Infiltrate

"We can, by God's grace, train these students to infiltrate the industry with the Gospel message."


I read these words in a magazine recently. Infiltrate caught my attention. Perhaps because generally I think of it in terms of something secretive like spying. (Well, I have just recently finished Shadow Warriors and I'm watching "24" so maybe I have spying on my mind too much.) But the more I thought of it, the more I kind of liked the idea of infiltrating society with God's good news. I thought how light infiltrates darkness and darkness flees! Perhaps Jesus had this in mind when He told us to let our lights shine and not to hide them under bushels. How much is our light influencing or infiltrating society?

On the way to SC a few days ago, I read this article by Kathleen Parker, "Christian Right's Facing Its Own Cultural Crisis."

Of interest to me especially were these words.

Deace's point was that established Christian activist groups too often settle for lesser evils in exchange for electing Republicans. He cited as examples Dobson's support of Mitt Romney and John McCain, neither of whom is pro-life or pro-family enough from Deace's perspective.

Compromise may be the grease of politics, but it has no place in Christian orthodoxy, according to Deace. Put another way, Christians may have no place in the political fray of dealmaking. That doesn't mean one disengages from political life, but it might mean that the church shouldn't be a branch of the Republican Party. It might mean trading fame and fortune (green rooms and fundraisers) for humility and charity. . . .

For Christians such as Moore – and others better known, such as columnist Cal Thomas, a former vice president for the Moral Majority – the heart of Christianity is in the home, not the halls of Congress or even the courts. And the route to a more moral America is through good works – service, prayer and education – not political lobbying.

Moore says: "In the modern era of the Christian right, we have traded these proven methods for a mess of pottage … and often in a shrill and nagging manner, which makes our God look weak in the eyes of the world." . . .

"If people who call themselves Christians want to see any influence in the culture, then they ought to start following the commands of Jesus, and people will be so amazed that they will be attracted to him," Thomas told me. "The problem isn't political. The problem is moral and spiritual." (emphasis mine)

A few hours later I was walking, thinking of what I'd read earlier. This verse came to mind.


"Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven." (Mt. 5:16)


Soooooo....according to Christ's own words what glorifies God? Letting our lights shine so that people see our good works! Maybe instead of being known for what we are against, we should be known as the most loving and serving people in the world. (Think of Jesus' example.) Obviously our political involvement hasn't been effective. Why did we really think it would be? Can politics, rules and government legislation change human hearts? Perhaps we have been focusing too much on what WE could do to influence people by our human laws instead of remembering that only God can change people. Our jobs are to shine! To infiltrate the darkness with our lights. So that people can see our good works and glorify our great God!

Just something to think about. And this is from someone who was involved in politics years before I could vote.

Damascus -- The Hostel Lounges

I've already showed you how to get to the hostel and the inside of our room (think round and minty green). Here are a few pictures of two common areas. I forgot to take pictures of the kitchen and upstairs deck. Oops. This was the heated lounge where we could watch television, eat breakfast, play cards, chat with friends and fellow hostelers (wow, this is a real word? spell check didn't deem it wrong!) and workers at the hostel.




Ahmad (Jake) came to visit us several times, often after his German class ended. Note the Syrian flag and President in this photo.

Samer & Jake -- our sweet friends

Claudia was one of the hard-working people at the hostel

She kept things running smoothly

Thomas is an American studying Arabic in Damascus. We enjoyed talking with him at the hostel. He started renting a room from a family,

but he would often come visit the hostel in the evenings. You can see the kitchen entrance on the right side and the wall of interesting things behind Thomas.



This lounge was not heated, but we'd often sit out here and chat. Here we are with one of the workers, Abu Muhammad aka Bob. He was our driver when we went to Saydnaya and Krac des Chevaliers and became a good friend although we don't speak each other's language.

Samer & Andrew

Mr. Bunny is the hostel's pet. He is so spoiled!

Pictures from Damascus, Syria
January/February 2009

Odds & Ends

This afternoon I decided to run some errands. I had to drop off 3 books at the library, pay a bill for work, mail our tax returns and estimated taxes at the post office and buy a chocolate Easter bunny for Michael. I went by Wal-greens and took care of that last thing. I wanted to drop the bunny by Michael's house. I thought it would be a 5 minute thing, but he ended up showing me his King Arthur Lego set and other toys -- Transformers, a spy set, a magic trick (he told me how it worked after he "tricked" me) and so forth. I ended up staying an hour looking at his stuff! But it was enjoyable.

