Tuesday 25 March 2014

The Lent Journal 18

It's not Easter yet, but I feel like I've risen from the dead! =P

I've been pondering (I've had a lot of time to think & freak) about what certain aspects of the celebration of the Lent that I would like to talk about. As a good individualistic evangelical protestant Christian, I've focused the first posts on my personal experiences & life. But Lent is more about a corporative celebration (I prefer the word "communitarian", but this second word is not so much used).

In the Anglican & Lutheran churches we use different colours for different liturgical seasons. The colours are one of the symbols that help you understand the message of the Bible for that time of the year - and also helps you to focus on the message.

This is how a church might look with the purple hangings. In the church I attend, the priests wear a white or unbleached dress with a purple stole. In the Lutheran church, the priests wear all black most of the year, and there isn't much variation.


  

Here are the Reading for today. I 

Friday 21 March 2014

The Lent Journal 17

Since Lent have started, I've been thinking a bit more about almsgiving. In Brazil, I would never stop by and drop a coin to a beggar. And mostly certainly never to a child. The rationale for this is very simple: begging is a short cut, that will avoid people in need to look for actual solutions. And it it quite certain that a child is begging on behalf of parents, that won't use the money in benefit of the child. This child should most probably be in school. Money dropped by is easily converted into cigarettes, alcohol, drugs.  Many of us had the experience of offering food instead of money and being... shouted at by an angry beggar who wants money instead of food.

Now, I know that all these considerations are easily dismissed when confronted to the cruel reality of many that don't have anything. Or many that don't have hope. Or who were robbed of their dignity. So many realities, experiences, perceptions of life.

I've been well trained by my parents though, to support organizations that would really benefit those in need. Where I live now, even though my country is the Kingdom of the Discrepancy, with so many absurd contrasts, the situation is even worse.  


Now, what do you do when a work fellow's apartment collapsed? No like the ones on the photo: you can see his apartment on the photo. Or what remained of it.  

How Jesus calls us to help those in need? 

The reading for today is Luke 12: 13 - 31 (The Message): 

Someone out of the crowd said, “Teacher, order my brother to give me a fair share of the family inheritance.”

He replied, “Mister, what makes you think it’s any of my business to be a judge or mediator for you?”

Speaking to the people, he went on, “Take care! Protect yourself against the least bit of greed. Life is not defined by what you have, even when you have a lot.”

Then he told them this story: “The farm of a certain rich man produced a terrific crop. He talked to himself: ‘What can I do? My barn isn’t big enough for this harvest.’ Then he said, ‘Here’s what I’ll do: I’ll tear down my barns and build bigger ones. Then I’ll gather in all my grain and goods, and I’ll say to myself, Self, you’ve done well! You’ve got it made and can now retire. Take it easy and have the time of your life!’

“Just then God showed up and said, ‘Fool! Tonight you die. And your barnful of goods—who gets it?’

“That’s what happens when you fill your barn with Self and not with God.”

The Lent Journal 16

Sick.
Sorry.
=(

Wednesday 19 March 2014

The Lent Journal 15

Still not feeling well. So let the Greats speak on my behalf.

This is by Emily Dickinson:

I should have been too glad, I see,
Too lifted for the scant degree
Of life’s penurious round;
My little circuit would have shamed
This new circumference, have blamed
The homelier time behind.

I should have been too saved, I see,
Too rescued; fear too dim to me
That I could spell the prayer
I knew so perfect yesterday, –
That scalding one, “Sabachthani,”
Recited fluent here.

Earth would have been too much, I see,
And heaven not enough for me;
I should have had the joy
Without the fear to justify, –
The palm without the Calvary;
So, Saviour, crucify.

Defeat whets victory, they say;
The reefs in old Gethsemane
Endear the shore beyond.
‘Tis beggars banquets best define;
‘Tis thirsting vitalizes wine, –
Faith faints to understand.

And the reading for today is Luke 10: 25 - 37 (The Message):

Just then a religion scholar stood up with a question to test Jesus. “Teacher, what do I need to do to get eternal life?”

He answered, “What’s written in God’s Law? How do you interpret it?”

He said, “That you love the Lord your God with all your passion and prayer and muscle and intelligence—and that you love your neighbour as well as you do yourself.”

“Good answer!” said Jesus. “Do it and you’ll live.”

Looking for a loophole, he asked, “And just how would you define ‘neighbor’?”

