Green or Clean Monday, and the Theology of Icons …
(Remember if you click on the pictures you will get a larger picture to see things in more detail)
As Monday dawned bright and clear here in the Eastern Mediterranean, we looked forward to our first Green or Clean Monday. We had been invited to visit the village of Nissou which is about half an hour from our flat just outside Nicosia along the motorway.
We followed the detailed directions and turned into a small street to see our host, Nanette (our curriculum consultant at the Academy who is married to a Cypriot), waving wildly to attract our attention. Besides Nanette and Christos there was a large friendly dog, tied up to keep his distance and two beautiful little twin girls aged 7 - Elia and Miriam.
Soon we were on our way to a local hilltop which gave us a splendid view of the countryside for miles in every direction! To the north the mountainous spine of Cyprus which runs along the northern shore stood in majestic grandeur. Apart, that is, from the political statement made by the Turkish Cypriot flag which is prominently displayed in white and red stones on the hillside. To the west the Troodos mountains where we have enjoyed some wonderful tours on weekends.
The hilltop was to be the municipality’s venue for this celebration. They had put out tables and chairs for hundreds and then were dispensing free beans and bread for any and all - provided by a local caterer. Some came to set up barbecues to broil octopus and that fragrance was borne by the breeze across the fields. Others were setting out for their picnic lunch the ‘greens’ that they had brought or picked in the field - no meat on this day!
Our hosts and one set of grandparents (both had only completed education to the third and fourth grades but had lived very productive lives) had come well prepared with cooked beets, cooked potatoes, raw artichoke, pickled vegetables, pickalili (a British mustard style pickle), terramosalata (guess what that might be), black, green and Kalamata olives, hummus, tahini, tomatoes, cucumbers, kohlrabi, halva, broad beans, lettuce greens, breads, cauliflower with a salad dressing of some sort, cooked beans. What a cornucopia of food leaving all with full stomachs as we leaned back and allowed the sun to warm our satiated bodies.
Then it was off to fly kites on the strengthening breeze leaving the sky polka-dotted with kites of all sorts.
I did some exploring of an ancient underground church and its more recent replacement. The former gives us a hint of the danger in pursuing faith so prevalent throughout history and the latter the beauty which comes from freedom to worship unrestricted.
A pleasant day was had by all!
Thursday evening Marian and I ventured to the nearby St. Nicholas Church where we entered the church hall to join perhaps 35 who shared an interest in knowing more about this ancient form of worship. When I juxtapose the educational level of those mentioned previously and the churches desire to make sure that their parishioners know the Scriptural stories, we see icons have a place. This is an art form which has two additional prior and continuing medium - mosaics being the earliest and later frescos. Although the time periods of each of these overlap somewhat, there is a chronology from fixed art to that which is portable. Father John reiterated what he had told me in person that his own grandmother could neither read nor write but understood the Gospel through the various icons.
The explanation demonstrated the differences between western perspectives on Biblical stories and that of the iconographers - such contrast would take up many pages and proved interesting to see and hear. Just one small example. The resurrection in western art is usually pictured as a triumphant Christ in some heroic manner whereas the iconic representation is Christ standing on the gates of Hell and lifting Adam and Eve (representative of humanity) from the grips of Hell. Surrounding the rescuing Christ are those to whom He preached while in the grave.
After a cup of cherry tea, a tour of the church’s unfinished art work allowed us to see the depth of meaning which is constantly before worshippers in this church. The unfinished sections speak to the great effort needed to do this artwork and the great costs associated with the artist whom they consider the best in Cyprus.
As we walked home in the cool night air, we were thankful for our heritage in faith and yet realize that ours is one of many expressions of the Christian truth centered on the person of Jesus, our Lord and Saviour!
Be thankful for your experiences and do not let jealousy creep in. We do have our challenges!
David
Carnival, Staff Appreciation and The Filipino Church …
As Canadians we are not all that involved in the celebrations surrounding Carnival. Certainly it makes the news but is usually seen as some festivity which is from other cultures. Well, we find ourselves again is just such a culture! So, in keeping with the proximity of Valentine’s Day and Carnival, the Primary School hosted a party which was attended by lots of costumed little folk. Some of the pictures give a hint of the fun that was had by all - except perhaps the principal who was dragged into dancing on stage with some of the little children! I do not like the spotlight at the best of times and particularly when it involves something like dancing about which I know so little!
Here I am with Rev. Jim Roussos, a member of the Council of the Academy.
I had planned on a staff luncheon for last Friday as a way to encourage the staff and to have a little fun together in the period of the year when things get a little slow because of the weather and the challenge of children who have started to have enough of school. So we met at a local Italian restaurant for a buffet lunch which I think all enjoyed.
