No TIme for Hyperbole

This modern art at Yad Vashem (Jerusalem's Holocaust Museum) depicts those who tried to save children but were unsuccessful.

Sometimes people compare our current or the previous president to Hitler. Sometimes we refer to 9/11 as America's Holocaust. And when we do stuff like that, we seriously minimize the horror of the real Holocaust.

Let's put this in perspective. However misguided some political efforts are, nobody's president is trying to commit genocide. Please.

And for every person killed on 9/11, five hundred Jewish children were slaughtered. That's not even counting the moms and dads, aunts and uncles, young adults...that's just the little kids.

A recent visit to Yad Vashem, Israel's Holocaust Museum, brought this home. Translated literally "yad vashem" means hand and name, but together the words carry the idea of a memorial. The idea is based on Isaiah 56:5, “To them I will give in My house and within My walls a memorial, And a name better than that of sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name that will not be cut off.” Six million Jews were slaughtered by Hitler and his cronies. Here those innocents are remembered by name in a growing documentary. As Karl, our guide for the week, told me, the Jewish way of avenging ourselves is this: "We write history."

I found the section dedicated to children most sobering. Hollowed out to form an underground cavern, the area gives tribute to the approximately 1.5 million Jewish children who perished during the Holocaust. Inside only memorial candles, a customary Jewish tradition to remember the dead, light its dark space. They cast their reflections infinitely in mirrors, giving the impression of millions of stars shining. In the otherwise hushed setting, the names of murdered children, their ages, and countries of origin, can be heard in the background. Read endlessly.

Want to venture a guess as to how long it takes to get through them all?

The Children's Memorial was built with the generous donation of Abe and Edita Spiegel, whose son Uziel was murdered in Auschwitz at the age of two and a half. Some stuff you never "get over."

We can't do much about what already happened. But we can fight injustice wherever we see it. And that includes refusing to maximize our own dissatisfaction with politics or sense of national injury at the expense of invalidating the suffering, deep suffering, of others.

Why Are Women Less Happy?

Did you see this CNN clip reporting a study that concludes women are less happy than they were thirty years ago, while men's levels of satisfaction remained the same?

The study didn't consider why women are less happy. We're not told how large the study is. And the news report raised the question of whether progress for women has been such a great thing. While nobody who knows me would lump me in with the fans of radical feminism, I'm also a little concerned when we jump on stuff like this without taking a closer look at the data.

Is there an agenda here?

Here's one woman's response, which I found interesting. She at least gave me more to think about...

Our Meeting with the Mayor of Jerusalem

While I was in Israel last week, about twenty print, radio and internet journalists had the opportunity to meet with Mr. Nir Barkat, the just-turned-fifty mayor of Jerusalem, around a conference table at City Hall.

He introduced himself by speaking to us for about fifteen minutes about his background. Though raised and educated in Jerusalem, Mr. Barkat—the married father of three girls—said he lived in Pasadena and Ithaca between the ages of ten and thirteen. As a young adult, he joined the Israeli army and served as a paratrooper for six years, during which time he was shot in Lebanon. He completed a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science as well as advanced studies toward a Master’s degree in Business Management at Jerusalem’s Hebrew University.

For fifteen years, Mr. Barkat worked in the hi-tech industry. Along with three other partners, he established a hi-tech group that was one of the first to develop antivirus software. He went on to serve as the CEO of Checkpoint Security. Then twelve years ago, he shifted his focus from business to philanthropy, concentrating primarily on education. In his current position he draws a salary of one shekel/year.

Mr. Barkat said he ran for mayor because he realized the challenges ahead for Jerusalem, a city he feels is “not exploiting its potential in the global marketplace.” In the past fifteen years Jews in the medium and high socioeconomic groups have left the city at the rate of about 6,000 people per year. Meanwhile the Arab and illegal populations are growing. The average income of those in East Jerusalem is $4,000/year. In his words, “Jerusalem is the largest and poorest city in the country.”

Mr. Barkat believes the population should be balanced with both Arabs and Jews. Jerusalem, he says, is a microcosm of what is happening in the world, and it has a huge say in how to manage conflict. “We must have freedom of religion,” he told us. The good news? “Never has it been more open for people to practice their religion.” He wants that trend to continue. “We must make coming to Jerusalem a strategic and meaningful event.”

Speaking in flawless English he described Jerusalem’s three circles of “shareholders”—its residents; the people of Israel who look to it as their capital; and those interested in the city as a holy destination. He seeks to benefit all three circles.