Jesus answered by telling a story. “There was once a man traveling from Jerusalem to Jericho. On the way he was attacked by robbers. They took his clothes, beat him up, and went off leaving him half-dead. Luckily, a priest was on his way down the same road, but when he saw him he angled across to the other side. Then a Levite religious man showed up; he also avoided the injured man.

“A Samaritan travelling the road came on him. When he saw the man’s condition, his heart went out to him. He gave him first aid, disinfecting and bandaging his wounds. Then he lifted him onto his donkey, led him to an inn, and made him comfortable. In the morning he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take good care of him. If it costs any more, put it on my bill—I’ll pay you on my way back.’

“What do you think? Which of the three became a neighbor to the man attacked by robbers?”

“The one who treated him kindly,” the religion scholar responded.

Jesus said, “Go and do the same.” 

Monday 17 March 2014

The Lent Journal 13


This is an invitation. No more words are needed. =) 

And the reading for today is... Luke 15: 28 - 43 (The Message): 

About eight days after saying this, he climbed the mountain to pray, taking Peter, John, and James along. While he was in prayer, the appearance of his face changed and his clothes became blinding white. At once two men were there talking with him. They turned out to be Moses and Elijah—and what a glorious appearance they made! They talked over his exodus, the one Jesus was about to complete in Jerusalem.

Meanwhile, Peter and those with him were slumped over in sleep. When they came to, rubbing their eyes, they saw Jesus in his glory and the two men standing with him. When Moses and Elijah had left, Peter said to Jesus, “Master, this is a great moment! Let’s build three memorials: one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” He blurted this out without thinking.

While he was babbling on like this, a light-radiant cloud enveloped them. As they found themselves buried in the cloud, they became deeply aware of God. Then there was a voice out of the cloud: “This is my Son, the Chosen! Listen to him.”

When the sound of the voice died away, they saw Jesus there alone. They were speechless. And they continued speechless, said not one thing to anyone during those days of what they had seen.

When they came down off the mountain the next day, a big crowd was there to meet them. A man called from out of the crowd, “Please, please, Teacher, take a look at my son. He’s my only child. Often a spirit seizes him. Suddenly he’s screaming, thrown into convulsions, his mouth foaming. And then it beats him black-and-blue before it leaves. I asked your disciples to deliver him but they couldn’t.”

Jesus said, “What a generation! No sense of God! No focus to your lives! How many times do I have to go over these things? How much longer do I have to put up with this? Bring your son here.”

While he was coming, the demon slammed him to the ground and threw him into convulsions. Jesus stepped in, ordered the vile spirit gone, healed the boy, and handed him back to his father. They all shook their heads in wonder, astonished at God’s greatness, God’s majestic greatness.

Sunday 16 March 2014

The Lent Journal 12

Today we've heard a sermon, in which the preacher talked about the spiritual discipline of detachment. This would be to give up something that you really like in order to focus on Jesus. To use his own illustration, Lent is an opportunity to throw away "garbage" that we accumulate and keep only the essential. (Yeah, detachment is fasting in good ol' English, but speaking to a primarily evangelical audience, coming from non-liturgical traditions, he made a point without the constraints of vocabulary).

The preacher also highlighted that we have 33 days to Good Friday, when we celebrate the death of Christ on the cross. Music comes to my mind.

Stabat mater dolorosa...There was the mother in pain... at the foot of the cross.

The reading for today is Luke 9: 18 - 27 (The Message):

One time when Jesus was off praying by himself, his disciples nearby, he asked them, “What are the crowds saying about me, about who I am?”

They said, “John the Baptizer. Others say Elijah. Still others say that one of the prophets from long ago has come back.”

He then asked, “And you—what are you saying about me? Who am I?”

Peter answered, “The Messiah of God.” Jesus then warned them to keep it quiet. They were to tell no one what Peter had said.

He went on, “It is necessary that the Son of Man proceed to an ordeal of suffering, be tried and found guilty by the religious leaders, high priests, and religion scholars, be killed, and on the third day be raised up alive.”

Then he told them what they could expect for themselves: “Anyone who intends to come with me has to let me lead. You’re not in the driver’s seat—I am. Don’t run from suffering; embrace it. Follow me and I’ll show you how. Self-help is no help at all. Self-sacrifice is the way, my way, to finding yourself, your true self. What good would it do to get everything you want and lose you, the real you? If any of you is embarrassed with me and the way I’m leading you, know that the Son of Man will be far more embarrassed with you when he arrives in all his splendor in company with the Father and the holy angels. This isn’t, you realize, pie in the sky by and by. Some who have taken their stand right here are going to see it happen, see with their own eyes the kingdom of God.”

