An Invitation to Lent

I have always been fascinated by what "new" practices a congregation finds acceptable or objectionable. When the use of ashes was reintroduced in the past generation, I thought that it might just not catch on. In my own unscientific observation, I believe it is a small minority of our congregations that will not have ashes available in their worship today.

In the Ash Wednesday liturgy we engage in an extended confession of sin. We do not hear the words of absolution. I find receiving the ashes on my forehead to be a powerful moment. Those ashes represent my mortality and penitence. The pastor admonishes me "Remember you are dust, and to dust you shall return." That is a hard reminder. I'm feeling a bit dustier each year.

Today in worship we will be invited into the discipline of Lent. Personally, I will be setting aside some of my normal devotional practices to take up Book of Faith Lenten Journey: 40 Days with the Lord's Prayer (Augsburg Fortress, 2009). One component of this book is journaling. This might surprise you, but I am not very good at journaling. I was happy to learn a couple of years ago that not all personality types are effective journalers. I think I must be one of those types. Too many extraneous thoughts tend to flit through my mind. I stop to think and forget to write! But I am going to give it another try.

What will your Lenten discipline include? My hope is that you will be faithful in Sunday and mid-week worship. Increase your devotional time and Bible reading. Take seriously your pastor's invitation when he or she says, "I invite you, therefore, to the discipline of Lent--self-examination and repentance, prayer and fasting, sacrificial giving and works of love--strengthened by the gifts of word and sacrament."

I am journeying (and journaling) with you. --JC

Holy Land Resources

There are many wonderful resources that are readily available regarding the Holy Land. I want to make you aware of just a few.

The favorite tour book of our travelers was Jerusalem & the Holy Land of the DK Eyewitness Travel series. It contains lots of useful background information, highlights of all of the sights and best of all, loads of color photographs.

There are two books that I feel are especially important to us as Lutheran Christians and deserve a very wide reading. The first is Witnessing for Peace: In Jerusalem and the World by Munib Younan, the bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land. The second is Bethlehem Besieged: Stories of Hope in Times of Trouble by Mitri Raheb. This powerful book was written by the pastor of Christmas Lutheran Church in Bethlehem. These books will help you understand the conflict in the Middle East, the role of Palestinian Christians and how the church can work for justice.

I also want to remind you that there are many resources available on the ELCA website. If you are not already, familiarize yourself with the "Peace Not Walls" initiative. Check out http://www.elca.org/Our-Faith-In-Action/Justice/Peace-Not-Walls.aspx.

Finally, some of us who traveled are willing to make presentations in your Northern Illinois Synod congregation. My wife and I have prepared two presentations. One is basically a travelogue using photos that we took and the other attempts to discuss the history of the Holy Land and the current peace efforts utilizing ELCA resources. If you are interested in having a speaker come, please contact me (or June while I am on sabbatical) at the synod office. I will be available to come after the middle of April. Others may be available sooner. --JC

Reflections on a Pilgrimage

Pilgrimage: 1. A journey to a sacred place or shrine. 2. Any long journey or search, especially one of exalted purpose or moral significance.

When we first discussed planning a trip to the Holy Land we used pilgrim language. In fact, travelers from our synod have made a number of pilgrimage trips in recent years. We have had folks go to Germany to see the Luther sights and the Mediterranean to walk in Paul’s footsteps. We have had others go to visit in our companion synods in Tanzania and India. In 2010 a trip is being planned for Oberammergau and Italy.

Our trip to the Holy Land certainly qualified as a journey to a sacred place. While we cannot be sure that we stood in the actual historical location of many of Jesus’ life events, we were close. We were in the same cities; Jerusalem, Nazareth, Bethlehem, Capernaum. We sailed in the same waters of the Sea of Galilee. We sprinkled ourselves with the same waters of the Jordan River. We were surrounded by thousands of years of religious history and the holiest of sites for Christians, Muslims and Jews. The history lesson was incredible.

For me, the geography lesson was even more important. It helped me in my understanding of the Bible to see just how far it is from Jerusalem to the Mount of Olives. It was good to walk the Via Dolorosa and the Palm Sunday road. It was helpful to see how far Bethany and Bethlehem are from Jerusalem. I now know what the Biblical wilderness looks like. I will read the gospels with new clarity.