One of the staff, George, our Bible teacher mentioned in passing a while ago, that he had never had a tie. So this became the reason for a special gift of a tie to George. I was later told that he did not even wear one to his wedding! After, he came to me and said, “Now sir, you need to get me a shirt that I can wear the tie with!” Perhaps at another function.
I had also purchased a couple of flash drives of memory sticks at a good price and was able to give both of them to people who really were glad to receive them.
This morning we managed to attend the Filipino Church here in Lefkosia. The pastor’s two daughters are attending the Academy and are good students. Recently the church which supports his mission efforts drastically cut back on his salary and so he came to the school thinking he would have to take the girls out of school in the middle of the year since he could no longer pay the fees. The Board graciously said to keep them in school and pay on the tuition as he was able. This is the kind of support I would love to give when such efforts as this ministry are threatened with undermining due to lack of funds. Lord, provide!
In our meeting he asked if I would come and speak and I said I would be happy to do so but would not want to do it the first time I attended. So Marian and I were there this morning and what a marvelous service! Almost completely made up of women - perhaps only 4 men there - due to the fact that these ladies are here to earn money as house keepers earning about $375 CDN per month most of which is wired back to the Philippines each month to support family there.
The church tries to give the ladies (25 - 45 years of age) a busy Sunday to keep them away from the temptations which are so prevalent for ‘single’ women here in Cyprus, even though many are married and have family in the Philippines. The service was a wonderful outpouring of praise and thankfulness for the faithfulness of God. There was some modest tambourine dancing at the front as you can see in the picture and then pastor Marcello preached admitting his nervousness of speaking in my presence!
After, there was lunch for all and then today they were off to the mountains to have some experience in the snow which has fallen on the Troodos in the last few weeks. Thankfully the snow will be captured in reservoirs when it melts in a few weeks so that the shortage of water is alleviated in God’s faithfulness. He is so good!
Well, that does it for this week and hopefully the cough will be gone before the next week is and then I will recover some of my strength and joie de vivre! It's been a long month!
Blessings to all!
David
Dishes, Death and Decoration!
As another week draws to a close, we are thankful for the opportunity to serve here in Cyprus! Yes, there are difficult challenges but God is faithful and we seem somehow to keep going even when mountains refuse to move.
Today was a dreary day in Nicosia, but we are not complaining since the day long rain is so needed. This has been a dry winter and the lack of water to fill reservoirs has implications for the hotter days of summer. The wind was from the north and I am told that this wind brings the needed rain.
Marian and I were downtown about mid-day and were surprised to see so few people on what is usually a very busy main street. Then we noticed that many of the shops were closed so we have to decipher what is cause and what is effect. But we did enjoy some lunch and then as we walked through a department store known as Debenhams, formerly Woolworths, we saw some interesting dishes which I like. Square plates, and bowls - I know that will change your definition of bowl, but that is life - what you thought you knew is being challenged all the time, isn’t it? The first display had a large sign saying 50% off - buy 6 for the price of 3. That was OK but just a few metres away was the open stock sold as singles which were 70% off making the individual plates and bowls cheaper than buying the package which we did not need in the first place - go figure!
On Tuesday I was coming out of the copy shop in the ground floor of our building and one of the cooks from the taverna across the road, which has the best pork chops, by the way, stopped me and asked if I had heard about what had happened to Christo. You see I met Christodolou some five months ago and we often had conversations over at the taverna while he enjoyed a drink. We often talked about the BIble and what he was reading. He often got up at 5 am and read several chapters from the Bible.
Just before leaving for Canada in late November, I went to say ‘Goodbye’ and asked him if there was a gift I could bring back from Canada. He asked for a complete Bible commentary which I brought back and gave to him. When I saw him a couple of weeks later I asked if he had time to read any of it and his reply will stay with me the rest of my life, “It is a very good book - very didactic!”
Christodolou is with the Lord He loved and served. In fact, his name means servant of Christ and he exhibited that in his life. It is with sadness that I reflect on our short friendship but thankful for even that.
Friday was a day of celebration as we honoured one of our students for his accomplishment in the Pancypriot Cross Country Run in Paphos last Friday. I am enclosing a few pictures to give you an idea of our student body at the secondary level, the runner, Nicholas and the presentations which I made to him. I also did a slide show of the pictures I took and put some music to it so that was as some said, “Very professional!” and, “I really like the music!” Good to hear that there are others who get tired of the common music of the day!
Next week is already starting to look busy with appointments which leaves little time for the necessary planning into which I am moving for next year. I am thankful for the help and support of one staff member who is very capable in these terms and so that is a big help! We are attempting to do some educationally unique things here in Cyprus and so hope that this will be attractive to those who learn of our school.