How? By increasing tourism. And the best path to more tourists, he believes, is strengthening the experience people have of coming to Jerusalem. That means pushing culture on site and developing related products. “We can create a knock-out experience for people coming to the city,” he said. “Paris, London, and New York City average forty million tourists per year, Jerusalem has only two million. That needs to change.” The municipality has a strong buy-in for increasing tourism and his team seeks a “win-win rather than win-lose strategy,” presumably with the city’s Arab population. Mr. Barkat said his team at City Hall is advancing many bi-partisan efforts, and he strongly believes in a united city.

“Salem” means “whole,” he said. “Whole and holy go together… For every complex problem there’s one simple, wrong answer… Jerusalem must be united rather than split down the middle. It’s like dividing a heart.”

Yet here’s a key challenge: the city has more than 3,000 buildings requiring protection as historical sites. That means the drain of millions of dollars on a poor population with a small tax base. In terms of archaeology, “We find more in one month than people find elsewhere in a year,” he said. “I go once a month to the City of David,” an ancient area just outside the city walls. “I am always amazed at what I find.” Just six months ago it was announced that the Palace of King David had been found. Such finds add to the attraction for tourists, but they also add to the stress on the infrastructure as well as the cost of excavation and protection on-site.

Add to that the 40,000 students who study in Jerusalem. “We have to improve the quality of life,” Barkat said. So hotels are going up. And there’s evidence of a major mass transit system. But to the mayor, the process is like “stepping on blisters.”

Still, he says, “Experience says if you have a great product, people will come. You have to come to Jerusalem at least once in your lifetime.”

During the time opened to our questions, I asked what he wants from the press. His answer? “Tell the truth. Tell of your experience here.” Journalists tend to focus only on conflict—it sells papers and magazines. But the reality is that Jerusalem “is one of the safest cities in the world. Its crime and terror rates are safer than the average city.”

Our team did indeed feel quite safe our entire time there. “We try to make the police invisible,” he said. “We put them where they’re needed and let life flow…” Still, we didn’t go to the West Bank or Gaza Strip. And there are tensions in other places.

I certainly would hate to have his job. The Jewish/Arab conflict is ever-present. “I’m pushing aggressively to improve life in East Jerusalem,” he said, referring to a part of the city with a large Arab population. “I’m committed to serving all residents of the city.”

Of course Mr. Barkat was focused on the city more than on the entire country, so the Palestinian question didn’t come up. The city itself has its own challenges. There are fifteen Christian groups alone registered in Jerusalem, and the task of unifying the various sects of Jews, Muslims and Christians is daunting. Often we can't agree among ourselves, let alone with those of other faiths, nationalities, and backgrounds. Still, Mr. Barkat wants to avoid dividing the city like Berlin. To him that is giving up.

Before our meeting, I had spoken with a grad of my alma mater who lives in Israel. I asked him, "If I could ask the mayor one question that would help Christians here, what would that be?" He expressed concern about government-tolerated persecution against Messianic Jews—people of Jewish descent who convert to Christianity but who continue to embrace their own Jewishness. This alum sent me an article about such persecution. So my question went something like this: "Your press has reported that persecution against Messianic Jews is tolerated...Do you find it difficult to defend the human rights of Jews whose views may be intolerable to many here?"

The mayor said he had no knowledge of such intolerance, but after asking me to repeat the question, he noted it on his pad.

After our time together, we all did something that I’d never seen done at a press conference. We joined hands around the table and prayed for the peace of Jerusalem.

Can I get an Amen?

Break Into Publishing

Want to break into publishing?

If so, I suggest that you begin by going down to your local Half Price Books or Powells and see if you can find an old copy of one of the annual Writer’s Market books. You don’t need the most recent year. For example, you could buy the 2006 Writer’s Market. It’s about two inches thick. In the beginning pages of this annually published book you’ll find instructions for how to write a query letter and how to format a manuscript. Following some preliminary articles about writing, the text consists primarily of publisher listings and submission requirements. It’s a great resource.

When I teach my writing students at Dallas Theological Seminary, I usually tell anyone who wants to write a book that the best place to begin is by writing magazine articles on the same topic as the proposed book. (The Writer’s Market tells how to do this.) Going to a publisher with a book manuscript without ever writing magazine articles is like going to a church of 3,000 fresh out of seminary and applying for the job of senior pastor. Sometimes it’ll happen, but usually publishers want to see a track record.

