I just wanted to say a formal THANK YOU for all of you have been reading my blog and supporting me in this mission. It was truly a "life-changing adventure in faith," to steal the words from my favorite summer camp, Lutherlyn. It was really neat to give my presentation about this past year, and hear the number of you say how much my blog meant to you. One reader told me it was neat to remember me as a little kid and church, and then to see how many big thoughts I had. Another reader told me about researching places, people, and things, after I talked about them.
My expectations were met and exceeded with this blog. It started out as a way to post pictures or tell stories, but it became a deeper form of processing what was going on in my life, from day to day. I tried to vary my writings, so it wasn't just ranting or just cute stories about my kindergarteners. I am deeply honored by hearing how much this blog has done as far as helping people learn more about Palestine, the YAGM program, and everything else that has gone into this year.
Is this the end of this blog?
I don't know, honestly. I feel like I'm still working through the "stuff" of this year. I'm still processing and remembering what has happened. I feel completely disconnected from what is going on there right now, and I still have many friends and connections there. The mood may strike me to continue to blog random articles or thoughts from time to time, on these sort of topics.
Additionally, I should probably tell you about my next "plan." I'll be serving as a Short-Term Recruiter for the ELCA. This means that it will be my job to travel the East Coast and talk about the YAGM program. I will visit universities, churches, NGOs, and anybody else who will listen to me talk about volunteer opportunities.
While that's my "job," my roommate Nikki expressed this coming year in the best way: "We've spent a year here, but we're only half-finished with this year." It's now time to educate people, in-person, about my year. If you, or anyone you know, would be interested in having me come speak to a group about volunteering, volunteering with the ELCA/YAGM, Palestine, Middle-East politics, Middle-East religion differences, or a combination of any of those, please feel free to contact me. meredith.harber@gmail.com
Thanks again for your constant love and support through this year!!!
Peace...Shalom...Salaam.
Much love,
Meredith
Saturday, August 15, 2009
Sermon
I was asked to give a sermon/homily/speech for my home congregation while our pastor was at the National Youth Gathering in New Orleans. I wanted to share that with you all here.
"Jesus said, 'Make the people sit down.' Now there was a great deal of grass in the place; so they sat down, about five thousand in all. Then Jesus took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated; so also the fish, as much as they wanted. When they were satisified, he told his disciples, 'Gather up the fragments left over, so that nothing may be lost.' So they gathered them up, and from the fragments of the five barley loaves, left by those who had eaten, they filled twelve baskets. When the people saw the sign that he had done, they began to say, 'This is indeed the prophet who is to come into the world.'" The Word of the Lord.
I'm addicted to taking pictures. No, really. The habit started when I was in 6th grade. I began taking more and more pictures, and joyfully organizing them into albums as soon as I got them developed. In fact, I don't think I let people look at them until they were in albums. This habit, or addiction, as I should properly call it, has grown with me, as I have grown in age. Do you want to know the damage of this year? Now, let me make a point to say that I have a digital camera, which has kept my addiction cost-effective. Over the last year, since moving to Palestine, I have taken, are you ready for this? 5, 388 pictures. In one year. I take pictures to remember and to share. I love being able to take a piece of something I know and giving it to someone who hasn't been there or see it. I was feeding this habit in the ruins of Capernaum one weekend, after hiking from Nazareth to Tiberias, with some friends. It's a rather long hike, to say the least. We were checking out the different villages along the Sea of Galilee, including Tabgha, Capernaum, Tiberias, and so forth. I was taking pictures in the ruins of Capernaum, where the Ancient Synagogue, the one Jesus preached in, is. What is believed to be the first church, as in, ever, is also in Capernaum. Archaeologists surmise that there is a currently a Catholic Church built on top of the ruins of a church, built by the Byzantines, which was built upon the ruins of Simon Peter's house. This would make it the first church, because Jesus said, "You are Peter, and on this rock, I will build my church."
As I was feeding this addiction for more pictures, I was photographing the beautiful inside of the current church standing on these ruins. The church itself is built high on pillars, to protect and preserve the ruins below. It's shaped in an octagon, which is identical to the Byzantine Church just below it. There are big windows all the way around, which look out into the Sea of Galilee and the Ancient Synagogue. There are new benches and beautifully carved wood pieces with the Stations of the Cross. I was caught up in the beauty of the modern church. There was a group of American tourist filing in. They seemed to be setting up a mass of sorts and finding song sheets. I decided to excuse myself, since I had finished taking pictures and I appeared to be the only in inside the church, that wasn't part of the tour group. I walked down the steps and out to the gate, and I found that it was locked. I had been locked in. I looked around and one of the sisters who helps maintain the property came over to let me out. She didn't have the most pleasant demeanor, to say lightly, and she asked what I was doing. I told her that I was just taking some pictures and I had been locked in. She said, "Oh, you're not with the tour group?" I said no, and she opened the gate, watched me walk out, the re-locked the gate.
