Thankful to be home!

At the end of many trips I've taken I've been thankful to arrive home, but this time I think I am the most thankful of all. In the last two weeks, I think I can honestly say that my world has been turned upside down, and that's a good thing. Here are some of the things I am most thankful for (on possibly a very superficial level):

1. Walking down the streets without seeing teenagers (18-19 years old) carrying automatic weapons ... sometimes holding them as though they will need to use them momentarily.

2. Not needing to carry my passport everywhere I go so that when we go through checkpoints (with same said 18-19 year olds as the guards) I can prove I am American and it's o.k. for me to go to the place I am headed.

3. Not having to travel with 22 other people! (it was a great group, but after two weeks I was ready to be able to spend more than my evenings alone).

4. Being able to put toilet paper in the toilet, and not the nearby trash can

I will miss certain things about my experience as well. It was nice to have someone clean my room each day, make meals for me, and take me everywhere I needed to go (if you ever get to the Holy Land, ask to have Walid as your driver, he's the best). I will miss the wonderful terrain of the Holy Land which changes drastically from one point to the next in less than a couple hundred kilometers. I will miss the impact that the things I won't miss had on my life and how grateful they make me for what I do have (how's that for a confusing sentence). I will also miss interacting with people who understand the experience that I had, because some of what I experienced is simply too difficult to share in words or pictures ... you simply had to be there.

I have to say that in some ways a trip to the Holy Land really destroys a lot of romantic notions that I had about the area. On some level, I assumed (as most Americans probably do) that I would get to places like the Mount of the Beatitudes and find a sign (or at least our guide) saying "here is where Jesus stood, this is where the people sat" but it isn't like that at all. At best, we have guesses of where some of these things happened. At worst, we (I'm using the royal "we" here because I'm sure at some level we all encourage this) have built shrines over where these things have happened.

I was quite annoyed, maybe even sickened, to see two of the places that I was most looking forward to. The birthplace of Christ (which is now covered by the Church of the Nativity) and Golgotha (which is covered by the church of the Holy Sepulchre). In both cases what torked me the most is that the shrines that have been built in these places have completely obscured what the place is. The place where Jesus was born is a cave ... with a few "rooms" but the walls of that cave are now covered in tapestries and there are all kinds of incense lanterns hanging in there, to the point where it doesn't look anything like a cave, it looks more like ... well, let's just say it's not anything I felt I wanted to take a picture of. Ditto on Golgotha ... I expected to see a hill or a mountain ... but instead, we were ushered into a HUGE church with stairs running every which way and people all over the places pushing ... we finally walked up some steep stairs to a "room" with a huge mosaic of Christ on the Cross, then a statue of Mary (which to many of us looked like one of those "fortune teller" machines from the carnival), and then an altar (surrounded again my lanterns and icons, and tapestries) which you could kneel at and put your arm through a whole in the floor to touch the rock of Golgotha ... but you couldn't see it at all!! UGH!!! From there we walked over to get in line near what was basically a "church within a church" this little chapel building, guarded over by some Eastern Orthodox Monk who let 4 people at a time into what is believed to be "the empty tomb" ... very interesting, but again, it looks nothing like a cave that they would have put a body in, it looks like a shrine, built to commemorate such an experience.

After all of my frustration though, I had a realization ... brought on by talking with others and then brought to point by our tour guide. "Isn't it great that we don't worship places?" our tour guide asked. "For if we worship places, some of you would be disappointed and may have lost faith. But we worship a living God, and Christ lives in our hearts." What a reminder ... going to those places was nice, but it doesn't shake what I believe ... it doesn't change the fact that I can look at everything in the world from the lens of the Empty Tomb ... Christ is Risen! Alleluia!

Notes from Bethlehem

Greetings from Bethlehem.

It's been an interesting week. I had quite an experience in the airports along the way. My flights were enjoyable (at least as enjoyable of an experience as one can have wedged into a small seat for 11 hours). I love the fact that they feed you on the airplane for International flights, but it sure would be nice if they could figure out how to feed you meals that are more than "nourishing". Because of the crazy schedule I was on, I got to spend 10 hours in the Amsterdam Airport and then I got to spend 12 hours in the Tel Aviv airport waiting to meet up with my tour group.

