In "The Cost of Discipleship," Dietrich Bonhoeffer explains that there is a two-part surrender to God: for Abraham, he gave up his homeland to start a family as a stranger in a strange land, but then was asked to give up his son; for Peter, he gave up fishing to become a member of Jesus' inner circle, but then he gave up being a disciple; for Martin Luther, he gave up the life of a worldly priest to become a cloistered monk, but then gave up the monastery. In each of these examples, the one who gave up everything to follow Christ ended up back where they started, yet at the same time, everything was different for them: Abraham kept his family, but understood his family in a new way; Peter returned to fishing, but became a fisher of people; Luther lived out his years as a priest in the world, but as a Protestant rather than a Catholic. For me, as I return to the very same life I left two weeks ago, I am pondering my two-part surrender. I gave up approaching the Bible as an historical document years ago. How can the infinite God be contained by a finite history? What I have surrendered on this pilgrimage is the idea that historicity and reality have to be the same thing. The mystery of faith that we proclaim may not be a historical fact, but it is most definitely an historical reality:
Friday, May 9, 2008
Return of the Pilgrim
In "The Cost of Discipleship," Dietrich Bonhoeffer explains that there is a two-part surrender to God: for Abraham, he gave up his homeland to start a family as a stranger in a strange land, but then was asked to give up his son; for Peter, he gave up fishing to become a member of Jesus' inner circle, but then he gave up being a disciple; for Martin Luther, he gave up the life of a worldly priest to become a cloistered monk, but then gave up the monastery. In each of these examples, the one who gave up everything to follow Christ ended up back where they started, yet at the same time, everything was different for them: Abraham kept his family, but understood his family in a new way; Peter returned to fishing, but became a fisher of people; Luther lived out his years as a priest in the world, but as a Protestant rather than a Catholic. For me, as I return to the very same life I left two weeks ago, I am pondering my two-part surrender. I gave up approaching the Bible as an historical document years ago. How can the infinite God be contained by a finite history? What I have surrendered on this pilgrimage is the idea that historicity and reality have to be the same thing. The mystery of faith that we proclaim may not be a historical fact, but it is most definitely an historical reality:
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Early in the Morning at the Tomb
Sunday, May 4, 2008
Behold, the Lamb of God!
Saturday, May 3, 2008
The End of the World as We Know It
The fortified city gate at Megiddo
The history of Megiddo can be traced back to the 4th century B.C.E. - in other words, it was settled at least 6000 years ago. The site of the city is in the Jezreel Valley, along what was the main road between Egypt and Mesopotamia. It was a very important city in terms of commerce and military power, and thus much coveted by ancient rulers and warriors. The best the archeologists can tell, the city of Megiddo was settled, built up, occupied, conquered, destroyed, and rebuilt no less than 25 times during its time as a city. The good King Josiah lost his life in a battle with Pharaoh Neco II at Megiddo (2 Kings 23:28-30), which has led to the belief that at this place, where so many battles have been waged, the ultimate battle between good and evil will happen, with good finally triumphing for all time. In the Christian tradition, John of Patmos referred to this location as the "Mountain of Megiddo" - or in Hebrew, Armegeddon.
Above is a picture of the Jezreel Valley from Megiddo ... it would have been very easy to see ancient travelers between Egypt and Mesopotamia approaching the city, and so it's easy to see why it was so important to control this city in the ancient world. In our modern world, however, the commerce value of this particular route has been greatly reduced. In short, it's not really worth fighting over anymore. I can't imagine this being the literal site of the final showdown between good and evil, but I am far more appreciative of the rich symbolism in John's prophecy after being here, given the very real history of this city. Indeed, the history of humanity is one long history of battle after battle - attempts to establish security and prosperity - as individuals and as societies. Our hope - as individuals and as a people - is the reign of peace, security, and prosperity forever.