My faith has never been directly connected to a place. I did not have a burning need to see the Holy Land. My faith is no stronger today than it was last month. I do not believe that a Christian must make such a trip to be complete. But I would recommend that you go if you are able. Our trip was most valuable to me because it was also a long journey of moral significance.

Our itinerary included more than just sightseeing. We took the time to talk with people. It was amazing to sit and listen to the Rev. Dr. Mitri Raheb, pastor of Christmas Lutheran Church and director of the International Center of Bethlehem. It was fascinating to see how a very small minority community (Christian) can make a big impact. It was informative and heart-rending to speak with Pastor Raheb’s staff. It was so good to tour the Lutheran school and hear the principal tell of how the values of peace and tolerance are being taught.

The challenge I face now is to answer the “So what?” question. What difference is this trip going to make in my life and in the life of others? Are there ways in which I can work for peace and justice, especially in the lives of some I have met? --JC

"Happy Valentines"

As we were seated this morning at the breakfast table in the hotel dining room, we were greeted with a hearty "Happy Valentines!" Our guide later told us that Jordanians are being encouraged to celebrate St. Valentine's Day even though St. Valentine is quite meaningless in their culture. He said it is to be a day to emphasize love, but with a great laugh he told us that he isn't sure that it will catch on and he wasn't personally giving his wife anything today! Apparently it hasn't caught on with him.

This morning we drove to Queen Alia International Airport in Amman, made our way through passport control and security and boarded our flight for Chicago. It was a very long, uneventful flight. We had a large number of small children and babies on board, so there was little rest. I have lost count of the meals we've eaten today. I think it may be four. I do know that I watched three full-length movies during the flight.

We arrived at O'Hare on time and we all made our way through the maze of re-entering the United States. Our farewells at O'Hare were brief. Our new friends from the Fargo area departed for a nearby hotel. They will live out of their suitcases one more night before flying home tomorrow. A frequent traveler with us and good friend from Virginia is also staying overnight before traveling back to Portsmouth tomorrow. Three of our NIS group headed off in a cab and the rest of us (five) walked outside and caught the VanGalder bus back to Rockford without any waiting!

Last evening we each shared what we were thankful for as our adventure came to a close. The answers varied, but there was a common theme. We are all thankful that we had this opportunity to learn, share and grow with Christian friends. It was a remarkable trip and we would all highly recommend a similar trip for you.

It is about 6:00 a.m. in Amman right now, which means I've been up for about 24 hours. I'm headed to bed, yes, my own bed, and think I may have to miss church in the morning. Thank you again for your prayers. Thanks for reading the blog. I promise more on this trip and some pictures very soon. --JC

On Our Way Rejoicing

I did not have the opportunity to provide an update yesterday. Forgive me if you were anxious to hear from us.

Yesterday and today were spent exploring western Jordan. This country has such an interesting history and some significant challenges. Our group was joined by a tourist policeman who was assigned to us and has traveled with us these two days. Tourism is very important to the area and the government takes our safety very seriously. I am not sure that we needed any kind of extra protection...it's just the way things are done here. There are many tourists here, but not many Americans. Jordan's tourism is connected to Israel's in that American tourists don't generally make a trip just to see Jordan. With fewer Americans in Israel right now, there are even less in Jordan. We have encountered many Europeans here, notably from Germany and Italy. We met some folks from Portugal too.

The weather has been almost summery. We took a driving tour of Amman yesterday morning. This is a big and bustling city. We went to the Citadel and viewed the ruins there. We also toured the Archaeological Museum on the grounds. We traveled to the south and stood atop Mt. Nebo and viewed the Promised Land much as Moses did before he died. Breathtaking is the best word I can use to describe the experience. We also went to Madaba, the city of mosaics. A few from our group even bought mosaic souvenirs. The ancient mosaic map of the Holy Land in St. George's Church was incredible. We drove down the King's Highway, the oldest highway in continuous use in the world. After our bus trip through the desert, we ended the day at our hotel in Wadi Musa, just a few miles from Petra.

Today we toured Petra, a city forgotten for 1,000 years. Between us, our group experienced walking, horseback riding, camel riding and a horse drawn carriage. This afternoon we viewed the ruins of a Crusader fortress at Shobak. After a long, dusty and fairly warm day we have returned to Amman for the night. I must have missed my nose with the sunscreen because it is looking a bit red tonight. Petra was the reason for the Jordan extension to this tour and all agreed that it was well worth the trip.

