Summer, Passover, Easter, the Lord's Supper

Now I think you can call it summer. I got out the clothes I didn't wear during the winter because it was too cold, and now I can't wear them because it's too hot. Spring happened in there somewhere, but it wasn't much.

This week everyone is preparing for Passover. This includes both Jews and Christians. To keep Passover as the Jews do seems to me to be very complicated. To even briefly summarize what they do is so burdensome to the mind that I can't even begin. The way the Christians do it, it just means a Passover meal, where they serve some of the traditional foods, and make mention of Jewish traditions but explaining how Christians differ from it. Easter happens at a similar time of year, but calendars are complicated and I don't pay much attention to what day it is. People see similarities between Passover, Easter (for some, the Holy Week; for others, simply Resurrection Day) and the Lord's Supper.

I can't unravel all these. I try to understand how people think, but I don't really follow it. Some will tell you that Passover is the equivalent of Easter. Some say that Passover and the Lord's Supper are the same thing. Some Jewish Christians will go to both, others only to Passover.

Me, I celebrate the Lord's Supper when possible, and would be glad to do so every week if there were opportunity.

I have been to Christian Passover seders before, mainly for the social aspect of it, but it's a lot about food, which doesn't interest me, and it's usually crowded and noisy. So this year I am staying home, and not the least is that my conscience tells me to. Which makes it a lonely occasion, but what's new. I will enjoy the quiet.

Doves and Pigeons

You can read about acts of terror on the news (one yesterday), but on this blog today I choose to write about something not so terrible. I don't feel particularly terrorized or afraid, just disturbed. But it is not just an incident that is disturbing, but conditions in the world and church, which will not be remedied until...until Messiah comes back? That's what a lot of people say. Which leaves room for a sort of hopeless attitude, as if nothing we do now is going to do much good anyway. That is not how I see it. Look at all the promises Jesus gave us about the Holy Spirit. Is the Holy Spirit somehow weaker than or inferior to Jesus?

But today I am thinking about birds. Last night, all through the night, crows were squawking loudly.  And at daybreak many small birds were chirping, loud and shrill. I don't see a lot of birds from my window, but I hear them. (Not like in southern Indiana, where we saw many varieties every single day, just a few feet from the window--robins, juncos, nuthatches, brown creepers, cardinals, chickadees, blue jays, orioles, bluebirds, sparrows, doves, finches, starlings, wrens, and a woodpecker that always notified me when the feeder was empty. And there were hummingbirds at the hummingbird feeder. And down the street were indigo buntings, but they never came to my feeder. And warblers in the tops of trees. And a thrasher in the woods. And wood ducks on the pond, along with a green heron, a bittern, and sometimes visiting large herons. And swallows over the barn and in it, and red-wing blackbirds in the pasture. And owls hooting at night. Etc., etc., etc. Not to mention our own chickens and our neighbor's guinea hens.)

Here in Jerusalem I have seen only pigeons, crows, bulbuls, sparrows, hummingbirds (very iridescent black) -- [actually it's called Palestine sunbird, but it has a long curved beak and it hovers somewhat like a hummingbird], and bright green parrots. Flying overhead, at some distance, some kind of cranes. Maybe a couple others.

Lately doves have been hanging around, inspecting my balcony and my bedroom window, and trying to get through the lattice by the laundry room. They must be looking for nesting locations. One of the pigeons is gray and white-streaked, with purple and turquoise on its neck, and rusty-orange eyes. It is tempting to provide them with a nesting box or nesting materials. Or some kind of feeder, if there were a way to keep the crows out of it.

O that I had wings like a dove; I would fly away until I find rest.

 

O dass ich Flügel hätte

wie die Taube;

ich würde davonfliegen

bis ich Ruhe fände!

 

Terminology

Sunday, as usual, was a bit lonely (as are Fridays and most other days), but I listened to some pretty good sermons on-line.

There are some who are very particular about terminology. They don't like the term "church" or "Knesia," you have to say Kehila/assembly/congregation/body of Christ. Some don't say "Jesus", and don't like it when you do either (it's Yeshua). And you can't say Christian, you have to say Meshihi, (or maybe believer) and what is inferred by or from either depends on whom you are talking with.

