Tour of the Holy Land
Posted by Vicki Rowe
Today's speaker was our own Marilyn Farrell, assisted by her friend, Rose Ann Bolfing. Together these two gave us a terrific pictorial tour of the Holy Land.
Announcements included the following:
Alan told us about Bus Buddies and recruited more volunteers. Training is taking place this week. The actual program will be next week.
Gary told us that he will need help with the mailout of solicitation letters.
Keith told us about a Skeet Shoot, Horseshoe Competition, and Barbeque event in El Campo coming up in Oct. on the 17th.
Dr.Sammy asked for volunteers to man our booth at the Cy Fair Business Expo on Sept 3 from 10 to 5. He needs two volunteers per hour. He will bring a signup sheet next week or you can sign up online.
Guest speaker and one of our newest members, Marilyn Farrell visited the Holy Land in June with 90 people from Christ the Redeemer Church and Father Shawn. In Caesarea they saw a fort built by Julius Caesar and many ongoing archaelogical digs, and Roman aqueducts.
They visited Haifa on the Meditteranean, Stella Maris, a Franciscan monastery, Elijah's cave, a Bahai temple (Bahai is a hybrid religion that is an offshoot of Islam and Judaism), Nazareth, the Sea of Galilee, and many excavations which are attempting to uncover caves that people may have lived in in Bible times. Marilyn pointed out that being born in a manger would not have been unusual at all in that time because animals were kept in the same dwelling with people. Beautiful views of Cana, the Sea of Galilee, the Golan Heights, the mountains on which Christ did much of his teaching, the Mount of the Beatitudes, Mount Tabor, and the Church of the Transfiguration made her slides a delight to see.
She told us of a movement to reforest Israel. She also shared her discovery that settlements built in Bethlehem are walled off in such a way as to exclude the Palestinian people from amenities such as fresh water and fertile farmland. Her group was ablt to visit the stations of the cross in the old city which were marked by medallions on walls. She learned firsthand that the Holy Sepulcher and Calvary are surprisingly close to each other.
Marilyn's friend, Rose Ann, shared how the trip changed her by observing how the ironic juxtaposition of holy places with signs of unholy violence affect the visitor. Their group went as pilgrims and tried to put their own faith into context by comparing their religion to others. Every aspect of the Holy Land is claimed by three denominations: Christians, Jews, and Muslims. Rose Ann posed the following question: "If we can't work together to share holy places, how can we work together to solve the world's problems?"
She also pointed out that as Americans we need to understand these three different overlapping cultures. Geography affects the region so much. Maybe the answers that we think are correct are not the solution to how we can inhabit this earth together. Once you are there and you are aware, you must do something. This sounds like something that Rotary may be able to help with through our Peace and Conflict Resolution scholars.
Alan told us about Bus Buddies and recruited more volunteers. Training is taking place this week. The actual program will be next week.
Gary told us that he will need help with the mailout of solicitation letters.
Keith told us about a Skeet Shoot, Horseshoe Competition, and Barbeque event in El Campo coming up in Oct. on the 17th.
Dr.Sammy asked for volunteers to man our booth at the Cy Fair Business Expo on Sept 3 from 10 to 5. He needs two volunteers per hour. He will bring a signup sheet next week or you can sign up online.
Guest speaker and one of our newest members, Marilyn Farrell visited the Holy Land in June with 90 people from Christ the Redeemer Church and Father Shawn. In Caesarea they saw a fort built by Julius Caesar and many ongoing archaelogical digs, and Roman aqueducts.
They visited Haifa on the Meditteranean, Stella Maris, a Franciscan monastery, Elijah's cave, a Bahai temple (Bahai is a hybrid religion that is an offshoot of Islam and Judaism), Nazareth, the Sea of Galilee, and many excavations which are attempting to uncover caves that people may have lived in in Bible times. Marilyn pointed out that being born in a manger would not have been unusual at all in that time because animals were kept in the same dwelling with people. Beautiful views of Cana, the Sea of Galilee, the Golan Heights, the mountains on which Christ did much of his teaching, the Mount of the Beatitudes, Mount Tabor, and the Church of the Transfiguration made her slides a delight to see.
She told us of a movement to reforest Israel. She also shared her discovery that settlements built in Bethlehem are walled off in such a way as to exclude the Palestinian people from amenities such as fresh water and fertile farmland. Her group was ablt to visit the stations of the cross in the old city which were marked by medallions on walls. She learned firsthand that the Holy Sepulcher and Calvary are surprisingly close to each other.
Marilyn's friend, Rose Ann, shared how the trip changed her by observing how the ironic juxtaposition of holy places with signs of unholy violence affect the visitor. Their group went as pilgrims and tried to put their own faith into context by comparing their religion to others. Every aspect of the Holy Land is claimed by three denominations: Christians, Jews, and Muslims. Rose Ann posed the following question: "If we can't work together to share holy places, how can we work together to solve the world's problems?"
She also pointed out that as Americans we need to understand these three different overlapping cultures. Geography affects the region so much. Maybe the answers that we think are correct are not the solution to how we can inhabit this earth together. Once you are there and you are aware, you must do something. This sounds like something that Rotary may be able to help with through our Peace and Conflict Resolution scholars.