Jan 5 - Coexistence

It is 10:00 p.m. in Amman as I write this blog and another rich day it has been. So much has happened already that it seems like perhaps it's time to head home. But we've only just begun!

I chose the word Coexistence for today's blog title because much of today revolved around the witness of the Church in an interfaith world. We have much to learn from Christians in the Middle East who have learned over 14 centuries to live within the Muslim world. They bring a unique and desparately needed perspective on Christian/Muslim relations in the conflcted world today.

Anita traveled with a group to Mt Nebo, the mountain on which, according to tradition, Moses ascended to view the Promised Land before he died (Deuteronomy 34). And I traveled with a group of bishops to Parliament for a meeting with His Excellency Abd al Fayeh Saleh, Minister of Islamic Affairs in Jordan.

Perhaps Anita's trip to Mt Nebo is a metaphor for our peering into a new and promised future where people of different faiths--Christian, Muslim, Jew--live in harmony with one another. It is more than simply co-existing within sight of one another but being committed to right relationships and the pursuit of justice and peace, all without compromising the teachings of our respective faiths. Fr. Haddad put it this way, we Christians as a minority religion here are called to be salt in the predominantly Muslim world.

Meeting in a room at the Jordanian Parliament, His Excellency Saleh was a most gracious host who welcomed us with kindness and spoke of the need for religious freedom and unity in a diverse country. The visit was an affirmation of the presence and witness of the Lutheran Church in Jordan and their valuable contribution to the Interfaith work. Once again Fr. Nabil D. Haddad, Ex. Director for the Jordanian Interfaith Coexistence Research Center, accompanied us in our visit and then welcomed us to the Center where we met with other Islamic leaders.

Reference was made repeatedly today to two important documents from the Muslim world: the Amman Message of 2004 in which King Abdullah sought to send a message to the world about what Islam is and what Islam is not, (http://www.ammanmessage.com/) and A Common Word, a response by Islamic scholars and authorities to Pope Benedict's address in 2006 (http://www.acommonword.com/) Both are important documents for our local interfaith work.

I have been so greatly impressed with Bishop Younan's leadership and presence in this community. He brings humor and joy as well as a strong prophetic voice. He is politically astute, trusted in ecumenical and inter-religious circles and abounds in energy. The love of Jesus and the power of his Spirit flows so spontaneously.

Today is our last day in Amman. We travel first thing in the morning to the Jordan River, where on Epiphany we will bless the site where the ELCJHL plans to build a Lutheran Retreat Center in the desert. We will visit an Anglican ministry for the disabled nearby and then head through the West Bank and into Jerusalem. God willing, some of us will celebrate Christmas with the Orthodox (Jan 6) in Bethlehem.

Quote of the Day: The Voice of the Manger is stronger than the bombs and guns of warfare. --Bishop Munib Younan.

God's peace to all.

Bp Jerry