Church Fathers - day 6 and 7 - Magnesians and Trllians and Smyrna, Oh My!

I've had a busy few days and am behind a day in reading the Church Fathers for the 40-day program.

I have to say on thing that is fun about reading the Church Fathers is all of the funny names.
After years in Church, you get used to Hittites and Amalekites and Ephesians. But then you come across St. Ignatius'  letter to the Magnesians - the church at Magnesia which is near Moeander.
Really? Magnesians?
Day 7 is the letter to the Trallians. I am pretty sure there were Trallians on Star Trek.
And then there is Smyrna, which is just fun to say.

But as you look at these names you realize that people lived and died there and a church was born and matured and moved on or died out or perhaps the names changed along the way. What happened to those people with their odd names? Were they faithful in their time?

Ignatius, in his letter to the Magnesians (Chapter 14), asks for prayer for the church in Syria. What a timely request even today when so much is wrong in Syria:

Be mindful of me in your prayers, that I may attain to God; and of the Church which is in Syria, whence I am not worthy to derive my name: for I stand in need of your united prayer in God, and your love, that the Church which is in Syria may be "deemed worthy of being refreshed by your Church.

The themes of these letters are so common: live in humility and harmony, respect those in authority over you, avoid heresy and false teaching, pray and refresh each other.. . . Very much relevant to all the churches I have ever encountered. Will the church of Norman, or Bamako, or Edmond or Colorado Springs or Yaounde be remembered in 1500 years when the names are odd sounding. And if so, for what?

Read the Church Fathers - Days 2-3 Mathetes to Diognetus

Days 2 and 3 of the Church Fathers reading plan were from 

Epistle of Mathetes to Diognetus.
Estimates are that it was authored between 130 AD and the end of that century. Mathetes simply means "disciple" and was not a name.

The letter appears to be someone coming from a greco-roman pagan background who is considering Christianity. In the second chapter, the author calls the reader away from the worshop of idols and then later contrasts Christianity with Judaism.

 Chapter 5 struck my fancy because he goes from saying what Christians are not (worshippers of many gods, or Jews) to what should characterize us.

"For the Christians are distinguished from other men neither by country, nor language, nor the customs which they observe. For they neither inhabit cities of their own, nor employ a peculiar form of speech, nor lead a life which is marked out by any singularity. ...But, inhabiting Greek as well as barbarian cities, according as the lot of each of them has determined, and following the customs of the natives in respect to clothing, food, and the rest of their ordinary conduct, they display to us their wonderful and confessedly striking method of life."

 At this time, it seems, the church was not wide spread enough to have developed its own subculture, passed on for better or for worse from culture to culture. So there were no difference in language or dress or culture. They were, however,  marked out by their peculiar behavior.

 They dwell in their own countries, but simply as sojourners. As citizens, they share in all things with others, and yet endure all things as if foreigners. Every foreign land is to them as their native country, and every land of their birth as a land of strangers.

...They are in the flesh, but they do not live after the flesh. They pass their days on earth, but they are citizens of heaven. They obey the prescribed laws, and at the same time surpass the laws by their lives. They love all men, and are persecuted by all. They are unknown and condemned; they are put to death, and restored to life. They are poor, yet make many rich; they are in lack of all things, and yet abound in all; they are dishonoured, and yet in their very dishonour are glorified. They are evil spoken of, and yet are justified; they are reviled, and bless; they are insulted, and repay the insult with honour; they do good, yet are punished as evil-doers. When punished, they rejoice as if quickened into life; they are assailed by the Jews as foreigners, and are persecuted by the Greeks; yet those who hate them are unable to assign any reason for their hatred.

That's a pretty tall order of conduct. Would that we stood out like that today.

Chapter 9 has this wonderful description of the gospel message:

By what other one was it possible that we, the wicked and ungodly, could be justified, than by the only Son of God? O sweet exchange! O unsearchable operation! O benefits surpassing all expectation! that the wickedness of many should be hid in a single righteous One, and that the righteousness of One should justify many transgressors! Having therefore convinced us in the former time that our nature was unable to attain to life, and having now revealed the Saviour who is able to save even those things which it was [formerly] impossible to save, by both these facts He desired to lead us to trust in His kindness, to esteem Him our Nourisher, Father, Teacher, Counsellor, Healer, our Wisdom, Light, Honour, Glory, Power, and Life, so that we should not be anxious.

Well, that is all from this letter to Diognetus. 

(On a strange note, I think that would make a GREAT name for a dog, though you would invariably just call him "Diog" for short).