We celebrated the birthday of one of our travelers (from Fargo) this evening with a beautiful cake provided by her parents. We have had our evening devotions and our final group meeting for this trip. It will be sad to bid farewell to friends old and new. We have shared an incredible experience. We have a flight out of Amman shortly after noon tomorrow. Flying to the west and gaining back those eight hours that we lost, we will arrive at O'Hare late tomorrow afternoon. We'll have a 32 hour day instead of just 24 hours.

Thanks for all of your prayers. We ask you to pray for safe travel as we head home. Once we're home, I will upload a few pictures and offer some reflections on our trip. Now I have to go pack my suitcase! Peace be with you.

If it's Wednesday This Must be Jordan

This evening finds us back, safe and sound, in Amman, Jordan. We began the day in Jerusalem with an early wake-up call. Our guide and driver took us to the Israel/Jordan border and guided us through the process of leaving the country. Entering Jordan again was quite easy. After we met our new guide we were off and running again.

Our first stop was Bethany Beyond the Jordan. It is another traditional site of Jesus' baptism. (Yes, there is more than one!) This is also the place where the 12 tribes of Israel camped prior to entering the Promised Land. We are surrounded by Old and New Testament history here, everywhere we look.

On our way to Jerash, we crossed the Jabbock River. You will recall that Jacob wrestled with God at Peniel by the Jabbock. As I have mentioned before, the landscape is stunning.

The ruins of Jerash are some of the best preserved Roman ruins in the Middle East. Jesus is said to have cast demons out of a man (into the herd of swine) near this city, then known as ancient city Gerasa. There are some geographical questions, such as where the sea is that the swine used to drown themselves, but I'll leave that to the biblical scholars. Some in our group have seen the ruins at Ephesus and were impressed here, though they think Ephesus is larger.

Our group is now 14. We were sad to bid farewell to four and have remembered them in prayer today as they travel home. Our group has had some very good, deep discussions both at the dinner table and in our devotional times. Of course, there has also been lots of frivolity too, especially at the table. The weather today was cool, but not as windy as yesterday and there was no rain. The forecast for the next two days is better. There was a fairly good thunderstorm in Jerusalem last night. Rain here is most definitely life-giving because the region is suffering from drought.

By tomorrow evening we will have moved south to Petra. We are all well and reaping the benefits of this pilgrimage. Thanks be to God! Your prayers are needed and appreciated. --JC

In the Garden

It was a cold, windy and sometimes rainy day in Jerusalem today. We began our day early in order to get to the Temple Mount and to see the Dome of the Rock, a holy Muslim site. From there we went to the Mount of Olives and the Augusta Victoria Hospital. We were greeted there by the Rev. Mark Brown, who explained the work of the hospital and the Lutheran World Federation in this place. We also viewed the site of the future housing project. Two of our travelers from Prince of Peace in Freeport presented a letter to Pastor Brown which represented the gift of the congregation to the ministry of the hospital.

We made many stops today but the highlight for me came after we walked the Palm Sunday road. In the Garden of Gethsemane we viewed 2,000 year old olive trees and we prayed in the Church of All Nations. I was overwhelmed knowing that we were so close to the spot that Jesus prayed so fervently, "Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me; yet not my will but yours be done." I have always been haunted by what follows in Luke: His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down on the ground. It was a holy moment to be in this place.

Today is election day in Israel. That did not interfere with our plans. Tonight we will bid farewell to four travelers, our two from Freeport and two from the North Dakota group. They will fly home while the rest of us move back to Jordan and eventually to Petra. We are all well, emotionally tired, but physically doing fine. Peace be with you! --JC

Floating in the Dead Sea

For those of you not accustomed to reading this blog every day, I am currently making as many entries as possible while traveling in the Holy Land for the benefit of friends and relatives of our travelers. This is the main form of communication for some of them.

This morning we left Bethlehem and drove about 90 minutes to get to Masada. This is perhaps one of the most remarkable places I have ever seen. Masada was a mountain-top fortress, which was expanded by Herod the Great. We rode a cable car to the top, which is 1,300 feet above the Dead Sea. What a sight! We had a great history lesson about the Zealot sect and this last Jewish stronghold.

