The Egypt Send Off

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the Mashi Mashi Song (Romani had us say Mashi Mashi to find where we were or to get our attention... it's arabic for Okie Dokie)



THe Posh Restaurant Alternate Ending:



this is the end for now about Egypt... more when the reflective bug bites. until then, any questions?

Urban Life

Cairo is one #($%&$#'n crowded city!!! horns constantly honking, traffic jams around the clock.. it's crazy! just check the fotage!



officially Cairo ranks in the top 25 most populated cities (according to wiki it's #22 with 6 million people). with the trains and commuters, this number doubles. i've never been in a place so crowded!

think New York, then make the buildings right next to each other and take away all the parks and add more buildings... triple the traffic and take away all the traffic laws.. sprinkle in a few donkeys and you're beginning to see the picture.

Islam

I had a friend in college who was muslim. we would sit and talk about religion from our perpectives.... Ausuf on Sunni Islam and myself on Roman Catholicism and Buddhism. We would lament the spread of fundamentalism and the lack of dialogue between our faiths.

on the trip we visited two mosques, the oldest one in Cairo and this one in Alexandria. both were impressive and laid out completely unlike a church. Mosques have no particular design, for the Quran just states that a mosque can be any place people gather to pray. some mosques were designed by Christian architechs and resembled churches.

Egypt is a Sunni muslim country with a 10% Christian population. conversion from Islam to Christianity is a hard choice to make as families are torn apart, communities are fractured, and all involved will resist such a change. the society is extremely communal. everyone is out talking and hanging out on the streets, everyone seems to know everyone else's business. the Christians in the country have lasted for centuries as the minority but are quickly "losing the baby race" as Romani put it.

so what's up? am i lamenting that Islam has the majority here? no! Islam provides an excellent structure for it's adherents, just as Christianity does for us here in the states. it's not without it's problems either... but here's some interesting facts:

-there is more about Mary in the Quran than in the N.T.
-Jesus is viewed as a high prophet, some would place him just under Mohammed.
-Jesus viewed as God doesn't make sense to the muslim mind, as the Trinity is viewed as a pagan idea transposed on the truth of One God (a marketing point from the church to the pagan cultures)
-the women (who we here in the west call oppressed) lament how oppressed and awful we treat our women and ourselves here. they view us as constantly working and view our family network as falling apart.

it was an interesting aspect to our trip and i wish we would have spent more time with this religion. we did meet with Dr. Ali El-Samman who talked about the importance of interfaith dialogue. he's responsible for putting on many forums and has met everyone from John Thomas (president of the UCC) to the popes of the orthodox churches (Coptic, Roman Catholic, Eastern, etc).

It's a small world...

i travel all the way to Cairo and end up being led in worship by a pastor who went to Bexley Lutheran Seminary... located about 2 hours from my hometown in Ohio. go figure. dude was cool, and i was utterly blown away by his ministry. they share the church with 5 other churches (since you can't build new ones in Egypt due to the heavy regulation). he does friday morning service for around 30 people.. if that. the total membership of his church is around 200 give or take. with this limited amount of resource and people, St Andrews puts on education programs for Sudanese refugees.

they're evening starting a hip-hop program to deal with the gangs. two gangs largely, that prey on the refugees. why refugees and not egyptians? cause then there would be a crack down on ALL refugees, and you can't hit the tourists cause they have armed guards with them at all times. so they prey on their own people... but so do many other minority and marginilized people. i remember we poor kids would almost never fight a higher social class kid. it was always same side of the track fighting... very few times i can remember fighting someone from the good side of the tracks. and if i did, it was due to a football dispute taken too far.

but anywho.. Rev Clifford Lewis is really make'n Ohio proud.

The Pyramids and Sphynx

what most people think of when they think of Egypt. the interesting part was seeing how MASSIVE these things are and then hearing that they have the interior square-footage of a small, 1BR condo. NOT that large.

also, the most touching thing, was afterwards. while waiting for our fellow consumers in the Hard Rock cafe by the 'Mids, we watched a game of soccer being played by tweens and teens, amid the camels they rent out to tourists all day. the big guys watched that they didn't hurt the small guys but really tried to win. the little guys won out and they celebrated by running around. then they hopped on their camels and horses and went home, singing and laughing.

that was an awesome experience.

Coptic Christainty

We visited St Mark's, home of the Coptic Pope, Pope Shenouda III. Who are the Copts and how are the different from Orthodox or Catholic Christianity?

According to ancient tradition, Christianity was introduced to the Egyptians by Saint Mark in Alexandria, shortly after the ascension of Christ and during the reign of the Roman emperor Claudius around 42 A.D. Some famous Coptic scholars were Athenagoras, Clement, Didymus, and my favorite, Origen, who is one of the most distinguished of the early fathers of the Christianity.

They also gave Christianity monasticism. the most prominent figures of the monastic movement were Anthony the Great and Paul of Thebes (who we've already talked about), and Macarius the Great (who we WILL talk about!).

