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April 20, 2005
my passion grows...
As many of you know, I have a book buying problem. I always suspected that I did, but after hauling box after box of books out of my dorm room for my upcoming move, I have realized it is true. But anyway, due to my ailment, I adore the Half Price Bookstore in West Des Moines. Last Sunday, my dad, sister, and I went there. My sister hates the place. She'd "rather wait for the movie to come out" (her exact words). So, my dad and I didn't make her stay too terribly long.
This semester, my interest and passion for issues concerning the Middle East has grown extensively. It's mostly been a product of a growing interest in cultural psychology, combined with a class that focused on Islamic societies and their contemporary issues.
Most recently, my focus has been on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, but with a focused area: the children of Israel and Palestine. I just had to finish a paper on the topic, so it was on my brain when I went to the bookstore.
I had mostly given up on finding a Middle Eastern section in the store (I had never looked for one before). But finally, on the far side of the store, there it was! I was able to find three wonderful books to purchase, but I will only let you in on the details of one...
This book, called Blood Brothers, is the story of a young Palestinian Christian and his family. The writer and narrator, Elias Chacour, was a little boy in Galilee in 1947 (the year the book really starts). His parents were believers and so were many of his other relatives. They worshipped at a small church in their village of Biram. His father had a fig orchard. Elias used to climb to the top of a tree his father had specially grafted (he made six varieties of fig all grow on one tree...pretty sweet) and be able to see all throughout the land.
Elias describes his relationship with Christ as being very real, very early on because he could imagine that Jesus had walked through his father's orchard or sat on the hills around their land, in the years of his earthly ministry.
Now this book has compelled me for several reasons. It's amazing hearing the faith his family had when their land was invaded by Zionists. It's eye-opening to find out more about the political events that happened as Israel became a state. And it's encouraging to hear how God revealed himself to Elias through this whole experience.
And that's part of what I wanted to share with you, something I just read...Elias has just returned home to Palestine from Paris where he was attending seminary. He has come home for his ordination ceremony. Elias has always felt a strong desire to both serve the church and still see justice for his people. On a visit to the ruins of his village (it was bombed on Christmas morning by soldiers), Elias tells us these thoughts...
[his father's words] The Jews and Palestinians are blood brothers. We must never forget that.
Now looking at Father's specially-grafted fig tree, I knew what those words meant. As a child, I had known that we got on well with teh Jewish people from other villages, that we bartered with them and that the men occasionally enjoyed a rousing religious discussion. But with my seminary training, i was suddenly and keenly aware of St. Paul's declaration to the early churches: God had broken a dividing wall, and there was no longer "Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female" Further Paul said, "not all who descended from Israel are Israel...nor are they all Abraham's children...It is not only the natural children who are God's children, but also the children of the promise who are regarded as Abraham's offspring" (Romans 9:6-8).
We Gentiles have been "grafted in" among God's chosen people of faith, just as Father had grafted six different kinds of fig trees together to make a delightful new tree. Benearth the rough bark where my hand rested, I knew that the livign wood had fused together so perfectly that, should I cut the tree down, I could never see where one variety stopped and the other began." -Elias Chacour
Okay, whew, so maybe that won't touch any of you. And maybe I'm just crazy, well, probably. But this book is resonating deeply with me. Perhaps it's because I'm at the part where he doesn't know what he's going to do with his life and neither do it. Perhaps its because of my interest in this part of the world. But, man, God is just using several of the things he is saying to open my eyes in a new way to things in this part of the world.
So for those of you who relish in taunting me about everything revolving around the Middle East, get ready, you'll probably have a lot of material for teasing in the future. I don't know to what end God is stirring up these passions and interests, but if I get a clue, I'll let you know. In the mean time, I read on...
Posted by Autumn at 01:32 PM | Comments (0)
April 18, 2005
lessons from the farm...
