04.07.08
Posted in church, culture, ministry
at 4:21 am
Our Sunday morning service starts at 11 AM. Well, it’s supposed to start at 11 AM. Yesterday I looked at the clock and around 11:30 we were sort of starting to think about getting things started. I used to get kind of annoyed by this. Italians are definitely less punctual than Americans, but not excessively so. Why is it that every week it was such a struggle to start at 11 AM?
And yesterday, I got it. As people arrive and start kissing and hugging and greeting one another, the noise level in the room grows. There’s laughter. There’s catching up. Yesterday there was even some crying as though people couldn’t wait to get in the door to unload. This place, or more accurately, these people, are a refuge from the day to day grind. So in a way “church” does start at 11:00. The part of church where people take care of each other. The singing and the preaching …. well, we get around to it eventually. It doesn’t make us lazy or sloppy or mean we don’t know how to tell time. I think it means we know what is important and what people really need more of.
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03.05.08
Posted in culture
at 5:28 am
This one is one of my favorites. I’ve seen it done!
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01.26.08
Posted in church, culture
at 10:04 am
Last night was the final night of the Ecumenical week of prayer that I mentioned earlier. The service included a lot of singing, some prayer, some short messages by area pastors and priests, and communion.
Well sort of. As an area pastor’s wife sang a beautiful, self-translated version of Adonai, we all came forward to receive a tiny cup of water. The program explained that the water was a symbol of the Holy Spirit, of Jesus who takes away our thirst, and of baptism.
But you see, it wouldn’t be possible for all of us to take communion together. The Catholics believe that the bread and wine literally become the body and blood of Christ. The Protestants believe it’s a symbol of Christ’s body and blood. And some Protestants don’t feel like we should share communion with Protestants from other denominations. So what’s the end result? Communion that … isn’t.
Which I think sums up some of my problems with ecumenicalism in general. We pray for unity, we listen to carefully-worded messages imploring unity, we sing songs about being bound together. But we’re not. And I think most of us are to stubborn to shift our beliefs so that we could have actual unity. Or at least feel comfortable watching others live out their beliefs, even if they differ a bit from ours.
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Posted in culture
at 3:47 am
And just like that, we’re back to 2005 in Italy. Late Thursday night, the Prime Minister of Italy, Romano Prodi, faced a vote of no confidence. He lost.
The news describes the events by saying “the government failed.” In Italy, if the Prime Minister gets the boot, every single law that was passed during the time he was in charge is voided. There’s confusion everywhere because no one can quite remember what’s valid and what’s not. Prodi made quite a few reforms in the application process for foreigners who live in Italy, and no one knows yet what laws will stick and what reverts back to before (the new government can opt to keep some of the old government’s laws).
It really is a miracle to me that Italy somehow moves forward (albeit slowly) when their government does this. I think the government has failed 17 times since World War II.
But in a testament to the underlying social stability, absolutely nothing in day-to-day life changed between Thursday and Friday. Everybody went to work. No rioting in the streets. Anyone I talked to about the government sort of rolled their eyes as if to say, “Here we go again.”
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01.24.08
Posted in church, culture, ministry
at 10:18 am
So we’re in the middle of Ecumenical Week here in Ancona. The Catholic churches are hosting protestant pastors from all over so that the Catholics can get to know us crazy Protestants.
Tuesday night our church was invited to head to Numana, about twenty minutes away. It was a normal prayer service, with a question and answer period in the middle. The people were generally nice, and asked basic questions like, “Do you submit to the pope?” and “Can your priests get married?” But I couldn’t help but notice the slight edge on the questions. They were more like, “I heard you don’t submit to the pope, and if not, who do you submit to?” or possibly “Well I heard, that your priests get married!”
Jason & Josh politely answered their questions. Some people even agreed with our stance on things and publicly stated that the Catholic church needs to change and do what we’re doing. But the thing that struck me, and that I hadn’t noticed before so strongly, is how ignorant people are here about Protestantism. There was a level of suspicion because it is such an unknown. In America that’s not an issue. Most people have some level of understanding of Protestant beliefs, and even a flawed view of the Church is something to go on. But here, we’re completely outside day to day living. And unfortunately, when we don’t understand something, we tend to make it scarier than it is.
I haven’t been terribly excited about these meetings. I sincerely hope they are more than surface-level “Christian unity.” But I do appreciate that they help average people to put a smiling face on Protestantism, which makes it a little less scary. As I told a friend after the meeting, “I hope that we were able to put a face on the enemy.”
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01.12.08
Posted in culture, ministry
at 9:05 am
Last night our church held its monthly Coffee House. This time a poet came and read some poetry that he had recently written, and a guitarist came to play some classical guitar pieces (she was incredible!).
At a certain point during the evening I found myself feeling kind of defensive. During the discussion following one of the poems, several people began to lament the fact that people don’t understand or know how to read poetry anymore because of the “hurried” lifestyle that America exports. It was said in a kind way, but the speaker directed his comment directly at the Americans in the room, as if we were somehow responsible for invention of Day Timers.
I’ll be the first to admit that there are parts of American culture that I wish wouldn’t spread into other countries’ way of life. But somehow I took it differently when someone outside of American culture began to criticize. Another friend on mine rightly observed that many cultural things that America “exports” are actually things that people want to copy. A subtle, but important, difference I think.
I think part of what I felt was the straw that broke the camel’s back. With the American primaries making the headlines even here, it seems like every person on the street wants my take on things - and wants to get a subtle jab in as well. So perhaps this series of subtle jabs has made me a little sensitive.
