PILGRIMAGE TO JORDAN AND EGYPT

Petra - The Treasury.




One of the things that I have done over the years is lead groups of people to interesting places! For instance in 2005 we went on a journey through Jordan and Egypt. It was a fascinating experience, taking in Amman, Petra, St Catherine's Monastery in the Sinai, and ending up in Cairo and many

other wonderful places in between. At key biblical sites we may retell the story, pray or celebrate Holy Communion, and we always have a local guide who travels with us throughout the journey.

St Catherine's Monastery

The Monastery of St Catherine is set in the midst of the Sinai desert where one would think that few people would be, but my! the coaches do pour in and one jostles for a little bit of peace and quiet to see "The Burning Bush" or the bookshop to buy a small icon, but yes it was possible to experience the loneliness and heat of the desert. For some there was the opportunity to climb Mount Sinai and see the dawn rise. Others of us followed our guide in the afternoon on a less taxing walk to meet a Bedouin living in the mountains with his wives, sons, grandchildren and to be entertained with tea and his singing to us. It was magical and moving.

In Cairo we did a huge amount in just 2 or 3 days - the Pyramids, the Sphinx, including a Son et Lumiere one evening which was amazing. A river cruise included dinner and both a belly dancer (mediocre!) and a whirling dervish (see picture) who was excellent. I suppose the highlight of the time in Cairo was seeing the Cairo Museum's section on Tutankhamun which was mind blowing and looked so fresh and clean as if it was all newly made instead of being several thousand years old.

It is always a privilege to take small groups of people on journeys like this. For some, it is the opportunity of a lifetime to see and experience some of the wonders of our God-given world, and to appreciate just what a diverse and rich place that we inhabit. I have seen people's lives changed by experiencing such a journey as this. Not forgetting that it is great fun in the company of Christian people. We are not overly "religious" and we do have fun, as well as trying not to impact too detrimentally on the lives of the people whose countries we visit. We always try and include visits to e.g. children's homes and sheltered workshops and take gifts in kind and cash.

Over the years I have taken groups to the Holy Land which is probably the greatest experience of all, the Passion Play in Oberammergau (Germany), and to Turkey. Accounts of these will follow in due course! I am sharing the leadership of a group to Oberammergau in 2010 - sadly the group is already full, but a trip to Turkey in 2011 0r 2012 is in the planning stages.

Yesterday's Times Newspaper (22nd October 08) carried an item on doing five simple things to stay sane.

1. Connect Developing relationships will enrich you.
   
2. Be active Sport, gardening, strolling maintain fitness
   
3. Be curious Consider the lilies of the fields.....and moments.....
   
4. Learn Keep the challenges coming!
   
5. Give Help friends and strangers links your happiness to a wider community.

Of course the advice immediately had its detractors, dismissing it as "banal", "subjective", and "trivialising mental illness".

It was probably the most important article in the whole of the Times yesterday! There is a fair amount of anxiety, frustration and concern around ranging from "Will I have a job to go to next month?" and "Can we still pay the mortgage?" to "How can I cope with my own feelings of depression?" We meet very few truly liberated people in the course of a day - and a truly liberated person is completely at peace with themselves - so I conclude that focussing on our own needs and relationships for a few minutes each day can only be good!
Chris

So where is Minnow End?
If you stick a pin slap bang in the middle of Essex (U.K.) it would stick in Minnow End, which is on the eastern side of Great Waltham, as you enter the village from Chelmsford, about 4 miles distant. There are no signs to tell you it is Minnow End, but the Ordnance Survey says that it is, and if you find the "Rose and Crown" (probably the nicest pub in Minnow End!!) you will find yourself in the midst of our hamlet. Some of the locals say this was originally Minor End- as opposed to "Church End" and North End". One guy, Chris Mills recently wrote that a map of 1895 calls it Minor End, but then I have a map of a hundred years before that calling it Minnow End!
A local inhabitant puts it down to local "DIY" spelling, because it was apparently once upon a time Minor Mead, or Minnamead.
Whatever, if you drive through too quicky (as most do) you won't even know you've been there because it is unmarked.