They need to know you are used to “being edited,” that you can meet deadlines, that you have begun to develop a following on your subject, and that you know terms. (For example, SASE is a self-addressed stamped envelope and not some society to which you must belong, as one student thought.)

Once you’ve published several articles, put together a book proposal. Outline what you plan to include in each chapter, along with an analysis of "what’s on the market." Send the publisher your proposal, not a manuscript, with copies of your articles. If the editorial team likes your concept, the proposal will go to the marketing department. The people in this department want to see a couple of things. First, it’s unusual for any book to sell more than 5,000 copies, and the publisher wants to stay employed, so the team will need to see evidence that you can sell enough books to make a profit. You as the author are their best source of sales contacts. So they will want to see—in addition to your manuscript—some marketing information. Here’s what that involves:

1) Do a search of books related to your topic. Write up a page explaining what you found and how your book differs from every other book out there.

2) Make a list of the places where you’ve spoken in the last year. The publisher will assume that when you publish your book, you will have opportunities to sell.

3) Write a list of all the key people who could endorse the book in a variety of venues (someone in your denomination, an author, the president of an influential organization).

4) Gather a list of all the organizations to which you belong. Include alumni associations.

5) List publications where you have published articles on the topic of your book to establish that you are becoming a known source on this subject. One advantage to writing for periodicals is a broader base for ministry. As I said, the average book does not make it past the 5,000 sales mark. However, the average magazine has a distribution of more than 40,000 readers. So you will reach a much wider audience with your message by writing an article. Can you write a monthly column for the local newspaper?

The book publisher’s marketing department has a lot of say in the final decision, so this is a key document in addition to your manuscript. Publishers operate on narrow profit margins, so it’s vital to the publishing industry that each time a publisher offers a contract for a book, the company can at least break even.

Consider other vehicles for publishing, too. Self-publishing is becoming a big market. If that interests you, go to the public library and get some past issues of Writer’s Digest magazine. Look up what they have to say on the topic. An advantage there is that via Internet you can sell to readers in Britain and Australia and Kenya and South Africa, where people speak English. (Most U.S. publishers don’t have reps in those places.)

Self-publishing used to be called "vanity" publishing and it was looked down on, but now that so many movies are self-produced and called "indies," the stigma is disappearing. One advantage with these last two options is that you can keep a much greater percentage of the profits. For example, on a good book contract, right now I make about 12 to 16 percent of retail sales. With self-publishing you keep 100 percent after you’ve paid for production costs. Even though you may not write for the money, greater income means you can re-invest what you’ve made to pay for the costs of producing a second book, if you want to keep writing.

Which I hope you will do!

About Writing

I'm being interviewed today on Blog Radio about writing. You can find out more about it by tuning in here. You can either go to this web site, http://www.writingandpublishingradio.com or call 347-215-9316 at 2:30 Central.

Quote of the Day

Thanks to my student, Paul, for reminding me today of this quote by Harriet Beecher Stowe in Uncle Tom's Cabin:

So much has been said and sung of beautiful young girls, why doesn’t somebody wake up to the beauty of old women?

I did not see one old woman in Israel. Think about it...

What I miss now that I'm back stateside...

Today...

I spent about ten hours loading 100+ photos on Facebook. I needed to do it ASAP after the trip so I have some clue what I'm looking at. Still, I had to look up some stuff to be sure. Below are a few shots from the trip.

Garden of Gethsemane

Our team at the Holocaust Museum--Jerusalem in background

Nazareth Village samples made using only first-century technology

If you'd like to see the entire album, you can go here.

Post-Trip

Our Final Day

Heather and Cari in the cab with me from JFK to LaGuardia.

(From left, below) The "before" jet-lag travel shot of Diane, Heather, me, and Cari dining our last night together. I loved being with these savvy women journalists. Together we laughed, cried, prayed, joked, and stood in awe.

Finally Home

After a transatlantic flight from Tel Aviv, we landed at JFK. I would've been stuck in New York for a few hours, but an American Airlines agent suggested the three of us Dallasites on the trip catch a cab over to LaGuardia and get an earlier direct flight to Dallas. (This instead of a three-hour layover followed by a flight to Dallas through North Carolina with another layover.)

I am finally home. But when I got here, I was so tired that I had chills. So I went straight to bed and slept for two hours. It's been great to hug my sweet family again...and find horizontal sleeping arrangements. Getting adjusted to Central Time is secondary!

The Biggies

We started the day with a number of important sites:

* Pools of Bethesda – Where Jesus healed the lame man (John 5:1-24) and the church there, St Anne’s.

