Notes from Columbus: 5/5/2005 Philip Jenkins

Philip Jenkins recently wrote an award-winning book called The next Christendom. It is an eye-opening look at the projected future of Christianity.

The current picture of the demographics of Christianity: 2 billion Christians worldwide, of which 550,000 are in Europe, 470,000 in Latin Americ, and 360,000 in Africa.

If the rate of change goes on, by 2025, Latin America nad Africa will probably be tied for the most Christians. By mid-century, Africa will be the heartland of Christianity. Worldwide, there will be 3 billion Christians, of which only 1/5 will be Caucasian.

The rate of growth is incredible. Some African pastors are actually praying for fewer converts, since they have so many that they can't handle any more. Archbishops are worn out by having to consecrate so many new churches. And all of this growth is happening in the middle of devastating sickness. A picture of a 'typical' Christian would look more like a poor woman in Africa or China, than a white suburban American.

In 2050, if the current growth rate continues, the estimates are that countries with large numbers of Christians will include US, Mexico, Brazil, Nigeria, and the Congo, for example. But NOT on the list are Britain, France, Italy and Spain.

Mainstream Christianity in the future will be what we see today in African churches -- a pentacostal flavor with an emphasis on social justice.

The most important reason driving change is simply demographic. The average age in Italy is 40. The average age in Uganda is 16. 90% of the young people of the world are in Africa, Asia, and Latin America.

The growth of Christianity is a women's movement. Even if the denomination doesn't ordain women, they are key converts and influencers.

Global Christianity is a healing movement. Especially focused on Luke 8. This includes the knowledge of the reality of the demonic, and exorcisms.

In the 1960s there was an expectation that the world would be scientific and urban, industrialized. But this hasn't brought global wealth or health or happiness.

Welfare, health, education services are a great motivator. Whichever religion addresses these issues will attract people. In many places, this is the great appeal of Islam. What are the implications to us?

In the past, missionaries were accused of bringing an alienist imperialist religion. but the most successful social movement of the 20th century is Christianity! communism and fascism are dead. Other movements have passed. Christianity remains. So the missionaries were actually effective, in spite of their flaws.

Christian history doesn not happen how or where we think. Ethiopia and Armenia were actually the first Christian staes. The historic norm of Christianity is persecution and oppression.

Christianity does not have a geographic core. In the 17th century, St Vincent de Paul, wrote during a time of religious chaos and people killing each other: "Jesus said his church will last till the end of time. He never ;mentioned Europe".

Look at Europe today, and think what it means for mission. We think of mission as something that goes from global north to global south. But it is now reversed. Missionaries are starting to come from the South, to evangelize secular Europe.

The US is not as badly off as Europe. The great commission is to preach the gospel to the whole world, but the world came here. For example, Nigerians are one of the world's diaspora people. Houston is the US center of Nigerian community. The US church can influence world policy, by acting politically to provide protection. This could include intervention in cases of forced conversion, for example.

El-Shaddai is a global trans-national Philippine church. Many of the 'invisible' people who serve us in diners are Philippinos who belong to this church. Talk to them!

Ask what other churches in your community are doing to provide assistance to the global church. You may have a church in your neighborhood with contacts in a third-world country. Maybe you can work together with them.

But the most important mission direction today is from the South to the South: Koreans going to Muslim nations; Brazilians in Africa; Nigerians in India.

Notes from Columbus: 5/4/2005 Rich Nathan

Rich Nathan is the Senior pastor of the Columbus Vineyard. His church was a wonderful host to us at the conference.

• II Tim 4, Paul draws a contrast between those who listen to teachers who say what they want to hear, and those he challenges to evangelism. He says: do the work of an evangelist.
  
• Are we a bulwark (protecting the church from erosion, and keeping it 'safe' from the outside), or a bulldozer (changing the landscape)?
  
• We need faith in the gospel (rather than in ourselves or our skills). We need to go to our community with confidence in the good news of christ. Preach good news. Good news! Christ can fill the hole in your soul. Good news! You can be gorgiven of your sins. Good news! To do a great job of evangelism, preach good news. God has done everything to secure for us what we could not do for ourself.
  
• Call for a public decision. Make the message clear. Don't blend a salvation call with something else, that might make the response ambiguous.
  
• Teach the church to be inviters. Pastors need to partner with the people. The people invite their friends to come, the pastor preaches the gospel.
  
• Model evangelism. Use every method, for example use the internet.
  
• Discipleship is like chocolate milk Christianity (all mixed up indistinguishably with life) rather than a grapefruit (in sections).
  
• We have to remove the impediment to the gospel. Quote authorities the listener will respect. Perhaps the New York times, or a secular authority. Try to be inclusive in your preaching, for example, make sure to not leave out women.
  
• Use apologetics as you preach. Remove issues that could keep someone from believing.
  
• Every community has boundaries, but the characteristic of Christianity is how it treats people outside the boundaries.
  
• Preach social justice.
  
• Treat people's doubts with respect.
  
• Christianity is not an argument that you are trying to win.
  
• Rich preaches to Christians and non-Christians together at each service. He thinks this trains and models for the church how to share their faith.
  
• Preach a freedom gospel, not just a forgiveness gospel. People aren't worried about justification.
  
• Speak to the lost
  
• Seak to seekers. Say 'you can find what you're looking for'.
  
• Speak to people in crisis.
  
• Speak to the successful but empty. Those who wonder 'is this all there is?'
  
• Believe in the power of the Holy Ghost.
  
• There comes a time when we need to call for a decision, to say yes to Jesus, to surrender.
  
• Tell people that the resistance they feel is from the enemy of their soul.
  

Notes from Columbus: 5/4/2005 Julia Pickerill

Julia Pickerill is a dynamic youth leader. She spoke with authority, while still being totally feminine. It was a terrific combination.

• The church is God's wonderful creation -- we should love it and speak well of it.
  
• New generations are always being birthed into the church.
  
• We need to look at how to bring the kingdom of God to the next generation.
  
• Who is the next generation? It doesn't all have one face.
  
• When we ask ourselves "what am I doing here?
  we can get into despair. Look at Romans 8. We need to get our eyes off of the bondage of decay and realize that thru Jesus we can be liberated.
  
• We ride behind the king. We ride behind Jesus, so we can go anywhere for the sake of the gospel of Jesus.
  
• It's not new -- our ministry is an incarnational ministry. When God wanted to save the world he went to them. What should we do?
  
  
  
  1. Go where they are
     
  2. Get to know who they are. Get to know them as they are.
     
  3. Serve and suffer and sacrifice for them.
     
  4. Tell them about Jesus.
     
  
  
• Look at how the emergent church is thinking. Here are the characteristics of the emergent church:
  
  
  
  • It is responding to postmodernity by evaluating the modern church. We should ask ourselves and evaluate ourselves (rather than evaluating other churches). Avoid a spirit of rebelliousness.
    
  • It evaluates modern Christians. So we should ask ourselves if we really reflect Christ. Don't be prideful or judgmental. Ask about yourself, not others.
    
  • It evaluates modern Christianity. So we need to be careful about what we do.
    
  • Evaluating postmodern culture. Note: he who marries the spirit of the age is sure to be a widow in the next. We need to be relevant to the people we are trying to reach. Ask yourself "what's for us and what's for them?" Make sure they can come in the door and that you are not creating barriers to their feeling at home. Do what brings them to Jesus. Do it, and if it works, do it some more.
    
  
  
• Challenge the young people to research what we can do about helping the emerging church in Africa. For example the AIDS crisis. The Sudan.
  
• Cutting edge form is easy: simply hold church at night, turn down the lights, and turn up the sound. But we need to concentrate on the function, not just the form.
  
• Be willing to go over the cliff, to take the gospel, healing, worship, justice, responsibility, liberation, to the next generation.
  
• Numbers 14 gives advice to older leaders.
  1)Identify new leaders who show courage, faith, whole-heartedness, people who show up.
  2)Identify older people who are relational and can help, or can host.
  
• Numbers 27:18-20 tells us: Release your younger leaders into significant ministry. Speak authority into them.
  
• Deut 8:2 tells us: Train up younger leaders. Tell our story to them.
  
• Deut 3:28 tells us: Encourage and strengthen younger leaders Tell them what their gifts are.
  
• Deut 5:32 tells us: Teach the leaders to obey God's word. Teach them to be God hearers and God obeyers.
  
• To older leaders, do this:
  
  
  
  • Parent the next generation
    
  • Make a place for the next generation
    
  • Don't be afraid of post-modern spirituality
    
  • Practice 'contact work' -- go somewhere that young people work.
    
  • Expect some chaos.
    
  
  
• To younger leaders, do this:
  
  
  
  • Deut 31 do not be afraid. Preach the gospel.
    
  • Deut 34:9 Receive teaching. Be humble.
    
  • Josh 24:15 choose this day who you will serve. Don't follow the idolatry of the culture.
    
  
  
• To everyone dealing with the next generation, choose these three preferences:
  
  
  
  • Choose function over form: are you seeing people being baptised, restored etc?
    
  • Choose Actions over words: Don't get too caught in dialog. Once the action works, then talk about it.
    
  • Choose Christ over cool. Suffering, service, and sacrifice won't fit into cool. We need to throw off everything that hinders us.
    
  
  

Notes from Columbus: 5/3/2005 Reverend Flake

Reverend Flake leads a church in Jamaica, with almost 20,000 members. He is also the president of Wilberforce University in Ohio (commuting weekly), and in his spare time(!) he writes books. He is a polished and dynamic speaker. Here are the words of wisdom he shared with us:

• Sometimes we don't think God has the power to lift us from our circumstances to do what he has called us to do. He grew up as a poor child picking cotton, and look at him now! How do we come to the realization of what God wants us to do? And how do we have the courage to do it?
  
• We need to trust that God will bless us if we follow his call.
  
• When we hide among the baggage we don't reach the capabilities God made us for. (I Sam 10:20-23). When God calls, stand up.
  