Today is my grandfather's 83rd birthday, but he died in May 1997 of a heart attack. Still I think of Granddaddy every April 13th.

In other news, I am glad the captain of the cargo ship was rescued from the Somali pirates although the pirates vow revenge since the US Navy took out three of their comrades when they rescued the captain. Oh well for the pirates. They are thieves and kidnappers. What do they expect? To be treated like princes?

I read an article earlier today where the Brazilian President blamed "white people with blue eyes" for the global economic crises.

Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva on Thursday blamed the global economic crisis on “white people with blue eyes” and said it was wrong that black and indigenous people should pay for white people’s mistakes.

Ugh. Most days here lately I feel the world is becoming more divisive. I am thinking of my position on globalization. I know it's here, but I don't know that I'm a fan. I like meeting foreigners and being friends with them and learning about their cultures, but it seems to have problem areas as well. Unfortunately even among friends, we simply don't always see things the same way because we come from two totally different backgrounds. I wonder even if God is for this coming together globally. Afterall, He divided up the people after the Tower of Babel incident. He wanted people to spread out in the earth and when they instead came together, He confused their languages and, therefore, separated them. It's interesting how the world is coming together now .. in its own divisive way, I should say. Afterall, it's white folks like me who are to blame for everything wrong in this world!

In funnier news along the same lines, I was reading someone's blog recently and laughed when a man made this comment about western women:


"In other words, westernized women have more societal harm than those of the non-westernized ones, and so if you are an unlucky one to be married to such a woman - i.e. one spiritually spoiled by the ways of feminism and capitalism - such is not to be employed."

I joked for him to tell us what he really thinks about western women, so he did. I saw this earlier today:

I think "westernised" women are a plague to society as a whole. They are stuck in their disneyland syndrome, spoiled by the mundane, and have no sense of "submission/Islam". After all, the "liberation" ideals of "feminism" have taught young females to question divine authority - which in fact leads to the destruction of the spiritual self - the rebellion against Providence and the contempt for Providence's sunnah! That is what I really think about westernised women! They are a calamity upon humanity!

It takes a man of incredible wisdom, impeccable adab, and perservearance to deal with females who do not know how to be women, who do not know how to submit to their Lord!

Ah! So globalization might not be such a great thing. I believe Mr. Abul Layth agrees that East should never mingle with West. Three cheers for isolationism! :-)

Fun with friends!

About two weeks ago I was really feeling lonely for some reason. My friends all seemed way too busy with their jobs and kids and, well, life, and I just missed seeing them from time to time. Don't get me wrong, I am not a demanding (I hope) friend who wants to do something all the time. If anything I'm the opposite. Let's just get together every once in a while and I am perfectly fine. I actually prefer not having something constantly in the works because I don't mind alone time. However, I was feeling a bit lonely several days ago (still missing Damascus!), but since then things have gotten better. Maybe it started when I decided to travel with my parents to see my grandparents for 3 days. I had fellowship times with my relatives that I referred to a few days ago. One thing I forgot to share was that my dad and I had a discussion or two about the Fox show "24." He just started watching this season so I told him about a few characters -- Bill, Tony and Chloe -- who were from past seasons. (By the way, this season has made me more aware of the awfulness of biological weapons..ugh.)





Since returning from SC, a friend called and came up this way for a few hours to see me at the local McDonald's. A couple years ago I hung out a lot with Angie, but she got a job closer to her home (about 80 minutes from here) so I hadn't seen her in several months. She was off for Good Friday and decided to visit. So I saw her and one of our mutual friends, Rocky, who dropped by to visit before heading to work. On Thursday I got to see Kita and her two little ones while I was at McDonald's with Michael. Also this weekend, I called former YN Jen and heard how Jake was doing. I can hardly believe he will be five in about a month! She said Jake was a pro at his computer and I joked that he should keep in touch by sending me e-mails. It's crazy that he has grown up so much. I still remember when Jen and I would walk around the neighborhood each Saturday when she was pregnant with him. I remember when the Chapel Hill doctor suggested she abort Jake because he was a single-umbilical artery baby. I still recall the evening she left to be induced. Andrew and I were mowing a yard on the main road of the neighborhood and she waved to us as she left. I knew she would come back with her baby boy! And now he is nearly five!