Read the Church Fathers - Day 1

For Lent this year, I am trying to do something different. Given that this is only my second year to practice Lent, that is not hard.
I have been thinking about what to do for Lent for a few days now and yesterday was challenged to try and "pray the hours" - e.g, do a liturgical reading with a morning, noon and night  section to it.

Another site led me to a whole bunch of Lent prayers and then a challenge to Read the church Fathers - a different reading for all 40 days. (All of the readings are available here).

So for day one, I headed over to the very nice little prayer chapel on our grounds at lunch. I had wanted to visit and this was a good excuse.  Here is a bit about the first day's reading from the Church Fathers.

Reading 1 - Didache - chapters 1-12. 

I didn't know what this was until I just looked it up. It is also known as the "teaching of the 12 apostles" and dates to the 1st or second century. It feels like someone has taken core parts of New Testament teaching and boiled them down. Or like someone has cut and pasted them together, from a translation that you are not quite familiar with.

The way of life, then, is this: First, you shall love God who made you; second, love your neighbor as yourself, and do not do to another what you would not want done to you. And of these sayings the teaching is this: Bless those who curse you, and pray for your
enemies, and fast for those who persecute you. For what reward is there for loving those who love you? Do not the Gentiles do the same? But love those who hate you, and you shall not have an enemy.

Compare with Matt 5:44:

But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,

In this particular passage, I liked the idea of not just praying for your enemies but FASTING for them.  And then the idea of loving those who hate you until you no longer had an enemy.

Another interesting tidbit: "Let your alms sweat in your hands, until you know to whom you should give."  Now there's an image. Have you ever tried to hold on to money in your hand, have it ready when needed? It's hard work not to lose it. I do this fairly frequently in Cameroon when I get in one of the taxis you share with 4 others. I get my money out before I get wedged in the seat and so I have it in my hand the whole trip. Today It was a bill and it DID get sweaty before we reached our destination.
i think the idea here is that you don't just get your alms out and give it quickly without thinking, but you hold on to it until you find the right person  who really needs it.

The reading for today is 12 chapters long with the chapters being on the order of short Bible chapters. Chapter 2 had a fairly traditional list of sins to avoid. I found it interesting that it specifically mentions abortion which is never mentioned overtly in the Bible: "You shall not murder a child by abortion nor kill that which is born.".

Some of the "sins to avoid" mention something worse they will lead to.

• Don't lust as it leads to adultery. 
• Lying and the love of money lead to theft. 
• Murmuring leads to blasphemy. 
• Being self-willed leads to blasphemy. 

These seem to parallel the things Jesus says in the Sermon on the Mount, when he equates hating someone in your heart with murder. And lusting after someone with adultery.

The other chapters go on and have quite a lot of descriptions about church life: how to baptize, fast, have communion, etc.

Slices of Cameroon - II - Street Murals

I went to church today in downtown Yaoundé at the Hilton. Reminds me of going to Hope Community Church back in the late 80s when we met in the Holiday Inn in downtown Fort Worth.

Afterwards, I wandered over to the Moulin de France which has a salon de thé and some very good pizza:  ham, goat cheese, mushrooms and pineapple. They had never heard of pineapple on a pizza, but gave it to me. But it seemed all wrong without my Sunday evening crowd and Madame Sangara from the Olympia Pizza place back "home".

As I left, I was planning to wander up the boulevard to the Bois Sacré Anastasie, which I did eventually.

But first I happened upon a wonderful event happening in the alley just between the Moulin de France and the Institut Français (formerly the French Cultural Center). The Institut Français and some other partner had arranged for a dozen artists to paint murals up and down this alley. This was the last of 3 days and I happened upon them during a break. Most of the paintings were close to being done and there was a guy leading the artists down the street and they were commenting on each mural and giving critiques, suggestions. etc.

I was surprised, as I often am when I realize that other languages can express abstract ideas in domains I am not used to. These guys had obviously had good training in art and also very good level of french. Some pictures were deemed to be too 2-dimensional without enough shading and color depth. or perhaps derivative of other works. They also talked about what the paintings meant - always interesting to contemplate. The artist had been given a theme, simple enough - to evoke something of their city: Yaoundé. Some of the less creative ones (according to the one guy I talked to) worked the word  Yaoundé into their work when the link was not obvious enough.
(Note: All of the pictures on this page are available at my flickr page if you want to see them in more detail, download them, etc.)

 This painting was one that was deemed to be 2-dimensional due to the lack of color depth. Note the letters Yde at the bottom, representing Yaoundé.

When i came back later, the artists were putting finishing touches on this mural and the next one. (Below)

The painting below was one of my initial favorites, just because I liked the effect of the water forming hair.