• People will come to a place where they are served.
  
• Don't let yourself be controlled by your fears. He had big dreams -- his church has built 161 homes, and over 600 senior citizen apartments.
  

Notes from Columbus: 5/3/2005 Rick Evans

How to lead healthy balanced ministry.

As part of the normal christian life, we should see healings. There will be different levels of anointing, but we should be seeing stuff.

There are 10 things that will help us to lead healthy balanced ministry times in the life of the church.

1. Believe in your heart that God wants to speak to you. The prophetic: God telling his secrets to his friends. We need to believe that God wants to speak through us. Jesus said "My sheep hear my voice"
   
2. Go beyond the obvious. Go beyond ministry by application. The sermon may be on a certain topic, but God may also be doing something else. Don't beg people to come up to satisfy the last teaching point.
   
   
   
   • Before the ministry time, prepare and listen.
     
   • When you arrive, look around and notice what God is doing.
     
   • During worship, look and sense what is going on.
     
   • During the teaching, also look around.
     
   • As you invite the Holy Spirit, don't be in a rush.
     
   
   
3. Commit to the activity of waiting on God. Learn what his voice sounds like in the quiet, so you can hear it in the noise. We want the giver, not just the gifts. In terms of hearing God's voice, we are always on a learning curve. It will grow over time as we are faithful.
   Ahead of ministry, listen and wait. Give God the opportunity and time to speak. (Rick shows up to conferences a day early and begins to walk. He brings a single piece of paper titled 'ministry time' and asks God to speak to him. God often tells him both the person's situation and what he wants to do or say. This builds faith, which leads to authority.)
   
4. Approach ministry times with authority. Be strong but not arrogant. Authority comes out of hearing what God wants to do. (If you didn't hear anything, still invite the Holy Spirit, but don't claim to know something if you didn't hear yet). Jesus has all authority and sends his disciples in his authority.
   
5. Two heads are better than one. Build a team. Benefit from collective gifting.
   
6. It's all in the packaging. This doesn't mean that you get slick, but don't scare people. Don't make people afraid you will point them out and reveal their sin. Give the word, but let them respond rather than singling them out.
   
7. Look for the signs of the Kingdom. The Lord may speak warnings to you. He may give you a sense of what's coming up. There are certain catalogs of images to become familiar with and notice -- a broken mirror may mean a woman hetes her image, for example. Look for the demonic. Look for the Holy Spirit.
   
8. Ask God for more anointing. And ask for your new marching orders.
   
9. Take time to stand in the waterfall. Receive.
   
10. Never give up!
    

Notes from Columbus: 5/3/2005 Rick Olmstead

• We can't be a 'bubble' church, separated from the world.
  
• We need to repent of the Jonah syndrome -- he didn't even want god to have compassion on the evil-doers.
  
• We have to love more than we hate--to love Moslems more than we hate Islam; to love abortionists more than we hate abortion;
  
• We need to be a refuge for the world, not from it.
  
• Non-Christians see us when we picket, they see what we are against, but they don't have a chance to see what we are for, so we need to welcome them in a very intentional way.
  
• Let's lower the drawbridge. We tend to make the narrow way too narrow. We need to reduce the cringe factor. To put it simply, don't be weird.
  
• God designed the court of the gentiles so non-believers had a place to come as seekers.
  
• We also need to make a way for them to belong before they believe.
  
• Realize that reaching the lost gets messy. It will cost money, people and atmosphere.
  
• We need to die to our preferences, to live for what God wants.
  
• We need to lay down our 'Vineyard Pride' and be willing to learn from those who are successfully catching fish.
  
• We need to contextualize the gospel to the people around us now.
  

Notes from Columbus: 5/2/2005 Gordon Fee

Gordon Fee is a seminary professor, and the author of numerous books, among them "How to Read the Bible for All It's Worth". He also worked on the latest Bible translation: Today's NIV.

Dr Fee spoke on God as King.

The king is intent on ruling over people who bear his character: I Cor 1:18-25.

Corinth was the center of activity in the Greco-Roman world, attracting people from all over the empire. It was wealthy, and worldly-wise, and full of vice. Even the believers in Corinth had subtly joined in to the Corinthian culture.

But God called it foolishness. While the people thought that they had 'arrived' spiritually, and were self-congratulatory, God called it foolishness.

God chose that we in our own wisdom could not come to know him. God did it by the foolishness and weakness of the cross.

The Bible tells us that the Jews demanded miraculous signs, while the Greeks sought wisdom. Both models demand that God behave according to their own human views. Both are in a sense idolatry. Our world still has those two views: those who demand miracles, and those who intellectualize.

While God is both all powerful and all knowing (and thus can answer calls for miracles or for intellect), we need to present the cross rather than trying to argue with people, as if we can somehow make God look good. A crucified messiah is an oxymoron. It was a scandal.

We can't earn God's favor. The cross says we can't buy salvation. We need to throw ourselves on God's mercy. And through the cross, we are loved out of our disobedience.

Notes from Columbus: 5/2/2005 Bert Waggoner

The opening speech was by Bert Waggoner, the national director of Vineyard USA:

The Vineyard is 25 years old, which is typically an institutional point of crisis.
Just like the Israelites after their journey from Egypt, we're standing at the edge of the river -- do we look back or do we enter the promised land?
It is time for us to join the Misseo Dei, the mission of God. What must we do to enter the land? There are three key things:
1) Reaffirm who we are: a movement, but not just a random, aimless movement, we are now a 21c movement, a kingdom of God movement. Our mission includes evangelism and social transformation.
2) Follow faith rather than fear.
3) Hungry after God, but not frightened of intellectual pursuit.

Lamentations, Ecclesiastes, Job

Last night I taught a VLT class on Lamentations, Ecclesiastes, Job.

There was a lot of energy in the room, spiced up with a little bit of spring fever, and some classic good humored attempts to fool the substitute teacher. But I did find myself grateful for some totally unrelated experiences which were suddenly standing me in good stead.

I had a flashback to an evening about 18 years ago, when I was babysitting the children of the pastor, and they were testing my limits by making up stories of how late they could go to bed. Nope, I didn't fall for it 18 years ago, and I didn't fall for the '45 minute break, and end at 9pm' ploy last night. Sorry guys.

Then I was reminded of the nursing home. After dealing with sleepers and the senile, a little bit of class rowdyness is totally not a problem for me. I've been heckled by a 90 year old demented woman in a wheelchair, so a little bit of whispering (and even some uncontrollable giggling) isn't a big deal.

And then we got to the topic at hand: Lamentations, Ecclesiastes, and Job. Normally you would think this would be rather heavy, but there were moments of levity. The class performed a skit based on the book of Job. Their natural sense of drama brought a whole new flavor to the book. Satan hid in the closet. Job's friends spoke with Hebrew, Yiddish, and Brooklyn accents (or something like that). Job protested at being unfairly accused.

I bet that when Steve Robbins gave us the assignment to write one-sentence summaries of the paragraphs in the book of Ephesians, he didn't realize what would happen if I tried the same exercise on the book of Job. Except it sort of turned out about a sentence per chapter, and inadvertently I ended up writing a skit. Of course, it loses all the grandeur of "where were you when I created the heavens and the earth", but gains in pungency. But it was really the accents that carried it. Thanks guys!

...and sell them to you

My friends know that I have a very literal mind. Rather than interpreting what is intended, I read what things actually say. This stands me in very good stead at work, where it allows me to notice ambiguities in business requirement documents. I can then get the documents corrected before the programmers (who also think literally) code what was asked for, rather than what was intended.

But in real life it's sometimes funny, and sometimes confusing, when I read what was stated, rather than what was meant.

"Police do not park here". But everyone else does?

"Stop smoking here". To me it sounds like its a command to not smoke here. But then I realized it was an invitation to join a program.

Sometimes it happens verbally too. The other day I was in a store and a woman came up to the cashier carrying a case of Poland Spring water. She proudly showed it to a friend, boasting about the good price, and commenting on how much her kids like it. "They drink it like it's water". Lady, it IS water!

But my all time favorite was a sign on the wall of a peach farm out East. The sign described in great detail all the steps from tree to market, and why the peaches were unusually good. After detailing the hand picking and sorting, it ended: "...we pick out the bad ones and sell them to you."

strange bedfellows

In these days following the death of the Pope, I've been interested to read about his many accomplishments. I'm most impressed by the ability he showed to inspire passion in the youth, and in his demonstrated desire for unity -- shown especially in his efforts towards reconciliation with Eastern Orthodox Christians, and with Judaism.

Beliefnet (an odd, eclectic website honoring various types of spirituality as diverse as Paganism and Zoroastrianism) has an article compiling statements from various world leaders and groups, concerning their reaction to the death of the pope. Amazingly diverse people had uniformly glowing responses to the life of John Paul II.

The two people I noticed who damned with faint praise have probably never appeared side-by-side in print before this very sentence. Are you ready? Representatives from Catholics for Free Choice, and the Taliban. Strange bedfellows indeed.

My main reason for visiting Beliefnet is that they have some funny (clean) religious jokes. They also have some catchy questionnaires, which are a little addicting until you realize that they aren't really that good. Either that or I'm in the wrong church -- all this time I thought I belonged in the Vineyard, and now I'm told that my beliefs match 100% to Orthodox Quaker, instead.

For such a time as this...

Sunday I felt sort of like Queen Esther. A situation came up with the oddest sequence of circumstances, and I realized anew how God uses the most implausible events in our lives.