Saturday 15 March 2014

The Lent Journal 11


Interestingly, after some years of observing Lent and focusing on self-denial, or sacrifice, I have been seeing Lent this year more as a path to walk on. 

A path on a desert, but still it lead me somewhere. And to someone. 

Certainly, not without a reason, the saints of the early Christianity were called Fathers and Mothers of the Desert. Their desert was an actual desert. The real desert was more than a inner metaphor, but changed their lives. 

And surely enough I don't claim to walk on the same path they have trodden on. No prerogatives claimed here. ;) 

And interestingly again, the reading for today (which I realized again, I've made another mistake, and I'm now two days late...) also talks about the Twelve apostles being commissioned to go to bring healing and freedom. Another kind of journey but also one very worthy to take. It is Luke 9: 1 - 9 (The Message): 

Jesus now called the Twelve and gave them authority and power to deal with all the demons and cure diseases. He commissioned them to preach the news of God’s kingdom and heal the sick. He said, “Don’t load yourselves up with equipment. Keep it simple; you are the equipment. And no luxury inns—get a modest place and be content there until you leave. If you’re not welcomed, leave town. Don’t make a scene. Shrug your shoulders and move on.”

Commissioned, they left. They traveled from town to town telling the latest news of God, the Message, and curing people everywhere they went.

Herod, the ruler, heard of these goings on and didn’t know what to think. There were people saying John had come back from the dead, others that Elijah had appeared, still others that some prophet of long ago had shown up. Herod said, “But I killed John—took off his head. So who is this that I keep hearing about?” Curious, he looked for a chance to see him in action.

Friday 14 March 2014

The Lent Journal 10

9 days into the Lent (even though it's the 10th post) . Another 32 to go. The Lent are 40 days. But Ash Wednesday and Sundays don´t count. On Sundays because during the service in all services we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus. \O/ This is one the things I love about being part of a church with a fixed Liturgy: liturgical calendar. You spend a whole year remembering and living the important events and doctrines of the Bible. 

The liturgical calendar also reflects the ups and downs of our human life in Earth. For instance, Advent and the Christmas season (with includes the Sundays after the Christmas eve, called Epiphany) are a time of celebration, while Lent is the time of penitence: as we look to our sin, we recognize the necessity of a Savior. The liturgical calendar also reflects our relationship with God: we stumble a lot; we can´t live a day without messing it up. It is a life of a continuous "I love you" and "I am sorry". 

By the way, this last paragraph was based on the second sermon of the Lent season, so the credits go to our most reverend doctor Abuna. =P 

The text today is Luke 6: 12 - 16 (The Message) and is about the election of the 12 apostles. 

At about that same time he climbed a mountain to pray. He was there all night in prayer before God. The next day he summoned his disciples; from them he selected twelve he designated as apostles:

Simon, whom he named Peter,
Andrew, his brother,
James,
John,
Philip,
Bartholomew,
Matthew,
Thomas,
James, son of Alphaeus,
Simon, called the Zealot,
Judas, son of James,
Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.

Thursday 13 March 2014

The Lent Journal 9

Source: http://becausegodlovesmeasiam.blogspot.com/2013_03_01_archive.html

Kaffee und Kuchen. This is the title of another confession.

You know those words or phrases that you only have in one specific language? I propose that German should have "Kaffee und Kuchen". This time it's not a philosophical term, but an über-earthly expression. 

"Coffee and cake" don't translate the real meaning behind it. There is tradition of coffee and cake. It's what you'll have in a wedding party. On a meeting with friends. After a special church service. 

The coffee in question will be dense strong delicious coffee. No need of sugar. Maybe some Kaffeesahne (milk cream, not only milk, but milk full of cream - fat percentage is high here). The cake in question varies. But won't be too sweet either. And then, heavens!, the detail that will make your whole being vibrate in unison with the cosmos, a spoonful of cream next to your cake. 

You understand what am I craving for? 

Good. Thank you. 

Of course I try to justify myself. Cake is my favourite food. I come from a state where coffee production plays an important role in our state economy. Coffee is also important in our local cuisine. 

