July 27th, 2023

GREETINGS FROM THE HOLY LAND,

Wednesday is our desert day.  We are not going into the desert, but this place Jerusalem and Bethlehem sit on the edge of the desert with the dead sea, the lowest place on earth just a ridge of hills away.  This is a day where we have been given the gift of time to “savor and relish”, to attempt to digest all that we have taken in.  It has been a month-long feast and my mind whirls attempting to let this nourish me for I am one to take a fantasy journey with all that has been given and this holy place is indeed a place of dreams and hopes amidst harsh history and heavy realities of current living conditions as a new nation that is only 75 years old take shape in a land marked by many rulers. As one of our tour guides said, even though this is a hard time, it is the best time as this time we are not being ruled from the outside.

Shukran!! To my ear it sounds like a form of sugar, sweetness that means, “thank-you” in Arabic.  Shukran is a way to communicate appreciation to another for their kindness.  Kamal Mukarker, one of our guides spoke of his love for the Arabic language, it’s beauty and poetry so that when you say, shukran (thank-you) we follow it up with more words, picture words that map out more clearly the thanks we are giving.

When I read the Psalms with that in mind, one line feeding off of the other, giving more of a picture, I will now have more than what a picture can give for I have seen the places, the landscape.  My feet have touched the ground.  I have felt the heat of the sun as we scurried for shade whenever we could.  Psalm 121 comes alive in a new way – “The sun shall not strike you by day.” and “I will lift up my eyes to the hills”, hills that I have seen and walked for a brief time.  These people are a hardy bunch to live upon this land and thrive with all its conflict and history.  They have much to teach us.  Us, whose lives are not built upon such history or harshness.  There is wisdom to be found here.  I pray that God will help me to peel back the layers of what I have feasted on, giving me the ability to articulate what I have feasted on for you and the community where we find ourselves.

As we prepare for hosting National Night Out, you might try to add this Arabic word to your greetings to our neighbors, many of whom just might speak Arabic.  Go to the internet and listen to the sound of it and become familiar so that we can thank our neighbors for coming.  For God is working through us, patiently waiting for us to lift up our eyes knowing that our help comes from the Lord.  God will help us to reach out and walk with our neighbors and so much more.  For God is all about helping us to live together, loving one another and loving God.

After our desert day we will head to Jericho, Jordan River for an affirmation of our Baptism, Dead Sea float and farewell dinner.  Friday, we head to Tel Aviv and will spend time in another body of water, the Mediterranean Sea and travel home on Sunday.  I hope to see you at National Neighborhood Night Out. I’ve missed you all and look forward to seeing you again.  Shukran!!!  Thank you for this amazing time of continuing education.  

Bold Inquisitive Belief Loving Expansively,

 Pastor Connie Spitzack

July 20th, 2023

GREETINGS FROM THE SEA OF GALILEE,

This week we are on the road, staying a couple of nights in Nazareth and a couple of nights at the Sea of Galilee.  It has been very hot here with temperatures reaching 100 degrees.  Good for us that we are at the sea for not only a boat ride but also swimming.  What a delight it is to be in the land and on the waters where Jesus lived, to see the ruins and imagine his life among the people.  There is a saying here that Jesus spent 30 years in Nazareth, 3 years in Capernaum and 3 days in Jerusalem.

The 30 years has been referred to as the “hidden years”, the years of common, everyday life that Jesus lived in his hometown with his family, relatives and friends in a town of about 200.  He knew everyone and they knew him.  Think about how hard it is for us to hear a new thing, a different thing from someone we know well.  Jesus is rejected by his hometown folks when he makes claims about his relationship with God.

It is thought that Joseph and Jesus would have sought carpentry or stone work in Sepphoris which would have been a large city at the time of Jesus.  Jesus would have had access to Torah scrolls through the larger synagogue as well as exposure to a larger culture. This was part of his preparations for the 3 years of ministry.

Those 3 years of ministry are done in the region of Galilee, a beautiful and lush area.  Calling fishermen, teaching and healing and bringing good news to all the people. And meeting the disciples after the resurrection giving them the command to love and tend God’s people.  And that is what we do together in community – love and tend to one another following our good shepherd, Jesus who shows us the way.

Thank you for your prayers.  I pray for you as well.  I pray for our youth on their mission trip and for the final preparations for our hosting of national night out.  God’s peace and presence surround and keep you all in his loving care. 