The Copts had a HUGE impact on the rest of Christianity but are considered to be different, part of the Oriental Christian Tradition, NOT the Catholic or Greek Orthodox traditions. The Oriental Orthodox communion comprises six groups: Syriac Orthodox,Coptic Orthodox, Ethiopian Orthodox, Eritrean Orthodox, Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church (India) and Armenian Apostolic churches. These churches are different due to a disagreement at the Council of Chalcedon.

Chalcedon declared that Jesus has two complete natures, one human and one divine. The Copts argue that Jesus, though divine as well as human, is only one person. They likened Chalcedon's doctrine to the Nestorian heresy, condemned at Ephesus, which stated that Christ was two distinct persons, one divine and one human. In 2001, the leaders of Oriental Orthodoxy and Eastern Orthodoxy concluded that they had always believed in the same Christology, but differed over how this was to be formulated, thus healing has begun between the Orthodox and Catholic churches.

Here's the visit to St Marks:


During the Q&A session with the Pope, two really funny answers that stuck in my head.

Q: I like a girl, but she doesn't like me! I pine and yearn, but to no avail, what should i do?

A: I wish these boys loved God as much as they love these girls.

Q: I recently moved to Cairo from a small village. I'm finding city life has a lot more temptations than the village life. How can i keep from sinning amid all these temptations?

A: No one can make you sin. Your heart has to be open to it in the first place. Pray and go to church, but realize that you are the one making the decision to sin or not.

Both of these responces brought a deafening roar of approval from the crowd. it was like being at a rock concert or sports game. maybe i should do a weekly Q&A from my church or even on the blog... ummm......

The Garbage District

Here's the wiki article on the Legend of St Simon the Cobbler.

This district is named Zabaleen (Garbage collectors in Arabic), so literally, this is "Trash City". There are over forty thousand people living there.It's dusty and has narrow dirt lanes. Here families sort and recycle the garbage produced by Cairo's burgeoning population of around 25 million (which goes up 1 million every 6 months!). There is an odor about the village, but because it was mild, it wasn't too bad.

Thinking about our visit, i can't help but think of the criticism of the movie "Slum Dog Millionare" (sent to me by Mr. Chris Eden). The Slate article What, Exactly, Is Slumdog Millionaire? mentions that:

A columnist at the London Times called it "poverty porn," bringing up the question of exploitation that has largely been elided in stateside discussions.

i think it sums up our visit exactly! just like the film, it gave us overtones of a real life situation and context but it never gets into the reality and deeper issues of the context. i'm happy to have gone but realize i must do more work in trying to figure out the reality that i brushed up against.

i think this says alot about ppl's personalities as well. some will go to the movie, see it, be entertained, and then not really think about it. same with the trip. others will go to the movie or on a trip, and then chew on it, get books on the subject, really chase it down.

isn't that what we see in seminary as well? ppl going to class and either not listen, have the info go in one ear and out the other, or actively pursue the info and challenge it and be transformed by it.

some of my fellow classmates had no questions about this part of the trip.. i on the other hand, couldn't let this issue rest. I asked our tour guide, Romani, a million questions about this area, the people, the culture of the neighborhood, whether they had steady electricity (they do), and if they could move out or not (they can!). i'm not saying i'm better, just different in the reaction.

the point of this post is that the last thing we should say is "awww, they live in unhygenic conditions, let's have a pity-party." in fact, i think we should be setting up similar communities in landfills across the US! i marveled at the brilliance and ingenuity of those living in the district. it challenged my assumptions and made me want to dive deeper.

i hope it's done the same for you!

"Mt. Sinai"

1.12.2009

I'll let these two videos do the talking.. hopefully there'll be much discussion on these two as there's been much talk over whether Exodus factually happened or not. well, much talk among the canon anyways...



and the following thoughts with Mr Dwight and myself.



love to hear your thoughts!

St Paul the Monk

Day Two: 1.11.2009
St Paul's monastery was great and we were met by Father Thomas, an archtype of holiness. He was soft-spoken, light-hearted, and genuine.

The legend of St Paul goes like this: His parents die and he's left with all the stuff and his brother. Wondering what to do, he heads to church and gets a message that he should leave it all and head
to the desert for a life of prayer and solitude. He does just that and walks into the desert and is led to a cave right near a spring. Everday a bird drops off half a loaf of bread (a reference to Elijah).

St. Antony goes into the desert and thinks he's the first monk. An angel comes to him and leads Antony 4 days across the desert to meet St Paul. that day the raven brings a whole loaf of bread... When Anthony next visited him, Paul was dead. Anthony clothed him in a tunic which was a present from Saint Athanasius and buried him, with two lions helping to dig the grave.

While St Antony is the more popular monk, Father Thomas had a great metaphor. He said that St Antony is like the body of monasticism, you can see it, but St Paul is the heart! You can't see a heart, but you know everyone that is alive has one. Monasticism is alive and St Paul is the heart of it.

