Recommitting While Skipping

I recently returned from a business meeting that was held in Cappadocia. The meeting involved people from the States, Great Britain, Germany, Finland, Korea, South Africa, etc., etc., etc. We talked about better ways to do things not entirely unlike multi-level marketing. I know, I know, it sounds a bit callous, but I don't know how else to say it using this medium of communication.

Anyway, I pulled a typical Brian by showing up late on the day it started, and skipping some of the sessions during the middle-day. Now I have perfectly good reasons for both, but the combination may be too much for some to understand. First, I showed up late because I was at the police station picking up the family's 3-year residence permit. Yeah yhwh! Second, I skipped some of the sessions because two of the guys that I met had never been there before. I felt OBLIGATED to help show them around some of the interesting sites in Cappadocia. And, as many of you know, I'm a social skipper. Honestly though, I may have even skipped if I didn't have anyone to show around. The region is highly conducive to alone time with Him and even when you are in a small group, it is impossible not to sense His handiwork in the surroundings.

This week and the weeks ahead I'll be meeting regularly with people in the capitol and on the north coast as well. The North Coasters have very little opportunity for hearing what is most important to all of us. Please "lift up" my language skills over the next two weeks.

Passion Week in Bulgaria

As I write this it's Easter Sunday and we've recently returned from a trip to what we officially call Bulgaristan (Land of the Bulgars). All-in-all it was a good experience. After several conversations with the lady that seemed to be in charge of the hostel we stayed in and walking around the streets of Sophia, I started thinking about what it means to be a "Christian" country... if in fact it has any meaning at all.

Upon returning from one of our jaunts around town and describing the large church and the painted eggs that were everywhere, the proprietor of the hostel let us know that everyone was preparing for Christmas. "Easter -- you mean," I replied. "Yes, that's it," was her response, but the implication was "Whatever."

The town was full of churches. There were ancient churches like the one below. I refer to this one as the emerging underground church in Bulgaria; primarily because its been excavated and is mostly below street level.



There were Russian Orthodox churches similar to the one below. As a matter of fact, now that I think about it, the Russian Church was EXACTLY like the one below.



And finally there was the main cathedral in Sofia, built near the end of the 18th century. Natalie tells me I should make my pictures more personal by putting more people in them. So, in the bottom left-hand corner of the picture you'll see my diminutive family.




Churches were everywhere. People were buying icons. In the churches people were kissing icons. Outside the church, there were casinos and other places that were obviously of ill repute. (I didn't take pictures of those places.) Anyway, all this led me to think about the meaning of the words "Christian nation."

I believe it is possible for there to be a "nation of traditional Christian values," or a "Christian-tradition nation." However, a "Christian nation" makes about as much sense to me as a "Christian t-shirt", a "Christian tie", a "Christian book", or a "Christian dog" for that matter. The word "Christian" can truly only be applied to an individual - a follower of Christ. People from Antioch (Antakya, in my country) first used the word "Christian" as a perjorative for "Followers of the Way."

There are very few followers of Christ in the country in which I live. Because of political and sociological issues within this country, those that have decided to follow Christ are typically very dedicated to Him. It is difficult for people to follow Him by faith here. It is easy to say that you are a Christian in Bulgaria where a traditional Christian belief system exists. It is easy to say this in the States where it is often politically and socially expedient.

I'm feeling challenged to live my life like the local believers - on the edge, putting my total trust in Him for everything. I would challenge readers in the West to live their life on the edge as well. Considering all the evidence for His life and work, considering His glorious resurrection, and considering the gift of the Holy Spirit that we as believers have received; the least we can do is to continue to lean on Him in our everyday walk.

He is Risen!

Theological Words

So I met with an assistant professor today from one of the local universities. He is translating a history text in to Turkish. His English is nearly perfect so our conversation was almost entirely in English. My Turkish is a bit like a 5-year old's, except that I know some street slang and some theological words. Quite scary, if you think about it. I think I've progressed from the level of stupid foreigner to crazy foreigner.

