It’s another sign I tell you…

Apologies for yet another sign but I saw this on the portico of the Gethsemane church and couldn’t resist bloging it… Fill in your own jokes about Gafcons recent “pilgrimage” in Jerusalem, the Lambeth conference or any church you know…

Its a sign I tell you.....

Do you think the wise men had trouble getting their camels up there??

Israel – first days

Being back in the Holy Land is in many ways familiar, walking through the Jaffa Gate into the old city on the first morning was instantly recognisable from my trip here in 1998. At the same time it’s very different. In 1998 I was here on a Guide and Scout conference, my focus was secular and when we visited the old city it was as tourists. Now we are here as a pilgrims. Our days start and end with prayer, we read the scriptures at various points and 10 years and half a theology degree later I look at things through different eyes.

That said I am wary here of thinking that I have any clearer picture now then I did then. In our first lecture – where we were introduced to some of the cultural and political issues you come across in this land – it was rightly said that the longer that you are here the less you know, and I am conscious of that fact especially as I will be blogging as I go along. So I start my musings with a health warning (or should that be a reality check?) that what I say at the beginning may differ from what I say at the end – but then I suppose that that is what this trip is all about :o)

So the first morning we went to the old city and among other things we visited the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. This is a real eye opener and is a great introduction to the myriad differences that exist within the Christian community. It’s a great sadness that, at this most holy of sites, the church that is believed to encompass the place of Jesus’ crucifixion and his tomb, division is one of the things that hit me first. We came into the church through the back way, over a low roof where the Ethiopian Orthodox monks live, having been kicked out of the main church several centuries ago, in a disagreement that is somehow is still relevant and ongoing many generations later… then into the body of the church where each of the five Christian groups that are guardians of the church have their own areas and chapels, that they guard jealously. Worst of all though is that the keys of the church are in the guardianship of two Muslim families, because the various Christian factions cannot be trusted to deal with access fairly…. whatever the rights or wrongs of this situation, the witness it is to those looking in is anything but positive about the Christian faith.

Inside the church are several holy sites – The hill of Calvary, with the hole in ground into which Jesus’ cross was placed, the slab on which his body was anointed and of course the tomb in which he was laid.

To be honest these sites don’t do a great deal for me, I struggle to find any sense of Jesus through the vast ornateness of these monuments. I think that a lot of this is tied up with my Anglican and British sensibilities that looks for God in silence and simplicity, that can’t quite get away from the fact of questioning how do they know that was the actual hole where the cross was? or Indeed that this was even the hill of Golgotha? What you can see however is how much these sites do mean to other pilgrims there, especially those from the orthodox Christian communities. Everywhere around the church you see people reverently touching the artefacts, rubbing photos on them (to bless those who couldn’t make the trip perhaps?) and in the tomb of the Christ emotions run especially high. Kneeling before the stone slab said to be where Jesus body lay many people weep and in some cases sobbed in an almost hysterical manner, there was a real sense that, to be there, to be able to physically experience these places was the pinnacle of their lives. It was both humbling and moving to be among these pilgrims but also to some extent sad, sad because somewhere along the way in the western church we have lost the sense of the physical in worship. This is particularly so in the protestant churches and I think, based on what I witnessed, we are in some way lesser for it.

So something for me to ponder, the first of many things no doubt! It remains to be seen what effect they may have on me and my thinking over the coming weeks and months…

Useful phrases..

Having arrived safely in Israel, I thought it would be a good idea to try and learn a little of the local language. What I love about phrase books is the seemingly completely random phrases that they think are top priority. Witness the phrases that Lonely planet think are the most likely to be needed on a trip to Israel…

Joseph eats falafel, Joseph’s fat.
The cappuccino is for David.
Are koalas from Australia?
Ilana studied Chinese in Paris.
The student is as stupid as a wall.
Don’t drink all the vodka!
The opera singer that sang all night is my friend.
I don’t mind watching, but I’d prefer not to participate.

Somehow I think I may be sticking to English…

On an entirely separate note Blogger is to clever for its own good. Sensing that I was in Israel it decided to very helpfully give me all the log in information in Hebrew… case of guess which button you press to log in!

It’s amazing who you run into…

When sitting out on your steps!

It’s been quite a year for meeting people, first breakfast with the Archbishops of Canterbury and York and now a conversation with HRH!

We had been told that he would walk around the college court and then go into tea with a few selected staff and students and so we were sitting out fully expecting to just catch a glimpse of the prince as he walked past. When he actually stopped to talk to us it took us totally by surprise but he was quick to put us at ease and was really nice, he even apologised for intruding on revision time and said we could blame him if we didn’t get good marks!

I know that the Royal family often get bad press but I have nothing but admiration for the Prince after seeing him at work. We were his fourth visit of the day and yet he was still full of enthusiasm and took time talking with people, especially the children. I think even the more cynical college members were won over!

So I wonder who will I meet next?

Worrying developments…

… I think I am turning into a vestment-a-holic.

I entirely blame my attachment church who have a robe cupboard that is every little girls dressing up fantasy with vestments in every shade from deep green to rose pink and enough fringing, tassels and delicately embroidered silk brocade to sink a whole fleet of battleships. When you witness that week on week I think it starts to effect your perception of what is normal. It started off innocently enough, I bought a second hand clerical cloak last term, an absolute bargain as it had had only one careful lady owner and was less then half price. I consoled myself with the fact that I was merely being practical, thinking ahead to the time I will be performing internments in cold, wet churchyards and besides it would also be useful should anyone need to go to a fancy dress party as Count Dracula!

However this week I found myself racing to the reception after an email came out saying that the college had been given a set of stoles by the family of a recently deceased cleric and they were available to students on a first come, first served basis. I managed to acquire this ….

… which is just wonderful. I think it was made in the late 1930’s or early forties and the quality of the embroidery is exquisite and its all hand stitched. I tend to be very romantic about history and so I love the fact that its slightly scuffed and faded – it just adds to the sense that it has a great story to it….

However given that a few years ago I didn’t even think that the wearing of clerical collars was a good thing I am getting worried about my increasing love of clerical bling. I can but hope that should I ever attempt to buy a berretta some kind friends will stage an intervention and bring me back into the evangelical light!

It seems like my "avoidance of essay" tactics have been found out....

I was wiling away some time using stumbleUpon on Firefox and this came up... ooops
Better get back to the grind I suppose still another 7000 words needed by next Tuesday :o(