Did you read the blog from two weeks ago, about the nursing home resident for whom 'S' prayed? He said he regained some of his hearing. So I was eager to see him again and find out how he was. At the end of the service I rushed over to him and said,
"Hi, 'H', how are you doing?"
I was distressed to find out that I couldn't understand a word he said. He spoke on and on, and it was just gibberish. I was afraid that he had had a stroke, yet it seemed too effortless for that to be the case. Eventually I had a suspicion, and I interrupted him to say:
"'H', are you speaking English?"
"No," He replied, "I'm speaking Russian"
"Speak English"
"You don't speak Russian?"
"No."
"Not at all?" He was clearly disappointed.
"Well, I know one sentence." I responded.
"Speak to me, speak to me!" He cried out.
(My one sentence was taught to me 22 years ago by a former co-worker from Kiev. I'm sure my pronunciation was bad, and I don't have the slightest clue how to spell it).
"Yahachu da moy" I attempted.
'H' roared with laughter and repeated "Yahachu da moy".
"Do you know what I said?" I questioned.
"You said - 'I want to go home!'" He exclaimed with glee. Then he turned suddenly serious and said, "I have prayed to God for years that he would send me someone who would speak Russian to me, and today you have come".
It wasn't until I was leaving that I noticed that one of the aides was Russian, and he was probably confusing me with her. But that wasn't the important thing.
I suddenly realized that if he was able to understand me parroting a sentence of Russian that I learned phonetically 22 years ago, he really could hear.

Lessons from John Paul II

The pope died this weekend. I figured that it would be appropriate to say something about this at the nursing home.

Towards the end of the service, I started talking about the lessons from his life, especially his work towards unity, for example his condemnation of anti-semitism. And then I spoke about his last days, and his reported serenity in the face of death. Usually, people sleep or chat while I'm speaking (it's a good lesson in humility). But suddenly you could have heard a pin drop, and people were really listening.

I asked them if they had that serenity. I asked if they wanted that serenity. I preached about the resurrection, and the truth that it is in the power of Jesus' resurrection that we gain eternal life. I offered a way to obtain that serenity. And finally, I led them in the sinner's prayer. I know that many times they repeat prayers just out of habit or obedience, but I was astounded at the groundswell of response. It seemed that the whole entire room was responding:

Father God, I'm sorry for my sins...

Wouldn't it be a nice epitaph for the Pope, if his example actually led them into the kingdom?

One Male Goat

What do these phrases have in common?

must wash his clothes, one male goat, uttered his oracle, bathe with water

These are the statistically improbable phrases that Amazon found in the Bible. They analyze how many times a phrase occurs in a particular book, compared to the rest of the books they have looked at. I would have expected something about worshipping the Lord, but from a mathematical point of view, the distinctive feature of the bible is one male goat.

I thought it would be fun to look at some other famous books and find their statistically improbably phrases (SIPs). Here is a test just for fun. Read the following lists, and guess what book they come from:

A) selfish attachments, three gunas, selfless action, supreme goal, karma yoga, selfless service

B) spunk water

C) cilice belt, lame saint, seeded womb, lettered dials, corporal mortification, rosewood box, sacred feminine, royal bloodline, stone cylinder, sweater pocket

D) green eggs

E) lemon verbena sachet, ter mek, right hyah, dey din, iron rampart, free darkies, dar ain, slanting green eyes, whut dey, pie wagon, barbecue tomorrow, bandage rolling, gwine ter, dat chile, carriage block, flapped the reins, weary load, ter git, cape jessamine, look lak, got ter, come ter

F) slop arm, reconstructed pioneer settlement, thump rod, relay barrel, thump barrel, middle sill, proof vial, two end logs, churn jar, cut lap joints, plug stick, heater box, dovetail notches, shaving horse, fer dinner, white whiskey, cap arm, fifty gallon barrel, steam moves, pure corn, wall logs

G) defeating temptation, life purpose statement, real fellowship, five purposes, fulfill your mission, local fellowship, your spiritual gifts, your shape

H) bookstall keeper, merry old gentleman, replied the girl, fat gentleman, latter gentleman

Now that you’ve tried to guess, here are the books that those phrases were from:

A) Bhagavad Gita
B) The adventures of Tom Sawyer
C) The Da Vinci Code
D) Green eggs and ham
E) Gone with the wind
F) The Foxfire Book : Hog Dressing, Log Cabin Building, Mountain Crafts and Foods, Planting by theSigns, Snake Lore, Hunting Tales, Faith Healing, Moonshining
G) The purpose driven life.
H) Oliver Twist

just an excuse for a picture

Sunset walk at Buena Vista 

Well, I wanted to try out the picture functionality, so this is just an excuse for a picture! But I'll tell you the story anyway.
Imagine a late afternoon walk in Costa Rica. Walking through the forest we were delighted to come across a family of howler monkeys. We weren't sure why the guide was urging us along, until suddenly the monkeys expressed their displeasure physically by peeing on us.

We were still laughing when suddenly the guide gestured us to stay back, and swung his tripod around to use as staff in front of him. He was dancing back and forth and we couldn't really see what was wrong. Once the path was cleared he confessed that there had been a very dangerous poisonous snake.

And a few steps further and we came out into this clearing, where we watched the sunset. It was especially sweet after the excitement of the hike

He can hear!

On Palm Sunday we visited the Nursing Home, to hold a special worship service and give out palms to the residents.
We also circulated through the building to give palms to the staff. There was a festive atmosphere -- by the time we left, the wheelchairs, counters and medication carts all seemed to sport a palm frond.
But the most exciting thing happened at the end. 'S' was trying to talk to a gentleman who was deaf, and they were both frustrated by the difficulty in communicating, and so she put her hand on his ear, and prayed that God would heal him. As she continued to talk to him, he cried out
"what did you do to me? I can hear!"
He was still partially deaf -- but was excited at the hearing that had been restored. And with tears in his eyes, he proclaimed
"it's a miracle."

Syncretism

We've been studying the prophets in VLI, and syncretism is a recurrent theme. The funny thing about syncretism is that the farther away you are the easier it is to see. But seeing it in our own culture is much harder, and seeing it in ourselves is the hardest yet.

I avoid horoscopes, but enjoy opening up Chinese fortune cookies and reading what is inside. In fact, for a long while I had a fortune taped to my computer monitor. It simply stated "someone is speaking well of you", and I had neatly written on it "speak louder". But if someone were to challenge me on why the cookies are OK and the horoscopes are not, I wouldn't have a good answer.

I heard an amusing line on the news this morning. The context was the brouhaha over the dress code for fire-fighters marching in today's St Patrick's Day parade. The particular issue was over the prohibition of wearing green beanies with their uniforms, apparently because the department is trying to regain respect after some scandals where fire-fighters engaged in various alcohol and sex escapades while on duty. Therefore the green beanie ban. I'm not clear on why they thought that would help, but maybe I'm naive. Anyway, the punchline was a heartfelt quote by a gentleman who publically proclaimed that the green beanie ban was "an offense to the faith". While I think the ban is silly, I don't quite see how it will tear down Christianity.

And then there was a friend who was upset at the behavior of fellow believers and who emotionally announced: "I'm just looking for the gospel. The gospel of Johnny Cash and Elvis".

Cross cultural life milestones

When you share the same culture with someone, it's easy to know how to respond to life milestones. But it's more complicated when they have a different culture. So I try to just respond naturally and hope it's ok. I'm always wondering how I can show the love of Jesus to my co-workers, and I'm afraid that I'll inadvertently do something rude.

Last week, 'R's wife had a baby. I was looking for 'S', so I marched into their shared office, and 'R' announced the news. He has a bit of an accent, so he had to say it 3 times before I understood. Then, in his effort to communicate he gestured to some Indian pastries on the counter and said 'that is why this'. I assumed they were to share so I picked one and took a bite. I have found that whenever I taste Indian food, my Indian colleagues stare at me intently. But this makes it hard to know whether they are staring because I am doing something wrong. Frankly, I'm still not sure whether the silver coating was intended to be eaten or not. It didn't really taste like a food product. To distract us all from the half pastry I was still holding in my hand, I asked what his daughter's name was. It was unfamiliar to me, so I asked what it meant and he told me it was the name of a goddess. I was overwhelmed with sadness for this little girl whose very sense of self would be connected with this goddess, but I didn't know what to say. So I finally just murmured that it was a pretty name.

And then there was 'P'. He came up to me, beaming, and announced that he was getting married. I congratulated him and reminded him that he had already told me. But after a bit of a confused interchange, I finally realized that he was differentiating between the fact that he had gotten engaged in February, but now he actually had a wedding date scheduled, for May. I was totally touched by the fact that he made a point of saying that I am the 2nd person in the U.S. that he had told, ahead of all his compatriots. He feels a connection to me. He is hungry to be wise, so I tell him stories about Biblical wisdom. He liked hearing about Solomon, for example.

I was still trying to figure out if it was an arranged marriage, but I wasn't sure if it was polite to ask. So I said, "have you known her a long time, or only just now". His answer was "not just now, I have been engaged since February". So I'm still confused. Then he mentioned that he is already feeling the responsibility that will come when he is a married man. He explained that in his country, you are expected to stay married and not get divorced, so it is a bigger responsibility than it is in the US. I was saddened to realize that he assumes the US is a Christian country, and assumes that fidelity is not a Christian value.

He will only be here for another 2 weeks, and then he returns to India. I need wisdom and discernment to be able to communicate to him something of the love of God.

Flash is fat. Barney is on bed-rest.

I've been doing a lot of praying lately, asking God to heal.

The people I've been praying for have not been getting healed. I realize that it's good to keep humble, but I hate praying again and again and not seeing results. And yet I feel that God wants me to pray, so I keep doing so.

It's not really accurate to say I'm not seeing results, it's merely that I'm not seeing results on people. But I've been doing better with animals. This is not exactly the spiritual gift I was asking for. And yet it is a blessing from God.

Remember Barney the Beagle? He was prescribed medication that was so expensive that his family was considering traveling to Canada to get a discounted prescription. Anyway, he did improve. And then when he had a relapse in Fall, and was hospitalized with pneumonia, I got a call asking me to pray. And God was gracious, and he recovered.

