Western thought," Gal said. "They read so deeply into a situation that in reality, is quite simple. We're the Jewish people and this is our home, and the Arabs are not going to stop attacking us if we leave Givat Asaf. If Israel pulls back from the settlements, Ben-Gurion Airport will become the next target. You have to ask yourself, what could we possibly gain from another disengagement?"

I have to say that this settler's arogance really struck me.  "We're the Jewish people." As if that is the answer to all questions.  To them it is.  If we push theology aside for a moment, historical rights are hard to determine.  Jews base their claim to the land on their historic presence there as documented by the Bible.  However, the Canaanites had possession long before the Hebrews came, and Arabs and Turks ruled long after the Jewish people were scattered abroad.  As far as total time in the land is concerned, Jews really have a debatable claim.  Of course, everything is far more complicated...which is one reason I wish both Jews and Arabs would be less black and white in their perspectives.  

10. And on the other side there is this article:

An IDF soldier was lightly wounded Tuesday morning after a 13-year-old Palestinian boy stabbed him at the Hawara checkpoint, south of Nablus.

Soldiers arrested the assailant, who had entered the checkpoint through the "humanitarian lane," which is meant to be used by Palestinians in need of immediate medical attention and therefore bypasses the inspection in the regular lane.

Such actions seem to lend credence to the settlers' claims.  There is always food for thought in the events in modern Israel...usually depressing thoughts.  It's a mess.

11. I talked to my brother and sister-in-law tonight, which was good.  We talked about my perspective on my church since coming back and sort of brainstormed ideas on how to make all my new-found knowledge useful to the Body.  This question is sort of a corollary to one of the most commonly asked questions I get: "What are you going to do with this degree?"  I tell people, "I will be a better informed Christian."  If nothing else, I want to be able to use what I've  learned to encourage people in their faith...but I want to do that without being a critical know-it-all.  That balance could be difficult to find.  Something to work on this summer.  

12. And with that, it's high time that I head to bed.  My next post will probably be about some camp adventures.  :)