Letter from Palestine, 15, Advent.
11th December 2004
Dear friends!
It is time for a “spiritual” letter again. So then you are warned…
When I came to Jerusalem yesterday after having been to Jericho, I was met by a decorated Christmas tree in the lobby of YWCA. It was a bit early, I thought, but then I remembered that in Norway I would probably have seen decorated Christmas trees for a month already. I thought then about how lucky I have been to experience the Advent time here. The Advent disappears in a way in Norway, when Christmas starts in November, or October, or September, with the first Christmas marzipan. It is not a lack of preparation for Christmas in December, but the preparation is mostly practical. The spiritual preparations are normally the suffering when the Advent disappears in the Christmas preparations.
What was a bit funny was that I yesterday evening got the same thought explained at a Bible study after Evensong in St George’s. They arrange Bible studies the three last Fridays in Advent, where we go through the texts for the coming Sunday. Last week we were six, most with English as mother tongue, four theologians, and I as the only female representative. I must admit that I did not have much to contribute. Yesterday we were seven, and only three were theologians, so the lay people were the majority. I had also managed to find the Bible texts on the Internet on beforehand, so I was better prepared. I think it is a bit strange that the Anglican Church does not have the same lectionary as the Church of Norway, but I understand that it might be the Church of Norway which is strange. After having become so Anglican while I have been here, I have both found elements with the Lutheran and with the Anglican tradition that I appreciate. At the same time I have started to ask questions, both about what I am used to and about what is new to me.
It is not very many coming to prayers on weekdays, so I am used to be the only unlearned. But it is a bit easier when there are also others who need explanations to easy connections in the texts. One of the theologians came then with this reflection about how the Advent has disappeared in the western countries, while it is still alive here in Jerusalem. People here are an Advent people. They live in hope. That is exactly what Advent is about, to have hope for the future. I wonder then if we in Norway and other western countries don’t need hope for the future, because we have freedom, justice and peace and all the material goods that we need. Is the hope redundant so that we can jump over the Advent and come directly in Christmas mood?
Last Sunday I heard a good homily at the Evensong about waiting in the Advent. It is related to hope, about waiting for change. Not all waiting is in hope for a better time, you can be waiting with fear or happiness, but anyway if what you wait for is good or not, there is a meaning of the time of waiting. We need the waiting as preparation. We do need the time of waiting not only to prepare for what is coming after, but also for being in the time itself. This might be something we are not so good at, to let the time of waiting be valuable, find peace and let God work with us where we are. I have not been very good at using the Advent like this before. It is in a way easier here.
On my way to YWCA yesterday, I went by Gethsemane. In the grotto where Judas betrayed Jesus, I spent some more time than other tourists, so the Franciscan friar who sat there, asked me to come to him, and we had a nice talk. When I asked, he told that he originally was from Italy, but he had lived in the Holy Land for 66 years. He wanted to give me a gift, and found a small, round bread he had got from a Coptic Orthodox monk. The bread had a large cross in the middle, twelve small crosses around, and something written in Coptic in a circle around. He told that the bread was not blessed. But his blessing made as much for me.
Then I must tell about a funny happening from Jericho. Vis-à-vis the house I live in, there is a Coptic Orthodox monastery. Thursday a monk came visiting. He sat with us quite some time that evening. May be it is normal. But I am not used to, so I found it quite fun, with a monk watching TV, eating nuts and telling jokes in my sitting-room.
The last week I have attended a couple of Orthodox liturgies which I have not understood anything of. But it is nice to be there though, listening to the singing and experience the adoration. It is quite an experience, with incense, crossing, processions, liturgical clothes and doors being opened and closed. I should try to find an English speaking Orthodox to get explained what the elements mean.
This evening I have been out for dinner with a couple of other girls. Vicky, who was a volunteer here at YWCA a couple of weeks in September, is here again to participate in a conference in Nazareth next week. She stays at a hostel together with a Norwegian girl who studies International development in Australia and is here for field work about suicide bombers and the religious aspect. We talked mostly about politics and our daily lives, but we also came to religion, it is naturally when both Vicky and I imagine our future jobs in the church, and this field work was also oriented on religion. It was interesting to hear how the development student, who has also studied journalism, was interested in studying theology, but did not want to become a pastor, because her faith was not according the official teaching of the church, and she also thought it was soon time to start working after many years of studies. We had an exciting discussion, it is strange to see how religion at the same time can seem so easy and so complicated, both a reason for and as a solution to conflicts and problems.
Advent greetings from Hanne.