Thursday, May 1, 2008
Sabbath
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
City Hall and the Airport Chapel
Today we visited two sites that are far north of the region we have been exploring. The first site was an archeological site called Tel Hazor. Hazor was the site of the palace for Canaanite kings, 14th-13th centuries BCE. This particular city was detroyed by fire during Joshua's conquest of the Promised Land (Joshua 11:10-13). Although Hazor was never an important Israelite city, experiencing the city gate has given me a new (and more accurate!) understanding of what actually happens at the city gate. When, for example, we read about Boaz securing the right to marry Ruth, it happens at the city gate (Ruth 4). I have always imagined a bunch of guys standing around under some trees ... but this is not the case! In ancient days, fortified cities had "meeting rooms" built into the walls next to the gate into the city. This way, if foreigners had business in the city, they could be received at the gate and taken to one of the meeting rooms - they never had to actually enter the city. So these meeting rooms at the city gate served in much the same way a City Hall serves today - it's the place where the city's business was conducted. If you wanted to get a building permit for a new shed, you'd go to the city gate! But instead of heading "downtown" like we do today, you would head to the edge of town.
The second site we visited was Caesarea Philippi, the traditional location of Peter's confession to Jesus' question, "Who do you say that I am?" Many of us wondered what Jesus was doing all the way out here ... and how did he get from Caesarea Philippi to Mount Tabor for the Transfiguration in only six days? (Or was it eight days, as Luke suggests? Or perhaps the Transfiguration happened on the much closer, but less traditional, Mount Hermon ...) My answer: I don't know. I do know, however, that the physical characteristics of the locations for both of these stories add a dimension to their depth. Caesarea Philippi is the site of the Sanctuary of Pan, a Greco-Roman god. Because of the multi-cultural nature of the Roman Empire, and particularly of Caesarea Philippi, the Sanctuary of Pan was recognized as a holy site by many different groups of people. So - if the ancient "city gate" was equivalent to the modern-day city hall, the ancient Sanctuary of Pan might be compared to an interfaith chapel at an airport - many consider it sacred space, but few agree on the details of its sacredness.
Jesus' two questions to his disciples are meaningful questions, but the fact that the story is located in such a multi-cultural (dare we say "relativistic") location as Caesarea Philippi adds a whole other dimension:
"Who do people say the Son of Man is?"
"Who do you say that I am?
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
A Different Perspective
I wasn't able to write yesterday for two reasons. First of all, our morning excursion ran late; I promised to help our "theologian in residence," Roberta Bondi, on some rather difficult Su Doku puzzles but since we got back late, I didn't have time to do my reading and reflecting in the afternoon. After dinner, I was exhausted, so a bunch of us just hung out for a little while before bed. It was fun - not very productive, but extremely re-creational.
Secondly, I thought I didn't have a lot to write about yesterday, anyway. We took a 3-hour boat ride on the Sea of Galilee, and we went by the places we'd already seen the past two days. All we did was see the same old things from a different perspective ... then I thought, yes, that's the whole point, isn't it - to experience these sites, these stories, these traditions from a different perspective?
Speaking of a different perspective - it has finally happened ... I've been spiritually and emotionally moved. Or as Wesley said, "my heart was strangely warmed." And it happened, of all places, at the Grotto of Mary, traditional home of Jesus' mother. It looked like a home much more than Peter's house did, and our tour guide said that graffitti had been discovered in it ("Ave Maria," etc) that dated back well before the early Church was trying to identify holy sites. I was expecting to see a big gaudy display, but I was very impressed both with the holy site and the church that above it. The Franciscans have done a wonderful job in terms of their stewardship of these sites (well, in my humble opinion - I know some who would strongly disagree!). So, did I see the actual home of Jesus' mother? I have no idea. But I am strongly reminded again, not just intellectually but existentially, that even though I don't know what happened here 2000 years ago, I am absolutely sure in the core of my being that SOMETHING happened, and it was pretty significant, and the world is still responding to it, and whatever it was, my life is better because of it.