I became infuriated. Simon Peter's first church was just locked, because an American tour group wanted to have a private mass inside. Living in the Holy Land for a year has made me quite used to seeing tourists, but especially Christian tourists who want to revere the sites that Christ walked on, lived in, and ate hummus and pita at. I was heartbroken, though, that the close-knit, tour-group worship was more important than leaving the door open for any person to experience God's word.
In John's telling of the 'feeding the 5,000' story, he talks about the disciples looking for bread and fish for the 5,000 followers, when they thought there was none. There was in fact five loaves and two fish, that when spread amongst the people, provided for all, with 12 baskets of leftovers. Speaking as someone who has not been professionally trained in dissecting the bible, but also as a person who understands how one snapshot, one photograph, can make something appear, I read all the gospels' retelling of this story. John is the only gospel writer that mentions where the disciples got the bread: from a young boy. It seems rather insignificant. Bread and fish, from a kid. Got it. I would like to argue the contrary though, that bread and fish coming from this young boy, from someone untrained and not named as one of "THE" disciples, as one of "THE" Christians, like the American tour group.
Before I make anyone nervous that I'm throwing Christ out of this equation, let me back up and say that Christ provided the bread and fish, but he provided it through this small boy and through the disciples. Christ, in this parable, could have easily pulled two loaves and five fish out from under his robe. He could have gone to a store and bought them. He could have turned rocks and sand into a meal to feed 5,000. He didn't. He provided through a little boy, a kid, and the boy provided for the disciples, who then in turn provided for the 5,000.
This is where my point of contention with the American tour group comes in. By locking that gate, they locked me out. They locked everyone out. They provided solely for themselves and left the rest of us to find the bread and fish on our own. Imagine if Christ and his disciples had seen the 5,000 coming, and snagged the bread and fish from the little boy and ran. There wasn't much food. It would have made a perfect meal for Jesus and a close group of friends. The problem with this? 5,000 of the rest of us would have gone unfed. We would have been without. When Jesus and the disciples shared, 5,000 + were fed and there were 12 baskets of bread left over.
John's gospel says that the 5,000 ate and were satisfied. The other gospels mention being filled or satisified, or otherwise physically content. The gospels don't list how the disciples or followers felt cheated or hungry or craving more. The American tour group chose to lock the gate, so they would have the bread and fish for themselves. It left me feeling unsatisfied and hungry. And that, is the exact opposite of what Christ has called us to do. The church is to be a place of support and community for the many members that make up the body of Christ.
Christ has provided the bread and the fish, the hands, feet, face, heart, life, but he has provided it through a small boy, through disciples, through your neighbor, through your bagboy at BiLo, through your dentist, through your pastor, through your child, through your parent, through your postal worker. Most importantly, Christ is providing through you. Right now. I have the choice to lock the gate, to keep the bread and fish to myself. It's my right as a human. I also have the choice to keep the gate open, share the bread, sit on the grass with a small group, eat, and be satisfied. Be filled. Be content. Share richly with those around me, in whatever way is possible.
"I pray that, according to the riches of his glory, he may grant that you may be strengthened in your inner being with power through his Spirit, and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, as you are being rooted and grounded in love. I pray that you may have the power to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God."
"Jesus said, 'Make the people sit down.' Now there was a great deal of grass in the place; so they sat down, about five thousand in all. Then Jesus took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated; so also the fish, as much as they wanted. When they were satisified, he told his disciples, 'Gather up the fragments left over, so that nothing may be lost.' So they gathered them up, and from the fragments of the five barley loaves, left by those who had eaten, they filled twelve baskets. When the people saw the sign that he had done, they began to say, 'This is indeed the prophet who is to come into the world.'" The Word of the Lord.
I'm addicted to taking pictures. No, really. The habit started when I was in 6th grade. I began taking more and more pictures, and joyfully organizing them into albums as soon as I got them developed. In fact, I don't think I let people look at them until they were in albums. This habit, or addiction, as I should properly call it, has grown with me, as I have grown in age. Do you want to know the damage of this year? Now, let me make a point to say that I have a digital camera, which has kept my addiction cost-effective. Over the last year, since moving to Palestine, I have taken, are you ready for this? 5, 388 pictures. In one year. I take pictures to remember and to share. I love being able to take a piece of something I know and giving it to someone who hasn't been there or see it. I was feeding this habit in the ruins of Capernaum one weekend, after hiking from Nazareth to Tiberias, with some friends. It's a rather long hike, to say the least. We were checking out the different villages along the Sea of Galilee, including Tabgha, Capernaum, Tiberias, and so forth. I was taking pictures in the ruins of Capernaum, where the Ancient Synagogue, the one Jesus preached in, is. What is believed to be the first church, as in, ever, is also in Capernaum. Archaeologists surmise that there is a currently a Catholic Church built on top of the ruins of a church, built by the Byzantines, which was built upon the ruins of Simon Peter's house. This would make it the first church, because Jesus said, "You are Peter, and on this rock, I will build my church."