So what? Time to put things into perspective, I have been learned. Yeah, I've been warned that this is what fasting does: put your masks down, uncover your false short cuts for life. 

Interestingly, the reading for today touches on another important point about food, making another point to put things into the right perspective. It's Luke 5: 27 - 32 (The Message). 

After this he went out and saw a man named Levi at his work collecting taxes. Jesus said, “Come along with me.” And he did—walked away from everything and went with him.

Levi gave a large dinner at his home for Jesus. Everybody was there, tax men and other disreputable characters as guests at the dinner. The Pharisees and their religion scholars came to his disciples greatly offended. “What is he doing eating and drinking with crooks and ‘sinners’?”

Jesus heard about it and spoke up, “Who needs a doctor: the healthy or the sick? I’m here inviting outsiders, not insiders—an invitation to a changed life, changed inside and out.”

Wednesday 12 March 2014

The Lent Journal 8

I've just realized that I made some mistake with the Lent's readings. I hope the readers of this blog will have mercy on me, since the table with the readings are in Arabic... it's easier to make mistakes! =)

Today, let's be humoured...?


This was found in Google Pictures. I hope it solves the question of copyright. 

I guess that part of why I found it so funny is that I've made the same mistake once. In my case, I was so worried to find out new vegetarian recipes. Yeah, it happened once. 

Tuesday 11 March 2014

The Lent Journal 7


This is the Miserere Mei, or "Have mercy upon me", or Psalm 51. In the Ash Wednesday service, this is read or sung after the ashen cross is marked on the believers' forehead.

During the Lent period, we don't sing the "Gloria" (Gloria in excelsis Deo, or glory to God in the highest), which normally would be sung after the "Absolution of  Sins". In case you are still asking yourself, what the heck this is, these are parts of the liturgy of the Churches. In both Lutheran and Episcopal rites, it is usually done like this (in a very summarized form and not taking into account possible variations):

1 - The congregation is greeted;
2 - The congregation confess their sins collectively (Confession);
3 - The Miserere follows;
4 - The Absolution of Sins is given;
5 - The Gloria follows.

Enjoy the music. May it speak to your heart and to your passions! =)

Monday 10 March 2014

The Lent Journal 6

Still drowsy... ah! 

So, without any energy to write down something of myself, I'll post the Address to the People of God, which was read on the Ash Wednesday service. If you read it as a scholar, you find precious historical and dogmatic information. If you read it as a Christian, it is food for your heart and soul. 



The Celebrant reads: Dear People of God: The first Christians observed with great devotion the days of our Lord's passion and resurrection, and it became the custom of the Church to prepare for them by a season of penitence and fasting. This season of Lent provided a time in which converts to the faith were prepared for Holy Baptism. It was also a time when those who, because of notorious sins, had been separated from the body of the faithful were reconciled by penitence and forgiveness, and restored to the fellowship of the Church. Thereby, the whole congregation was put in mind of the message of pardon and absolution set forth in the Gospel of our Savior, and of the need which all Christians continually have to renew their repentance and faith.

I invite you, therefore, in the name of the Church, to the observance of a holy Lent, by self-examination and repentance; by prayer, fasting, and self-denial; and by reading and meditating on God's holy Word. And, to make a right beginning of repentance, and as a mark of our mortal nature, let us now kneel before the Lord, our maker and redeemer. 

Silence is then kept for a time, all kneeling.

The Congregation reads: Almighty God, you have created us out of the dust of the earth: Grant that these ashes may be to us a sign of our mortality and penitence, that we may remember that it is only by your gracious gift that we are given everlasting life; through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen. 

The ashes are imposed with the following words:
Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return. 

Today's text is Luke 5: 1 - 11 (The Message): 

Once when he was standing on the shore of Lake Gennesaret, the crowd was pushing in on him to better hear the Word of God. He noticed two boats tied up. The fishermen had just left them and were out scrubbing their nets. He climbed into the boat that was Simon’s and asked him to put out a little from the shore. Sitting there, using the boat for a pulpit, he taught the crowd.

When he finished teaching, he said to Simon, “Push out into deep water and let your nets out for a catch.”

Simon said, “Master, we’ve been fishing hard all night and haven’t caught even a minnow. But if you say so, I’ll let out the nets.” It was no sooner said than done—a huge haul of fish, straining the nets past capacity. They waved to their partners in the other boat to come help them. They filled both boats, nearly swamping them with the catch.