* Via Dolorosa - Stations of the Cross leading to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher.

* Church of the Holy Sepulcher – Considered by Catholics and Orthodox to be the location of the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus.

* Tower of David - Museum of the History of Jerusalem at the Citadel.

After lunch we had an intimate press conference with Mr. Nir Bareket, Mayor of Jerusalem. I had the opportunity to ask two questions of concern to me. More on that hopefully in the days to come.

Then we headed for the Garden Tomb and Gordon’s Calvary, considered by many Protestants to be the site of the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. Our group shared communion together at the close of the day.

After dinner at our hotel, we bid farewell to our wonderful hostess and our guide (sniff!). I am ready to be home, but thrilled with the time I've had here.

Walls, Fortresses, Water

This morning we saw Jerusalem's Southern Wall Excavation at the Davidson Center, which included a computerized virtual model of the Second Temple. (Jesus lived during the Second Temple period.) After that we visited the Western Wall (Kotel), which is Judaism’s most sacred site. I joined other women from many nations and creeds praying at the Western Wall. I never knew there was a women's section, having seen only photos of the Orthodox men. The white stuff in the wall is tiny scraps of paper with prayers written on them and tucked in the cracks. Did I leave one? Of course!

Other events included...

* Western Wall Tunnels – Rabbinic Tunnels revealing the base of the Temple Mount and the street level during the time of Jesus

* Jewish Quarter – Rebuilt Jewish section of the city

* Cardo – Main Street from the Roman-Byzantine times

* Temple Steps – The actual steps used by Jesus and the people of His time to enter the temple. If you notice in your Bible that some psalms are labeled "Psalms of Ascent," these are the songs sung or psalms recited as pilgrims ascended up to the temple to worship. It's a long hike up, so I imagine they quoted them all! I learned that Jesus, along with the other worshipers, would have entered at the Huldah Gate. See 2 Kings 22 for Huldah's story. She's one of my she-roes.

* City of David – Ongoing excavation in the ancient core of Jerusalem built by King David, including sophisticated underground water system and possible 2009 discovery of David's Palace

* Pool of Siloam - Where Jesus cured a blind man with a mud mixture and told him to go wash it from his eyes (John 9). Excavation since 2004 has revealed that what was thought to be the Pool of Siloam is probably from a later period. Within the past five years, a sewage pipe broke in a Kidron Valley neighborhood near Hezekiah's Spring, and a bulldozer working to fix things ended up unearthing the Pool of Siloam from Jesus' time.

Tonight's dinner is hosted by the Ministry of Tourism at a Jerusalem restaurant. They are feeding us a lot, but then there is also a lot of walking.

The Great City

Water at the spring in Ein Karem, the town where Mary visited Elizabeth


Today was set aside for seeing many sites in Jerusalem:

* Mea She’arim – We drove through this uber-Orthodox Jewish neighborhood.

* Mount of Olives – The view of the city doesn't get much better than the one from here.

* Hosanna Road – We descended the mountain by foot on the same road that Jesus used for His Triumphal Entry (think: Palm Sunday). We sang "Hosanna in the Highest" on the way down.

* Dominus Flevit – A church by this name commemorates where Jesus wept over Jerusalem (Luke 19:41) and likened Himself to a mother hen. This was very moving--thinking of His unreciprocated love for the city.

* Garden of Gethsemane – On this site is the Church of All Nations. We met in the Garden believed to be on the same site as the one where Jesus and the disciples would often come to pray and rest. The roots of olive trees here date back 2,000 years.

* Saint Peter in Gallicantu – Another church. This one commemorates Peter’s denial of Jesus. It had a painted rooster on the door. Nice view of the city from here.

* Mt Zion: Tomb of David and Upper Room – Not a lot to see, actually. But there's a stone room here that's probably the resting place of David's bones. There's also a "recreation" of the upper room, where the disciples are said to have gathered after Jesus' ascension (Mark 14:12-26; Acts 1:13).

For lunch we stopped at a Falafel joint next to McDonald's. Yum. Falafel is a pita bread with fried chickpeas in a ball, which looks like a round hush puppy and tastes much better than it sounds.

* Israel Museum – Loved this. Saw the Shrine of the Book, where the Dead Sea Scrolls are kept. Looking at the Isaiah scroll, I learned that it did indeed have paragraph divisions to show transitions in thought even "way back when." We also saw a huge outdoor model of the Second Temple period in Jerusalem.

