Worldly Holiness

Host, originally uploaded by papalars.

"Gaius, whose hospitality I and the whole church here enjoy, sends you his greetings." Romans 16:23

Scripture talks often, as well as models in the life and ministry of Jesus, the importance of hospitality. In our fast food world, mostly in my native United States, we have lost the art of hospitality and the more basic idea of inviting strangers into our circle of friendship. This is tragic and is a sign that we have also lost a bit of our humanity. And we are impoverished because of this.

I still remember coming home for a summer when we lived in Mexico, house-sitting for someone in Bellevue. In Mexico we followed the custom of occasionally having friends over, for an evening carne asada—barbeque. Our Mexican friends taught us how to have fun together and enjoy one another’s company over food–and long hours of visiting, often till 2 and 3 am! It was really quite wonderful. Anyway, the summer we were house sitting back in Bellevue, a neighbor drove up to their home while I was out in the front yard. I thought to myself, “here is a chance to introduce myself and get to know some neighbors!” I heard a strange sound that was the grinding gears of a garage door opener. The car slowed to accommodate the opening door and then disappeared out of sight. No chance of meeting those neighbors. I think I had even started to walk across the front yard to meet these would be neighbors and shake their hand. I must have looked awfully foolish.

Last week in Morocco, I felt like I was back in Mexico, for many reasons. Obvious differences aside, the culture and people were warm and hospitable. In a panic exit off of the train, I was assisted with my bags by a total stranger and a broad smile, and two thumbs up as the train pulled away. Man, this melted my heart. “Aasalaama Aleikum” [literally means "peace be with you"], the common greeting was on the lips of nearly everyone I met, even strangers passing on the street. Very often when greeting a friend, the hand is drawn to the heart as if to say, "I guard our friendship here in my heart!"

Two out of every three Moroccans are, in cultural and linguistic terms, Berber. Berbers and Arabs are famous for their hospitality. Anyway, the total population in Morocco numbers 31,564,000 so the Berber population is significant. There are 3 major Berber people groups which are further divided into smaller tribal kinship units. Some are still nomadic herdsman, others settled farmers and others hunters and herdsman. Each main group speaks a distinct dialect. This gentleman in the picture above would fit into the middle group. He had a permanent home though very basic, a cow, and several other livestock in his yard and some land. And his hospitality was generous to our group of strangers, as alien to his culture as any two cultures could be on the face of this earth.

We were visiting an orphanage near this man’s home and after a few hours of seeing the place, this gentleman invited us to his home. His warm hospitality in spite of language, obvious cultural and economic barriers was amazing. Everything we ate had been made in their own kitchen. The mint tea was incredible. I probably got sick from something I ate from this man’s table, but I would go back again if invited. There was something of God in all this, even though this man most likely would not be found in a church I would ever pastor. But he is one of Christ’s sheep and it is for people like this that I am where I am, doing what I am doing and blessed to be part of God’s wonderful redemptive drama of reconciling people to himself.

Share with God's people who are in need. Practice hospitality. Romans 12:13.

Horse Taxi in Fez Medina, originally uploaded by papalars.

What in the world is a medina? You may have heard about Medina, the city in Saudi Arabia where the tomb of the Prophet Muhammad lies. That Medina figures large in the early history of Islam. Did you know, however that it is also the design of many of the ancient cities across North Africa that speaks of the footprint of the advance of Islam across this region in the 7th century? The last posting was a picture of the medina in Fez from atop a local hill. That was the big picture. I'd like to tell you today a little about what the medina looks like from inside and just a few pieces that make up the infrastructure, layout and culture. It is a significant aspect of this culture from which many of our focus friends come.

As I stepped into this medina in Fez last week it was apparent that I was also stepping back many centuries in time. Walking down the narrow streets and alleys we jostled with slower pedestrians and various sorts of “animal taxis,” carrying the goods for local stores to sell or shipping out artisan crafts made at one of the many hubs of traditional crafts that dot this particular medina. It was truly amazing, and fascinating. My colleague, Ken suggested we not get lost. You cannot see any major landscape on the horizon to give orientation because there is no horizon to be seen deep in the walls of this city. We did have a plan B however, in the event of such a misfortune of getting lost! He said, “just follow the major flow of a stream of people, they will probably lead you to a major gate!” This was not a terribly comforting thought so even though I hung back at times to take pictures, I did not let the next person in front of me in our party out of sight!

Medina literally means “town” in Arabic. Most medinas across North Africa have the same design. They consist of densely packed urban hubs enclosed within defensive walls. The tangle of narrow roads and winding alleyways turns the medina into a maze or labyrinth. The city is sliced up into sections by a few major roads bisecting the city but, as a defensive measure, are either closed off at certain points by projecting walls or angled in new directions to confuse and slow the advance of any invaders.

