After a fitful sleep, I awaken in
Cairo, thinking again about whether I can avoid looking like a
religious nut while being completely myself. And there's also this
question of peace. How to pray for peace? What is peace? What is
my part in it?
I
can't imagine peace for Egypt being a warm blanket of sleepy
tranquility, like being under a feather comfortor in a Swiss chalet.
This is not a country of Heidis. I don't see Egypt as a nation of
mushy-gushy people hugging each other in group therapy, sharing
all their deepest thoughts with one another. These people are way
too mistrustful for that, and there is such an incredible lack of
transparency when talking about practically anything - from the price
of a tube of toothpaste to what the relationship of Tantawi to
Mubarek is.
So what am I
praying for? I think my prayer is joining in a process, entering a
sort of stream trickling through the land. If I pray for trickles of
peace, then I'm part of the trickle. I make the trickle of candor,
of good wishes, of kindness that much broader. I also know that
millions of people are longing for transparency, for justice, for
accountability. That's what I've been hearing all week. I believe
this trickle of longing can transform into a stream of reality. I
see praying for peace as a sort of joining in to clear the stream of
cosmic obstructions so that the water can flow. It doesn't have to
be the mighty Nile for peace to flow. Another thing I've been
realizing - when I pray for something, it's not simply a matter of
asking God to bring this thing about. I need to be absolutely
committed to that thing myself, pouring my own energy into that very
thing I'm praying for.
Peter and I get up
and talk about the past week, the coming day. "It was a great
week, wasn't it?" says Peter. Now that we've gotten out of
Aswan without being robbed or losing our entire savings to hawkers,
now that we have several days ahead of Mohammed's protection, yes.
It was a great week. We have traveled by ourselves in a completely
foreign culture. We've learned a lot. We've had incredible
experiences. Yes - it was wonderful!
Mohammed joins us
for breakfast, and then we leave for church. We walk along
treacherous sidewalks. Every time there is a high curb (sometimes
they feel a bit like climbing onto a donkey), Mohammed is there,
holding my elbow, helping me up onto the curb.
 |
| Kasr El-Doubara Church |
We reach Kasr El-Doubara, the Protestant church the people from Open Doors told me
about. Outside the church, in the courtyard, stretchers are laid
out. This is the field hospital set up to care for the injured in
demonstrations. Many demonstrators have been treated at this very
church, Muslims and Christians alike. Inside, it looks much like any
American Protestant church. In fact, this church was started in the
1940s by Presbyterian missionaries. Now it claims to have over 8,000
members. Today there is a guest speaker, an Englishman who speaks
about - of all things - peace, centering his sermon on the dove that
hovered over Jesus at the time of his baptism. He continues with
what I was thinking about earlier this morning. He says that living
in peace is an extremely difficult thing. It means forgiving those
who hurt you, continually being open to the one who seems to be your
enemy, changing the way we look at people, trying to see them in
context, letting go of black and white categories, and letting go of
revenge. Yes! We also notice that in the translation, "God" is
"Allah" - in this evangelical Protestant church.
After the service,
we have a hearty discussion. I tell Mohammed how different this
sermon is from some I've heard in America or on "Christian" TV, where the tenor is often
more like, "God bless our troops". Or, "God bless my
plans to get rich." I tell him that the sermon we just heard is
more like what I hear Jesus saying in the Sermon on the Mount in the
gospel of Matthew. I find it a sermon reflecting the heart of Jesus.
Mohammed tells us
how this church differs from a Coptic one. It's his first time in an
Egyptian Protestant church. "It's so simple!" he says.
"No icons, no statues, no holy of holies, no secret places."
We tell him a little about Protestantism.
In fact, this
entire day is devoted to Christianity. We will visit Jayson and
Julie Casper, who are Christians, and after lunch go to a Coptic
church or two.
Jayson calls. He's
having an interview with one of the presidential candidates, and it's
taking time. Could we come for dinner instead of lunch? Mohammed
says this suits us all much better. We can see the churches first,
and he will take us to the Caspers to make sure we get there safely,
and then return to his own home. What a relief! We can now speak
freely. We don't even know the Caspers yet, strictly speaking. Our
"mutual acquaintances" are our respective blogs we've been
reading. I sought them out because their blog impressed me. Now we
can get to know them in our own time and culture.