Simon Peter, when he saw it, fell to his knees before Jesus. “Master, leave. I’m a sinner and can’t handle this holiness. Leave me to myself.” When they pulled in that catch of fish, awe overwhelmed Simon and everyone with him. It was the same with James and John, Zebedee’s sons, coworkers with Simon.

Jesus said to Simon, “There is nothing to fear. From now on you’ll be fishing for men and women.” They pulled their boats up on the beach, left them, nets and all, and followed him.

Sunday 9 March 2014

The Lent Journal 5

When you are fasting, one of the first things that become clear is how you make of feeble things an anchor that helps you go through the vicissitudes of life.

The same backpain that made me stop writing this blog some months ago is back. I went to the doctor and the medication prescribed makes me drownsy, I can't even think properly. It's hard to articulate my voice. And yet, nothing to make it easier. And yet, I can and will do the right thing this time, which is respect my body and let it go.

One side of my brain still screams: the right thing is the wrong thing! Try a short cut. Any short cut!!!

Here is the text for today. Luke 2: 1 - 21 (The Message). It's more than I actually pasted down. :)

About that time Caesar Augustus ordered a census to be taken throughout the Empire. This was the first census when Quirinius was governor of Syria. Everyone had to travel to his own ancestral hometown to be accounted for. So Joseph went from the Galilean town of Nazareth up to Bethlehem in Judah, David’s town, for the census. As a descendant of David, he had to go there. He went with Mary, his fiancée, who was pregnant.

While they were there, the time came for her to give birth. She gave birth to a son, her firstborn. She wrapped him in a blanket and laid him in a manger, because there was no room in the hostel.



There were sheepherders camping in the neighborhood. They had set night watches over their sheep. Suddenly, God’s angel stood among them and God’s glory blazed around them. They were terrified. The angel said, “Don’t be afraid. I’m here to announce a great and joyful event that is meant for everybody, worldwide: A Savior has just been born in David’s town, a Savior who is Messiah and Master. This is what you’re to look for: a baby wrapped in a blanket and lying in a manger.”

Saturday 8 March 2014

The Lent Journal 4

After a bit of theory in the previous days, some experiential observations. 

Every Saturday I go to a wadi to hike. I cherish these few hours of Saturday morning greatly: you fell as you can flee the air pollution; it is certainly quiet (wow!) and I have endless admiration to those barren hills contrasting to the blue sky. A beauty of its kind. But the best of all is the fellowship of friends who walk together, solve the world's problems and drink coffee with brownies in the end (or chocolate chips cookies, or stroopwafels). 


Today, there was some coffee left. But a friend kindly brought tea instead. Some people are fasting from sweets. Or chocolates. The brownie container returned full. I've felt abashed by my thoughtlessness, after all, chocolate and sweets are usually first items in the list of modern fasting. Duh! 

Everybody was very supportive in general - even in the jokes, such as "we'll continue drinking coffee and eating chocolate to help you guys be stronger". Yeah, we've got the point! 

Today's text is Luke 1: 39 - 45 (The Message). Mary didn't waste a minute to be with Elizabeth! I wish you a Lent full of fellowship with your brothers and sisters too!  

Mary didn't waste a minute. She got up and travelled to a town in Judah in the hill country, straight to Zachariah’s house, and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby in her womb leaped. She was filled with the Holy Spirit, and sang out exuberantly,

You’re so blessed among women,
    and the babe in your womb, also blessed!
And why am I so blessed that
    the mother of my Lord visits me?
The moment the sound of your
    greeting entered my ears,
The babe in my womb
    skipped like a lamb for sheer joy.
Blessed woman, who believed what God said,
    believed every word would come true!

Friday 7 March 2014

The Lent Journal 3

If you were wondering, why, with such a background, I do celebrate and am celebrating the Lent, here is the answer. No, I didn't find the Light, I haven't gotten supernatural knowledge and my life hasn't changed.

I became a Lutheran. And right now, I attend an Episcopal Church. When I made these simple decisions that organize daily life and define routines, I had no way back. If not for any other reason, Lent is part of the Easter Season, which is part of the Liturgical Year of these Churches. Thus, if you are a church going person, you will be celebrating Lent at least during the worship services (or call it masses, if you like).