Last week, I visited Barney, because a planned dinner date with his family was re-located to keep him company, because he has hurt his neck and needs to stay in his crate for 6 weeks, to try to avoid re-injuring it. It's sort of the doggy version of bed rest.

While I was there, I mentioned that I needed to read my email when I got home, to check on the status of a cat I was praying for. Well, my hostess was eager to find out, and offered her computer. I logged in and found out that Flash's suspected abdominal tumor had been re-diagnosed as... fat.

My hostess was thrilled, and wanted to cooperate in getting the same results for Barney. So she asked if I needed a photo of him for the prayer to work. I said I didn't need a photo, but that it was sometimes helpful to touch a person I was praying for. She asked whether it would work through the crate, and I assured her that it would. So before I left, I sat on the floor and reached into the crate and laid hands on Barney, and asked for God's healing.

So now I need all my friends to also pray for Barney! [That's you guys.] His family is beginning to believe in this prayer thing, and I think we're finally at the point where they will ask me if they need healing for themselves, not just for their dog.

So while you are praying for Barney, please also pray that God will stir up and expand the gift of healing in myself and in our Church, and that we will see more and more people healed, in the name of Jesus.

Bhagdad Burning excerpts from 2003

I want to share a few fragments from an Iraqi blog. This isn't my own writing. My point in highlighting this is not politics, rather it puts a human face on events on the other side of the world. Someone we can be praying for.

Excerpts from Bhagdad Burning blog by Riverbend (an Iraqi woman living in Bhagdad).

August 6, 2003
"For me, April 9 was a blur of faces distorted with fear, horror and tears. All over Baghdad you could hear shelling, explosions, clashes, fighter planes, the dreaded Apaches and the horrifying tanks heaving down streets and highways. Whether you loved Saddam or hated him, Baghdad tore you to pieces. Baghdad was burning. Baghdad was exploding… Baghdad was falling. April 9 is the American Occupation Day. I can understand why Bush was celebrating- I can’t understand how anyone who values independence would celebrate it."

Aug 22, 2003
"This war started out a war on WMD. When those were not found, and proof was flimsy at best, it turned suddenly into a “War against Terrorism”. When links couldn’t be made to Al-Qaeda or Osama Bin Laden ...it turned into a “Liberation”. Call it whatever you want- to me it’s an occupation."

August 23, 2003
"Before the occupation, I more or less dressed the way I wanted to. I lived in jeans and cotton pants and comfortable shirts. Now, I don’t dare leave the house in pants. A long skirt and loose shirt (preferably with long sleeves) has become necessary. A girl wearing jeans risks being attacked, abducted or insulted by fundamentalists who have been… liberated!"

"Before the war, around 50% of the college students were females, and over 50% of the working force was composed of women. Not so anymore. We are seeing an increase of fundamentalism in Iraq which is terrifying. "

Aug 28, 2003
"instead of bringing in thousands of foreign companies that are going to want billions of dollars, why aren’t the Iraqi engineers, electricians and laborers being taken advantage of? Thousands of people who have no work would love to be able to rebuild Iraq… no one is being given a chance. "

Baghdad Burning

Baghdad Burning is the title of a blog that I've recently noticed.

It gives a very different picture of the war in Iraq. It's written by an Iraqi, but she is an ordinary, college educated, computer professional, non-extremist, jeans-wearing, English speaking woman. Someone I can identify with. Someone whose story makes me cry.

We don't hear about people like her on the news. We may talk about democracy and liberation, but that is not what she is experiencing. She may be faceless and anonymous (due to security reasons), but with her blog, she is not voiceless.

Maybe instead of praying about the political slogans and sound bites, we should be praying for real people, in their real situation. She calls herself Riverbend. Lets pray for her.

Technical note - comments

I'm switching my 'comment' functionality.

This means three things to you:
1) you will see two 'comment' links instead of one for a while.
2) you should use the 'new comments' link, on the bottom left of each post, to enter any comments from now on. Choose the 'other' button to enter your name.
3) the 'old' comments will go away eventually (as soon as I'm sure the new comments are working).

You can skip this part unless you are a techie...
I had been using Haloscan, which was working perfectly fine. But as I have learned, using an independent commenting function puts you at their mercy, and they can pull the plug at any time. Ironically, the better they are, the more likely they are to fold, since their volunteer business grows to big for them to manage. So I'm switching to the commenting function that is now offered through Blogger. That way, the blog and the comments are managed by the same people. It also has an easier way to delete comments, which hasn't been necessary so far, but could be convenient if anyone entered something inappropriate.

Foods of Provence

A co-worker is about to go to Provence on vacation, and I was eagerly telling her all my ideas of what to see and do there. I re-read my journal from my trip and found an interesting theme. Every location was punctuated with a description of the food that I ate. Provencal food is not the same as the haute cuisine that we imagine, when we think of French food. Rather, it is good country cooking with an abundance of seasonal items, a plethora of olive oil and garlic, and a pervasive assortment of local herbs.

Here was my journal entry from a dinner at La Cour de Rohan, in Aix:

We all insisted we weren't hungry, but ended up splitting a wonderful meal. Goat cheese omelet and salad; canteloupe; lobster tail; eggplant tapenade; seafood soup; ham; pate; spinach pie, and peach tart. I ordered hot chocolate and it was out of this world -- thick and dark. Nirvana in a cup.

And here are some other memorable foods from Provence:
Banon – a white cheese
Bourride – just as tasty but less annoying than bouillabaisse, which has enough bones for an entire village
Pastis – an anise flavored liquor, the french version of raki or ouzo. For sipping, not drinking
Vin de noix – slightly syrupy strong red wine, flavored with walnuts. Marvelous and aromatic.
Fougasse --bread made with olive oil and various other ingredients such as olives, anchovies or cheese
Soup with pistou – the French version of minestrone with pesto on top
herbal desserts. For example, we had thyme sorbet and lavender ice cream. It’s worth it just for the experience! Although the lavender ice cream was an interesting example of how the subconscious works. I kept wondering why it tasted soapy, and finally realized that it didn't, but my mind was merely associating lavender with soap.
Provencal wine – it’s generally not well known, and is not considered as good as the other regions, but you might as well drink the local wine when you are there. I liked especially a local blend of Syrah and Genache.
Candy – I forget what it is called, but Aix has a delicious nutty nougat. Also, the supermarkets and department stores have lovely little hard candies in tiny tins, with unusual flavors – anise, lavender, etc.
Salad - my favorite was the salad at the goat farm. Mixed greens with walnuts and raisins and thin crispy apple slices, served with a dressing of olive oil and walnut oil and lemon juice. And of course, goat cheese made in the little 'factory' next door. After seeing the worker plunge his arms up to the elbow into the vat to scoop out the curds, we made sure to drink the wine at lunch for its antiseptic properties.
Cassoulet. Well, it's not specifically Provencal, but it's a hearty delicious, distinctive casserole. Best to share one -- it is richer than we are used to.

It is curious that I love to try so many foods, considering the fact that I score a zero in risk-taking generally. What my friends really have trouble understanding is that I love trying different foods even if I don't especially like them. Which really helped me in the jalapeno donut episode mentioned earlier!

The benefits of teamwork

I've got a terrific team helping with my next leadership project.

I'm suddenly seeing the results of what I've learned in team theory. Having team members with different personalities and skills is exciting and fruitful. Most of my projects have been things that I could have done myself, had I enough time and energy (and if leading a team was not a requirement!). On this project, I have already seen that people with different personalities are gravitating to areas of responsibility that they will do much better than I.

Of course, as a 'homesteader' I find it scary to work with 'pioneers', but I'll try to get over it! The ideas and energy that they bring are welcome.

Wisdom from dada

'Dada' means Grandfather in Hindi.

I realized today that the strong sense of family that we see in India is also reflected in the language. There are different words for your father's father (dada), and your mother's father (naanaa), and your son's son (pataa), and your daughter's son (dhtaa). There are even distinctions between your Father's older brother's wife (taaI) and your Father's younger brother's wife (caacai). There are many kinds of uncle -- your father's older brother, your father's sister's husband, your father's younger brother, your mother's brother, or your mother's sister's husband.

So I understand a little better now how people can say there are 100 members of their family. They probably have different words for all of them!

Anyway, learning this was a side effect of trying to find the spelling for 'dada', after a conversation with my co-worker 'P'.

He was excited to tell me that he got engaged on his vacation. I didn't quite know if it was appropriate to ask if it was an arranged marriage. But he is clearly happy about it, in any event.

He is looking forward to his new responsibilities as a family man, and it has made him rather philosophic. He wonders whether all of our modern inventions have actually made anyone happier. He notices that his parents and grandparents do not have computers, and yet they are quite happy. So he asked his 84 year old 'dada' what the secret of happiness was. Here is his answer:

Happiness = (Total # of desires fulfilled) / (Total # of desires)

So we tend to have lots of stuff, but we crave more, so our happiness ratio is not always very good. His parents and grandparents do not have a lot of stuff, but they don't want more things, so they are happy.

It's quite an idea...

Winter

It's not that I'm trying to boast, but I seem to be developing a reputation as the Winter Expert. This is in spite of the fact that I'm not a particular fan of winter. I do like having 4 seasons, but Winter could be a lot shorter, if you ask me!

Here in New York, we are digging out from a blizzard over the weekend, and it is really easy to see that some people need remedial lessons in coping with the weather.

1) Wear a hat. Just do it. Whoever you are trying to impress by going hatless is not nearly as impressed as you think they are. I did an informal study of the commuters this morning and noticed that people without hats were not smiling. And confidentially to the hatless lady wearing the fur coat, you can be silly and rich (and cold) at the same time.

2) Wear boots. For reasons, see item 1. P.S. both of these items have been added to honor my mother.

3) Zip your jacket. Saturday night, in the middle of the storm, the teenage son of the super at my apartment complex was helping shovel the walks. He was complaining how cold he was, and the snow had totally stuck all over the sweatshirt he wore under his open jacket. I asked why he didn't zip his jacket and he said it was broken. So I asked if it was ok if I tried to zip it for him and lo and behold, a miracle occurred and God fixed the broken zipper. Or something like that.