Well, nothing says a good time like taking a dozen college students to the farm. Saturday, a bunch of people from my ministry team went down to my dad and stepmom’s farm. We were helping them move some stuff in order to help raise money for the Z37 Project. I think Wagner and I were the only two people who grew up in towns with populations under 5,000. The following are some lessons I learned from our time on the farm…
1. Don’t judge the future by the present…when we left Saturday morning, it was raining and the sky was dark. I really thought the day was going to be a miserable bust, but the rain pretty much let up for the entire time we were outside. The sun even came out in the afternoon and it warmed up. Not bad, not bad at all…
2. Men are afraid of birthing animals…so this was a FARM, thus there were animals. Right now there are only horses, chickens, dogs, and cats (they’ve gotten rid of other random pets the kids have had—like bearded dragons). Three of their horses have been pregnant this spring. One had her baby two weeks ago, one isn’t due until June, but one was due about three weeks ago. My stepmom was pretty sure she was going to give birth while we were at the farm. Thankfully, for the boys, she didn’t have it until Sunday morning. For those of you who were there and didn’t hear—it’s a boy! Dark, chocolate brown, black mane, white blaze on the face, and one white hoof. I’m sure there will be pictures…I wonder if anyone got a picture of Amber milking the horse…
3. Mushroom hunting is just like ministry…in the afternoon while some people were taking a load of things to the new farm, the rest of us went mushroom hunting. Well, only Alisa, Kleinke, Pat, and I held out for the whole time. And as much as it annoyed them for me to say so, mushroom hunting IS just like ministry…
a. It’s really discouraging at first because you don’t see ANY mushrooms at all
b. Everyone gets really excited when you find the first one and then you start looking even harder for more
c. It’s backbreaking work…you have to stoop down and even crawl at times to get through the thorn bushes and trees.
d. As Alisa learned, it’s best to do it in partners so you have someone to help you get unsnagged when your hair and clothes get caught.
e. People get territorial—hey! That’s my mushroom! (who hasn’t been stopped from pursuing another person because they thought someone else already had dibs on them…maybe I’m the only one, but I doubt it).
Of course this analogy, like all, breaks down at some point. You don’t take the fruit of your ministry home and fry it in flour and butter…
4. Mud + Dirtbikes + Misc Outdoor Toys = Happy, Dirty College Kids…honestly, the lesson of this was that even though we were there to work (and work we did), we all were able to have fun together. I mean, how many times am I going to get to hear Amber screaming as she is trying her hand at riding a dirtbike, only to hear Wagner yell “Turn around! I don’t want to walk that far when you fall off!” Now THAT is brotherly love…
And how many times will Pat and Kleinke hear Alisa and I scream, followed by the sound of cracking wood, only to find out that we just knocked over a tree with our bare hands?
And how many times will my dad and stepmom get to witness the relationships that I have with these awesome people? Not too many…
Thanks to everyone who came and helped. I appreciate it more than I can express. And don’t worry—there will be more times on the farm to come. Hopefully a barn loft to play in, horses to ride, and I’ll be sure to book the four-wheeler...
Posted by Autumn at 10:42 AM | Comments (0)
April 04, 2005
today it looks like...
About an hour ago, I had one of the hardest conversations I've had in a long time. Let me give you some background...
For the past almost two years now, I have been trying desperately to befriend and reach out to one of my ISU classmates. Every time my efforts have been met by his defenses.
He has been hurt by many, many people in his life. The result has been that he is deceived to think that the only way to survive is to take things into your own hands, cling to your anger and hate, so that you might have something to drive you to succeed. These are the words out of his mouth, not my assumptions.
He has always questioned why I care about him. His hypotheses include: Is is because I'm secretly attracted to him and just can't admit it? Is it because I feel better about myself after trying to reach out to him? Is it because I need someone to make fun of with my friends? Is it because I pity him?
My endeavors have not yielded anything beneficial for my life. Nothing tangible at least...
Here's what I think I have received from him...
A picture of what I do to Christ every day. Every day I shred his character and his love for me to pieces because of MY pain, MY inability to figure out why he would care for me, MY wrong conclusions. And every single, stinking day, he comes back for more. Amazing love...
A picture of humility. This young man has asked me to bow out of his life. His independence and pride have succeeded in pushing me out. Tonight he told me "Pat yourself on the back, you've got closer than most. I'm proud of you. But I'm going to succeed alone or die trying."
Do you know how much that hurt?
I cannot go against his wishes. I no longer have the opportunity to say "the right things" (though I have shared Scripture and truth with him several times in the past). The only power I have left is prayer--my personality, my kindness, my words of wisdom will no longer reach into his life. But he can't stop me from praying for him...
...and that is what humility looks like for me today.
Please pray for him, friends. You need not know his name or his face. God knows who he is...
Posted by Autumn at 07:08 PM | Comments (0)
April 02, 2005
lessons from a children's tale...