From there we went for a dip in the Dead Sea. I didn't go in...I was sunburned enough already. But a few of our group went in to float. The Dead Sea is the lowest point on Earth, but it was easy enough to get to on a tour bus!

Qumran was our next stop. What are the chances of having a tour guide who actually studied archeology and had been involved in the digging out and exploration of the caves in the 60's? It was incredible to hear his story. Our guide has been just the best that we can imagine, but today surprised us all!

I still cannot get over the landscape of this area. Thinking of Jesus out in the wilderness has a completely new meaning for me now.

Our final stop of the day was Bethany. This was the home of Martha and Mary. I am not sure of what to make of Bethany, but we were all glad to be out of the town and back on the road. It was an uncomfortable place for us to be. Please understand that we were safe at all times and there were no incidents.

We are now in Jerusalem in a fairly luxurious hotel. Following supper we had a group meeting and after our devotions we discussed some of the things that we have been learning. We will all be anxious to share our experiences, but I can tell you that as wonderful as it has been to see the "Jesus sights," I have been profoundly affected by some of the people we have met and some of the other things that we have done.

Tomorrow is the last day of our main tour and four of our group will leave us on Wednesday morning. But we have one full day together and it promises to action packed. We leave the hotel for the day at 7:30 a.m.

Continue to pray for us. We are all well and doing fine. Blessings to all! --JC

A Unison Ahmeen

Today, Sunday, began with a number of us walking down the hill to the Church of the Nativity here in Bethlehem to observe the Greek Orthodox worship service and the Roman Catholic mass. They are held simultaneously in buildings immediately adjacent to each other.

We all attended the morning worship of The Evangelical Lutheran Christmas Church (http://www.bethlehemchristmaslutheran.org/) at 10:30 a.m. Pastor Kris (from North Dakota) was invited to read a lesson and I was invited to pray a petition of the pastoral prayer with Pastor Mitri Raheb and a leader of the Lutheran Church in Austria. The Austrian bishop was also in attendance and gave the benediction. Pastor Raheb offered wonderful hospitality by including Kris and me, welcoming our group, printing some bulletins in English and even choosing hymns that we would be able to sing. How wonderful to hear "How Great Thou Art" sung in German, English and Arabic. We also prayed the Lord's Prayer in our own languages. Somehow we all ended with the "Amen" at the same time!

Following worship we joined the congregation and other visitors from Austria for coffee in the fellowship hall. The coffee was a spicy Turkish coffee, which was very strong and very good. We immediately returned to the dining room of the guest house where Dr. Raheb and his staff from the International Center of Bethlehem joined his American and Austrian guests for lunch. The conversation was deep and enlightening. Since we were bit pressed for time, Dr. Raheb will be joining us again for dinner this evening.

This afternoon we traveled into Jerusalem (no more than a 10 or 15 minute drive) to visit Yad Vashem, the Holocaust museum. It is a remarkable museum and memorial. I am glad that we were able to reschedule the visit since the museum was closed at the original time.

Our travelers are a bit weary this evening, but all are well. We have an early start tomorrow, so it may just be off to bed for most following dinner.

al Rabbu Ma'akum. (God be with you.) --JC

Away in a Manger

Your Northern Illinois travelers spent today in Bethlehem. Early this morning we walked from our hotel down to Manger Square and the Church of the Nativity. In the cave beneath the church we gathered at the traditional site of Jesus' birth and from memory sang "Away in a Manger" with tears in our eyes. Always meaningful, this simple song took us to new levels of understanding. It was quite a moment.

Our tour guide, a Lutheran himself, added a stop to our itinerary, taking us to a Lutheran School for students in kindergarten through 12th grade. It is a school teaching the values of tolerance and peace. We also toured a refugee camp, where believe it or not, I ran into a resident there whom I have met before. He recognized me and I him, but neither of us can place when or where we met. It was surely in the United States. I'm hoping it might come to me in the middle of the night sometime.

Today we finally took a little time for some souvenir shopping. That was fun until I tried to use my credit card and it was declined! I was irritated, but it saved me some money. By the way, the card did work later at a different shop. No one else seemed to have any trouble.

We drove to Beit Sahour for an incredible view of the Shepherds Fields. From this point there is also a stunning view of the entire city of Bethlehem. We concluded the day with a relaxing Bedouin-style dinner of chicken, lamb and beef. You cannot compare the hummus at home to what we have eaten here! Back at the hotel we gathered for our daily devotions and a few announcements.

