We have arrived safely after an uneventful trip, but with increasing checks and security for heading to the USA.
We are staying at the World Mission Prayer League guest house in Minneapolis, and since their briefing course finished today, we delayed our arrival until after dinner and a bit of shopping to get a room prepared for us. Back to driving a car (a rental), and we headed first to the Mall of America by the airport for some dinner. Most of our shopping was at a Walgreens on the way home. Anya keeps saying, “Everything is so cheap [inexpensive] here!” Some of our favorite toiletry brands were on sale or in clearance–just for us!
I found out that my sister arrives here tomorrow! I did not know that! She served for 18 years as a physician in Pakistan through the World Mission Prayer League and goes back every year for 2 months (though this last year, she could only get a visa for 1 month). There is a meeting tomorrow about the hospital, which I found out she’ll be attending.
Midsommer is a national holiday! Anya and I were invited over to our friends’ home for Midsommar celebrations on Friday. Lennart, the Swede, and Donna, the American who has lived here for 30 years, also invited another American and Swedish married couple, who have been friends for those 30 years. The gracious welcome is so appreciated.
Silltorte or herring cake was the featured entré. I enjoyed the homemade rhubarb-lemonade.
After lunch, we went to the old farm museum where there was dancing around the Maypole.
Yes, I danced! It was great fun!A girl in our circle dance!The musicians kept us going, with a microphoned young woman leading the singing.
The crowd was quite multi-cultural, as many were there checking out Swedish cultural experience. We watched the serious dancers, looked at the old museum houses and furnishings, and ate some waffles in our mostly sunny afternoon.
They tell me this is lutefisk in its preserved state!
Then we went back to Donna and Lennart’s for dinner, followed by my chocolate cake. I left home at 10:30 p.m. and bicycled home with a little misty rain in the decreasing light, but it still was not yet dusk. A good day.
Saturday was laundry and preparations for my week of Bible studies (July 3-7) at Mount Carmel family camp in Alexandria, Minn. Fortunately, the afternoon weather allowed for some reading in the hammock on the balcony.
I was off to do a little exercise at the gym before a shower for Sunday morning worship. I arrived at the gym an hour before church started, but the gym is a stone’s throw away from the church. I saw a faithful member, who is in a wheelchair, waiting at the door. Because it was sunny, I offered to let her in, as the church is connected to Johannelund, so I have access. After I let her in, I said that I would be back (in my limited Swedish, as she is not an English speaker). I figured that I should shower for church, but I opted not to exercise. I didn’t want her to be alone for an hour. I have been on the receiving side of kindness, so I know that a little kindness is more important than my exercise agenda for this morning. As I arrived back to church, I let her in, and a few others arrived at that time. I also ended up sitting with another young woman and listed to her part of her story. She is dealing with some fear and some health issues. Please include Hanna (not her real name) in your prayers.
After church, I saw my new Chinese friends and invited them for fika. I included a couple Estonian friends, and Donna and Lennart. Most of the chocolate cake from Midsommer was left, and it was a perfect way to share it. I moved the ping pong table and gathered all the chairs in the living room. We were mostly talking in English, but with some translation to Estonian and Mandarin.
It sounds like we will have some homemade Chinese dumplings after our return from the USA! Kathi and Mark, the Chinese are eager to meet you, after I told them about you!
So, we are blessed by friends and find ways to be a blessing.
Due to the Summer Solstice celebrations tomorrow, my Swedish lesson with Lennart was today. Some days I feel that I’m on a plateau and not advancing. Yes, after the busy travel and grading time, I can put some more effort into daily Swedish lessons, but I wish it wasn’t such an uphill climb all the time.
One of the tasks today was to create a picture for the cover of my book. The production editor stated that I could put a small picture on the cover. Here’s an example of the series cover with a photo.
The photo is even in color!
The publisher requires signed permission forms and all in the photo have to sign “model” permission forms. So, the easiest thing is to not have people in the photo. My first idea would be to have a Maasai blessing, where a child comes to an elder, and the elder’s hand on the head is a blessing. But too many logistics and forms to secure. Another option was to have a Maasai cross. They are beautiful and distinctive, but this is not really a match for an Old Testament themed book. Finally, with support from my PhD adviser, I decided on having a Maasai gourd with grass out of the top. The decorated gourds are the Maasai water bottles and milk containers. Which of these 2 options do you like best?