* Yad Vashem – The National Memorial and Museum of the Holocaust included the Valley of the Communities, Hall of Names, Children’s Memorial, and the new Museum complex. We spent more than three hours here. There's a grove planted outside dedicated to the Righteous of the Nations, non-Jews who risked or gave their lives to save Jews during WWII. Lots of tear-jerking stories. I was moved by one of two sisters who found each other 50-60 years later when they entered each other's names in the archives here.

* Knesset (Israel's Parliament). We waved as we drove by.

* Ein Karem – Picturesque village which was probably home to Zacharias and Elizabeth, where Mary visited her pregnant cousin Elizabeth (Luke 1:39-56), and where Elizabeth's son, John (the Baptizer) was born (Luke 1:57-66).

We finished out the day with dinner at the Shipudei Hagefen restaurant, which served kosher food. The best thing on the menu in my book: the way they cook sweet potatoes.

I opted out of the sound and light show at the David Citadel tonight. I had a full enough day, don't you think? Two of our team now feel sick, and I want to stay well.

Israel is the size of Maryland. Most of us are finding that things are both larger and smaller than expected. For me, the Jezreel Valley's larger; the distance from the Mount of Olives to the Dome of the Rock, shorter.

The Dead Sea and Me

Look, Ma! No hands!

The Med, the Red, and the Dead

We ended the day yesterday with evening baptisms at the Jordan River. A pastor from Canada baptized my friend Cari, another Dallasite, who works at Insight for Living.

As for today, by the time many of my friends are leaving church, if all goes as planned, I will have already taken a dip in the Dead Sea--the lowest spot on earth. No day of rest for us! We're also scheduled to see these sites:

* Qumran - The home of the first century sect known as the Essenes, the transcribers of the Dead Sea Scrolls.

* Masada - We're set to ascend the mountain by cable car to view Herod’s desert fortress and the stronghold of the Jewish revolt against the Romans in A.D. 73. If you have not seen the mini-series about this, time to load it into your Netflix queue.

* En Gedi (Botanical Garden) – We'll pass the desert oasis where David hid from King Saul (1 Samuel 24).

* Jericho Road - We'll travel from Jericho up to Jerusalem, an ascent of 4,000 feet in 13 miles, passing the Inn of the Good Samaritan along the way (Luke 10:24-26).

* Mount Scopus – From here we'll have our first view of the “Golden City,” lit up at night.

Highlights from Saturday

We sailed on a boat like this on the Sea of Galilee. A couple in our party renewed their vows today, so we had singing and dancing Israeli-style on the boat.

Sunset over the Sea of Galilee

No Rockin' the Boat

This morning we head for Kibbutz Ginosar, the Man in Galilee Museum where a 2,000-year-old boat from Jesus’ time is on display. Then we embark on a replica of such a boat and actually go sailing on the Sea of Galilee. Since the Son of Man will not be physically present to calm the sea, I'm hoping we have no gale-force winds.

From there we head to Capernaum, the town where Jesus lived during His Galilee ministry (Matthew 4:13; Mark 3:1). After that it's off to these sites:

* Tabgha – The place that commemorates where Jesus multiplied the loaves and fishes (Luke 9:10-17)

* Mensa Christi - The chapel commemorating where Jesus instructed Peter to “feed my sheep” (John 21:15-17)

* The Mount of Beatitudes – The hillside where Jesus gave the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:1-12). (My Mocha on the Mount study is set here, so this especially rocks.)

* Bethsaida - birthplace of Peter, Andrew, and Philip, and the Zebedee family, the place where Jesus healed a blind man

* Golan Heights – Panoramic view of the Sea of Galilee from the Peace Vista. Descend by way of Yarmuk River Valley.

* Yardenit – Jordan River baptismal site. I visited the Jordan side last November; now I get to stand on what I was looking at then.

We end the day with dinner in Tiberias. Hopefully by now our sleep patterns are helping us feel more normal.

Saturday morning

Feeling much better today. Thanks for the prayers.

Nice view from my window. The Sea of Galilee!

Friday Real Time

This morning as I was taking a photo off the hotel balcony in Tel Aviv, and I stepped forward into a gutter around the shrubbery. I fell into the shrub, which knocked out my contact and lacerated my eye. I just made a little visit to the local clinic and got steroid drops. If it still hurts tomorrow, they tell me I get to try to find an ophthalmologist. I am hoping for a better outcome...

Other than that, it was a pretty good day. The mayor of Nazareth canceled on us, but we went to a local pastry shop instead. Can't say I minded. Ha!