4) Ok, now that I've echoed what mothers have been saying for generations, I've got a request for you, too. Don't dress your kids in itchy clothes. It's not worth it.

5) Shovel your walks. This item is here to honor my father, who always made sure we had the best shoveled walks in the neighborhood. I know that it is physically hard to shovel, but if you are not well enough to shovel you are also not well enough to fall on the ice that will stick around for a couple of weeks if you don't shovel before people trample a path through the snow. Anyway, this is why God made teenage boys. They are like human snowblowers if you motivate them (preferably with cash). We had a couple who were trolling the parking lots yesterday. One showed a truly creative technique in which he scooped a shovel-full of snow in between the cars, and flung it overhead to land in the open spot behind him, without denting the cars on either side. Truly impressive.

5) Learn to measure. I hate to break it to you, but you don't choose the deepest drift when you are measuring how much snow you have. I'll probably get run out of town for this, but around me, we actually got around 10-14" of snow, not the 20" everybody is claiming. That's sort of like standing on tiptoe when you say how tall you are. And while we are on the topic of measuring, if you quote the wind-chill temperature, don't pretend that it is actually the number on the thermometer.

6)Remember the fun of snow. I work with a lot of people from warmer climates, who have never experienced a real snow storm. So I make it my business to teach them how to make snow angels and snowmen. Indoor activities can be fun too. Years ago, I spent a snow day learning to crochet. I intentionally did something new, so I would take advantage of the extra day off. And how about some hot chocolate? Or maybe a stew in the crock-pot? If you want something quicker, here's my recipe for an instant winter meal: 1 can of condensed cream of mushroom soup, then fill the can with milk and pour that into the pot too. Add one can of corn, with the juice (use a can about the same size as the soup can). Add one can of tuna or salmon. Heat until simmering and serve.

7) Think about the miracle of snow. We usually think of water as being either liquid, frozen solid, or steam, but snow is a whole different thing. It's frozen, but it's fluffy. All the snow-making machines in the world can't make as much snow as one storm. To top it off, each snowflake is so intricate. I don't know if every snowflake is actually unique or not, but they are really amazing. Here's a link to some photos of snow crystals
Personally, if I were going to blanket multiple states with snow, I would start with a structural building block that required less work, but once again we see examples of the abundant creativity of God.

The Creator

Have you ever noticed how creative God is?

It's easy to see the hand of the creator when we look at the stars or a beautiful sunset, but I've been thinking about dirt. Dirt from different places is so different.That's something I notice when I travel. I come from New York, where dirt is dark brown. In New York, we assume that is the 'normal' color of dirt. And we also expect it to stay in its place. Unless you roll around on the ground, you don't really get dirt on you. You can even wear white clothes, and they stay white (unless you ride the subway, which really isn't God's fault).

Gardeners incorporate extra organic matter into the earth, of course, and then it becomes even darker, and sort of fluffy. And for some reason, they seem to like to smell it. I only like to smell dirt when there is a sudden thaw in the Springtime. That scent of melting earth is a sign to me that Winter is over.

Now I'm in Sedona, AZ, and the dirt is red. Kind of brick colored. For a short time after it rains, the earth is wet and slippery, but soon it dries out and becomes hard. And then red dust gets kicked up. Lots of people buy white cars (so they don't get so hot in the sun), but the cars don't stay white for long.

In Turkey, the dirt was tan. It was kicked up as dust, and hung in the air and lighted on your clothes and skin, and stuck there. I've been home over three months, and have worn my hiking boots through rain, sleet and snow, and I can still see the Turkey dust in the creases. I think of it as a free souvenir.

People who enter competitions to build sandcastles become experts on different types of sand. Some sand has larger grains, some sand has rounder grains, and it all makes a difference if you want to be able to build an elaborate edifice. Who would have known?

So what's the point of saying all this?
If I were creating the world, I would never think of all this variety. I would simply make one kind of dirt, and be done with it. But God is so creative that he didn't just make all kinds of plants and animals, he even made all different kinds of dirt. Imagine having that much excess creativity, that you invent countless kinds of dirt.

Unconditional Love

For a long time, I thought that unconditional love was not humanly attainable.

It's probably not fair to say that a childhood pet, 'Princess' , (a dog of course), came the closest.

But I had an experience on Sunday that stops me in my tracks. I visit a nursing home twice a month, and lead a church service. While the nursing home advertises it as the 'Interfaith service', in reality it is a non-denominational Christian service. We welcome people of all faiths, but we talk about Jesus.

Anyway, there is one old gentleman who often wheels his wife in. He is a visitor, not a resident. He is Jewish, and comes to the Christian service because he will go anywhere, and do anything, if it might help his wife. She is in the latter stages of Alzheimer's, and is now totally unresponsive. She doesn't talk. She doesn't even open her eyes. She sits in a semi reclining position, and drools, and he tenderly wipes her mouth. He always lets me pray for her.

Last Sunday, he wheeled her out before we finished praying for everyone, and as I was leaving the building I noticed him sitting with her in the lobby. I approached him, set my guitar down, and asked if I could pray for him. He said,
"What I really want is for you to pray for my wife. " He gently turned her wheelchair so I could reach her to touch her as I prayed. I prayed for comfort. I prayed that the Lord would intervene, and reach past the mind into the place where she now lives, and reveal himself and his truth to her. I prayed that He would reveal to her what it means to dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
He thanked me, with tears in his eyes, and told me that she has been here for 6 years, and he has visited every day. I told him that he is an example to us all. I looked at this quiet, unassuming old Jewish man, and realized that I was seeing unconditional love in action.

And he reached out to me, and pulled me close, and gave me a holy kiss.

Pray for them!

Living in an affluent society - part 2

At Christmastime, it becomes really evident how affluent we are.

This year, I cannot bring myself to buy the generic gifts one gets for people when you don't know what they want. It's one thing to enjoy pleasing someone with the perfect gift. But it's another thing as soon as we start to say "I can't think of what to get". It just seems like such a waste. So I'm going on strike. I'm opting out of the obligatory gift game, and refusing to purchase this stuff. No more sentimental wall plaques. No more cute candles. No gizmos and gadgets. No holiday themed sweaters.

Some of my friends are getting a book that I really like, and I think they will really like it too. Some of my friends are getting homemade cookies.
Some of my friends are getting things I know they are interested in.

But for everyone else... I'm making targeted donations in their name to World Vision [click on ways to give/gift catalog].

I'm taking a huge delight in choosing things that I think are appropriate to the person I'm trying to honor. Are they interested in helping children? In the poor? In conservation? In making people self-sufficient? In sending Bibles to other countries? In growing food? In healthcare? In victims of war? There are so many choices. You can donate as little as $10 to send a hygene kit, or $16,500, to build a health clinic.

So many of my friends and relatives will be getting cards instead of gifts. And the cards will say:

You are a part of bringing hope to the world! A life-changing gift has
been given in your name to bring joy to a corner of our world that
deperately
needs to know others care. Thank you for being a part of the
miracle of helping
children and families in need!

Ten Ducks: Throughout the year, a hungry family will benefit
from more than a thousand large, protein-rich eggs from the 10 ducks given in
your name through World Visioin. The extra eggs and hatched ducklings can be
sold to buy medicine or help pay for children's school tuition.

Or

Wonder Trees: An eco-friendly "wonder tree," given in your name through World Vision, will soon be enriching the soil of a struggling farmer in Zimbabwe or another African country -- potentially increasing his crop yield by more than 500 percent! That means abundant crops and more food for hungry people for years to come.

Or

Drip irrigation kit:In drought-prone regions of Africa, it's essential that each drop of precious water is put to good use. That's exactly what the smart drip irrigat6ion system does. Given in your name through World Vision, this gift maximizes the use of available water, resulting in higher-yielding crops and healthy livestock.

Or

Care for girl survivors of war: Thousands of girls in countries like Uganda are abducted by militants who abuse them or force them to serve as soldiers. Those who escape face a difficult road to recovery. Thanks to this gift given in your name through World Vision, one girl survivor will be empowered to make a fresh start! She'll receive assistance like food, medical care, trauma counseling and vocational training.

Or my favorite! A splurge, but I've really been wanting to order this anyway:

A camel: The gift of a hardworking camel, given in your name through World vision, will dramatically improve life for a poor desert-dwelling family. Able to carry up to 1,000 pounds, travel five days without food or water, and supply nutritious milk, a camel is like a refrigerator and an SUV with a 40-year life span.

Try it! Instead of buying those fuzzy slippers with a santa face on them, or a singing stuffed reindeer, consider a charitable donation. What's the worst that can happen? If the recipient really is offended at not getting a gift, you won't exchange gifts at all next year, and your gift list will gradually get shorter.

Living in an affluent society -- part 1

We don't realize how blessed we are with material things.

Having visited a country recently that has a much lower standard of living, I'm more aware of how much we waste. OK, this isn't really another blog about Turkey, but it does make a good contrast. If you've ever visited a European country, you will recognize at least some of these issues:

• Electricity: they just don't leave lights on the way we do. I know that people reading this (all 4 of you!) are probably saying to yourself: "I always turn out the lights when I leave the room", but this is a different dimension. The main hallway and stairs in a hotel are usually dark until a motion detector notices your presence. The hotel room itself sometimes requires that your key be placed in a little slot in order to turn any lights on (thus ensuring that when you leave your room, all the lights are off). Even public galleries and museums sometimes have the lights dark until you trigger them. Ice is never served without a special request. Air conditioning is available only in the better hotels in the hotter regions. And even air-conditioned restaurants or other public buildings don't have the temperature as low as we are used to. Electricity is considered valuable.
• Automobiles: I drive a Honda Civic, which is considerably bigger than the average car there. The average car is way smaller than we are used to, and that's not even discussing our current fascination with SUVs. Many families can't afford a car, and make do with a motorbike or a motorcycle. It's even better than watching clowns come out of a Volkswagon to see a family of 5 astride one motorcycle. Grandma (with her long skirt and head scarf) gets to ride in the side-car. And people walk for long distances. However, one mistaken gesture towards conservation is that some Turkish drivers apparently think that it wastes gas to turn their headlights on -- even at night. Gas is considered valuable.
• Paper goods: I have to admit that after I returned home, I visited the supermarket, and I actually stood in the paper goods aisle, and sincerely gave thanks to God for the abundance of toilet paper. Some things you really don't appreciate until they are missing! And it is very unusual to have paper towels in a bathroom. Trees are considered too valuable to make disposable items.
• Water: water pressure is often lower than we are used to. Water is considered valuable.