But since I left an evangelical denomination, in which my former pastor told me "Easter is more a Roman Catholic thing" to one in which Lent is part of life, I'd better gather some information. I've learnt some bits of it.

  • The word 'carnival' comes from the Latin "carne vale", which means "goodbye to meat" (sounds neat, I'm not sure of the veracity). The reason you would be saying your farewells, is that you wouldn't be eating meat during Lent; 
  • More important though, is that the first and foremost important celebration was the celebration of Easter, which has since the days of the flight from Egypt by the Israelites, existed; 
  • Then, the Early Church developed the tradition of Lent, a period which new Christians would prepare themselves, through fasting and prayer, to become part of the Church, through baptisms. This important day would happen annually on Easter Sunday, which for Christians is the day we celebrate the resurrection of Christ.  
  • In both traditions (Lutheran and Episcopal), fasting is encouraged, but optional. More on this, later. 
And so, I guess I had enough reasons to celebrate Lent in all ways. =) 

Here is the text for today. Luke 1: 26 - 38 (The Message): 

In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to the Galilean village of Nazareth to a virgin engaged to be married to a man descended from David. His name was Joseph, and the virgin’s name, Mary. Upon entering, Gabriel greeted her:


Good morning!
You’re beautiful with God’s beauty,
Beautiful inside and out!
God be with you.

She was thoroughly shaken, wondering what was behind a greeting like that. But the angel assured her, 

“Mary, you have nothing to fear. God has a surprise for you: You will become pregnant and give birth to a son and call his name Jesus.

He will be great,
    be called ‘Son of the Highest.’
The Lord God will give him
    the throne of his father David;
He will rule Jacob’s house forever—
    no end, ever, to his kingdom.”

Mary said to the angel, “But how? I’ve never slept with a man.”

The angel answered,

The Holy Spirit will come upon you,
    the power of the Highest hover over you;
Therefore, the child you bring to birth
    will be called Holy, Son of God.

“And did you know that your cousin Elizabeth conceived a son, old as she is? Everyone called her barren, and here she is six months pregnant! Nothing, you see, is impossible with God.”

And Mary said,

Yes, I see it all now:
    I’m the Lord’s maid, ready to serve.
Let it be with me
    just as you say.

Then the angel left her.

Thursday 6 March 2014

The Lent Journal 2

First time I've heard about Lent was at my mom's catechism - at least on my reckoning. As a child you have questions. Your parents are your unending source of wisdom and knowledge.  

Unfortunately, there was (and there aren't) Episcopal or Lutheran churches nearby to enlighten her knowledge of the Lent (since other evangelical denominations don´t work much with the Lent) and her Roman Catholic experience was (on my later analysis based on our charged theological discussions and disagreements) pretty much based on a platonic expression of popular beliefs more than on the Roman Catholic actual dogmas. 

So what I've learnt pretty much was that there was Carnival. The word carnival derived from the Portuguese word "Carne", which means "flesh", and meant the "Feast of the Flesh". Now the word "carne" also means "meat", but for popular Platonists, that is a difference you won't make. After all, meat or flesh, everything is matter, therefore very bad. 

Now, according to this teachings, the Roman Catholic Church (sometimes I think it could also be the Illuminati) created this "Feast of Flesh", so that you could have the chance of sinning however you wanted in two days (we're talking about Brazilian carnival, right?), a Monday and a Tuesday. And then, on Ash Wednesday you would repent of all your sins you committed during Carnival. And then, as a sign of your repentance, you couldn´t eat meat for 40 days (the word Lent in Portuguese is "Quaresma", which is similar to "quarenta" or forty). Finally, there would be the Easter, when you could return your meat eating habits, starting with fish - cod if you had the money. And consumerism still screwed things up even more with the idea of eating chocolate eggs. Something we would not be given, my mom would assure me. 

So, here am I celebrating Lent. If you are curious of the reason, you can read the next posts. =P 

Here is the Bible text for today. It's Luke 1: 5 - 17 (version of The Message). 

During the rule of Herod, King of Judea, there was a priest assigned service in the regiment of Abijah. His name was Zachariah. His wife was descended from the daughters of Aaron. Her name was Elizabeth. Together they lived honorably before God, careful in keeping to the ways of the commandments and enjoying a clear conscience before God. But they were childless because Elizabeth could never conceive, and now they were quite old.

