Remembering Marie Colvin →

I am shocked by the death of Marie Colvin. Lyse Doucette, a Canadian journalist working for BBC World, knew her well. Her tribute last night on BBC World Service was beautiful and heartfelt. Her interview with Colvin’s mother was sensitive and revealing. Another Canadian journalist friend, Carol Perehudoff, posted the following comment to her blog. I think she is unduly hard on herself. She is a good writer and she cares about things that matter. Sure, she writes an entertainment-travel column and assumes the persona of a girl who travels for a good time. But her reaction to Colvin’s death and the books she references in her blog entry about it, reveal the real Carol, the Carol I know. May we all be so reflective about ourselves and what we can do in the aftermath of this death and the many others in Syria.

Why I could never be Marie Colvin and why I’m ashamed – WanderingCarolWandering Carol

wanderingcarol.com

The tragic death of Marie Colvin

IEF Trier, Weaving Ecumenism

Back at Robert-Schuman-Haus, the International Ecumenical Forum is opened with a series of welcome messages, a dinner, and then we were gathered outside the main hall, facing a weaving loom that had been displayed there.

The loom

The weaving loom had been specially made for this event. It is a traditional loom. White yarn has been set up as the warp (that is the lengthwise yarn), held in tension by wooden weights. Yarn in different colours are provided, some have been woven into the loom. The idea was that during the length of the forum, everyone is invited to weave in a coloured band to the cloth, either using the yarn provided, or adding their own.

A speaker came to tell a story about ancient customs in the middle east, where a mother would weave a robe for her child from the beginning of her pregnancy until the child is considered an adult. This robe would therefore hold every tear and joy of the mother, her hopes and dreams for the child. It is said that the reason why the Roman soldiers did not want to tear Jesus’ robe was because they were thinking of his mother, and their mothers.

In the same way the cloth produced during the International Ecumenical Forum is to be a diary of our journey together, the different colours representing each of our traditions, histories, backgrounds, experiences, woven together.

I reflected further on this and couldn’t help but thinking that the white yarn, the warp, is the perfect symbol for God… it is God who holds each of our differences together, who makes it possible for us to come together, who joins us together (the theme of the forum, by the way, is a prayer: “and join together what is separated”, although the German sentence has a bit more significance in my opinion). Oh, and if you paid attention during Science class, you would know that white is not a colour, but rather what you see when all the colours of the rainbow are blended together. Now… how’s that for a reflection?

the bishop of Trier weaving in his yarn

IEF Trier, prelude

It was about midday when my train arrived in Trier from Luxembourg. It was snowing. I read the instructions on the e-mail I printed out once again to check the bus number I’m supposed to take. Saw the bus stop for it, but it seems to be going the other direction. Gulp. Time to put my German at work. Asked a bus driver, who told me to get on the bus stop two blocks down the road. Oh-oh-kay.

After fifteen minutes of waiting, the bus arrived, I jumped in and decided to get off at the alternative bus stop mentioned in the list. I would never know whether the first bus stop would’ve been a better option, but there I was at the bus stop when I realized that the German word “aufwärts” actually meant having to go uphill.

So, picture this: snow. wind. 10kg backpack + 2kg handbag. going uphill to find the seminary where the event is located. I felt like I could make a good photo of myself for the competition held by the diocese of Trier as part of their upcoming pilgrimage event. The competition calls for, you’ve probably guessed it, photos of pilgrims.

What’s this whole business of pilgrimage, you ask? Well, apparently, the holy robe (aka the seamless robe or the holy tunic — as in the one that was lotteried between the Roman soldiers at the crucifixion of Jesus) is kept at the Trier Cathedral. The robe was first displayed for public in 1512, and last in 1996, where thousands of people came to do a pilgrimage to see it. Now, this year, the robe will be displayed for public again in the event of the 500th anniversary of it’s first appearance, and the diocese is preparing a whole set of events for this holy robe pilgrimage. This includes inviting the Protestant churches to attend as well.

I’m going to assume that you know your church history well enough to know that relics are one of Protestantism’s pet peeves, to put it VERY mildly.