As I was feeding this addiction for more pictures, I was photographing the beautiful inside of the current church standing on these ruins. The church itself is built high on pillars, to protect and preserve the ruins below. It's shaped in an octagon, which is identical to the Byzantine Church just below it. There are big windows all the way around, which look out into the Sea of Galilee and the Ancient Synagogue. There are new benches and beautifully carved wood pieces with the Stations of the Cross. I was caught up in the beauty of the modern church. There was a group of American tourist filing in. They seemed to be setting up a mass of sorts and finding song sheets. I decided to excuse myself, since I had finished taking pictures and I appeared to be the only in inside the church, that wasn't part of the tour group. I walked down the steps and out to the gate, and I found that it was locked. I had been locked in. I looked around and one of the sisters who helps maintain the property came over to let me out. She didn't have the most pleasant demeanor, to say lightly, and she asked what I was doing. I told her that I was just taking some pictures and I had been locked in. She said, "Oh, you're not with the tour group?" I said no, and she opened the gate, watched me walk out, the re-locked the gate.
I became infuriated. Simon Peter's first church was just locked, because an American tour group wanted to have a private mass inside. Living in the Holy Land for a year has made me quite used to seeing tourists, but especially Christian tourists who want to revere the sites that Christ walked on, lived in, and ate hummus and pita at. I was heartbroken, though, that the close-knit, tour-group worship was more important than leaving the door open for any person to experience God's word.
In John's telling of the 'feeding the 5,000' story, he talks about the disciples looking for bread and fish for the 5,000 followers, when they thought there was none. There was in fact five loaves and two fish, that when spread amongst the people, provided for all, with 12 baskets of leftovers. Speaking as someone who has not been professionally trained in dissecting the bible, but also as a person who understands how one snapshot, one photograph, can make something appear, I read all the gospels' retelling of this story. John is the only gospel writer that mentions where the disciples got the bread: from a young boy. It seems rather insignificant. Bread and fish, from a kid. Got it. I would like to argue the contrary though, that bread and fish coming from this young boy, from someone untrained and not named as one of "THE" disciples, as one of "THE" Christians, like the American tour group.
Before I make anyone nervous that I'm throwing Christ out of this equation, let me back up and say that Christ provided the bread and fish, but he provided it through this small boy and through the disciples. Christ, in this parable, could have easily pulled two loaves and five fish out from under his robe. He could have gone to a store and bought them. He could have turned rocks and sand into a meal to feed 5,000. He didn't. He provided through a little boy, a kid, and the boy provided for the disciples, who then in turn provided for the 5,000.
This is where my point of contention with the American tour group comes in. By locking that gate, they locked me out. They locked everyone out. They provided solely for themselves and left the rest of us to find the bread and fish on our own. Imagine if Christ and his disciples had seen the 5,000 coming, and snagged the bread and fish from the little boy and ran. There wasn't much food. It would have made a perfect meal for Jesus and a close group of friends. The problem with this? 5,000 of the rest of us would have gone unfed. We would have been without. When Jesus and the disciples shared, 5,000 + were fed and there were 12 baskets of bread left over.
John's gospel says that the 5,000 ate and were satisfied. The other gospels mention being filled or satisified, or otherwise physically content. The gospels don't list how the disciples or followers felt cheated or hungry or craving more. The American tour group chose to lock the gate, so they would have the bread and fish for themselves. It left me feeling unsatisfied and hungry. And that, is the exact opposite of what Christ has called us to do. The church is to be a place of support and community for the many members that make up the body of Christ.
Christ has provided the bread and the fish, the hands, feet, face, heart, life, but he has provided it through a small boy, through disciples, through your neighbor, through your bagboy at BiLo, through your dentist, through your pastor, through your child, through your parent, through your postal worker. Most importantly, Christ is providing through you. Right now. I have the choice to lock the gate, to keep the bread and fish to myself. It's my right as a human. I also have the choice to keep the gate open, share the bread, sit on the grass with a small group, eat, and be satisfied. Be filled. Be content. Share richly with those around me, in whatever way is possible.
"I pray that, according to the riches of his glory, he may grant that you may be strengthened in your inner being with power through his Spirit, and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, as you are being rooted and grounded in love. I pray that you may have the power to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God."
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