May 17, 2007
On Thursday, we drove to Maaloula on top of a mountain. This is a Christian (Melkite - Greek Catholic) community that still speaks Aramaic. I got to hear the Lord's prayer spoken in the language that Jesus spoke! This is the rector at this
1600 year old church. Boy, stuff is old here. He explained a lot of theology to us, especially the beautiful icons in his church. I was especially taken with his explanation of a picture of Jesus at the Last Supper. Unlike the traditional Leonardo Da Vinci one, Jesus is seated off to the side. The father explained to us that in the local culture of this area, when you receive a guest and sit them at the table, they are no longer free to do anything but to be served. By placing Jesus at the side of the painting, the artist is conveying that Jesus is free to serve. Although he did not say it, I took this to mean that I too am set free to serve.
May 17, 2007
On Thursday, we drove to Maaloula on top of a mountain. This is a Christian (Melkite - Greek Catholic) community that still speaks Aramaic. I got to hear the Lord's prayer spoken in the language that Jesus spoke! This is the rector at this 1600 year old church. Boy, stuff is old here. He explained a lot of theology to us, especially the beautiful icons in his church. I was especially taken with his explanation of a picture of Jesus at the Last Supper. Unlike the traditional Leonardo Da Vinci one, Jesus is seated off to the side. The father explained to us that in the local culture of this area, when you receive a guest and sit them at the table, they are no longer free to do anything but to be served. By placing Jesus at the side of the painting, the artist is conveying that Jesus is free to serve. Although he did not say it, I took this to mean that I too am set free to serve.
1 comment:
I hear what you mean about everything being old. I realized on our travel seminar in college to Rome, Greece, Kenya, and Tanzania that "old" to me meant Williamsburg! It is stunning to walk roads that our Biblical brothers and sisters walked, isn't it? Wait 'till you get to Gethsemane and touch the trees that Christ may have leaned upon while he suffered the night before his crucifixtion. (And those trees, at 3000 year old, were "old" to him!)
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