We walk straight
across Tahrir Square to take the metro to Old Cairo.
 |
| The Hanging Church |
Our first stop is
the Hanging Church, one of the oldest churches in the world. It is
exquisite, and once we're inside, it feels intimate. Mohammed
explains the history of the Coptic church, how they had a slightly
different doctrine about the divinity of Jesus, the monophysite
doctrine. They believed, like the other Christians, that Jesus was
both human and divine, he says, but his humanity was dissolved in the
divine, like a drop of vinegar in an ocean. They became persecuted
for this doctrine, which the rest of the church called a heresy, but
the Muslims, when they invaded Egypt, agreed to protect them. Many
of the earliest important church fathers, like Origen, were Copts.
The Coptic church was the church of St. Anthony and the desert
fathers, who started the monastic movement. Peter asks if there is
anything of the Pharaonic period in the Coptic church. Of course!
exclaims Mohammed. The pharaohs used incense, and the pharaohs and
their priests covered their heads in skull caps. We look at the
Roman pillars underneath the church - the church is literally hanging
on a couple of pillars! He says it's pretty stable, though. There
is beautiful, ornate woodwork - ivory inlaid eight-sided stars,
five-sided stars, stars of David, crosses all in two colors of wood,
just like we saw in Aswan, but beautifully done. The ceiling is pure
dark wood, barrel-vaulted.
We leave the church, walking along a wonderful narrow road, one of the oldest in Cairo. The walls are lined with books - an outdoor bookstore! We head for the
next church, St. Sergius. There is lovely Coptic woodwork, but not as beautiful in the Hanging Church. The most remarkable thing about this
church is the crypt, which is supposed to be the exact place Mary, Joseph
and baby Jesus escaped to, hiding from Herod during their sojourn in
Egypt.
Mohammed takes us
on a long Metro ride to Maadi, accompanying us all the way to the
Caspers. "Are you sure you'll be OK getting home?" he
asks. "If there's any problem at all, just call me and I'll
help you." We are sure we'll be all right.
We are
instantly surrounded by warm famly love. It is immediately obvious,
looking at the posters and wall hangings explaining the names of the
children, that this is a Christian family, in the best sense of the
word. We play with the children, watching them open "surprise
eggs" we have brought from Germany. Julie tells us how they
came to live in Egypt. She tells us stories about some of the Muslim
women who are her friends. One of her friends wears the niqab
because she feels better that
way. It is her free choice. We talk about whether it is possible to
live a Muslim lifestyle and be a follower of Jesus. She directs us
to a book on the very subject, Pilgrims
of Christ on the Muslim Road,
written by Paul-Gordon Chandler, who is currently rector of the
Anglican church in Cairo. It seems logical to us to live this
lifestyle. Why not? It's similar to being a Messianic Jew, a
practicing Jew who believes in Jesus as the Messiah. And yet - Jesus
is the stumbling block in each of these religions, for the very thing
that the Copts were persecuted for, for claiming that Jesus is God.
And also that he is the promised one.
Over dinner, Jayson
tells us a little about his interview. He has met with a candidate for president who once belonged to the Muslim Brotherhood, but who
was dismissed from their party because he is running for political
office. He believes people should be free to change religions as
they will, and the religion stamped on their passports as well. This
idea also makes him a controversial figure in the Muslim Brotherhood.
At present, there is no possibility to change what is written on
someone's passport. Once a Muslim, always a Muslim.
The more he talks,
the more we feel this confusion, this blurring over what is fact,
what is rumor, and what is paranoia. He tells us about a document
supposedly found in the office of one of the Americans recently
arrested. Apparently this document had Egypt divided into four regions - one for the Copts, one for Nubians, etc. This has provoked
a huge outrage. Americans plotting to divide their land up, all in
the name of democracy! Egyptians are going so far as to say that
these NGO workers, ostensibly sent to promote democracy, were really
sent to incite chaos, so that then the Americans can come in and
taking over. It is shocking to imagine that my country, under the
leadership of Obama, could even contemplate doing such a thing. What
is true?
I ask Jayson how he
thinks we should pray for peace. As he talks, it becomes a list:
1. Pray against
political game-playing.
2. Pray against
power struggles.
3. Pray that the
Egyptians resdiscover hope.
4. Pray for the
new constitution, that the Egyptians are able to create a good
document.
5. Pray for a good
person for president.
6. Pray for the
Church, that it would rediscover love and its application - for a
creative love.
7. Pray for the
Church to truly be salt and light in the community.
8. Pray for the
people in the Church, to be able to learn the principles of the
Kingdom of God instead of quarreling over doctrinal differences.
Jayson
and Julie are committed to staying in Egypt, praying for and
supporting Egyptians in their struggles. I have just spent an evening with wonderful people, whom I wholeheartedly wish the best.
No comments:
Post a Comment