Right: Tools of the trade - acrylic paints (used by all the artists to provide cohesion) and cut off water bottles and ketchup bottles.




After the artists were done commenting on each others' work, they went back to work and I got a chance to talk to some of them. Here are some of my favorites.

This one shows some of the busy street scenes so common in Africa.

 I really like the depth in this picture and it is enhanced more below, where it appears the artist is standing in behind the rest of these people on the street.

The artist I spoke to the most was Dieudonné (name means "God Given"). Here he is in front of his mural which was so long it took up two pics.

He says the painting represents people moving forward into the future. The woman is holding a calebasse (large gourd used in cooking, for carrying water, milk, etc and also fairly symbolic. Kind of like the "mom and apple pie" of Africa).

 Left side of Dieudonné's painting:
A man holding the tools of his trade (in this case a paintbrush with green paint) moving into the future. He is also holding a lantern to light his way. The white orb represents light as well - the moon or sun.

If I haven't gotten the cards mixed up, this is Gael Rostrand Pokam standing in front of his picture unfinished here and a bit more finished below.

 I correctly interpreted this one. It shows an elder passing stories and cultural knowledge down to youth (wearing the colors of the Cameroonian flag - yellow, red and green). They are situated in the modern city with skyscrapers. But to the left there are scenes representing the village from whence the elder came and draws his knowledge to help guide the next generation.

The last ones that I am going to comment on are from Alain Djeumo (djeumoal@yahoo.fr)

 I talked to him for a while as well. He was pleased that I picked up on the imagery of the shoes. On the left there are business shoes representing professional people. The center pair of shoes are pantoufles - traditional slippers worn by elders and village folks. And on the right are a pair of "baskets" - tennis shoes for the young.

 In the middle of his space there is half of one of the ubiquitous taxis of Yaounde, which hold up to 5 passengers, each of whom pays 20 cents to ride where they want to go - but only along the route the driver has chosen. For $3 you can ask for a "depôt" which means you get in and the passengers already inside get out at their stop and then no  new folks are picked up as you go on to your chosen destination, no matter how far away.

Alain explains the imagery of the faces, again in the colors of the Cameroonian flag (and most other African flags). The faces, which each share a mouth and an eye with the next, representing different parts of society working together. 

To the left of that is an unfinished stoplight which he said would have the logos of 3 cars, each representing countries that have had a big impact  historically on Cameroon. Germany (mercedes logo), France (Renault?) and another country he had not decided on.

Well, there are a few more pics on the flickr site (http://www.flickr.com/photos/timthast/) but you deserve a reward if you got this far.

Kudos to all these artists and to the Insitut Français (French Cultural Center) for sponsoring this.

A Computer Spiritual

This computer's not my home;
I'm loggin' in and loggin' out. 
My treasures are backed up

Somewhere up in "the Cloud". 
When the Blue Screen beckons me 
to Windows' broken shore, 
Well, I won't feel at home 
in this hard-drive anymore. 

Oh Lord, you know 
I've got no friend like you. 
And if "the Cloud" is not my home, 
then Lord what will I do? 
When the Blue Screen ushers me
to Windows' broken shore, 
Oh no, I won't feel at home, 
In this hard-drive anymore.


--------------------
Written as I migrate BACK off of my Toshiba laptop to another one. This is the one that was purchased in Feburary 2012, had hardware issues in August - Sept involving a faulty power button. Got fixed and was working fine until yesterday. SIGH

A slice of Life in Yaounde - I

They say that all politics is local. And I think that how you experience a new country comes down to your neighborhood and the things that happen to be around you - like grocery stores.

In the country I just moved from, all the good grocery stores were way on the other side of town. Then about 6 years ago, they built a big one a few kilometers away and then finally someone opened one just 2 blocks down the street  - fondly known as the "Yellow store" until they put up a sign with a name no one could pronounce. The new store didn't have much at first but expanded and eventually had a small meat counter and cheese and most everything I ever needed. Most of the workers were from the people group I had worked with and so they loved to try and talk to me in that language. I could be in and out in a short time and usually felt good about the experience.

When I moved to Cameroon, I was happy to find a supermarket about 2 km away.  It is quite a bit bigger than the "Yellow Store" but I always leave feeling frustrated.