However, the leader of the EKD (Evangelische Kirche in Deutschland aka German Evangelical Church, which speaks for 22 Lutheran, Reformed, and United Land Churches) has accepted this invitation with great pleasure, noting however that the pilgrimage should not be seen as a visit to see the robe but rather a Christ pilgrimage, a moment to come together in remembrance of the sacrifice of Christ.

It is therefore in the spirit of this Christ Pilgrimage that the Ecumenical Forum is held. Furthermore, the robe itself, as described in John 19:23, “was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom.” thus making it a great image for ecumenism, but I’ll get back to that later.

After climbing the hill and making a round trip around the building (due to not knowing where the front entrance was — thereby completing my pilgrimage route), I was at the Robert-Schuman House, where the Ecumenical Forum will take place. Since it is located on a hill, I have a wonderful view of the city from my room.

The event, however, opened with an ecumenical service at the Trier Cathedral. I couldn’t quite follow the service because I haven’t received the order of service booklet yet and I was still trying to get used to listening to all that German, but being in a massive cathedral, surrounded by hundreds of people and seeing leaders of different denominations standing in front evokes all sorts of wonderful feelings of God’s presence.

photo credit: IEF website

After the service, we were to take the bus back to Robert-Schuman-Haus, but we had to walk through the snow in order to get to the bus. I was angry at myself for leaving my umbrella behind when an older guy offered to share his umbrella with me. He was in fact a retired (Catholic) priest who was heavily involved in the ecumenical movement during his office. It was interesting how he told me how much the ecumenical movement has actually progressed in the last 40 years or so — and I thought we were pretty stagnant!

Coming up next… welcome messages and weaving ecumenism, literally!

Report Time — Warning: a series of post will be coming up!

So, I got back to Geneva yesterday after having spent 11 days (that felt like 11 months) travelling in 3 countries. Happy to be back despite the weather forecast saying things like “Partly cloudy. High of -7°C with a windchill of -21°C. UNSEASONABLY COLD. Winds from the NNE at 25-30 km/h.”

The main reason for my trip was to attend the “International Ecumenical Forum” held in Trier from January 30th to February 3rd, which was a wonderful, inspiring and enriching event. Other than that, I also went to Brussels (Belgium, country #1), Luxembourg (country #2) and several cities in Germany (country #3), including the city I was born in.

I will be writing about the experiences I had, especially in Trier, possibly broken up to a few posts in order to avoid writing one super long post nobody would have time to read.

Just wanted to give you a heads up on that

Intern Workshop: Visit to Aspasie

As part of our ecumenical engagement, interns who work at the Ecumenical Centre come together every now and then to do interesting things together, such as our outing to the UN a few months back. Our latest event was a visit to Aspasie, an organisation that “defends the rights of sex workers, offering hospitality, information, prevention and support.”

Before I continue, I must state that prostitution is indeed legal in Geneva, and it is regulated — that is to say that one would have to register with a special department to be eligible for sex work. This includes working on the streets, in cabarets, bars, salons, etc. The so-called “Red Light District” of Geneva is the area of Paquis, where Aspasie’s offices are located.

The organisation was founded in 1982 by Grisélidis Réal, herself a sex worker (and much more, but that’s a different story), and several concerned friends. Thirty years later, it is mainly funded by the city of Geneva, with special projects being funded by donors.

The name Aspasie comes from Aspasie de Milet, known in English as Aspasia, a courtesan famous for her relationship with Pericles, the stateman and general of Athens circa 495 – 429 BC.

Aspasie has 8 full-time staff members in charge of different programs and is directed by a board of volunteers with many different backgrounds. Aspasie provides psychosocial support via their center, where staff members are available to give counselling and other help (including help with their tax calculation). Aspasie also does outreach work to help reduce STD and drug use risks. They have special programs for male sex workers and also programs targeting the clients of sexworkers (interestingly enough called “Don Juan”).

Aspasie also has a study center (where we met, actually) equipped with literature and historical documents related to this line of work.

I personally think that the work that Aspasie is doing is indeed important work, but I’m having trouble understanding their “non-abolishionist” position, as it seems to me that one would have to be pretty desperate to even consider doing sex work (or otherwise coerced/threatened/etc. into it, which is acknowledged but not the main area of work for Aspasie especially because this is hardly the case here in Geneva). But then again, I guess there could indeed be different reasons for choosing to do this, and I am totally for the abolishing of the stigmatization that comes with this profession.