Option 1: Small plaidOption 2: Big plaid
This grass topped small gourd is what Father Ned used in his enculturated blessing during a Roman Catholic worship service we observed in Endulen, Tanzania. The gourd is filled with water that has a drop of milk in it. The water and milk solution is sprinkled out in a spray over the congregation. The grass is a sign of peace. Frans Mol describes the powerful significance of grass for the Maasai.
Grass is of prime importance in the life of the pastoral Maasai. The extent of their reverence for grass may be measured by the fact that in the days of Maasai raids on other tribes, they would spare the life of anyone who held up a tuft of grass, for this was a sign of peace and surrender. Small wonder, then, that the tying of grass plays a significant role in various rituals and blessings.[1]
The sprinkling of the water is like the rain, and rain is understood to be a manifestation of the monotheistic creator, Engai. My informant Miterienanka clarified, “We see Engai through the sun. We see Engai through the rain; especially the rain. When it rains, we literally say, ‘Engai has come,’ because another name for rain is Engai.”[2] Anthropologist Paul Spencer writes, “Nowhere is their dependence on God more apparent than in the arbitrary gift of rainfall which is so essential to their pastoral economy.”[3] Rain is a life-giving blessing that comes from heaven and waters the grass in order to feed the cows which sustain the Maasai life.[4]
The Spiritan Brothers have beautifully enfolded symbols of the Maasai into their worship.
So, let me know which photo seems stronger to represent these concepts. The different plaid cloths are traditional Maasai blankets.
With blessings,
Beth
[1]Frans Mol, Maasai Language & Culture: Dictionary (Lemek, Kenya: Maasai Centre Lemek, 1996), 62.
[2]2013.630 research participant, follow-up interview (Tanzania, 2013), 11.
[3]Paul Spencer, Time, Space, and the Unknown: Maasai Configurations of Power and Providence (New York: Routledge, 2003), 72.
[4]Vincent J. Donovan, Christianity Rediscovered (New York: Orbis, 1978), 43; Spencer, Time, Space, and the Unknown, 74.
It is the spring solstice today. It is such a big deal in sun-loving Sweden that they move the celebration to the weekend to make it a big party. (Pictures will come after Friday.)
Last night on solstice eve at 10:30, there was a warm orange-pink hue in all the visible sky.
Still light with quite a bright horizon at 10:30 pm
But solstice reminds me of the seasons of life. I received an email that Mary C. from my church in Bellevue passed away. She lived a life that was a blessing to many. When Eric was taken by ambulance from church to Overlake Hospital’s emergency room in the midst of a seizure only a few days after brain surgery, Mary showed up there. She worked there for 3 decades, and knew that the emergency room was unsettling. She didn’t want us to be alone. What a gracious woman.
I received another email that my mother’s cancer has returned. Prayers are welcome. Another friend from church relayed that her cancer markers have increased. Last week, Anya and I grieved the loss of a friend and her Campfire Girls leader after an authentically courageous journey in spite of cancer. The seasons of life remind us that we are not in control. Time passes. Life passes. We are reminded to savor the special moments and loved ones now. And, I join the untold many throughout time and throughout the world that find peace in the hopeful promises of Jesus’ presence with our every step and every stumble, but especially the eager expectation of the resurrection when finally there will be no more sickness and no more sorrow.
Two highlights of the day:
I finished my grading! The silver-lining of poor distance student completion (36%) means that there are less papers to grade! (The dark side is that those who follow up later require extra effort with communication and coordination for closure.)
All my 3 wonderful defense committee members have relayed with kind words that they are willing to give an endorsement for the publishing of my dissertation. This is wonderful, as this distinctive group includes a recent president of the Society of Biblical Literature and one of the prominent leaders of the African biblical hermeneutics guild (hermeneutics is basically the philosophy of interpretation).
So, be grateful for the special moments and tell your loved ones what they mean to you today.
Between days of grading last week, there was a 3-day, 2-night ferry trip to Helsinki with all the regular personnel of Johannelund, about 17 people (which does not include very part-time teachers and staff). This was my first time to Finland. (Yea, one more country to add to my list of travels.)
The ferries to Finland are a bit bigger than those in the Puget Sound.
There was some time spent in personnel and faculty meetings, including meeting staff at the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Finland national office. However, most of the time was shared time together, with two nights spent on the ferry to and from Helsinki.
As we departed the ferry, there were several people with handcarts loaded with cases of duty free booze. These ferries actually have quite a business in selling alcohol and gambling, with a prominent casino on board (which I didn’t bother to visit, as gambling is taking from the poor to give to the rich).