It is close enough that I can get there in a matter of minutes. I walk a block out to the paved road and then catch one of the yellow taxis that streams past. It is hard to get a taxi to other places but this store is close enough that any taxi going by in that direction HAS to go past it. If there is room, then I squeeze in next to 2 others in the back seat or in the front seat. We each pay 100 CFA (20 cents) to go anywhere in the direction he is going. In less than 5 minutes, the taxi has puttered up the second big hill and I get out near the store.
Once I opted to get out a bit earlier because the pickup truck in front of us was overloaded with bananas and apparently had bad brakes. As we inched up the hill, there was a teen running along placing a big rock behind the truck's back tire each time it advanced a ways up the hill and stopped. I decided I'd rather NOT stay sitting behind that truck any longer than I had to and so got out sooner and walked the rest of the way up the hill. 

This particular grocery store is considerably busier than the Yellow Store. It has better selection, and generally better prices. In the 2 months since I first frequented the store, they have even opened up the 2nd floor with housewares and toiletries. Herein lies the first frustration. Anything you buy upstairs needs to be paid for upstairs and put back into your cart - not in a sack, just kept aside and you'd better not lose the receipt. Occasionally they will let you take the stuff downstairs to buy there. But the second time I tried that they told me I had to buy it upstairs to save me time at the cash register downstairs. (Not sure how that works).

The other weird thing upstairs is that the shampoo and deodorant is back behind a counter that you can't get to. You have to wait for someone to come and then you tell them which of the 50 shampoos you want from 8 feet away. No chance of looking at them to figure out if you need one for dry hair or with cherry extract that smells like the rainforest. Or even to compare prices.  I can not figure out WHY these items are singled out for this extra protection, but I have seen this in other Cameroonian grocery stores. It's not like these items are any pricier than the toothpaste and bar soap which are freely accessible meters away.

Back downstairs, I fill my cart and make my way to the deli area. This is my major complaint. This store has everything I need except fresh meat or cheese, which means I have to go 30 minutes away to their competitors just to get cheese.

Okay, they do have 2 kinds of cheese but buying it is a nightmare experience. They have it marked to sell at 400 CFA (80 cents) per 50 grams. You MUST buy it in 50 gram quantities. That's 1/20 of a kilo or1.8 ounces. Just enough for 2 crackers .
I tell the lady I want 300 grams. She is unable to comprehend that request and begins slicing off bits roughly 50 grams in size. I end up with 6 very irregular slices of cheese. These are wrapped up in wax paper and put in a plastic bag and for some reason unknown to me, put in a little wicker basket that I must take to the checkout. On my second attempt at cheese buying, I insisted the man cut off a piece "this thick" rather than slices that would each go moldy in my fridge. He managed to get one slice was 160 grams and another that was 130 and then he had to add a little bit to make it 300 grams. (They have proper digital scales that could be programed to do the math for 290 grams of cheese but that would be too much like any cheese-buying experience anywhere else).

Now we proceed to checkout. Most stores have a little shelving area near the checkout with candy and other impulse purchase items. However, they have decided to just stack all of this ON the counter where you would normally put your groceries as you wait. Consequently, there is no real space for the cashier to work. Nevertheless, you have to take everything out of your basket because it is needed it at the foot of the counter for you to put everything back into. Make sure to keep aside the things you bought upstairs so you don't pay for them twice. The cashier gives you your receipt. BUT YOU ARE NOT FINISHED.

You walk ten feet to the second counter near the door. Sometimes someone even carries your basket for you. For reasons unknown to me, they take everything out of your basket and check it meticulously against your receipt(s). I'm not sure how you are supposed to have stolen anything in the walk between the first and the second counter. 
I guess the receipt check is to prevent shoplifting sneaky cashiers or maybe people trying to do a switcheroo with the shampoo. But surely employing three extra people takes away from the money that might have been saved.

Once you have your things paid for and taped up inside of cardboard box, you could go home - unless you want bread, in which case you circle back around through the second entrance to an area near the deli. I have to say there is an impressive selection of bread and also patisseries at Santa Lucia. But PLEASE do not try to buy a croissant from the people selling baguettes. That is why there are three metal railings to separate the bread buyers from the patisserie shoppers, even though everything is back behind the same counter. Everything that is JUST bread is paid for at the bread counter.  They have no cash register but make change.
On the other side of the railing, you have the patisseries: croissants, nems, pizzas, pain au chocolat, meat pies, cookies. These you order and someone puts them in a sack and you walk around to the patisserie register and pay there.

Free at last, you walk outside, having potentially paid at 4 different counters. You then walk around the corner and across a stream of taxis to the ones going back down the hill to "Tropicana" which is the name of our quartier.
I find the process exhausting, even though there are items I can get much easier here than at the smaller "Yellow Store".

I should add here that not everything is frustrating in Cameroon. I'll try to share some of the good things, too!