Thinking about this brings also to mind a little list of sex workers that I have actually come to admire. The first person is a fictional character in a novel by an Indonesian author. This character, Diva, is a high-class prostitute. In one of the scenes in the novel, one of her clients asks her: “why does a bright, beautiful young woman like yourself, who could easily get any corporate job she wants, choose to do this instead?” and she answers: “I would much rather prostitute my body than prostitute my mind to these corporate people”. Now that’s a thought to ponder.

The other people in this list of mine would include Mata Hari, the spy, and of course Grisélidis Réal, who was very much a human rights activist and who was so highly regarded that she deserved a spot (despite controversies) to be buried at the “Cemetery of the Kings”, not so far in fact from the place where John Calvin himself is supposedly buried (there’s a whole lot more controversies to that).

Week of Prayer for Christian Unity

This is the first day of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity (January 18-25).* The observance began in 1908 and was called then the Octave of Christian Unity, because it spans not seven but eight days. The dates were proposed by Fr. Paul Wattson, of the Graymoor Franciscan Friars. He designated the Feast of the Chair of St. Peter as the first day and the Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul as the concluding day. Wattson was a convert from Anglicanism to Roman Catholicism. It is easy to see in the dates the connection he drew between the Petrine office and Christian unity.

In 1935 Abbè Paul Couturier of Lyons, France advocated “prayer for the unity of the Church as Christ wills it, and in accordance with the means he wills.” This expansive formulation created the space for Christians with diverging views on the Petrine ministry to share in the prayer in good conscience. From Couturier, known to posterity as the “father of spiritual ecumenism”, we have the name “universal week of prayer for Christian unity.” Since 1968, the Commission of Faith and Order of the World Council of Churches and the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity of the Roman Catholic Church have been preparing materials together for Christians who wish to observe this week.

The theme for this year is drawn from 1 Corinthians 15:51-58: “We will all be changed by the victory of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Additional biblical readings, commentaries, prayers and questions for reflection are appointed for each of the eight days, so that Christians can explore different aspects of what the theme means for their lives and their unity with one another, in and for the world.

The Gospel reading for the first day is Mark 10: 42-45. “The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.” It invites us to meditate on the connection between unity and service. At first glance, the connection may not seem obvious. Does not unity have above all to do with unity of belief and conviction? The Faith and Order movement insisted that the beginning of unity was to be found in clarifying what is required de fide (concerning faith): “concerning God and Christ, man and the future world . . . of discipline with regard to the ministry, the sacraments, marriage and the Christian life.”

But before the first Faith and Order conference was held in Lausanne in 1927, there was the universal Christian conference on Life and Work in Stockholm two years earlier. The motto of that movement was: “doctrine divides, but service unites.”

Here we come back to our theme. The opposition between service and doctrine was one that the ecumenical movement ultimately rejected, but if we are honest with ourselves we would have to admit that the point of the motto rings true to experience.

I will illustrate the point from my own experience. When I was in seminary training to be a pastor, I was sent to a rural church in the midwestern region of the United States. I was apprenticed to a pastor with whom I was to serve this church for one year. From the outset I had difficulties in getting along with him. I was critical of his preaching, which I felt contradicted the message of God’s free grace, of God’s kindness shown to us in Jesus Christ. In my mind, he erred in his doctrine. It was not long before I even began to resent having to work with him.

One evening I was working late at the church. The pastor walked by my office. I went out and began to complain to him about his neglecting to do something I had asked of him. This provoked him and our conversation once again became tense. In the course of our conversation, he paused to say: “By the way, David’s mother called me. She asked us to pray for her son.” Everything at that moment changed. David was the teenage son of a member of our congregation, a leader, in fact, who had just been sentenced to several years in prison for a very serious crime. David was acting out.

Our focus immediately shifted from our interpersonal conflict to a real need in our church we were both called as pastors to respond to. I would like to say that at that moment our relationship was transformed, but that was not the case. But in retrospect it was a turning point. After I finished my year at the church, I didn’t see the pastor until nine or ten years later at a  meeting of church leaders.  When we saw each other, we shook hands warmly. We shared a meal and reminisced. He was a mentor to me in ways neither of us could see at the time. More importantly, today I feel that in him I have a true friend.