It so happened that as Zachariah was carrying out his priestly duties before God, working the shift assigned to his regiment, it came his one turn in life to enter the sanctuary of God and burn incense. The congregation was gathered and praying outside the Temple at the hour of the incense offering. Unannounced, an angel of God appeared just to the right of the altar of incense. Zachariah was paralyzed in fear.

But the angel reassured him, “Don’t fear, Zachariah. Your prayer has been heard. Elizabeth, your wife, will bear a son by you. You are to name him John. You’re going to leap like a gazelle for joy, and not only you—many will delight in his birth. He’ll achieve great stature with God.

“He’ll drink neither wine nor beer. He’ll be filled with the Holy Spirit from the moment he leaves his mother’s womb. He will turn many sons and daughters of Israel back to their God. He will herald God’s arrival in the style and strength of Elijah, soften the hearts of parents to children, and kindle devout understanding among hardened skeptics—he’ll get the people ready for God.”

Wednesday 5 March 2014

The Lent Journal 1 - Ash Wednesday

Almost two years ago I published a journal on the Ramadan. The first Ramadan in my life that I would be an eyewitness. 

I've decided this time to journal the Lent. After all, Christian makes from 6 too 10% of the population (depending on the sources), and I can take part of the Lent - so now I'll be able to add a personal perspective. 

At first I thought about participating in the traditions of the Coptic Church. But I missed the beginning of their Lent, which is called Great Lent and began on February 24 =( But then, I can participate with the church I attend, which is an Episcopal Church - and that makes it less of a cultural experience, but really a life-changing experience instead, since I don't have to learn so much about the traditions or the meanings of this and that. 

Today was Ash Wednesday: the day that we begin celebrating Lent. We had a beautiful bilingual service - in English and Arabic. They made it very ease my journalling: during the Lent period, we will be reading Luke, and they gave us flyer with the readings for everyday. So, I'll post them here. 

So many others have tried their hand at putting together a story of the wonderful harvest of Scripture and history that took place among us, using reports handed down by the original eyewitnesses who served this Word with their very lives. Since I have investigated all the reports in close detail, starting from the story’s beginning, I decided to write it all out for you, most honorable Theophilus, so you can know beyond the shadow of a doubt the reliability of what you were taught. Luke 1. 1 - 4, translation from The Message. 

Tomorrow more on Ash Wednesday. 

Monday 3 March 2014

The Experience of the Desert 2

Yesterday we had a storm. A sand storm.

I still remember my first sand storm. Everything was orangish-yellowish. I was puzzled by the matter-of-fact tone of student who calmly pointed out to a teacher that the weather had changed and asked to close the window. It was my first week here. I thought it fascinating.

As the time passed by I realized that sand storms aren't so common as I first thought. I still have a hard time identifying them (that might partly because I'm easily distracted by my particular world that I don't realize much what is going around).

Yesterday, however, was a day that was easily recognizable though. For as soon as I went out of the school building to the playground, my lungs filled with slime reacted and I coughed until I almost got asphyxiated.

Yesterday, everything was greyish-whitish. As one who loses her sight, as one who sees life from the other side (or that's how I imagine these near death experiences).

Yesterday, I not only had dust in my hair and skin (like everyday, of course), but I smelled and tasted it. It is bland. It stinks pollution - after all this is a city with over 20 million inhabitants, a huge auto-mobile fleet and few environmental laws.

Now, the most impressive was the evening. I was not outside only for the sake of reporting to this blog. I was a teacher who stayed late in school working to grade all the necessary papers that should be on the progress reports. And I walk home from work. For 20 minutes or so.

I felt something wasn't normal. But with all that dust, and my coughing and my levels of self-pity sky reaching... A-ha! The sky. It was evening. It is winter. It should be dark. It was grey. A grey without light beyond it. Moonless grey. A star-spangled-less grey. It reminded me of Perelandra, that has round roof. Only imagine if Ransom's mission had failed - a fallen Perelandra.

It also reminded of the time in the Middle-Earth when the shadows were dominant and the hope left the heart of all. And since I am right now reading The Return of the King, it gave me a whole new insight on how it started when Mordor comes upon Gondor. It wasn´t pitch dark as in the Battle of the Pelennor Fields, but still, it stroke me the speech of Ghân: "It is all dark, but it not all night".

And so it continued today.

And so here am I trying to blog again after a pause caused by acute back pains. It will be only four months until I return to Brazil and I wanted to process the experience well. Let's travel together again!