Here it is—one o’clock in the morning. This probably isn’t the best weekend in the world to be losing sleep (with the springing forward and all), but I’m not quite ready to go to bed yet.
I apologize to all of you who have faithfully been checking my blog, only to see there are no new postings. Believe you me, I have had plenty of things that I wanted to blog about…I just haven’t had an abundance of time.
Well anyway, here goes…
Many of you may know that I heart C.S. Lewis and am one of the many fans of the Chronicles of Narnia. Oh no, some of you may be thinking, here comes the classic debate of what order to read the books in…WRONG! Actually, I’m in the process of reading the books in no particular order at all…
Today I finished The Silver Chair. For those of you who don’t know, on Fridays I have a “mini-Sabbath.” I don’t have anything between 8 am and 2 pm, so I’ve been taking advantage of the chance to take myself to a coffee shop, bringing my Bible, journal, and an additional book for my own enjoyment (this is not to say that reading the Bible isn’t enjoyable).
So today I sat down in Taraccino’s with my white chocolate caramel mocha and began to read. The following are a few lessons I think I’ve been learning from this wonderful children’s book…
1. The importance of knowing and clinging to God’s word.
[The scene: Aslan is giving Jill instructions so that she might successfully carry out the mission of finding and freeing Prince Rillian]
Aslan: Stand still. In a moment I will blow. But, first, remember, remember, remember the signs. Say them to yourself when you wake in the morning and when you lie down at night, and when you wake in the middle of the night. And whatever strange things happen to you, let nothing turn your mind from following the signs. And secondly, I give you a warning. Here on the mountain I have spoken to you clearly: I will not often do so down in Narnia. Here on the mountain, the air is clear and your mind is clear; as you drop down into Narnia, the air will thicken. Take great care that it does not confuse your mind. And the signs you have learned here will not look at all as you expect them to look, when you meet them there. That is why is it so important to know them by heart and pay no attention to appearances. Remember the signs and believe the signs (The Silver Chair p. 26).
Wow, does that not blow you away? It’s so true. God often speaks something to us, when we’re on that mountain, when we’re alone with Him and experiencing spiritual clarity. But if we have not well equipped our heart with the truths he told us, if we have not firmly planted his messages there, the moment we come back into the world, we begin to doubt. Is that really what he meant? This just can’t be. This doesn’t look right. Okay, I’ll believe something else. Something that seems more suitable for the situation. Am I the only one who has had this happen?
2. Obedience and trust are crucial. Oh yeah, and it’s important to know and cling to God’s word.
[Jill (Pole), Eustace (Scrubb), and Puddleglum have found the prince, but because of a number of enchantments and deceptions, they are unsure what to do]
“Oh what are we to do,” said Jill.
It was a dreadful question. What had been the use of promising one another that they would not on any account set the Knight free, if they were now to do so the first time he happened to call upon a name they really cared about? On the other hand, what had been the use of learning the signs if they weren’t going to obey them? Yet could Aslan really have meant them to unbind anyone—even a lunatic—who asked it in his name? Could it be a mere accident? Or how if the Queen of the Underworld knew about all the signs and had made the Knight learn this name in order to entrap them? But, then, supposing this was the real sign?…They had muffed the first three already; daren’t muff the fourth.
“Oh if we only knew!” said Jill.
“I think we do know,” said Puddleglum.
“Do you mean you think everything will come out right if we do untie him?” said Scrubb.
“I don’t know about that,” said Puddleglum. “You see, Aslan didn’t tell Pole what would happen. He only told her what to do. That fellow will be the death of us once he’s up, I shouldn’t wonder. But that doesn’t let us off following the sign.” (The Silver Chair p. 174-175)
Once again, has anyone else had these things run through their minds? I can think of so many situations lately where I’m pretty resistant to simply obeying God if I don’t know how things are going to turn out. God is definitely using things like this book to speak to that. To speak to my need to trust—to believe that God is a) good enough b) powerful enough and c) wise enough—that even if I only have a sliver of the picture, I can still believe if I act in obedience to his commands and his word, things will turn out as they should.
Well, I hope this didn’t ruin the story for anyone. I also hope I didn’t confuse too many of you. I highly recommend The Chronicles of Narnia. Things just jump out at me when I’m reading a story. Well, storytelling seemed to work for Jesus a lot, so maybe there’s something to it…
[and…get EXCITED! The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe comes out December 2005…who’s coming with me?]
Posted by Autumn at 01:28 AM | Comments (0)