Service unites, but doctrine divides? Perhaps, but in our service, in our response to real human need, we implicitly recognized in each other the faith we both had confessed at our classis examinations in seminary. In his book Falling Upward: A Spirituality for the Two Halves of Life, Richard Rohr observes: “There is a strange and even wonderful communion in real human pain.” I would add here that insofar as this pain mobilizes our response to it in solidarity and service is there this communion. I certainly experienced it at the church I served.

In this kind of communion, do we not have the “safe space” in which we can in mutual trust explore together the doctrines that continue to divide us–in commitment to one another, to the world, and to truth?

*I invite the readers of our blog to participate in the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. The materials mentioned above can be found at http://www.oikoumene.org/fileadmin/files/wcc-main/documents/p2/2011/WOP2012eng.pdf

Post Tenebras Lux

I promised in my short introductory piece in the latest edition of the Reformed Communiqué (read it online) that I will write more on the blog, so here I go.

It was March, and I was juggling a number of responsibilities: I was doing a pastoral internship at my congregation, I was the coordinator of events in our Church’s Easter celebration committee, I was preaching/teaching in several other congregations in many different occasions, I was writing my thesis… not to mention some family and relationship issues.

The truth is, one of the main reasons why I chose to write about pastoral burnout was because I wanted to know more about it as I sense myself being on the verge of a burnout. The thought that my only option after graduation would be to follow through with the series of steps required to become ordained was NOT helping.

It was in the middle of all this that Douwe’s e-mail reached me. I told him I would be highly interested in applying for the internship, but that I would have to check with my church about their plans. Everything was very uncertain except for the little voice in me saying that this internship might be exactly what I needed. And yet there are so many questions surrounding this opportunity that I really needed a sign. Any sign.

I always do my devotional reading before going to bed, and so it happens that after replying Douwe’s e-mail I got ready for bed.

I do not remember which devotional book it was, who wrote it or what the title of the devotional was, but I remember this verse:

Remember how the LORD your God led you all the way in the wilderness these forty years, to humble and test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands. (Deuteronomy 8:2, NIV)

and I remember what the devotional was about. It was about how at certain times in our lives, we also are led through the wilderness, it might be in the form of a life experience, or maybe a trip, a place to go… this was when I realized that this could be Geneva for me. The wilderness where God is leading me to.

As it turns out, indeed God led the way for me to arrive in and going through the wilderness of Geneva.

Now, I mentioned in my Communiqué piece that everything has been a blessing after another. I was happier than ever. I was pretty sure I had gone through the darkness I was going through back in the beginning of the year. I look at the motto of the canton of Geneva, taken from the Reformation: Post Tenebras Lux (After darkness, light) and thought “how appropriate!”

Yet, a set of unfortunate events happened to me during the holiday period.

First, I got pickpocketed at the train station and lost my iPod. Then, the flat next to mine got on fire — while my place is now safe except for the smoky smell on some of my clothes and random patches of ash, it was quite a horrible ordeal to go through: running out of the apartment with thick black smoke chasing you and waiting outside in the freezing cold while you see smoke filling your apartment and six firetrucks arriving and firemen rescuing people, and so on. Soon after, an ordeal with the health insurance company left me with 13franks in my bank account (and 20 in my wallet), and I was pretty much devastated. This was this Tuesday.

All I really wanted to do was to breakdown and cry, preferably curling up under the duvet in my bed, but of course I was at work. Later on, on my way home, I still felt like breaking down, but the cold wind seemed to dry my tears away. Then I started thinking about Geneva being my wilderness.

It should’ve been obvious that going through the wilderness couldn’t be like a summer afternoon walk in the park, and while we often talk about the Israelites being grumpy, ungrateful people, I imagine none of us would do better if we had to go through what they were going through. The wilderness would’ve been uncomfortable, the view was probably not the best ever, the walk tiring, the sun scorching, the wind blowing sand into your eyes… and seriously, the exact same food EVERY DAY?