The disciples were first called Christians at Antioch. Those were Jewish Christians. Greek speakers wouldn't have called them Meshihim. I speak English, but I read the New Testament, which was first written in Greek, and the Old Testament, which was first written in Hebrew. If I call myself Notsri, I might be taken for a Roman Catholic, so I prefer to say Protestant. But then Jesus was a Notsri, so I guess it doesn't really matter, except I wasn't born in Nazareth. If I say Protestant, they say, oh, you mean like Luther? who said some really bad things about Jews.

But the Roman Church is not wrong on every single point, neither was Luther. And if I say Reformed, all Reformed are not right on every single point, either.

So I guess I will just say I am a Christian, although that is a broad term.

I will not say I am proud of my Jewish heritage (I am not Jewish), neither will I say I am proud to be a Gentile. I am happy that God chose me, and it is all for the glory of Messiah/Jesus/Yeshua that he chooses both Gentiles and Jews. The word "proud" doesn't work here. To the extent that my ancestors/descendants were/are believers, I am happy for that, and for the promise "to you and your seed." But God works how he will, and he brings many from darkness into his marvelous light, and many of them are not from believing families.

Lord's Day

This is Saturday, looking forward to Sunday.

"Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them."

There'll probably be just three of us, as usual. So that makes four.

What Next?

Nothing new, of course. The next is the same as the last, and identical to the one in the middle.

So to break the monotony--We knew a guy once who they said used to preach to his dog, which was a hyperactive Saint Bernard. I wonder what his text was. Maybe "be still." Or "what aileth thee?"

And if you get tired of the daily routine, you can just go out and see how many disappointments you can find. If a guy almost runs you over, you think, what an idiot (him, not me), but anyway I survived. But if a person of the more friendly type says we don't want you here, it's harder to take. And if you're the sensitive type, you think, what an idiot (me, not him), for presuming. And then you can watch someone else's cute kid and remember that you used to have such kids once, and cactus plants are a poor substitute.

So I bought frozen spinach, but it wasn't frozen in leaves, but in blocks of leaves. I think that was intentional, and not just a result of inconsistent freezer temperatures.

And then there are probably things to do, but if I die tomorrow, and they're not done, no one will notice. What is actually essential, anyway? At this very moment, there is probably some right thing to do. If I figure it out, I'll do it. If I can't figure it out, I'll just do something anyway. Is there anything that, if I don't do it today, I will regret tomorrow? I wish I had energy, ambition, wisdom, good health, imagination, or any of the above. The only thing I do have is determination, such as it is.

Not Quite Summer

I really thought I would be calling it summer by now. But now it's raining and it feels like 40 degrees F. So that means it's spring, which is the uncertain state between winter and summer. The other day we had a little bit of thunder.

Thunder. The moon. Didn't know that the lack of those would make a big empty space in my life. I thought I was a creative person. But how to create something refreshing in the middle of a city I've never figured out.

Somewhere I read a book of poems by a woman who had to work in a factory all day, when she would rather be home and doing regular home-making things. I guess I don't have it that bad. Although at the moment the idea of working in a factory sounds interesting.

It must be time to write a list. There will be 10 items on my list, which means I will have to make 10 decisions. 1) Shall I do this? Answer, yes. So I do it. Check it off. Next. 2) Shall I do this? Answer, yes. (the answer is always yes). Do it. Etc. These 10 items have to be things that can be done in a very short time, maybe 5 minutes or less. Usually before I get through seven or eight, I have regained my ability to make decisions, and after that I don't need my list because I'm rolling. You can call this procedure a sort of methodism. It works.

Old, old friends

Old friends are long-time friends, and the longer they are long-time friends, they more they become old friends as well.

There is a couple we hadn't seen for 32 years. Only once during that time I contacted L and we had a brief conversation. What an event it was when we met up after 32 years! I wouldn't necessarily look forward to such an event with some people, because you aren't sure how much they will have changed. But these people were exactly as we expected, and we had a great time.

As the high from this wonderful experience slowly wears off, I start feeling really lonely again. So I comfort myself by looking on You-tube to find nice stories of rescuing dogs. And then I water my plants--Jade, Sharpy Jade, Tophy, Zolla, and Aizo. They need me. Too bad they don't bark, purr or say Shalom.