So I'm wondering whether we are being good stewards of God's good gifts. I've determined to at least be more thankful, and try to be more thoughtful about whether I am wasting resources.

Yikes - he thinks I know these things

Today 'P' came to me and asked if I had time to discuss a question that did not pertain to work. I said yes, and he said:
I am coming to you because you know about these things. How do you deal with anxiety?
[little did he know how true that is -- I'm anxious about everything! but I tried to answer] I have two things that I do. First, if I am very anxious, I take a deep breath.
Yes, that is why I have come right now. [He stopped and breathed]
And secondly I pray to God, and tell myself that I am in the hand of God, and nothing can happen that can take me away from the hand of God.
[He listened carefully, trying to understand.] Oh, that is because God is the strongest person, right?
Yes. There is no one stronger than God.
That is what my parents tell me -- I should have faith, and trust in God.
[Meanwhile, I'm wondering which God he is talking about, since he is Hindu, I believe. So I add something a bit provocative:] Have you ever thought about the fact that there is a difference between knowing about God, and knowing God?
[Suddenly he needed to leave.] All right, goodbye.
* * *
Pray for 'P'. Pray that he will start wondering what it means to know God.

cross cultural thanksgiving

Another cross cultural thanksgiving.

I went to work the day after thanksgiving, and found myself to be the token American on the floor. Luckily the work day was relatively slow, because I spent the day answering questions about the Holiday. But I kept getting stumped by trying to communicate across the cultural divide.

How did this holiday begin?
It began in the beginning of our country, when the pilgrims gave thanks for having lived through the year with the help of the native Americans, and having enough food to make it through the next winter.

What is a pilgrim?
Yikes. There I was, proud of myself for remembering to say 'Native American' instead of 'Indian', and yet I used 'pilgrim' which was a totally foreign word to them.

Why do you eat turkey?
We traditionally eat the foods that were in season and locally available, that the early settlers would have eaten. Wild Turkey was a type of a large bird.

What does turkey taste like?
Oh boy, did I blow this answer. I walked right into the classic trap, and said it tasted like chicken. But as soon as I said it, I realized that that is not a good answer for a life-long vegetarian Hindu!

Is turkey very delicious?
I told him that since we associate Turkey with a feast that we share with family and friends, it has such good memories that we all think it is delicious. 'P' was very taken with this answer, and eagerly agreed that his mother always noted that he ate more when company came.

Is this a religious holiday?
People of any religion can celebrate Thanksgiving.

So it is not about God at all?
Well, it is not officially a religious holiday, but I have one question to ask you.

What is that, Ann?
When you give thanks, who are you thanking?

Oh, I never thought of that!

Anyway, I decided to start a new Thanksgiving tradition to include my Indian co-workers. I baked a cake and brought it in for them on Friday. They questioned me about this:

What is the significance of this cake?
I thought that anyone who comes in to work today deserves a piece of cake. How do you like that idea?

I like this idea very much. It is a good tradition!

Turkey: foot washing, and more

I keep remembering little vignettes from Turkey, and realizing that it has given me a fuller understanding of the Bible.

Hospitality to a stranger: we were all impressed by the family who hosted our group for one night. While it is true that the tour group compensates them for housing and feeding us, their welcome was heartwarming, and not something that can be bought. After all, how would you like to have 13 guests who don't speak your language, and might not like your food, and don't understand your culture? And I also remember the woman who saw us gaping at her rock house, with two little windows cut into the stone. She ran out and asked (in Turkish) if we wanted to come in and look at her home. I don't know about you, but I would not spontaneously invite a bunch of strangers into my apartment. It was a wonderful experience, to see how cosy a cave can be.
Footwashing: I never really grasped the footwashing story in the Bible. Because I had never really wanted anyone to wash my feet. Now that I've experienced Near Eastern dust, I get the point. You just can't imagine how dirty and dusty your feet get, and how refreshing it is to wash them off.
The shade of a fig tree: In the South-eastern region, where Abraham lived, it is really hot. Every living creature looks for shade. And it turns out that the best shade of all is that of a fig tree, because it has big leaves.
More about Ephesus: I know I already told you about Ephesus, but it keeps popping into my mind -- the fact that it was a wealthy, hedonistic, pagan city. It gives a different picture of what the gospel was competing with.
More about Antioch: I also remember a particular statue of Orontes in the Antioch museum. This statue was a beautiful marble work of art, dating back to the first century. The significance to me was that Orontes was the river god, and the statue indicated how important the god was, otherwise it would not have been honored with that beautiful, expensive statue. And again, it gives the flavor of what Christianity was competing with.
The stars: Since I felt claustrophobic in the tiny cabin in our gulet (a traditional Turkish boat), I preferred to sleep on deck. I've never seen such stars. I thought about Abraham, and God telling him that his descendents would be like the stars in the sky. I thought about psalm 8. There were so many stars that some of them overlapped with each other, making blares of light that I could see even without my glasses. There were so many stars that I actually got up at around 3 in the morning, just to sit and look, and behold. I can't imagine looking at those stars without being overwhelmed with awe at the creation of God.
Communion: ok, this one is stretching a little bit, but I'll try to explain. I've never really considered bread and wine to be core features of a meal. But we made an unscheduled stop at a local village wine festival in Cappadocia, and the only items being served were wine, grapes, and homemade village bread. And I could imagine centuries, and millenia, of villagers sharing bread and wine together.

Goodbye, Aunt Elaine

My Aunt Elaine recently passed away. She was a vibrant, energetic woman, with a lifetime passion for peace. She wore bright colors, laughed with abandon, asked pointed questions and obsessively sketched people, and lived life with zest. She loved to share her interests with people -- whether it was a matter of tofu, or chelation therapy, or erotic art, she couldn't grasp that some people simply had different tastes. Whenever I think of her I still feel like protesting "just because I eat beef and work for a bank does not make me a bad person!" But her overriding theme was working for peace. She boldly went all over the world to advocate for peace.

So in honor of Elaine, I want to talk about peace.

In spite of all the wars that have been fought in the name of religion, God is actually for peace.
The Bible talks a lot about peace. But this peace is more than just an absence of war, it also encompasses the presence of God's kingdom. Isaiah says:

52:7 How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who
proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion,
"Your God reigns!"

Earlier, Isaiah gave us a description of what this will look like:

2:2 In the last days the mountain of the LORD's temple will be established as
chief among the mountains; it will be raised above the hills, and all
nations will stream to it. 3 Many peoples will come and say, "Come, let us
go up to the mountain of the LORD , to the house of the God of Jacob. He
will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths." The law will go
out from Zion, the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. 4 He will judge between
the nations and will settle disputes for many peoples. They will beat their
swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not
take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore.

5 Come, O house of Jacob, let us walk in the light of the LORD .

I believe that in spite of the efforts of activists such as my aunt, that the only true and lasting peace will come when the Lord rules and reigns in our hearts, and upon the earth.

So my way of honoring her will be to work for peace in my own way. To tell people about the peace that God brings. To introduce them to Jesus, because Ephesians tells us that

2:17He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who
were near.

So I'll end with the words of Paul, writing to the Romans:

15:33The God of peace be with you all. Amen.

That's what makes America Great

Yesterday I had an interesting discussion with 'P', an Indian colleague at work.
He asked me if I was happy or sad with the results of the election. I answered him honestly -- I was half happy and half sad. He asked me if I had ever heard the term WASP, and if it was true that the WASP contingent voted for values which caused Bush to be re-elected.

This was way too complex for a sound bite. Finally I told him that the Bible says many things, and that I think it is unbalanced when someone uses the Bible to point a finger at someone else, and says "don't! don't! don't!" without looking at himself and the things he should do. I gave some examples, such as caring for the widow, the orphan, the stranger in our land (i.e. the marginalized).

My colleague was amazed. "I have never heard this before", he said. I have never heard that the Bible says 'do' as well as 'don't'. "

And then I explained that I struggled with what this meant for the election, and that I was actually crying in the voting booth because there was no party I felt I could vote for with a contented heart.

'P' stared at me with a look of amazement on his face and proclaimed "That is what makes America great!" I wasn't quite sure what my crying had to do with the greatness of America, but he continued: "the fact that you find this difficult, but you vote anyway. That is true democracy. That is what makes America great."

Turkey: afterthoughts

It's been about a month since I returned home, and I still am thinking about Turkey a lot. I keep talking about it, and I'm probably boring all my friends. It's funny to see people's reactions. Some are truly interested, but some are disappointed in me when I fail to reinforce their expectations. They would rather hold to their assumptions rather than listen to anything different. Here are some examples:

The food: most of my friends continue to assume that the food is spicy. But in reality, most of the food is not spicy (except for the Adana Kebabs). And they keep saying that I must be relieved that I'm home so I can eat normal food again, while actually I loved the food and was perfectly happy to eat it. Tasty, healthy, and someone else cooked it three times a day -- what's not to like? (We'll skip the topic of food poisoning for now).

