Finished week 1. A lot of adjustments, not the least of which is a new eating, sleeping, praying, language-speaking and working schedule. No big deal, right? As a man of finely-honed habit and routine, I knew this would be challenging.
The House of St. Abraham parish grounds is a city lot with one large multi-purpose building. City permits in Beer Sheva do not allow for churches or mosques, so the worship space is a lovely chapel built on the ground floor of the house. All the walls and floors of the chapel are hard, so even a few people make for a nice sounding crowd. Honestly, the quality of the room’s longer reverb is outstanding, and a pleasure to listen to.
Father Roman Kaminski (of Polish origin who has been serving here in Israel more than 20 years) and I meet each day at 7:45 to pray the Morning Prayers. He reads the psalm in Hebrew much faster than I do, and I get to follow his big strides with my little-kid legs as best I can. Other parts of it we read in English, and then I feel like a champ!
Breakfast with him at 8am, then a few hours of work at the parish, usually. “Oh, THAT kind of garden.” Here I thought I was coming to Israel to weed potatoes and pull carrots. No. In the Middle East, every worship space is set adjacent to a FLOWER garden with trees, flowers and bushes of all kinds. This one is currently a little overgrown, with many a cactus that needs trimming back. I mean cactus with 3-inch barb-end needles. Okay, glad I brought boots. And the needles come out of skin relatively easily.
Lunch at 1pm with the group, which is myself, Father Roman, Shena (from the Philippines) and sometimes Nick (her husband from France, who is a medical student here). Lunch is the big meal of the day. Shena describes herself as a “princess”, who never had to cook before coming here—she cooks great anyway. So she makes princess food, and I sometimes add my bit by making “pauper” food.
A break after lunch, then a few more hours of work in the parish. In the late afternoon before Mass I walk the dog “Snowy” (“Shelleg” in Hebrew), a very sweet mid-sized dog of whatever origin. Like a short-hair Blanca. Walking about helps me get to know the layout of the neighbourhood, and meet the many many many cats (an extremely important local predator that keeps rat and scorpion populations in check). Shelleg avoids cats, so all is calm while we stroll.
Mass everyday at 6:30pm. Some days are in English, some days are in Hebrew. The big Mass days are the Saturday English (anticipated) Mass and the Sunday Hebrew Mass. Sitting in Hebrew Mass yesterday was completely surreal. Not like being in another country, or another planet—it was another universe. There were 2 or 3 dozen people there, all of various ethnicities, a few white people, some Indian, some Arabic, some Hebrew. In the Mass there’s a bit where we say “Lamb of God, you take away the sin of the world.” To recite it with the Hebrew “say (lamb of) ha-Eloheem” was a highpoint. Always food and hangout after. I met an older woman named Hannah who was of Dutch origin, very sweet and went out of her way to make me feel welcome and offer me watermelon.
If one didn’t eat before Mass, some of us eat afterward, then have the evening to chill. My first week’s evenings were spent fighting to stay awake until bedtime. Difficult. But yesterday I began to feel adjustment creeping in, and could say Evening and Night Prayers for the first time since landing here. A nice bit of routine restored.
It’s Monday and I feel kinda ready to really start my learning and working rhythm. I think of all of you often, hoping and praying for your well-being. Why in the world I’m sitting here in Israel right now I still don’t really know. But I’m thankful for my connection to you, my family at home, and my new relatives here. I now go to put cabbage and chicken in the oven now for lunch, and get the hedge trimmer gear set up for some outdoor fun later. Nighttime is typically very quiet in our neighbourhood.
Highlight: Father Roman had a meeting in Tiberias last week, so he took me to the Church of the Beatitudes overlooking Galilee, dropped me off at Tabgha and I walked from there to Capernaum. The Orthodox monastery just outside town was wall-to-ceiling-to-wall iconography.
Thankful for: having caring people like yourselves to write to each week. My training which has led me to this point in time. His steady presence which centres me no matter where I find myself.
Pray for: my level of self-patience as I naturally progress through the learning that I need to do each day. That I may be of great benefit and encouragement to Father Roman and his community. The safety of our house and all the houses of these people.
Peace be with you. Chat again soon,
Photos: 1) our lovely chapel, 2) a view just outside Capernaum overlooking a bit of the Sea of Galilee (which is about half the size of lake Okanagan), with the rose-topped Orthodox Church on the left; 3) the camera wrecks the perspective of the half-dome, but otherwise the Abraham-Isaac scene over top the Orthodox Church gift shop was just one example of the stellar visual storytelling covering every square inch of the church’s interior.