Anyway this man whose name roughly translates to Mr. Hardworking, is looking for Turkish definitions to words and phrases like the following:

• transubstantiation vs. constubstantiation
• ex opere operatum
• "Pilgrimage of Grace"
• "the atoning power of X"
• God's saving power
• Eucharist
• the concept of confessionalization
• Sola Fide, Sola Gratia, Sola Scriptura
• dispensation
• Evangelical vs. Reformed
• redemptive grace
• "God-given calling"
• "jurisdiction of bishops"
• Confraternities dedicated to the rosary
• and my personal favorite..... penitential flagellation
  

When I told my business partners that I accomplished the last one every time I felt like I had to come and sit in a closed room at the office with them, they just stared at me through the fumes. ( Some of you are probably staring at this screen right now wondering what in the world I'm talking about. Others of you are rolling on the floor laughing. [Hint: mispronunciation of flagellation.])

I have to give credit where credit is due. One of our employees has studied a great deal about this and whereas my language is that of a 5-year old Turk; her Turkish is that of a 26-year old Turk (what with being one and all). My old friend Jay and his writings have unwittingly encouraged me to be more balanced in my portrayal of Reformation Period history, as well. I no longer narrow the entire reason for the Reformation down to the quip "When the coin in coffer rings, the soul from Purgatory springs."

The meeting went quite will. I was able to give him adequate translations and explanations of the words he was looking for. At the same time, I was able to share with him about what it means to be a true follower of Christ. It seemed as though he was truly interested when a tear appeared to be forming in his eye. Unfortunately the jaded side of me thinks he may have been suppressing a yawn. God knows what's going on in this man's head and heart. I believe we will talk about these things again.

Official EU Language?

This post from another blog (http://uztranslations.blogspot.com/) caught my eye. Our proximity to the EU and this country's hope of joining demanded that I read it. I think you'll find it enjoyable, even if it is a bit fictional....or is it?

The European Commission has just announced an agreement whereby English will be the official language of the European Union rather than German, which was the other possibility. As part of the negotiations, the British Government conceded that English spelling had some room for improvement and has accepted a 5-year phase-in plan that would become known as “Euro-English”.

In the first year, “c” will replace the soft “s”. Sertainly, this will make the sivil servants jump with joy. The hard “c” will be dropped in favour of “k”. This should klear up konfusion, and keyboards kan have one less letter. There will be growing publik enthusiasm in the sekond year when the troublesome “ph” will be replaced with “f”. This will make words like fotograf 20% shorter.

In the 3rd year, publik akseptanse of the new spelling kan be expekted to reach the stage where more komplikated changes are possible. Governments will enkourage the removal of double letters which have always ben a deterent to akurate speling. Also, al wil agre that the horibl mes of the silent “e” in the languag is disgrasful and it should go away.

By the 4th yer people wil be reseptiv to steps such as replasing “th” with z” and “w” with “v”.

During ze fifz yer, ze unesesary “o” kan be dropd from vords kontaining ou” and after ziz fifz yer, ve vil hav a reil sensibl riten styl. Zer vil be no mor trubl or difikultis and evrivun vil find it ezi tu understand ech oza. Ze drem of a united urop vil finali kum tru.Und efter ze fifz yer, ve vil al be speking German like zey vunted in ze forst plas.

I don't care who you are, that's just plain funny.

Fun at Brian's Expense

Many of you know that I pride myself on my humility. So it was with great consternation that I decided to have this picture taken of one of the best shots of my life. As you know, most greens only have one hole, and at the time of the shot, it was still true. It remained true as I again, with utmost humility, made it the background on my computer. Well, thanks again to RobCop Studios, my office mates and everyone else who cares to can actually wonder how the ball failed to go into one of those holes on my tee shot.

Tracking Towards the Hole

I've just returned from an extended weekend on the South Coast. Some of the guys and I have made a habit of playing golf on this same course, once each year, for the last four years. We play so much golf that we get sick of it and don't feel the need to play again for another year. (Besides, we can't afford to play more than that.)

For about $80, and assuming that the course is not too crowded with Northern Europeans, we are able to play 36+ holes of golf a day. We played 72 holes in two days. We would've played another day but I had to put the kabosh on that plan. I wasn't prepared to follow another 2 rounds of golf with an 8 hour drive home. Besides, "it's my party, and I'll cry if I want to."