Safety: people keep saying that it must be a relief to be home, so I don't have to worry about security. HELLO - I work in one of the 5 buildings targeted by Al Qaida. I felt a lot safer in Turkey than I do every day at work. Even the roadblocks near the Syrian border were handled easily, and did not seem ominous in any way. And the extreme security involved in the flight home made us feel safe rather than nervous.

The dress: people assume that all the women wear a chador or burka (the long black cape seen in Iran and Kuwait, for example). Actually, it was very very rare to see a woman dressed this way. There was quite a variety of dress. Especially in the Eastern regions, the women dress conservatively, with long skirts, long sleeved shirts, and a headscarf, but usually the faces were shown, and there were various colors-- all together a totally different effect from the head-to-toe blackness of a chador.

The attitudes towards us: Contrary to popular expectation, everyone was friendly. I wore my cross, and did not encounter even one nasty look, much less any kind of harassment. Even when we visited in conservative areas where we were inappropriately dressed (shorts and T shirt), no one gave us a hard time -- although sometimes they quietly giggled.

The trip: Was three weeks too long? Not at all -- actually every minute was filled, and I keep thinking about things I didn't get to do. I didn't manage to get to a hamam (Turkish bath); I didn't try the tripe soup (ok, maybe it's not good, but would be an experience); I didn't find a Christian congregation to talk to or worship with; I didn't make it to the spice market; I didn't buy enough souvenirs; I didn't have a chance to just sit and pray in some of the notable Christian sites.

But everyone is right about one thing. I do prefer our bathrooms.

Turkey: a sad epitaph

One day we hiked through what is called a 'ghost town'. It had been a village of Greeks, peacefully living in Turkey for centuries. Then after the Turkish War of Independence (called the great catastrophe by the Greeks), all expatriates were forced to move back to their native country, so the Greeks left Turkey.
So now the hill is covered with ruins of homes that have been untended for 75 years. But what really saddened me was not just the homes, but the church. A Greek Orthodox church, showing faint traces of grandeur, mixed with devastation.
One of our group couldn't understand why a church would be allowed to fall into ruin, and kept asking why it wasn't fixed up and used. Finally the tour guide answered simply:
"There are no Christians here".

It was a devastating epitaph. It was said with no malice or agenda, merely as a statement of fact. It reminded me that Turkey, once a Christian nation, now has only 1/3 of one percent who are Christians. And if you look for evangelical Christians, the numbers are even worse. Out of a country of 65 million, the estimates are that there are between 2,500 and 5,000 born again believers.

Pray for Turkey. Pray that the revelation of Jesus would strike people's hearts.

Most of my friends in the nursing home like to pray for the world, but that's too big for me to visualize. But I can pray for Turkey. I can pray for Selcuk, our secular Muslim guide. And I can pray for the family who graciously welcomed us, and cooked us breakfast and dinner, and opened their home for us to stay overnight. And the woman who realized that we would be curious about her house carved out of rock, and simply invited us in. And Ahmet, our driver who carefully kept us safe on dangerous roads. And the sailor, who flirted with every woman on board, but immediately ran to help me clean and bandage my injured foot. And the captain, who tried to explain that a real worship song has to be in a minor key -- or at least that's what I think he was trying to communicate as he reverently hummed and warbled. Or the cook, who never said anything, but served us some excellent meals.

Or the boy who sold me a pashmina shawl, and explained in broken English that he knows about America because he watches TV [yikes, no wonder they think we're depraved]. Or the two little Syrian children who posed for me in front of the ruins of the oldest mosque in Turkey. Or the woman who scooted from gulet to gulet in a little motorboat, offering to make sweet or savory rolled 'pancakes' on the spot.

Or the doctor who rushed to the hotel when a member of our tour was ill. Or the musicians in the cacophonous military band. Or the little boy dressed up in embroidered satin because he was King for the day [don't even ASK what was in store for him, the poor thing]. Or even the would-be Romeo in the hotel who didn't quite understand "No" in either English or Turkish (but who did finally understand a closed door).

Or the clerk at the internet cafe, who thrilled me by understanding when I asked: "yerem saat kac lira, lutfen?" (or something like that!). Or the family that rose to a new height of togetherness, with 5 people riding on one motorcycle. Or the man who let me make 3 bathroom visits without paying [because he recognized an emergency when he saw it] . Or the merchant who gave us free samples of a Turkish dessert [too weird to describe - think rubbery walnuts with a sweet brown coating]. Or the caretaker at Zeugma who climbed down into the dig to remove the tarp so we could see a huge mosaic still in it's original site. Or the little boys who sell the postcards in front of the tourist sites.

Let's start by praying for them...

Turkey: food

I would be remıss ıf I dıd not dıscuss turkısh food.

For breakfast the usual thıng ıs whıte cheese (sort of lıke feta) and olıves, served wıth varıous kınds of breads dependıng on the regıon. Also yogurt wıth good jams. For example cherry jam ıs a favorıte. And tea - çai -- the most popular drınk served ın small tulıp shaped glasses wıth lumps of sugar on the sıde. Contrary to popular opınıon Turkısh coffee ıs not served ın the mornng, ıt ıs a drınk for the afternoon -- especıally for old men solvıng the problems of the world ın a local cafe.

Then at lunch and dınner there ıs a varıety. Lots of eggplant cooked ın wonderful ways. Roasted, grılled, pureed. Ive never been an eggplant lover but thıs has made a belıever out of me. The texure and flavor are both dıfferent from at home. Lots of lamb ıs served, maınly grılled. And lots of vegetables and salads although we are afraıd to eat the raw vegetables for fear of food poısonıng. Thıs ıs truly sad because the produce ın Turkey ıs absolutely beautıful.

Other popular dıshes are börek -- stuffed fılo, sometımes wıth cheese or sometımes wıth meat. And there ıs a funny flat thıng sort of lıke a Turkısh versıon of a pızza but wıth ground lamb and spıces on top. Of course the most famılıar dıshes are varıous kınds of shısh kebab.

Besıdes the ubıquıtous tea they serve ınterestıng fruıt juıces -- I buy cherry juıce and peach juıce and aprıcot juıce ın the can. These are not as sweet as the versıons Im used to and I wısh I could get them at home. Then I am exasperated to fınd out that the manufacturer ıs Coca-cola.

And who can forget Turkısh desserts. The baklava ın Gazıantep has much pıstachıos ın ıt and ıs less sweet and more flavorful than I have had ın the past. And there ıs a dessert that tastes better than ıt sounds -- shredded wheat stuffed wıth cheese. It ıs not my favorıte but ıt really ısnt as bad as ıt sounds.

Turkey: Perge

What a place of history. The ruıns show acre after acre of toppled stones, but you can still see the grandeur that must have been here. Pıllars, frıezes, busts. Whıle the vısıble ruıns are Roman from the 2nd century, we know that Paul vısıted thıs town, and probably passed through this very gateway at the entrance to the cıty (although ıt would have been the Hellenıstıc gate at that tıme.

And ruıns of the old Roman baths. Raısed floors so that the hot aır could ciırculate underneath and warm the floor -- I wısh I had that feature ın my own bathroom at home!

The next day we went to the Antalya museumö where they had many of the statues that had been recovered from thıs sıte. I cant iımagıne the work to do all that carvıng ın stone. To top ıt off ıt ıs very hot. Evem walkıng feels strenuous due to the heat and the unevenness of the ground. I ımagıne Paul walkıng from town to town on hıs travels, and decıde that İm glad to have an aır condıtıoned bus!

Turkey: Göreme cave churches

Thıs area of Cappadocıa has very soft volcanıc rock, and that ıs how ıt ıs possıble to burrow ınto ıt. The cave churches are found ın a regıon where tıny monasterıes were clustered together, each wıth about 20 monks. We saw the churches themselves. Usually there was a low entranceway maybe 5 and a half to 6 feet tall. Then the cave ınsıde was hollowed out ınto the shape of a church. Sometımes wıth a barrel vault as ıf ıt was archıtected out of blocks. Many stıll have vısıble frescos although ıt was hard to see sınce they were pıtch dark, lıt only by the rays of lıght that showed through the doorway.

Some of the artwork was sophıstıcated and ındıcated that the artısts had been traıned ın the bıg cıty -- Constantınople. Other churches were sımple and rustıc, decorated by local artısts. And most of the eyes of the fıgures had been scratched out by modern Muslım extremısts.

Turkey: Kaymaklı

The underground cıty of Kaymakli.

Imagıne thıs: an entıre city carved out of rock, extendıng many storıes underground, where the belıevers fled to escape persecutıon.

The entryway ıs sort of lıke a foyer -- thıs was actually the stable. You can see ındentatıons carved ın the walls that were used as mangers. The ceılıng here ıs relatıvely hıgh -- maybe 6 and a half feet -- and ıs well lıt, but as the guıde pauses there to gıve us an orıentatıon I am already begınnıng to feel claustrophobıc.

Then we go through twısty narrow passageways -- so short I need to duck just to walk. After a tıme the passageway opens ınto a chamber that was used as a church. You can stıll see the marks of the cross carved ınto the rock on the wall.

Thıs ıs all I can cope wıth. I am very aware of beıng underground. The ıdea of lıvıng thıs way for weeks at a tıme, wıth thousands of people crammed together underground ıs ınconceıvable to me. We have electrıc lıght and are only one level down. A few hardy souls follow the guıde 5 levels further ınto the earth whıle the rest of us cant waıt to escape.

Apparently thıs partıcular cıty sometımes held up to 15000 people, and was constructed wıth aır shafts and food and water storage. Totally amazıng.

It humbles me to see yet another example of how belıevers had to cope wıth persecutıonç

Turkey: Harran

Harran -- known as the cıty of prophets.

Abraham lıved here for a tıme. We saw the ruıns of the cıtadel. The ruıns themselves are Medıeval, but ıt ıs known to be buılt on an ancıent sıte, and ıs plausıble that Abraham hımself was on thıs exact spot, sınce ıt ıs an advantageous locatıon.