The Real Red Sea

so while i was in Hurghada, Kate was in the Cayman islands.

hard life, i know.

but it kinda was... even though i was in a wonderful location, snorkeling and seeing new fish and viewing fit europeans in tiny swimwear, i still missed my wife and Boogie (our child that's still in utero). every night i feel Boogie kick, as if he/she is trying to say 'hi'. messages from another world. i missed those. plus my roomate Steve snores. but i had no reason to complain as you'll see in the video:



meanwhile, here's what Kate was doing as evidenced by the pictures her parents took.

it was nice to know that Kate just wasn't at home during this week, it really kept me from worrying too much or fighting to get in contact daily with her.

we had devotions that evening, here's what i wrote:

Praise and thanksgiving, oh God!
I have seen God working in antiquity,
in human history,
in human relationships,
in human culture.

I give thanks to the Creator as I now realize that,
I may only see God in the other,
that I must first go into Egypt,
to be called out of it. (Matt 2:13)

Uncomfort creates growth.
Growth creates understanding.
Understanding, peace.

Praise be to God! Amen

HOT CHICKEN SOUP!

Hatshepsut was the fifth pharaoh of the eighteenth dynasty of Ancient Egypt. She is generally regarded by Egyptologists as one of the most successful pharaohs, reigning longer than any other woman of an indigenous Egyptian dynasty. She was sucessful in warfare and her trade negotiations ushered in great wealth.

so why then did her ancestors try to remove her from history?

The attempt was made to remove Hatshepsut from certain historical and pharaonic records. This elimination was carried out in the most literal way possible. Her cartouches and images were chiselled off some stone walls, leaving very obvious Hatshepsut-shaped gaps in the artwork.

Amenhotep II would have had a motive because his position in the royal lineage was not so strong to assure his elevation to pharaoh. but one should never mess with a lady as this only ups the value of articles that are in tact carrying her name.

the TEMPLE OF KARNAK was the highlight of the trip. it's the largest ancient temple of the ancient world and many of the pharoah's helped add onto the temp include'n Hatshepsut and Rameses II, my two faves.

as Craig remarked upon leaving Karnak "i will yearn for this place. I'm missing it already and i wonder when i'll be able to visit this again. I had this same feeling when i left the Sistine Chapel."

i couldn't agree with him more.

Egypt for Beginners

I just got back from Egypt for my cross-cultural experience for seminary. 18 women and 4 men, now I understand the concept of fraternity! :-) It's not a mission trip, we go to get a better handle on our culture and Christianity in the larger context of the world. Food was great and I have PLENTY of stories to share.

here are my pix from the trip.. all of them, all at once.

I call Steve "Wadi" (which is a dry river bed that flash floods every now and then) cause it fits his personality. He's an all or nothing kinda guy!

the videos are here on my Youtube channel, but i will be post them on the blog with commentary that will hopefully provide even more insight to those who wanna learn about the Egyptian culture and history. here's the video from the first day:



it's interesting when one hits the ground what initial observations one makes. here i noted that it's interesting to be "different" and stared at by little kids. we were even followed! plus add in the shock of 25 million people in one city with jet lag and holy moly! but that priviledge was with me most of the trip. some people go through their whole lives like that, always in the 'other' category. i only have a vague understanding of this and am no where near understanding what people in this position go through on a regular basis, but the shock of it was interesting and eye opening.

as Peggie McIntosh stated in her article "White Priviledge: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack"

I realized that, since hierarchies in our society are interlocking, there was most likely a phenomenon of while privilege that was similarly denied and protected. As a white person, I realized I had been taught about racism as something that puts others at a disadvantage, but had been taught not to see one of its corollary aspects, white privilege, which puts me at an advantage.

it's one thing to see it, it's a whole other thing to experience it. granted this shock wore off after the first day and once we realized that we were 'safe' and that we were also visiting and would be going back to our culture in two weeks time.

Privilege for me is a double-edged sword. some use it to get others to be aware of it for educational purposes as well as part of a good practice of citizenship. others, however, seem to use it to guilt people and gain the upper-hand. there's a fine line between awareness of privilege and white guilt and being an ex-Catholic, i'm not a believer in guilt.

needless to say i'm aware of it, this trip sure helped that. i hope to make others aware and in this awareness, make the grounds for mutually enriching dialogues. i think this will be a main part of my future ministry, awareness and radical hospitality to all 'others' and hopefully in this dialogue and hospitality we see that there is no 'other' only us and our common humanity.

Feb is Egypt Month!

I will be posting videos and pix on here from my egypt trip. i hope that these will do it justice and provide some insight to an amazing country.



I hope to uncover the mysteries of Eygpt, including (but not limited to):

-How to walk like an Egyptian
-Who are the Copts and why do they matter
-Why you shouldn't mess with women
-Symbols and archtypes in human history
-What I look and soundlike (eek!) in video blog segments
-Why Interfaith dialogue is key to our future
-And maybe a little bit about Dino-Theology

RAWK!