Schipol airport (Amsterdam) is a fun airport, but I would say that 4-5 hours there would have been plenty. I guess it might have been more enjoyable had I slept the night before, but I couldn't sleep and decided to watch a whole list of movies on the "personal entertainment system" on the plane (License to Wed, Chicken Run, Over the Hedge, Super Bad -which lived up to its name- and The Prince of Egypt). Thinking about it now, I would definitely have rather gone and done something in the city ... my only concern when I was there was "I can get anywhere from the airport ... how do I get back to the airport?" I figured that depending on where I went there may not be a ready supply of taxis to take me back to the airport ... although at least in Amsterdam I could have made pretty good sense out of a bus map. When I got to Tel Aviv I spent time reading a book. When I met up with the tour guide in Tel Aviv (12 hours after I had gotten there) he seemed surprised that I didn't venture out somewhere and suggested that the tour planners should have given me his contact information and he would have sent me to see some good sites. Oh, well ... maybe next time.

We've been staying in Bethlehem at the Guest House of Christmas Lutheran Church. It is a wonderful place to stay. The staff are all very wonderful and hospitable. The rooms are nice, very clean and even with many modern amenities (like internet access nearby and television ... Yeah for watching BBC World - how come we don't get that channel in the U.S.?) We are fed very well. The breakfast spread includes a variety of breads, cheeses, and vegetables. Dinners generally include chicken (always cooked very moist) and are always more than generous in their portion. I've even had the chance to enjoy a few local beers ... pretty good, too.

Part of our time has been spent getting to meet with local ministry leaders. We met with Dr. Mitri Raheb who is pastor of Christmas Lutheran Church and also the director of a wide-reaching ministry here in Bethlehem that includes a School, Health and Wellness Center, and the guest house. It is wonderful to hear of his plans for the future ministries in this area ... he has such a great vision (given by God) for how to live out Christ's command to love one another. We met with Zoughbi Zoughbi who leads a ministry that raises up leaders in the community ... I appreciated his emphasis on hope that is tied to the Empty Tomb! We also spent some time in a Palestinian Refugee camp, while it was sad to see how the people lived with such substandard housing, it was amazing to see the hope in their lives (especially the children) as they report things getting "better" for them in the last few years. Still, there's a long way to go!

Part of our time has been spent in sightseeing (as Zoughbi put it, "seeing the Holy Stones"). It is absolutely amazing to see some of the places that we read about in the Bible and help put into perspective some of the places where people went. No, there are no places where we can say "Jesus slept here" or "this is THE Upper Room" but we can get a feeling for the geography and the distances. There is also room for imagination. What would it have been like to live here 2000 years ago?

We're not even halfway through our tour and there is so much I could say and yet so much still to see. I hear often of people who come to the Holy Land and "run where Jesus walked" and I can't imagine what that experience would be like. Our trip is even going to be too short, but we have had a chance to meet people and get to know their stories. We've had a chance to see some of the sadness that people live with every day. But most of all I will take with me the HOPE that these people all have. Dr. Mitri Raheb, when talking to our group, defined for us the difference between hope and optimism. He said, "I am not optimistic, for that would mean believing that tomorrow things will be better. But I am full for HOPE for that means that my actions today will make a difference in the future." For me his hope resonates with Zoughbi Zoughbi's words when asked, "how can you have hope when you see all that is going on around you?" And he replied quite simply, "There are 14 stations of the cross, and the final station is the Resurrection! The tomb is empty. How can I not have Hope?"

Packing, Bonhoeffer, Packers

I would say it's been a good day. I started the day with a daunting list of tasks, but I've been able to chisel away at them all and accomplish the ones that I needed to finish.

First of all ... on my list of things to do was to watch the Packers womp the Seahawks. For those of you that were cheering for the Seahawks ... what were you thinking? When the Packers come to town, hometown pride has to go out the window. It was a joy to see the Packers for a change this season ... with their usually "early" starts conflicting with worship schedules, I'm usually lucky to catch a few minutes of the game. It was also a joy to watch the snow increase as the game went on ... ah, just like the good ol' days! That's one of the great things that football has over most other professional sports these days ... the element of Mother Nature! Although, I have to admit, it was weird to watch snow when it is very springlike outside.

Before enjoying the Packers, I decided to attend the "National Baby Shower" at a well-known Baby supply store. I've gotta say, I've not attended a lot of baby showers but this one was certainly a disappointment. Where was the food? Where were the gifts? Certainly not at the store ... but I did do some "looking" while there ... got some ideas for things that friends and family can buy for us!

For the last week, I have been immersed in Bonhoeffer's "Discipleship" What a pleasure. I enjoy Dietrich's writing, but more importantly I am inspired by the simplicity of what he is saying. I was annoyed at times that my classmates felt like the simplicity of Bonhoeffer was "idealistic" ... it seems like in a world where everything has to be complicated to be correct, a simple plan of following Jesus is lost in the message. I will continue to ponder my annoyance, maybe it's just that I'm a dreamer ... I just hope I'm not the only one ...