Bold Inquisitive Belief Loving Expansively,

Pastor Connie Spitzack

July 13th, 2023

GREETINGS FROM ISRAEL,

Thank you so much for this opportunity to explore the Holy Land through this Tantur program.  I hope you have been able to browse through the pictures I’ve been sharing on our CTK group Facebook. We are a community of 12 pilgrims with 3 guides that know well how to shape, support and encourage community.  They have partnered with wonderful people in this larger community to share the many complexities of this holy place.

We begin each day with mass or morning prayer and end the day with ecumenical prayer which each of us takes turns leading and sharing from our respective backgrounds.  There is a good mix of Catholics, Anglicans, and Lutherans.  The food is very good and westernized to fit the college student’s tastes.  I was hoping for more hummus but there is lots of fresh fruit and vegetables. 

Each Monday afternoon we share our reflections as well as when we have our meals together.  Our time is interwoven with lectures and outings.  We explored how the cannon of the Bible was put together and how we weave our lives with God’s story to share God’s good news.  Our evangelism, our good news telling is wrapped up in the books of the Bible.  The beauty and complexity of community and how God slowly works through us, desiring us to bear God’s name faithfully in our lives and communities.  It took a long time for the cannon, the 66 books of the library of our Bible to come together and shape our communities of faith.

We have explored the churches that have been built upon holy sites.  The Church of the Holy Sepulchre that is shared by Christians and claims the place of crucifixion and tomb.  The Chapel of the Ascension that claims the place of Jesus’ feet leaving the ground as he ascends back to his Father. We worshipped and prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane and explored the churches and chapels. I am learning more about the Eastern Christian Churches – Armenian, Syrian, Coptic.  There are 14 leaders in the Eastern Orthodox Church.

Christ Church is the oldest Protestant community in the Middle East and is a center of prayer for all nations with worship reflecting the Jewish context of the gospel and was influential in providing health care and education which the Lutherans also followed suit which helped to transform the society encouraging more religious communities to reach out to those in greatest need.

We had an introduction to Judaism from three different Jews, two who served in the Israeli military as young adults.  It is so good to hear first-hand stories and explanations of their faith, ethnicity, and practices.  I finally have the Jewish lectionary laid out for me and have gathered some wonderful resources to tap into Midrash, Mishnah and Talmud which Jesus would have been familiar with.  I’m getting my bearing in a whole new way and meeting Jesus again and anew.  It’s like discovering a whole new part of a friend you’ve known for a long time.  It’s a wonderful surprise. 

Thank you again for this wonderful opportunity.  I am so grateful. 

Bold Inquisitive Belief Loving Expansively,

Pastor Connie Spitzack

July 13th, 2023

GREETINGS FROM ISRAEL,

Thank you so much for this opportunity to explore the Holy Land through this Tantur program.  I hope you have been able to browse through the pictures I’ve been sharing on our CTK group Facebook. We are a community of 12 pilgrims with 3 guides that know well how to shape, support and encourage community.  They have partnered with wonderful people in this larger community to share the many complexities of this holy place.

We begin each day with mass or morning prayer and end the day with ecumenical prayer which each of us takes turns leading and sharing from our respective backgrounds.  There is a good mix of Catholics, Anglicans, and Lutherans.  The food is very good and westernized to fit the college student’s tastes.  I was hoping for more hummus but there is lots of fresh fruit and vegetables. 

Each Monday afternoon we share our reflections as well as when we have our meals together.  Our time is interwoven with lectures and outings.  We explored how the cannon of the Bible was put together and how we weave our lives with God’s story to share God’s good news.  Our evangelism, our good news telling is wrapped up in the books of the Bible.  The beauty and complexity of community and how God slowly works through us, desiring us to bear God’s name faithfully in our lives and communities.  It took a long time for the cannon, the 66 books of the library of our Bible to come together and shape our communities of faith.

We have explored the churches that have been built upon holy sites.  The Church of the Holy Sepulchre that is shared by Christians and claims the place of crucifixion and tomb.  The Chapel of the Ascension that claims the place of Jesus’ feet leaving the ground as he ascends back to his Father. We worshipped and prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane and explored the churches and chapels. I am learning more about the Eastern Christian Churches – Armenian, Syrian, Coptic.  There are 14 leaders in the Eastern Orthodox Church.