I am now in Tiberius with a night view of the Sea of Galilee!

Rolled into Nazareth...

Hey, all you Deadheads, that title's for you. (For the rest, never mind.)

Last night we at in Old Jaffa--lots of traditional food. This morning we're set to depart on a jam-packed day of sightseeing. Here are the sites on the agenda:

* Caesarea - The great Roman port city and one of the largest archeological digs in Israel. This is where the Roman centurion Cornelius was baptized by Peter and became the first Gentile convert to Christianity (Acts 10). It's also where Paul was tried by Festus (Acts 25:6-12). (That story is in my new Philippians study.)

* Mukhraka – Mt. Carmel, where Elijah battled the prophets of Baal (1Kings 18:25).

* Megiddo - (1 Kings 9:15) A fascinating tel comprising twenty-six (!) ancient civilizations superimposed on one another, overlooking the Valley of Jezreel also know as the Valley of Armageddon (Revelation 16:16). Whoa.

* Nazareth Village – A recreation of Nazareth during the times of Jesus.

* Nazareth, for real - The boyhood home of Jesus. We're set to visit the Church of St. Gabriel and Mary’s Spring, followed by a meeting with Mr. Ramzi Jaraicy, Mayor of Nazareth.

* Cana – Town where Jesus performed His first miracle, turning water into wine (John 2:1-11). Not Welch's--the good stuff. Lots of couples renew their vows here, because Jesus was at a wedding when he sped up the process of nature.

After all this, we drive to Tiberias, check in, dine, and fall into bed, no doubt "feelin' 'bout half-past dead."

Arrival Day

Today as most of my friends are rising for the day, I'm set to arrive at Ben Gurion International Airport in Tel Aviv, Israel.

Rather than going straight to sleep, we'll set our watches to Israel time and work to think in a different time zone. We're to be met by a representative of the Ministry of Tourism as well as our tour guide for the week.

After a drive through Tel Aviv, Israel’s commercial, cultural, and financial center, we'll check into our hotel, freshen up a bit, and then head for Old Jaffa, where we'll attend a welcome dinner hosted by representatives from the Israel Ministry of Tourism and El-Al Israel Airlines.

Old Jaffa is the ancient seaport from which the prophet Jonah fled from God (Jonah 1:17). It's also the city where Peter stayed with Simon the Tanner and restored Tabitha to life (Acts 9:36-43). This is especially fun for me, because last month I released a new book/study guide, Kona with Jonah. I've been immersed in "Jonah" studies for the past year; now I get to see the actual place where the story is set!

Layover

Here we are hanging in the King David lounge waiting for our midnight flight. Heather Goodman, Cari Harris and me. Photo by Diane McDougall.

Departure Day

Today I embark on my first trip to Israel. I am traveling with a team of journalists at the invitation of Israel's Ministry of Tourism and El Al Airlines. It promises to be a fabulous trip with highlights including meetings with the mayors of Nazareth and Jerusalem.

My itinerary for each day will show up here. I'm loading it ahead of time so you can follow me even on days when I don't have internet access. As with my Jordan trip, I will do my best to add photos and commentary as I am able. I am seven hours later than Central time, if that helps you figure out what time it is in my world.

Today includes a flight from Dallas to JFK in New York City, with a layover of eight hours before we board our transAtlantic flight. Fortunately, though we are flying coach, arrangements have been made for us to have access to the airline's lounge. That will give our team of twenty (or so) a chance to sit in comfortable surroundings as we get to know each other before we embark on our long night over the Atlantic.

Please shoot up a prayer for me and for my family near and far. I have mixed emotions about leaving right now, but we all agree it's the chance of a lifetime...so off I go.

Why I Love My Prius

No, the car was not in motion at the time I snapped this photo.

Last night on the way home from the U2 concert, it was reporting that it got more than 50 mpg. We have shaved $100 off our monthly gas bill driving this thing. Am I ever grateful!

"Next Week in Jerusalem"

Last weekend I had a great time doing the women's retreat for Centerpoint Church, which is about five minutes from our house. We went south of Dallas to a ranch owned by the brother of one of their members. Despite pouring rain, we enjoyed great fellowship in a gorgeous setting. Rest and refreshment...ahhh.

Friday night I met with the board of the Evangelical Press Association. I'm sort of in charge of their national meeting in May, so they needed an update. We dined at Boi Na Braza, which means "steer over embers" in Portuguese. It was an authentic Brazilian place with fifteen cuts of open-fire roasted beef, lamb, pork, and poultry served continuously at our table by Gauchos. Great food, but way more than we needed and very meat-y.