And then I thought, well, this series of unfortunate events, these problems that come up in life, these things that make you feel uncomfortable, tired, exhausted and sad, they’re sort of necessary. They keep your life balanced, you know, if you’re happy all the time you will not know that you’re happy, but if something sad happens somewhere in between, you will know how it feels like to be happy. And it’s also a test. Whoops, problem. How are you going to handle it this time?

The beauty of it all is that God is walking with you, he is leading you through the wilderness. Which means that these things will pass. You’ll make it through. And once you’ve made it through, you’re changed, you’re stronger, you have a story to tell, you can help others in their walk too. Post tenebras, lux… You see the light again.

 

Travel Reports: Edinburgh, 15-19 December 2011 (part 2)

As mentioned in the previous post (see part 1), I am writing reports on my travels… and though my trip to Edinburgh was mostly personal, most of the things I did could easily fall within the boundaries of a proper “study day”.

Let me start now with the little “gems” scattered on and off The Royal Mile, and by that I mean things like the little pub called “The World’s End”, statues and site markings. I found it fascinating, really, these tiny bits of history inconspicuously woven into the city. The World’s End, for example, is a pub located at the site where the old city walls used to come to an end, and that is why it is called “The World’s End”, because for the residents of the city at that time (before 1764, when the wall was demolished), this is the spot where their world came to an end.

We also found a pub named after the person who became the inspiration for Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and several markings of crosses, monuments, spots where people were martyred or an important event in history happened. The highlight of it all, however, was our search for John Knox’s grave… ironically placed in a parking lot, and for some reason was the only occupied lot when we went to find it. So here, the best picture I can get of the little sign that marks the spot where John Knox was buried, underneath a car in parking lot 23:

Saturday we went to visit the Royal Botanic Garden, which was beautiful despite the fact that it was winter and most of the trees no longer had their leaves. I personally enjoyed the tranquility of being in the garden, with only the occasional sound of squirells or birds to be heard.

After a walk in the garden followed by a lunch and several pit stops at second hand bookshops, we made our way to Calton Hill, which is one of the seven hills on which Edinburgh is supposedly built on. Again, I was lucky to have a clear day which lends to a magnificent view of of the city. The so called “National Monument” built up there was however highly questionable.

We then continued to visit Scottish National Gallery, where we made it a point to see the painting of Reverend Robert Walker (1755 – 1808) skating on Duddingston Loch (aka The Skating Minister) by Sir Henry Raeburn, one of the most famous Scottish paintings, along with other fascinating work of arts, including an exhibition of Celtic art by George Bain which basically made me fall in love with Celtic art all over again (I already had some sort of crush on Celtic art).

Coming up next… Greyfriars Kirk and the Céilidh.

 

 

 

 

Travel Reports: Edinburgh, 15-19 December 2011 (part 1)

I have a lot of catching up to do with my travel reports, so let’s start with my last trip. While the trip was more of a personal trip than a business trip, there were quite some interesting things over the course of 4 days worth blogging here about.

Edinburgh, the capital city of Scotland, also known as “Auld Reekie”, “Athens of the North”, “Edina”, or “Dunedin”, is generally known for its unpredictable but generally awful weather and for its seemingly endless array of festivals. But there’s more to it.

The Old Town and New Town of Edinburgh is a designated UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1995. It became the first city to be part of the UNESCO City of Literature list in 2004, and many wonderful things has been said about it, as compiled in this list of quote by the branding company. My favorite is this:

Edinburgh is an experience. A city of enormous gifts, whose streets sing of history, whose cobbles tell tales.
– Alan Bold

Anyway, I arrived in Edinburgh Thursday evening after a flight that took way longer than it’s supposed to because of “strong winds” and I was almost certain that all the warnings I have received about Edinburgh’s horrible weather is going to come true.

Yet, Friday morning was a beautiful shiny day and off we went first to have a traditional Scottish breakfast which included the Haggis and the Black Pudding (I thought they were both yummy) followed then by a tour of The Royal Mile, which is a mile of a street stretching between Edinburgh Castle to Holyrood Palace, with many interesting spots in between.