All of our travelers are well, our group has gelled; we are having a wonderful, educational, and faith enriching experience. Thanks be to God! We will worship tomorrow morning at Christmas Lutheran church in Bethlehem. Please pray for us in your worship. We will be remembering you. Shalom! Salaam! Peace! --JC

Up to Jerusalem...45 Minutes Late

Greetings to all in the name of our Lord!

It was another beautiful day for us here in the Holy Land. We began our day with a stop at the Jordan River. We read the story of Jesus' baptism and then remembered our own baptisms by sprinkling ourselves with water from the river. The Orthodox priest traveling with us sang a baptismal hymn. What a wonderful way to begin the day.

We traveled the route of ancient highways toward Jerusalem. We passed through the remarkable landscape of desert and mountains. On the outskirts of the city our bus had some engine trouble and we had to be rescued by another one. It didn't take more than 45 minutes for a replacement bus to arrive. We then walked the Via Dolorosa, toured the Old City and spent quite a bit of time in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. We ended our time at the Western (Wailing) Wall just as the Sabbath observance was beginning.

Tonight we passed through a checkpoint and the wall to enter Bethlehem. We are staying at the Lutheran Guest House here. It was a physically taxing day for our group, but we had a nice supper together and I would imagine many will get to bed early.

It is difficult to describe the kind of emotional impact a day like today has. I will have to let it soak in for a while. We are all well and have access to free Internet!

On the Sea

We spent yesterday in the Galilee region. The weather was spectacular though they are in desperate need of rain here. We began the day by viewing a 2,000 year old boat recovered from the floor of the Sea of Galilee that appeared due to low water levels. For most of us the highlight of the day was a boat ride on the Sea of Galillee in the afternoon. The boat stopped in the middle of the water and in the silence we spoke of Jesus calming the water, walking on the water, and calling Peter to him. We prayed for the world and especially peace for this region of the world. We also prayed that this trip might embolden us to be better witnesses.

Everyone in our group is well. The jet lag is subsiding and folks are sleeping better. Everyone sends their greetings. Today we head to Jerusalem to the Holocaust museum before ending the day in Bethlehem. We can honestly say, we wish you were here. --JC

Greetings from Philadelphia

A group of 18 of us have arrived safely in Amman, Jordan. The flight from O'Hare to Amman took about 13 hours. It was a long, but very smooth flight. Upon arrival we were immediately met by our guide who helped us through the process of getting our visas, claiming our luggage and clearing the security process to leave the airport.

Amman is a large, busy city of about six million people in the metropolitan area. Our bus driver must have nerves of steel. City driving never bothers me, but Chicago drivers are nothing compared to the chaotic driving we witnessed this evening. By the way, we are eight hours ahead of CST, so we arrived at the hotel, ate dinner and now are headed off to bed, when it still feels a bit like early afternoon.

On the bus ride we learned that an old name for Amman is Philadelphia. Apparently the two words mean the same thing, brotherly love. We are not sure that our guide knew of the Pennsylvania connection. I'll have to ask him tomorrow. It was also interesting to learn that one million Iraqis have moved to Amman since the beginning of the war. This has had a significant impact on life in Amman, especially since the Iraqis who have come are wealthy. The cost of living in Amman has gone up significantly.

English is widely spoken here and US dollars are accepted in tourist areas. Fourteen per cent of Jordan's economy is based on foreign tourism.

Tomorrow the real tour begins as we travel to the Israeli border. Now I will go pay the five bucks to use this computer and head upstairs to the room. --JC

Leaving on a Jet Plane

A merry group of pilgrims from the Northern Illinois Synod along with other friends and a group from Olivet Lutheran Church in Fargo, North Dakota are set to leave tomorrow for a tour of the Holy Land and Jordan. The itinerary is fascinating with time to be spent in Galilee, Bethlehem, Jerusalem, Amman and Petra.

Today’s news of new violence in the Middle East is disconcerting, but we have been assured that the situation there is being monitored at all times and our itinerary will be adjusted if necessary.

We do ask for your prayers for good health and safe travel. We plan to update this blog while we tour, though I cannot promise how often or from which locations. I doubt that we will be able to post many (if any) pictures, but I promise to do that upon our return. Thank you for your interest and your prayers. --JC