It’s made me think a bit. Where did the defensiveness come from? Why do cultural criticisms that come from someone who has lived in your culture seem more palatable, while those from outside seem like a judgment from someone who couldn’t possible understand all the angles? Which then made me wonder what judgments I have made of Italian culture that could seem offensive to them. Perhaps even more importantly, shouldn’t we, as Christians, identify with a Christian culture more than an American culture?
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12.21.07
Posted in culture
at 11:06 am
Ancona is in the middle of an ad campaign called “Ancona è casa tua” - Ancona is your house. Using a series of four posters, the city is encouraging its citizens to have pride in their city and to keep it clean. In this vivid poster, the text at the top says “Would you do this?” In other words, if you don’t let your dog poop on your welcome mat, then don’t let him poop on the sidewalk, since Ancona is your home too. Kind of clever (but gross).
Unfortunately, for all the beauty of Italy, it seems to have more than its share of people who assume they are the only ones that live here. The sidewalk from my house to the kids’ school is a mine field of little brown piles. I’m sure it’s tough to live in a city and have dog and not have a yard to let the dog do his business in. But you know, it’s not like they didn’t know that before they bought the dog.
Jason, who is usually more optimistic than I am, said this poster won’t change anyone’s behavior, and will only make those of us who are tired of poopy sidewalks feel like the city is doing something.
He’s probably right…
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12.16.07
Posted in church, culture, ministry
at 4:51 pm
A friend of ours recently called and asked if she could talk with Jason and I about some things that had been going on in her life. We arranged for a casual dinner the following night. As soon as she arrived and began explaining her situation, I quickly realized that I was in unfamiliar territory. I took very few counseling classes during my time at Bible college, but I doubt that they would have offered the class that I needed. The subject was the occult.
We’re dealing with this issue more and more. Seemingly harmless things like horoscopes and palm readings have woven their way into the culture here, and we’re left with a nasty mix of post-Catholic, superstitious, and mystical spirituality.
Our friend wasn’t involved with any of these things. But she was placed in a situation where she had to deal with some very real and very scary things: evil presences, fear, even some other strange physical signs that not all was right. I was struck at a certain point during our time together when she looked right at us and said, “You do believe me … right?” I think she really was afraid we would think she was a nut case. And the look of relief that I saw in her face when I told her that I absolutely believed her really taught me something.
I didn’t have a lot of wise counsel for her. I was very thankful for Jason and the different perspective that he brought to the table. But it was interesting to me because I think about 50% of what she needed was practical things she could do to get out of this situation. And the other 50% of what she needed was just to be heard and know that she wasn’t alone.
As I get deeper into this culture, and find more and more how deeply these occultish things have woven their way into even a strong Christian’s life, I think I’m going to have a lot more conversations like this one.
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12.13.07
Posted in culture, health care
at 3:34 pm
I had to take Lance & Chloe to the doctor today. They both needed a certificato medico in order to be able to play the sports that they started three months ago (we’re a little behind). This was the first time for them to see this doctor, so I kind of wanted to see what she was like.
I’ve been amazed at how much an Italian doctor gets done with so little. There’s no receptionist. There’s no insurance/billing department. There are no nurses. It’s the doctor, by himself in his office, and a waiting room. People wait, and one by one (in the order of arrival) they go see the doctor.
The exam was quick and painless. Height, weight, say ahhh. But the doctor turned to me at one point and said very seriously, “Does he go poop every day?”
I promise I only giggled a little. But Italians take matters of health seriously, and so I responded in the affirmative. I don’t think an American doctor ever asked me about poop. I might bring it up if I had a problem, but only if I really had a problem. In general, I think Italians are way more open about health stuff. I’ve seen old ladies rebuke strangers for not putting on a hat when it’s cold. Jason has been scolded for not dressing warm enough because of his kidneys (how do you know if your kidneys are cold?). And opening a window on the bus is enough to get a person booted off. It’s actually written in the rules that you have to get permission from everyone around if you want to open a window - drafts make people sick.
And so I just have gotten used to people asking me about my personal health issues. And I tell doctors about the frequency of poops. And I sure don’t leave the house without a scarf - who knows what you might catch with your neck exposed.
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Posted in culture, travel
at 2:57 am
I’ll have to admit … they certainly are creative with who gets to go on strike in Italy. This time, the truckers have quit working. And things are looking a little crazy.
I think the most immediate impact was gas supplies. I’m not sure if there was a run on gas before hand, but all the gas stations are empty and closed. And traffic is noticeably quieter today as people save what they have left in their cars.
The strike started in the middle of the trucker’s routes, so the highways are jammed with semis that have pulled over on the side of the road. We passed by some who have decided to burn pallets to keep warm. Some have set up tents with hot drinks and things. I’ve heard that tensions got a little high around Rome.
If things go on, food supplies are going to start getting low, as grocery stores aren’t able to restock their shelves.
And I’ve decided that I’m really kind of angry about this strike. This time it isn’t for higher salaries, it’s for lower diesel prices. Granted, they’re sky high here in Italy (and the majority of the cost is taxes). But instead of heading to Rome and complaining, they’re inconveniencing an entire country.
Last night during our English lessons I brought this subject up. Everyone there was in support of the strike. A couple of people said that this was the only way for the truckers demands to be met. They had exhausted other options, and if anything was going to change they had to strike.
And I can’t help but think that something is wrong when the only way to cause change is a method with so much collateral damage.
Update: Merry Christmas, strike is over! Last night around 7 PM they were able to reach some kind of agreement, and the trucks are moving. It will be 48 hours until gas is fully distributed and 7 days until other supplies return to normal. Damage to the Italian economy? €2,000,000,000 ($2,900,000,000)
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