We also vısıt wıth a local famıly of syrıan orıgın -- the mother does not even speak Turkısh. We are only 10 mıles from the syrıan border. She has a small famıly -- only 10 chıldren. They show us a beehıve shaped home. not orıgınal, but ınterestıng to enter and see how cool ıt ıs compared to the blazıng hot sun outsıde. thıs ıs how people lıved many centurıes ago. we see the dung and straw pattıes they stıll use for fuel.

Turkey: the Euphrates

The Euphrates. The very name conjures up hıstory.

We embark on a small boat for a trıp on the rıver. The water ıs a beautıful deep green. I fantasıze that ıf we go far enough we wıll reach the Garden of Eden.

We dısembark and hıke up steep paths to the ruıns of Rumkale. The ruıns vısıbly remaınıng are from the crusaders but ıt ıs belıeved that there were orıgınally Hıttıte structures there, and there ıs a legend that St John wrote hıs gospel here.

It ıs beautıful lookıng out over the water. The day ıs hot, the path ıs steep, the water ıs green. Some of the ruıns shelter a herd of sheep, who are enjoyıng the shade.

It ıs almost deserted. Durıng our whole boat rıde and hıke, we see just two other small boats, but most of the tıme we are entırely on our own.

Thıs tour ıs called turkeys magıcal hıdaways, and today the name seems very apt. Sımply beautıful.

Turkey: St Peters Grotto

St Peters church ıs a facade buılt ın front of an ancıent grotto. It ıs belıeved to be the actual place that Peter preached, where the belıevers were fırst called Christıans.

It brought tears to my eyesç Dımly lıt wıth some 6th century mosaıc tıle on the floorö what drew me was the actual rock cave. Centurıes of candle soot lınes the walls. In the back there ıs a nıche used as for an altar.

Chrıstıans have prayed here for 2 mıllenıum. There ıs a sense of stıllness and quıet. At the back there ıs a tunnel, that ıs belıeved to have been an escape tunnel. whether or not that ıs so, ıt sobers the mınd to realıze that such thıngs were necessary. And I am humbled at the sıngle-mındedness of those followers who sacrıfıced everythıng to preach the word.

Turkey

well, I'm about to leave for Turkey. There are massive delays at their airport, and our plane will be late reaching NY, and therefore delayed too, which means we'll miss the connection to Adana...but somehow it will all have to work out.

I was just reading my class notes which stated that the gifts of the holy Spirit are the most effective ways to reach Muslims. So please pray that God will be working through us.

maybe it wasn't an accident

Well, yesterday I made a fool of myself at work, by going in to Manhattan for a meeting only to find out that the meeting was in Queens. Oops. But maybe it was not an accident.

On my way in the door, I passed a Turkish co-worker (whom I do not normally see). She commented that I must be leaving soon for my trip, and asked if I was preparing by eating Turkish food, etc. I agreed that I was, and then mentioned that I had obtained a CD of worship songs used in my church, but sung in Turkish. She was fascinated, and said she had never heard of such a thing. And then she said that she would be interested to hear it, and asked if she could borrow it.

So I will have the opportunity to lend my Muslim co-worker a Christian worship album. All I can say to that is:

Gorkemin bu yeri dodursun

No, I'm not positive exactly what it means -- but it's the first line of "Let your Glory Fall"

Vegemite

Some things are an acquired taste.

I love tasting new foods. Even if I don't especially care for them, I like the opportunity. But sometimes certain tastes puzzle me.

Yesterday, I walked by the pantry at work just in time to notice 'C' (Australian) and 'S' gleefully buttering some toast, and then spreading some dark brown paste on it. They happily announced that they had obtained a new jar of Vegemite, to replace the jar that had disappeared (surely not stolen?). They were so delighted to have it, that they wanted to share their joy with someone, and I was elected. Craig cut me a slice of the toast and watched with happy anticipation as I tasted it.

It tasted...salty. But not just salty, sort of dark. In fact, it tastes sort of like it looks. Brown and pasty. It wasn't horrible, but I just couldn't grasp the immense fondness that it generates. We finally agreed that it must be an acquired taste. 'C' felt that when you eat it as a child, you remember it as something good when you grow up. Of course, the flaw in that theory is how in the world you would get a child to eat it in the first place, unless you starved them first. But I'm still happy that I tried it.

But my day was not complete. 'R' also noticed me passing by, and called me over to try a special dish she had made for an Indian festival. It looked like a yellow rice pilaf. I have to admit that this dish was much easier to describe than the vegemite. Imagine rice pudding made with some raisins and cashews...and then add LOTS of hot curry powder. I tried to be complementary without being too enthusiastic -- I had this sudden fear that if she thought that I really loved it she might go to a lot of trouble to make it specially for me as a treat. I'm glad I had the opportunity to try it, but one bite was plenty!

So today when I saw her, I sociably asked if she had cooked anything else good. And she graciously offered me a taste of her lunch. So I ran and got a fork, and took a bite of some innocent looking but lethal curry. Actually, the flavor was excellent, it was just...hot. As I put it in my mouth, I had an audience of 4 Indian women watching me intently. I commented truthfully that the flavor was very good but it was rather hot. At which point they mildly explained that normally you mix it with the rice rather than eating it straight. Oh. I'm so used to skipping rice that it didn't occur to me that it was there for a reason! But I think they were rather proud of me for eating something they described as true Indian flavor.

Wisdom

The other day, one of my Hindu colleagues confided that he wished to be wise, and he wondered aloud if it was OK to pray for wisdom.
I responded that the Bible told a story of a very wise man, who had gained his wisdom by asking God. 'P' was very interested at this.
"Would you like to hear the story of how Solomon became wise, and what he did with his wisdom?"
"Yes, please tell me this story"
So I told him the story of Solomon, and of course the story of the two women who disputed over the child. He was very curious that such a thing would be in the Bible. But he agreed that one would have to be very wise indeed to think of such a solution, to reveal the truth. I explained that Solomon was only able to be that wise because God had given him wisdom. Then 'P' questioned me again:
"This is in the Bible?"

I seem to have stumbled on a method for being 'allowed' to talk about the Bible in an excessively secularized, politically correct, religiously diverse workplace. By keying off of a topic that is of interest to the other person, and mentioning that there is a relevant Bible story, I have found that every time the response is:
"Tell it to me!"

I am the Hula Queen!

Now for a short interruption in the VLI and cross-cultural themes, to bring a moment of comic relief.

Yesterday, I shocked everyone at work.

We had a corporate picnic, with various planned events: horseshoes; spoon race; balloon splat; chicken fling (don't even ask!);bocce; volleyball; and hula hoop. Well, most of my co-workers did not know that my one and only athletic expertise is the hula hoop. Of course, I peaked around 30 years ago (and 60 pounds ago).

The competition was better than I expected, but I was clearly the champion. Apparently, some of my colleagues were even laying bets on the outcome. We had to hula while walking a few steps forward and backward, and rotating in a circle, with our hands on our heads. Finally, they made us each spin two hoops at once. I don't remember whether I ever tried that as a child. My claim to fame was hoola-hooping while readying a book. The trick is you have to choose a book with rather large print, and you have to learn to not swivel with large movements. Frankly, that is a bit harder than merely putting your hands on your head.

I know that some people spend their lives and their careers hoping for a super bowl ring (or vicariously thinking of what could have happened). As for me, I'm happy with my own prize -- a shower radio. In fact, maybe I will try it out now, as I soak out all those little muscles that I have suddenly become re-acquainted with. How thoughtful of the game organizers.

Moti hears the story of Ruth

Today Moti came and asked me something at work. I had trouble understanding him. And then I had to ask him what his name was, and had trouble understanding hs name. But when he realized that I was really trying, he added:
M: It means something
A: Really? what does it mean?
M: It means puhl.
A: Puhl?
M: Yes, puhl [finally he wrote it down for me]
A: Oh, pearl! That's a beautiful name.
M: I don't like it
A: Why not?
M: In my country, we use this for a dog's name.
A: Oh, that is too
beautiful for a dog. But we sometimes give very fine names to dogs
too-- we sometimes call a dog 'King'.
M: I wanted to change my name, but my father wouldn't let me.
A: I'm always interested in how different names are popular at different times. Do you know the talk show host Oprah Winfrey?
M: Yes, we can see American TV in my village.
A: Well, many mothers names their babies after Oprah. But there is only one problem.
M: What is the problem?
A: When Oprah was born, her mother intended her to be named after Orpah, who was a character in the Bible, but they wrote it down with a typo, so now all the little girls who are being named after her actually have the wrong name too. And to top it off, it is also funny because the character Orpah in the Bible is not a very important or special character. Do you know the story?
M: No. How does it go?

So there I was, giving a dramatic re-telling of the story of Orpah to Moti. Even now, trying to blog the conversation, I can't quite figure out how I ended up there!

VLI at a distance, at a distance

I guess it's one of my flaws that I always think that if something interests me it will interest other people too. As a result, my co-workers hear a surprising amount about VLI. It's sort of like VLI one step removed.

On Tuesday, I was trying to find every opportunity to get in a little bit more studying time: walking to the station, on the train, in the elevator. At lunch time, I brought my notes to the cafeteria, only to bump into two colleagues with whom I've never eaten. It seemed to be better to join them, for some reason. So I sat down with them, and explained that the papers in my hand were study notes. Well, my office-mates have been quite puzzled as to why I am putting this effort into something that will not increase my earning potential, and 'D' finally felt he had the opportunity to see what it was about. So he asked if he could see my notes.

I handed him my notes, and then sat amazed when I thought of how God had worked this out. 'D' turned the page, and started reading the section on 'Eternity in their Hearts'. Here I was, lunching with two Hindus, while they read the stories from around the world of various people and tribes who had ancient beliefs in one true God.

I don't know what he thought of it. But his only comment was to ask "is this an open book test?" When I said no, this absolutely brilliant man shook his head and said, "this is too much to learn. "

Steve Robbins, do you hear that?