Yesterday my family and I went to a ranch in East Texas for the reunion of the church college group that Gary and I led about twenty-five years ago. I think we all looked pretty good considering our mileage. On the way home our daughter wanted to know why we don't buy a ranch and get some horses...

The Cowboys won today, in overtime no less. That rocks.

Tomorrow night is the U2 concert. (We scored tickets via a former student who had extras. Yes!) I have seen Bono live only two other times. Once in the early 1980s he was in the lobby of the building where I worked because the band was staying in the hotel in my office complex. A friend introduced himself to Bono and they got to talking. This friend eventually motioned for me to come over, but I declined wondering, "Who's Bono?"

The second time was in 1995 at Radio City Music hall when my client, Bob S., was up for a Grammy award for producing Barney's Favorites, Volume 1. Bono was with his buddy Frank Sinatra that night, and Bono had a serious f-bomb-dropping potty-mouth problem. Bob had to call home and tell the wifey to turn off the TV and tell his kids they'd have to watch the ceremony later on video.

Today I am happy to report that I know who Bono is, and I have a lot more respect for him than I had in 1995. I wish he would run for president. Other than that rule about being a U.S. citizen... (I know, some of you are thinking we're not sure the current prez is, either. Tsk! Stop that.)

Wednesday I am set to depart for Israel at the invitation of the Israel Ministry of Tourism. It'll be my first time in The Land. We're scheduled to meet with the mayors of Nazareth and Jerusalem. What should I ask? Stay tuned here for updates.

I know this is lots of cool stuff. But I confess that I left a big part of my heart in Vancouver, Washington, last week. Keep praying for my extended family. We and they are all doing as well as could be expected under the circumstances. The things is, life moves on, but we're not feeling quite ready for that...

How to Avoid the Flu

I don’t know about where you live, but in my part of the world that porcine flu bug is taking its toll on attendance in classrooms, at church, even on the number of cars on the road. (See? It’s not all bad.) Otherwise known as H1N1, this booger is causing constant fear.

Like other Influenza A viruses, the H1N1 creeper infects only the upper respiratory tract and proliferates there alone. The only portals of entry are nostrils and mouth. While during a global epidemic of this nature, it's almost impossible to avoid coming into contact with this pesky bug, it is possible to alter environments conducive to proliferation.

If you want to do so while still healthy, follow these tips.

1. Know that Tamiflu does not kill but it does prevent H1N1 from further proliferation until the virus limits itself in about 1-2 weeks (its natural cycle). Realize your efforts here can be even more effective than Tamiflu.

2. Wash your hands a lot.

3. See number 2.

4. Tell your hands “Step away from the face.” Resist all those temptations to rub your eyes, rub your nose, touch your finger to your lips to say “shhhh”—to touch any part of face. Especially after you use a public escalator, talk on someone else’s phone, use somebody else’s laptop computer, punch an elevator button, touch a door knob.

5. Gargle twice daily with warm salt water. Use Listerine if you don't trust salt. H1N1 takes 2-3 days after initial infection in the throat/ nasal cavity to proliferate and produce symptoms. This simple gargling action prevents proliferation.

6. Clean your nostrils at least once every day with warm salt water. I know—Ewwww! But it beats dealing with the flu’s actual symptoms—know what I mean? Blowing your nose, and blowing hard, once a day as well as swabbing your nostrils with Q-tips dipped in warm salt water is actually quite effective in bringing down viral population.

7. Boost your natural immunity with foods rich in Vitamin C (think: citrus). If you have to supplement with Vitamin C tablets, make sure those tablets also have Zinc/bioflavonoids to boost absorption. But in general food is better than pills.

8. Head for Starbucks. Yes! Can you believe it!? You get to drink as much warm fluid as possible. This has the same effect as gargling, but in the reverse direction. The liquid washes off proliferating viruses from the throat into the stomach where they cannot proliferate or even survive.

9. Cough or sneeze into the crook of your elbow or your upper arm rather than into your hands and all over your fingers. You’re less likely to spread the virus this way.

10. When meeting someone for the first time, say, "You'll excuse me if I don't shake your hand...just trying to keep both of us well." I doubt anyone will be offended.

All this stuff is easy. It just takes some time. But I’m guessing you’d rather stick a cotton swab in your nose than wait three hours at a doc-in-the-box (full of other sickies) for medical attention. Yeah, me too.