As I had specifically told Richard (who was my guide for this visit — you might know him from the guest post we had back in October) that I don’t have that much money to spend during this trip, our itinerary was a little off-the-beaten-track, although we did try to visit or at least see a huge chunk of the top 25 sights based on this book just for the fun of it. Another book that made for an interesting visit of the Royal Mile was A Spiritual History of the Royal Mile.

The Royal Mile tour started with a visit to The People’s Story, which tells the story of the people of Edinburgh, followed by at  look at the Holyrood Castle, and a visit to the Scottish Parliament building. We then went on to John Knox’s house. This was of course of special interest given that John Knox was THE Scottish Reformer, who was also in Geneva and even made it to the Reformer’s Wall! According to Knox, Geneva was:

‘the most perfect school of Christ that ever was on earth since the days of the Apostles’ and ‘the most godly reformed church and city of the world.’

The most interesting part about John Knox’s House is the various little dialogs that illustrate what happened between John Knox, James Mossmann and Mary Queen of Scots. Apparently Knox and Mary were arch enemies, with Knox writing a book called The First Blast of the Trumpet Against the Monstrous Regiment [government] of Women (*groan*) and Mary fearing Knox’s prayer more than the combined armies of France and Spain.

We also made a stop at the Museum of Childhood (I insisted) before heading to New College, which is the building of the Divinity School of Edinburgh University. Here was a statue of John Knox that used to be on the Royal Mile but had to be moved because the people hated Knox. After a compulsory visit to the library, which used to be a church (cool!), we were given a “tour” of the Assembly Hall of the Church of Scotland, which was the site of the World Missionary Conference in 1910, the event that marks the beginning of the ecumenical movement. I was basically in so much awe I completely forgot to take pictures! Anyway, the Assembly Hall is still used annually for the assembly of the Church of Scotland, and we got to see the moderator’s room which was pretty cool. Along the staircase towards this room were pictures of the moderators over the course of years, including the two women moderators. Following the visit to the assembly hall, we went to St. Giles’ Cathedral, where Knox was the minister from 1560 to 1572.

We then walked up to Edinburgh Castle for a look at it before going back to New College to attend a Lessons and Carols service, with a meditation by the current minister of St. Giles’ Cathedral.

Coming up next… Botanical Gardens, Calton Hill, Greyfriars Kirk (and Bobby!), some museums, my first Céilidh, and some little “gems” all over the city of Edinburgh

Christmas greetings!

As we move into winter in the northern hemisphere, we are conscious of darkening days. As we hear as we hear of violence against women in refugee camps and war zones, as we hear of famine in Africa, as we hear of global financial stresses, we wonder if the days will ever grow brighter.

From where I sit in the offices of the World Communion of Reformed Churches (WCRC) in Geneva, I am blessed to see glimmers of light flickering in the faces and in the reports of those who gather here and in other countries to seek ways to roll back the dark.

• In September, WCRC member churches from the Caribbean and North American region met in the Dominican Republic to plan initiatives in response to regional issues. A shared concern for the human rights and spiritual needs of Caribbean migrant workers emerged as a priority for joint programmes between churches in the region. A flicker of light for people often pushed to the edges!

• Earlier this month, ecumenical, NGO, and Swiss government officials gathered at the Ecumenical Centre to hear church representatives from Syria report on the impact of the unrest in the country. When WCRC’s general secretary Setri Nyomi spoke in a panel discussion, he was holding WCRC member churches in Syria in his prayers. The ecumenical movement is uniquely placed to bring together people from faith communities and secular society to share insights into the Syrian situation. A flicker of light in a troubled region!

• Next month, a Cuban theologian and parish minister will join the WCRC staff team to coordinate programmes for Justice and Partnership. Dora Arce-Valentin grew up as the only child in her Sunday School. Today the number of Cuban Christians has grown to the point that the church faces the challenge of training enough clergy and lay leaders to meet the need. A flicker of light in a changing society!

And so we see light in these actions of WCRC member churches working together to push back the dark.

The story of the hope in the birth of a baby in Bethlehem so long ago continues to light the darkness. Celebrating that story in our families and congregations brings great joy and renews us each year to face the challenges ahead.

On behalf of WCRC, I wish you a happy Christmas and a blessed New Year!

Kristine Greenaway
Executive Secretary – Communications