Within the larger medina, which in the case of Fez numbers about 300,000 inhabitants, you will find smaller sections or quarters. These are like small “neighborhoods” that include a communal oven, a hammam (steam bath), a madrasa or Koranic school, and a grocer’s shop. Here you will find the basic necessities of life but not much more—vegetables, fruit, oil, coal, sugar, spices and other foods. Somewhere in the center of the medina you will also find the principal mosque that is the focus of the entire community. In the case of Fez, our tour guide told us that there were 350 mosques in the medina.

Well, this is probably enough for our history lesson today. Next I will tell you a bit about the famous tannery in Fez. Below are some links with more interesting information about Fez. Enjoy. By the way, how could I forget. Pray for Nate, our young colleague who we left in language school in Fez. He is living with a family and really going for it. Pray for his learning and sense of God's presence with him each step of the way.

http://www.paulbowles.org/fezbowles.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fes%2C_Morocco

The Medina or Walled City of Fez, originally uploaded by papalars.

I finally returned from Morocco yesterday. Tired and a little sick. I plan to post a few stories over the next few days, explaining a bit about this fascinating country, and some of the places and people we met in our travels. First off, I want to tell you about Fez. Take out your map and locate this important city in North Africa. My history classes in the expansion of Western civilization jumped over this rather important town on the continent of Africa, that had important ties into Southern Spain as well as Europe. Let me tell you a little more, with the help of Wikipedia and some other research I did.

This picture features the walled city that sits in the center of old town Fez. The population of this medina is 300,000 inhabitants and is the world's largest traffic-free zone. No motor vehicles of any kind are allowed in this section of the city behind the wall. Although demoted from the position of Morocco’s capital city, there is little doubt that Morocco’s former capital, the city of Fez, remains one of the most important cities in the entire country. Fez was the capital of Morocco for over four centuries, and it still remains the cultural center of the country, as well as one of the most important religious centers. The city was founded in the late 8th century, and a large part of Fez remains a medieval city in design, a visual proof of the city’s history and culture.

Fez is intriguing; with its old buildings reflecting architecture most of the world forgot centuries ago, with winding narrow streets that do not allow for common automobiles. This means you will see throngs of people on foot, and the streets are full of donkeys and mules, just as they were hundreds of years ago. The city is the cutting edge of Moroccan art and culture, and was a hub of human civilization long before the Europeans knew anything about the Enlightenment.

A large part of the charm of Fez is that sense of a different time. While you will see all the evidence of modern cultural influence from blue jeans to boom boxes and satellite dishes, one cannot shake the sense of stepping into the past—from the narrow streets, to the buildings of old stone and wood, palaces and Islamic schools with elaborate entrances, to all the various sites that remind one of other times—ramparts, balconies, and courtyards all contained behind the walls that were once used for defense.

Many of the streets are virtual mazes of alleys and tunnels, and streets are made of cobblestone. The voices of people—from old men, to merchants, to children—envelope the city, and it’s not far off description to describe Fez as a giant human beehive. Fez is a city where the modern culture lives among buildings and streets that speak about a century’s worth of experience and history never forgotten.

The city was founded on opposite banks of the Fez River by Idris I in 789. Did you get that? That was nearly 1200 years ago. My ancestros were roaming the northern tundra of scandanavia and raiding the shores of Europe and the British Isles in those days. How about yours? During Yahya ibn Muhammad's rule the Kairouyine mosque, one of the oldest and largest in Africa, was built, and the associated University of Karueein was founded in 859. Arab emigration to Fes, mostly from al-Andalus in Southern Spain after a rebellion which took place in Cordoba in 818 and from Tunisia after another rebellion that took place in 824, gave the city a definite Arab character. The city was populated by Muslims from elsewhere in North Africa, the Middle East, Moriscos, as well as many Jews, who had their own quarter, or Mellah, in the city. It is believed that Fes was the largest city in the world from 1170 to 1180. It was the center of the Kingdom of Fez. Fes became the scientific and religious center, where both Muslims and Christians from Europe came to study. Many Muslim refugees came to Fes after the re-conquest of Spain in 1492. Fes became part of the Moroccan Empire in 1548. In 1579 the capture of Fez completed Ottoman conquests in Morocco that had begun under Süleyman the Magnificent. Despite the traditional character of most of the city, there is also a modern section, the Ville Nouvelle, or "New City", which is a bustling commercial center. The popularity of the city has increased since the King of Morocco took a Fassi computer engineer, Salma Bennani, as his wife.

Today in Fez you can find many of our focus friends, a McDonald's that servers Halal meat and many who give witness to Jesus in their everyday lives.