Highlights include visiting Uspenski Cathedral, an ornate Eastern Orthodox church built in the 1860s.
Welcome to Helsinki! The view of the cathedral from the harbor.
We were let in past the barrier to the front of the church and had a special presentation from one of the monks.
We were by the front stairs with our host.The dome was impressive.
The monk’s presentation was in Swedish, so I got the basics. Swedish is one of the official languages of Sweden, and all students are required to study it for 6 years. This was also one of my “Swedish Wednesdays,” so I plodded along with my not very good Swedish. Fortunately, my cabin-mate is very patient.
Some of us went to see one of the Lutheran churches, Temppeliaukio Church (which is one reminder of why I’m glad I’m not learning Finish with its plethora of vowels and verb tenses!)
Temppeliaukio Church is carved out of a rock. The copper strips in the center dome shimmer.The contrast between the two churches is dramatic!
Our 8 or so hours in Helsinki also included a walk through the fish market, farmer’s market, and tourist stalls on the waterfront. Travel on the street cars, a short visit to a mall with a famous Finnish designer’s store, marimekko. Finland is well regarded for some famous designers. Other colleagues went to an exhibit featuring one of the famous Finnish architects, Alvar Aalto. As academics, we are drawn to bookstores, and visited a couple very briefly. Others bought some things. The only thing that caught my eye was the new WIRED magazine, but I’m not going to pay 7.5 Euros for one copy when the annual subscription is $12.
At our last dinner at an Italian restaurant on the ferry, I did an Elness thing by turning over my paper place mat and started drawing a picture. I passed on the place mat and pen to my next table-mate. Over the evening, it made several rounds around the table as the story grew with creative flair. We soon were the “fun” table, and after dinner, others joined us. Several relayed that this was a great idea and the collaboration was perfect for spending time together. The place mat was carefully brought home by my cabin-mate. My days of Bible camp program director community building live on! (Unfortunately, it also revealed some lack of intentional community building–other than shared experience–during our time together.)
Anya was home doing fine (with a friend as a backup contact). Someday, she’d like to take a trip like this to add Finland to her list of countries and add it to the map I bought her for her birthday, where she scratches the coating off the map for each country visited. The ferry with its casino and duty free shop incentivized travel is cheaper than a plane ticket and hotel. However, with the noise and vibration (and less than pleasant odor in my room), it was not a good nights sleep. I returned home tired.
I still need to get some Tanzania highlights posted. I’ll be getting to this soon!
I’m not only catching up on this blog, but I’m catching up on a pile of papers, exams, and bachelor’s theses that I have to grade! Fortunately, the weather looks like it will cooperate for me to be doing some of this on the balcony today.
Later, I will add the highlights from my travels to Tanzania and giving a message in Swedish, but for now, I will post a recent event.
On Thursday, my New Testament colleague, Jim, and I went to a special event for biblical scholars at the Uppsala University library, the Carolina Rediviva. There was a scholar in town from the Copenhagen, and with a local scholar, we looked at some of the ancient Greek manuscripts at the library and on loan to the library. We had special VIP tags that allowed us back into the recesses of this beautiful 1841 building.
The Uppsala University library, the Carolina Rediviva. (Photo credit: Dr. Mirko Junge; https://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carolina_Rediviva#/media/File:Carolina_Rediviva_in_summer.jpg)Barbara was our host.Jim, looking a Byzantine Greek manuscript from the 12th centuryI believe this is #902 from the 12th century. See digitized versions of the pages at: https://www.manuscripta.se/uub-gr-013The binding. Anya is fascinated with book binding, so I took this photo for her.The oldest manuscript was from the 11th century. It was a lectionary (here an Old Testament portion), which is believed to have come from Hagia Sophia in Istanbul. The faded red ink (top right column on left page) describes the day for this reading.Beautiful frontispiece for the Gospel according to Matthew on a later (14th century?) manuscript.Yes, we were able to touch them with our bare hands. Here’s an interesting layout.
If you want to check out the digitizing of manuscripts in Sweden, here’s the link: https://www.manuscripta.se/
It was fascinating, but unfortunately, I couldn’t keep the manuscripts straight. It is a nice problem to have, due to seeing several together at one time.
The most famous manuscript in Uppsala, the Silver Bible, from the 6th century, is currently not on display, as the library museum is undergoing renovations.
Our host also provided a link to recent news about returning one of the ancient manuscripts that was at the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago.