Well, I packed today ... for my trip ... leaving tomorrow morning ... for Israel. I'll be gone two weeks and am looking forward to it. As I've said before, you can put me on an airplane anywhere and I'll be happy, but this is the kind of trip I've been wanting to take for a while. I remember hearing stories of others who have gone to Israel and how amazing of an experience it was for them ... hopefully I can say the same. I'll of course take tons of pictures and hopefully share at least some of them via this blog ... and I'll offer to anyone reading ... if you want me to come do a presentation on Israel, if you put me on the plane ... I'll be there, pictures in hand!

So ... needless to say, I won't be posting for a while. I guess there's a chance of getting internet access while in Israel ... but paying by the hour, I doubt I'll take the time to update things here ... but you just never know.

Oh, Yeah! Van Halen Rocked!!!

O.K. I am a slacker. I was supposed to post this post two weeks ago, but hey, I've been busy and well, there were more important things (like celebrating Christmas and sleeping).

Can I simply say that Yes, Van Halen still rocks!!

I admit, I had my reservations about spending money for tickets to see a band that hasn't released a full-length album in over 10 years. In general I've been the naysayer (who by the reviews often comes out right) who does not spend the money on the "bands of my youth" because I figure "they're past their prime". But I figured with Van Halen, I had to take my chances. I never got to see them when I was in high school ... the one time they came to the Minneapolis area (I think I was a Senior in High School) I didn't get to the box office (yes, that would have been pre-Internet when you had to go to the actual arena or another Ticketmaster location to buy tickets) in time and all that was left were "behind the stage" tickets ... and frankly, I don't pay to sit where I can't see ... I'll stay home and listen to the CD ... but I digress...

The concert rocked!

The opening act was Kymani Marley ... who was good, fun, interesting. Certainly had the Marley influence, but also had a nice mix of sounds ... and blessedly was not too loud (maybe it was the seats I was sitting in, Van Halen didn't seem ultra loud either). The opening set was short enough that I didn't get bored, but I did ask the question ... what happened to the days when you would get stoked for the opening band as much as the headliner (Mr. Big opening for Rush, Bad English opening for Whitesnake, O.K. so maybe none of those are bands I would be terribly stoked about anymore ... but I still have my Mr. Big t-shirt from 1990!)

Van Halen came out in standard rock star fashion ... dark arena, lights that make you wonder just where the band is coming from, then clues to where each person is, then full lights up on David Lee Roth waving a flag (o.k. so I didn't quite understand the flag thing, maybe he always wanted to be a cheerleader) but of course the trademark sound of Eddie's guitar caused an Eruption (oh, sorry, he didn't play that song until later). It was a two-hour extravaganza of the hits from the early years of Van Halen. The sounds that made the band famous and put Eddie on the cover of countless magazines!

I dug the drum solo ... while not quite as good as the one on "Live Without a Net" it was still Alex with the joy and exuberance of a teenager. His goofy monkey-like smile when he pulled off some of his moves. And talk about being rhythmically in time ... WOW ... even with some weird polyrhythmic exercises, he kept coming right back to the groove.

Of course Eddie was in rare form ... his fingers nimble flying up and down the fret board. I expected nothing less from him. His energy on stage was incredible. What more can you say than simply WOW that guy can play! I was a bit disappointed that he didn't bring out the keyboard to actually play Jump ... but I guess since he had to keep the guitar rockin' it would have been a real feat to do both on stage.

As for David Lee Roth ... well. I'm pleased he kept his shirt on (even if it was unbuttoned all the way). He was definitely the same sexual-innuendo driven Dave, but then what would anyone expect. Vocally he was on (though his voice seemed to tire a bit by the end of the show ... which is understandable, he was going strong for two hours). I could have done without his feeble acoustic guitar playing leading up to Ice Cream Man, but I appreciate that he played the part so that the rest of the band could kick in with full energy at just the right moment!

Woflgang ... hmmmm ... part of me wanted to see Michael Anthony just because he was the original band member ... but really, I didn't feel like he would have added anything that Wolfgang wasn't able to pull off. Wolfgang sure has the genes from Valerie, but that works for a 16 year old. He surely has the gift of music that runs in the family ... I had read that he was only playing bass 5 months ... that may be true, but from his style I could tell he's been playing guitar much longer. I will always remember Wolfgang's intro to Runnin' with the Devil ... those notes will continue to pulsate in me for a while.