Dear friends!
It is time for a “spiritual” letter again. So then you are warned…
When I came to Jerusalem yesterday after having been to Jericho, I was met by a decorated Christmas tree in the lobby of YWCA. It was a bit early, I thought, but then I remembered that in Norway I would probably have seen decorated Christmas trees for a month already. I thought then about how lucky I have been to experience the Advent time here. The Advent disappears in a way in Norway, when Christmas starts in November, or October, or September, with the first Christmas marzipan. It is not a lack of preparation for Christmas in December, but the preparation is mostly practical. The spiritual preparations are normally the suffering when the Advent disappears in the Christmas preparations.
What was a bit funny was that I yesterday evening got the same thought explained at a Bible study after Evensong in St George’s. They arrange Bible studies the three last Fridays in Advent, where we go through the texts for the coming Sunday. Last week we were six, most with English as mother tongue, four theologians, and I as the only female representative. I must admit that I did not have much to contribute. Yesterday we were seven, and only three were theologians, so the lay people were the majority. I had also managed to find the Bible texts on the Internet on beforehand, so I was better prepared. I think it is a bit strange that the Anglican Church does not have the same lectionary as the Church of Norway, but I understand that it might be the Church of Norway which is strange. After having become so Anglican while I have been here, I have both found elements with the Lutheran and with the Anglican tradition that I appreciate. At the same time I have started to ask questions, both about what I am used to and about what is new to me.
It is not very many coming to prayers on weekdays, so I am used to be the only unlearned. But it is a bit easier when there are also others who need explanations to easy connections in the texts. One of the theologians came then with this reflection about how the Advent has disappeared in the western countries, while it is still alive here in Jerusalem. People here are an Advent people. They live in hope. That is exactly what Advent is about, to have hope for the future. I wonder then if we in Norway and other western countries don’t need hope for the future, because we have freedom, justice and peace and all the material goods that we need. Is the hope redundant so that we can jump over the Advent and come directly in Christmas mood?
Last Sunday I heard a good homily at the Evensong about waiting in the Advent. It is related to hope, about waiting for change. Not all waiting is in hope for a better time, you can be waiting with fear or happiness, but anyway if what you wait for is good or not, there is a meaning of the time of waiting. We need the waiting as preparation. We do need the time of waiting not only to prepare for what is coming after, but also for being in the time itself. This might be something we are not so good at, to let the time of waiting be valuable, find peace and let God work with us where we are. I have not been very good at using the Advent like this before. It is in a way easier here.
On my way to YWCA yesterday, I went by Gethsemane. In the grotto where Judas betrayed Jesus, I spent some more time than other tourists, so the Franciscan friar who sat there, asked me to come to him, and we had a nice talk. When I asked, he told that he originally was from Italy, but he had lived in the Holy Land for 66 years. He wanted to give me a gift, and found a small, round bread he had got from a Coptic Orthodox monk. The bread had a large cross in the middle, twelve small crosses around, and something written in Coptic in a circle around. He told that the bread was not blessed. But his blessing made as much for me.
Then I must tell about a funny happening from Jericho. Vis-à-vis the house I live in, there is a Coptic Orthodox monastery. Thursday a monk came visiting. He sat with us quite some time that evening. May be it is normal. But I am not used to, so I found it quite fun, with a monk watching TV, eating nuts and telling jokes in my sitting-room.
The last week I have attended a couple of Orthodox liturgies which I have not understood anything of. But it is nice to be there though, listening to the singing and experience the adoration. It is quite an experience, with incense, crossing, processions, liturgical clothes and doors being opened and closed. I should try to find an English speaking Orthodox to get explained what the elements mean.
This evening I have been out for dinner with a couple of other girls. Vicky, who was a volunteer here at YWCA a couple of weeks in September, is here again to participate in a conference in Nazareth next week. She stays at a hostel together with a Norwegian girl who studies International development in Australia and is here for field work about suicide bombers and the religious aspect. We talked mostly about politics and our daily lives, but we also came to religion, it is naturally when both Vicky and I imagine our future jobs in the church, and this field work was also oriented on religion. It was interesting to hear how the development student, who has also studied journalism, was interested in studying theology, but did not want to become a pastor, because her faith was not according the official teaching of the church, and she also thought it was soon time to start working after many years of studies. We had an exciting discussion, it is strange to see how religion at the same time can seem so easy and so complicated, both a reason for and as a solution to conflicts and problems.
Advent greetings from Hanne.
posted by Hanne at 2:51 PM
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