Silver Lining

My niece, Heather (left) posted this photo on Facebook, but not all of our family has FB. So this one's for you, Mom and Dad. XXXOOO

Heather's caption: With my "Aunt-sters". Regardless of the circumstances we are happy to be together. Remembering Gordon and Herman, and trying to work in a little b-day celebration.

As We Forgive...

I've been thinking a lot about forgiveness lately, especially since the young man who hit and killed my brother-in-law has now been shown to have had an accomplice in fabricating a cover-story.

One of my friends has explored the topic of forgiveness in depth over the past several years.

The first time I met Catherine Larson, we were sitting in the back seat of a van full of journalists. We discovered almost instantly that we both had a heart for Rwanda. The husband of one of my students had lost six family members in the genocide, and Catherine had landed her job at Prison Fellowship writing a story about the war-torn country.

When I saw Larson a year later, her friend had released the documentary, As We Forgive, which focuses on reconciliation following Rwanda’s events. That movie inspired Larson to work on a book by the same title in which she desired to include stories of reconciliation from Rwanda. Zondervan released that book in February, and it’s a wonderful resource.

In her book Larson explores some hard questions: If you were told that a murderer was to be released into your neighborhood, how would you feel? What if it weren’t only one, but thousands? Can a country known for its radical brutality become a country known for an even more radical forgiveness?

These questions are not hypothetical. More than a decade after the 1994 genocide, the Rwandan government released tens of thousands of murderers back into the communities they ravaged. Survivors and perpetrators have had to learn to live again as neighbors. As We Forgive explores the pain, the mystery, and the hope through seven compelling stories as victims, orphans, widows, and perpetrators journey toward reconciliation.

Could there be a common roadmap to reconciliation? Could there be a shared future after unthinkable evil? If forgiveness is possible after the slaughter of nearly a million in a hundred days in Rwanda, then today, more than ever, we owe it to humanity to explore how one country is addressing perceptual, social-psychological, and spiritual dimensions to achieve a more lasting peace. If forgiveness is possible after genocide, perhaps there is hope for the comparably smaller rifts that plague our relationships, our communities, and our nation.

World magazine reported, “Catherine Claire Larson traveled to Rwanda to learn about the forgiveness journeys of both victims and perpetrators of the 1994 genocide. She tells the victims’ brutal stories of murder, rape, and betrayal, and also tells the murderers’ stories of joining the killing madness and (in some cases) becoming weighed down by guilt and shame. Larson describes face-to-face meetings between the guilty and the innocent, and how repentance, forgiveness, and reconciliation occurred. She sensitively conveys her subjects’ stories and pulls from them lessons about forgiveness that all of us must learn.”

Readers find in Larson's reporting how suffering, memory, and identity set up roadblocks to forgiveness, while mediation, truth-telling, restitution, and interdependence create bridges to healing. As We Forgive explores the pain, the mystery, and the hope through seven compelling narratives of those who have made a difficult journey toward reconciliation. The result is a text that breathes with humanity and is as haunting as it is hopeful.

For more information, check out the book's web site: http://www.asweforgivebook.com/

The Latest From Mary DeMuth

Launching this week!

Burying her grief, Emory Chance is determined to find her daughter Daisy’s murderer—a man she saw in the flicker of a vision. But when the investigation hits a dead end, she despairs. As questions continue to mount, Emory can’t shake the sickening fear that her own choices contributed to Daisy’s disappearance.

The second book in Mary DeMuth’s Defiance, Texas Trilogy, A Slow Burn is a suspenseful story about courageous love, regret, and the bonds that never break. It's about telling the truth. And most of all, it’s about forgiveness and what remains when shame no longer holds people captive.

Teen Arraigned Yesterday

Here's the latest on my brother-in-law's death. And here's another story about it. Apparently the teen who hit him had an accomplice who lied to police to create an alibi. You can view TV video footage here.

Hey, Thanks!

I received a message from Amazon.com telling me that we had a balance of $10.36 in our account, thanks to people using the link on my blog to purchase Amazon books. A portion of all sales that comes through that link benefits our Kenya work. It costs you nothing and it costs us nothing. But we still get something.

So...I went to purchase the Swahili/English Dictionary and Phrasebook to give to one of the nationals, and guess how much it cost with shipping? Yeah, $10.36.

Miscarriage Stat

The New York Times reports that each day in the United States 2,400 miscarriages happen, according to Dr. Jay C. Butler of the CDC.