Overall, what a great event ... now the question is ... while the boys of Van Halen ever reconcile with Sammy so they could tour and play the other half of the discography? The songs from 5150, ou812 and For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge? Yeah, I know, in the big picture there's not as much material there, but it still is the music of my youth and I would love to hear it performed live just once. Then after that, there's always the dream of Van Halen on tour with both Sammy and David (yeah, like that would ever happen) so they could perform a 3-hour marathon concert of the GREATEST hits beginning to end. Now, that I would pay the BIG bucks to see!

A New Year!

Well, it's a New Year!

There's been a lot going on lately. For those of you that have been saying, "what's up" well, there's so much that I hope to include. First off, the pic above is with our new digital camera! That's right, we finally joined the digital age and hopefully I'll be able to update a few more photos of fun things (like sites from the Bay Area).

Since my last post ... I had a birthday. It was fun (I actually was awaken at 7:30 a.m. because of a dead battery in a vehicle ... not fun). I wrote about 42 pages of papers in two weeks (one of which allowed me to quote Yoda). I managed 4 weeks of Children's Theater productions (yes, I literally was herding cats). I celebrated Christmas in two states (the question is are those geographical or mental). Visited the snow-covered land of Minnesota (oh, how I miss winter in the Midwest ... well, except for the slushy roads that spray all over the car impairing vision).

Alright, a lot more happened, I saw my nieces and nephews, I watched a wonderful theatrical performance of A Christmas Carol, I rung in the New Year, I ate and ate and ate, but I digress. I want to add to a few of the highlights.

1. Eating Chinese on Christmas Eve is not all it's cracked-up to be. The plan was to grab a quick bite to eat between the two Christmas Eve services. The plan seemed easy enough, service at 7:30 and 11:00 pm left plenty of time between services ... except that in the wonderful Suburb of Concord, CA pretty much every restaurant closed by 9pm on Christmas Eve ... and they were in no mood to stay open a minute later for a few hungry wanderers (hey, c'mon, my wife is pregnant) so we drove until we found the welcoming neon glow of a Chinese Restaurant ... we had to laugh (especially with my obsession with A Christmas Story) we ordered up some Hunan Beef and Crispy Duck ... both fairly oily concoctions, but calories to keep us going.

2. Opening Christmas gifts is always a joy. Let's be honest, giving gifts is fun, but getting new things is even funner (yes, I know, funner is not a real word). I always have some list of things I really want but I'm always surprised when people come up with ideas that weren't on my list but still really cool. And as always, gift cards are fun ... I know, they aren't always the most personal gift ... but they travel well (try packing a full set of frying pans 8-13" in your suitcase) and you get to do one of my favorite things ... SHOP with someone else's money.

3. Traveling. I've said it before, I'll say it again. Put me on an airplane and I'll go anywhere. (proven by my job a few years ago that put me on a plane to Springfield, Illinois where every passenger commented, "this is definitely the smallest plane I've ever been on" ... of course I couldn't say that, but it certainly was the smallest commercial plane I'd been on). Traveling to see family is a bonus, but I just love the airport and airplanes. Yeah, there are the downsides, like the cranky people (but when I'm having a good experience, they are funny), sitting in the middle seat sucks (how nice I am to my pregnant wife). Eating in airports and trying to plan for long flights without food isn't much fun either (though, I have to say the Cheese Danish from Guava Java is worth every fattening calorie). And traveling to see family in Minnesota takes me to my favorite airport ... the Minneapolis/Saint Paul Lindbergh Terminal. Besides housing my favorite airline (Northwest) and having great shopping (tons of great Minnesota-themed shops) they have fun statues like the one pictured above of Snoopy the Flying Ace!

O.K. Enough of the life update ... oh, but I do need to add the detail that many of you are probably wondering about ... the expansion of our family. Yes, a baby is on the way due in May. We even went to an appointment yesterday where we got the skinny on the potential gender ... well, I'm not going to give you that information just yet ... I need to leave something to blog about in the upcoming weeks.

So, welcome to the New Year. I'm sure I've missed something that is important. Oh, like our registration at Babies-R-Us for baby. It was fun to shop with the scanner and pick out fun items, though it was a little daunting to think about all of the stuff that we need ... and where it will all come from (so folks whether you know us or not, we're happy to get a gift from you). I'll keep you posted on that stuff as the time gets closer (because for right now, the space is a bit prohibitive to store a bunch of extra stuff!