French Pilgrims!

Amazing and true! The French beat the English at settling in the new world in search of religious freedom. In this article from the NYT.com, there is the story of how a small group of French Huguenots settled in Florida in 1564, along the River of May, now St. John's River near Jacksonville, FL. Not only did they settle, but they prospered in this little settlement, making friends with the natives of that part of the world.

In 1565, King Phillip II of Spain had other ideas for FL, leading a holy war against the "Lutherans," (another term for Protestants) with his Catholic Spanish forces.

On the eve of the celebration of one kind of "pilgrim" and "pilgrimage,"e.g., the pilgrims of Plimoth Plantation in 1627, we remember our pilgrim forbears of French origin in the small colony in what is now Florida!

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Buen Camino!

Salaam and Shalom!

B

Chava Alberstein and Greg Brown: Mid-East Meets Mid-West at Duke Univ.

Tonight I had the awesome of listening Greg Brown sing songs from the Midwest section of the USA, and Chava Alberstein, singing songs from her world of Israel. She is an inspiration (though Greg sang well too), because she has figured out that the Palestinians have a place in the land of Israel, as much as the Jews.

What I liked about Alberstein is not only her voice, but consciousness. In the Indy Weekly it wrote that she once put her life on the line by rewording a Passover song to criticize Israeli treatment of Palestinians in the late 80s. She truly advocates peace, which will involve people bending low in order to hear, see, and know that in that part of the world, all three faiths share the same earth, worshiping God.

Shalom!

Salaam!

Buen Camino!

B

El Greco, Velazquez, and Pilgrimage...oh my!

For the past few months there was a great exhibit of the art work of El Greco and Velazquez--along with many other phenomenal paintings from the era of King Philip III of Spain--at the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University. The memories of the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela came flooding over me as I spent a day at the Prado before taking off for Ponferrada to being the pilgrimage to Santiago. Walking among the master painters works of art at the Prado, and then at the Nasher reminded me of the rich and vibrant church paintings, sculptures, and altarpieces that I saw along the way to Santiago.

Fantastic!

Buen Camino!

Brett

Walking in Ancestral Steps

Yesterday was All Saints' Day, and next week's lectionary reading from the Old Testament/Hebrew Scripture hearkens also to our forbears, in which God renews the covenant with the people of Israel: "Then I took your father Abraham (and mother Sarah) from beyond the River and led him through all the land of Canaan and made his offspring many" (Josh. 24:3a).

This is as good a time to remember that the pilgrimage we find ourselves on today is but a continuance of a pilgrimage began before we were ever considered in the great scheme of things. While our footsteps are new to us, we follow the Pilgrim God, whose people have traipsed the soil of this land for generations on end. In doing something old--pilgrimage--we discover anew our faith in God.

Salaam and shalom.

Buen Camino!

B