Christ Church is the oldest Protestant community in the Middle East and is a center of prayer for all nations with worship reflecting the Jewish context of the gospel and was influential in providing health care and education which the Lutherans also followed suit which helped to transform the society encouraging more religious communities to reach out to those in greatest need.

We had an introduction to Judaism from three different Jews, two who served in the Israeli military as young adults.  It is so good to hear first-hand stories and explanations of their faith, ethnicity, and practices.  I finally have the Jewish lectionary laid out for me and have gathered some wonderful resources to tap into Midrash, Mishnah and Talmud which Jesus would have been familiar with.  I’m getting my bearing in a whole new way and meeting Jesus again and anew.  It’s like discovering a whole new part of a friend you’ve known for a long time.  It’s a wonderful surprise. 

Thank you again for this wonderful opportunity.  I am so grateful. 

Bold Inquisitive Belief Loving Expansively,

Pastor Connie Spitzack

July 6th, 2023

GREETINGS FROM ISRAEL,

 Just as you were worshipping in a different place, I too was worshipping in a very different place.  On Sunday from 9 am till 9:45 pm I was at the Paris airport, having missed my connecting flight due to delays in Minneapolis and Boston.  I was lucky to have my little ELW and Bible with me and found a place on the floor and worked my way through the liturgy, lessons and hymns.  Worship was just what I needed.

I haven’t traveled internationally by myself since college. Some of my fears about traveling alone came true.  The well laid plans of meeting up with a couple of others arriving in the afternoon at the Tel Aviv airport to catch an airport shuttle to Jerusalem soon fizzled and I would be arriving at 4:00 a.m. and worrying and wondering how things would unfold.  I ran through a bunch of emotions; frustration, anxiety, fear, worry.  It took me a long time to get my bearings and what my new flight plan would be.  Once my flight to Tel Aviv was confirmed, I had the whole day ahead of me.  I found a comfortable chair and slept.  Then I double checked trying to find out when I would arrive in Tel Aviv.  “Keep checking the gate as it might change” was the advice given. It was good advice. I was tired and frustrated and having a pity party of great magnitude.  The internet was terrible and besides I had to wait before communicating back here because of the time difference.

So, I found a carpeted place where the sun light shone and worshipped. I sang quietly through the liturgy and a couple of hymns.  Oh, the power of song to soften the heart and quiet the mind.  I read of Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice his son and God providing a way out.  Powerful words that hit my worries and frustrations to turn it over to God and trust that God would provide.  Psalm 13 was a beautiful psalm for a day of waiting.  Romans 6:12-23 reminded me that God is worth the wait and Matthew 10:40-42 reminded me to welcome the words of the prophet and I remembered my Epiphany word – JOY – a spirit of joy.  There was a spirit of joy that is God given and it is beautiful, the best kind of joy.

Another night on a plane, good food, a little wine and a little sleep found me in Tel Aviv, tired and taking each step slowly, finding my way through the passport station and getting my visa, picking up my luggage and finding a shuttle almost full welcoming me to get on board.  I gave thanks to God for good instructions from Tantur and a Jewish group of six travelers that did the haggling before me for the transport shuttle and off we went.  The security guard at Tantur quickly opened the gate as my driver was trying to convince me to get out at the security gate.  I was dropped off at the tower entrance swiftly met by a professor from Boston College who was out for a morning stroll and quickly offered to help me with my luggage.  I had arrived 15 minutes before breakfast was served, shown to my room and then to fight with jet lag during the rest of the day’s orientation.  With the help of God and your prayers, I made it safe and sound.

I’m here and it was worth the wait.  I am learning about community in a place that wrestles with community every day.  They will be wise teachers.  I am with a group of wonderfully diverse people in a safe and welcoming environment.  Thank you for giving me this gift of continuing education.

This last picture is from our orientation to Bethlehem checkpoints.  We walked along the wall that used to be the road of the Patriarchs.  Inside Bethlehem the wall carries art, graffiti, stories, memorials, and the jester’s humor as the “Walled Off Hotel” word plays with The Waldorf Hotel and is owned by an artist who is featured many times on the wall.  One of his pictures is of a dove dressed in a bulletproof vest. The wall I can see from the outside has nothing on it.

I wonder what God is up to with us and this world God loves so much.  Miss you all.  On Sunday I plan on worshipping in Old City Jerusalem at Redeemer Lutheran Church.

Bold Inquisitive Belief Loving Expansively,

Pastor Connie Spitzack