Our scores were as magnificent as the scenery around us. (I'll let you determine what that means.) The mountains you see below are the ones that Paul, Barnabas, and John Mark had to pass in order to get to Pisidian Antioch, Iconium, etc. I have renewed my appreciation for what they had to do to accomplish His call on their lives. I also feel as though I can understand why John Mark gave up half way through. Hauling around a set of golf clubs over mostly flat land was difficult enough. I can't imagine how difficult it would have been to haul that weight over those rocky mountains.



Now, back to the golf. As you can see my roommate in the hostel we stayed in had his own difficulties on the course. Like another famous roommate from the movies, I'll refer to him as "Spike." He bears an uncanny resemblance....



In this country there is not a lot of wildlife. However, on the golf course we were able to see dozens of lizards, toroises, birds, and both squirrels (I think they had them imported from Cyprus). Also, about the only thing truly tracking towards the hole was this line of caterpillars. I had never seen anything like it. Yes, that is approximately 30 of them moving from the fringe, across the green, and towards the pin. This was by far the best SHOT OF THE DAY!

Before you depart...

I was reading a history and biography magazine recently and ran across this top ten list by a man named A. Judson more than 150 years ago. I have taken some liberties with the wording for obvious reasons.

1. Be a worker for life, not for a limited term. (Check, at least that's the plan.)

2. Select a healthy and good-natured spouse. (Check.)

3. Don't be overzealous to do good on board ship and thereby get in the way. (Boy, I almost messed this one up. You have no idea how upset those flight attendants get when you try to help them pass out the meals.)

4. Take care that you are not weakened by the hardships you will face during the preparation and travel to your destination. (Lift with your legs when getting rid of your heavy furniture. All I can say is that I'm not the only one to arrive overseas with back spasms. I know, I know, it's nothing like what people used to deal with 150 years ago, nevertheless....)

5. Don't judge the local Xians in your field of labor before you know their language and understand their culture. You will undoubtedly be disappointed when you first arrive and may regret that you came, but don't let first impressions dishearten or embitter you. (The best advice so far. Check minus.)

6. Don't let fatigue and frustration tempt you into seeking retreat or focusing on tasks that distract from the real work that needs to be done. (Check minus.)

7. Beware of pride arising from your good reputation and guard against it by openly confessing your shortcomings. (Check.)

8. Trust Him in all things; don't lay up money for yourselves. (Check plus ;-).

9. Exercise to maintain your health. (Check. Walking nearly everywhere helps with this.)

10. Avoid excessive socializing with other Westerners and don't try to keep up a fashionable lifestyle that will separate you from the people you are there to serve. (Check.)

Well, you can see from the grades I've given myself above where I could use some work.

Retirement

Well, it's almost my birthday. And, of course, the older I get, the more I start to think about our retirement options. When Nat & I retire we don't want to just stop working; rather, we'd like to keep busy like our parents are now. We've joked about moving to the Northeastern area of this country. It's a beautiful mountainous area where the people are as varied as the landscape is. In the pictures below, you'll see the vision I have for us in about 20 years. (Pictures courtesy of RobCop Studios.)


Natalie will continue to do the bulk of the work.


I will continue to aspire to be a man "out-standing" in my field.

In the immediate future, three of my friends and I are preparing to take a road trip to the South Coast this weekend. We'll be golfing. And since there are few golf courses here, the cost is extraordinarily high. (Back in Houston, prices had actually dropped over the last few years because of a glut of options. Man, I love a free market system.) Anyway, due to the relatively high price of the golf, the guys and I have decided to stay at a "pansiyon" where a bed and breakfast costs about $10/night. We've done this for the last four years and we play each day until we drop. We're planning on playing upto 45 holes a day both of the day's that we're there. I hope to update while I'm there. Apparently, the beds don't have boxsprings but they do have wireless.

Introductory Post

As implied by the "title" and "description" of my blogspot, this site will primarily involve information about where I'm going and what I'm thinking in the process. Some might call it a travel journal. I hope to include details and pictures of people and places that I come across along the way. I hope that as I meet people and get to know them, I will be able to paint an accurate picture of what they do and think, as well.

Anyway, that's enough for now. Upcoming posts should include descriptions of trips to local towns, a bit of business at the Tourism and Culture Ministry, and a weekend getaway to the South Coast on a golfing excursion with my co-workers.