Last night we went to Denise and Victor's house and enjoyed a great time laughing and talking. (The pictures in this post are from last night with the exception of one which will be obvious. The girls and I were doing some goofy 2009-style Charlie's Angels poses...ahem.) Teresa and Elizabeth came as well. We saw Valerie, Dylan and Alan also. We had brownies, "$11 dip" (what Andrew calls the nacho cheese/Ro-Tel dip which he loves for Denise to make), tortilla chips, chicken wings (drumettes actually) in BBQ sauce (George's and Sweet Baby Ray's), refreshing fruits (grapes, strawberries, pineapple) and fruit dip, Easter candy and punch. I had a blast seeing my friends again and laughing like old times. We watched (Denise dozed on the floor..ha!) an old movie, The Boys Next Door, about four mentally-challenged adults and their social worker. They deal with such things as rodents, grocery shopping, a new girlfriend, beating rugs, the love of keys and a difficult father. I noted the words of Lucien P. Singer as he stated that a society is judged on how it treats its weakest members. Hmmm, good point. I was struck with how much patience and kindness is needed in working effectively with people who have mental challenges. I applaud those gracious social workers. I simply don't know if I would have the needed qualities. Great time last night. We showed some of our pictures from Syria on the computer. (They are on a flash drive.) Victor especially seemed interested in them so Andrew told him about different areas. Victor wanted to google Syria to read more about it. He was full of questions: "Is Syria bigger than Israel? Where is it in relation to Israel and Iraq?" and so forth. We asked Teresa to share about some of her time in Israel and Egypt. She went on a Holy Land tour years ago.




She said she also visited some mosques and had to wear the capes in them. LOL...I don't think Denise knew at first that it was ME hidden under the big, black cape worn at this mosque. Definitely this picture always makes me laugh. Samer referred to it as my Hajjii Susie picture. He said I looked like an Arabian woman in it. Ha! I just remember it was so long, I was walking on the hem which pulled it off the back of my head which I was desperately trying to keep covered so I wouldn't have exposed hair. OK, I'll admit it. I felt like a huge black bat. :-)




Also yesterday we had our Easter service at church and then met my family for lunch at CiCi's Pizza. It was nice to visit with them for a while. Michael had a chocolate Easter bunny in the car and by the time we left the restaurant around 2, it was totally melted. Bunny's ears melted into his feet and torso at the bottom of the box, and Michael and I giggled like crazy at the demise of the Easter bunny.

Resurrection Day!

HALLELUJAH,
WHAT A SAVIOR!

The importance of the resurrection is detailed in I Corinthians 15. Here is just one part:

¹⁶For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. ¹⁷And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. ¹⁸Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. ¹⁹If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men.

I'm so thankful that God saw my dirty state and did something I could not do for myself: He washed me whiter than snow and saved my soul from its awfulness. Thank you, Lord, for your compassion and mercy, for your kindness and grace ... for your amazing love!

Damascus -- Bookstore, Four Seasons Hotel & Fruit Salad

During one of our last days in Damascus we walked with Samer and Basheer for a few hours and ended up at this Islamic bookstore where one of Basheer's friends worked.

Unfortunately for us his friend was quite busy so we were not able to talk to him much. We did meet a student from Chicago - Sarah, I believe. She was in Damascus learning Arabic and purchased a dictionary if I remember correctly.



I looked around the bookstore a bit and read some of the English titles while waiting to meet Basheer's friend. He was another Muhammad. We met several since it's the "Jacob" of the Muslim world.

Here are Samer, Muhammad Zuhair and Basheer. Literally this was about all the time we had with this guy except for the couple minutes it took for him and Basheer to gift us with these 3 volumes of The History of Islam.


See them here on my bookshelf at home. (The red box contains lovely maps which Mohammed Hazzaa gave us per Louai's instructions. And you can see some of the books I read last year on the shelf below.)


After walking for a good while, Samer decided to take us to the Four Seasons Hotel. It's beautiful and definitely out of our price range! Well, we could afford it, but why spend that much money on a room? Granted this place was N-I-C-E! But I am used to being frugal so the hostel it was for us. This was a great place to visit while downtown.


We felt a bit out of place here, but the people were very friendly and showed us around. I guess it didn't hurt that Basheer's cousin worked there and gave his crew instructions to show us some of the main areas.

A lovely place, huh?

One of the restaurants on the main floor.
I have more pictures of this place that I will share another day.
After walking most of the late morning and early afternoon, we stopped for lunch

and had these refreshing fruit salads. The guys got the chocolate hazelnut ones, while I settled for the nut-free salad on the right.

Pictures from Damascus, Syria
February 2009

LOL!

I had to keep myself from laughing in someone's face yesterday when she told me in all seriousness that Barack Obama was quarter black, quarter Muslim and half white.

Say what?

:-)