November 29, 2002

The wind, rain, lightning and thunder were powerful and persistent last night. By six o'clock in the morning, the power had been out for a while - due to the lightning and the lack of local coordination, we assumed. By four o'clock in the afternoon, we were getting annoyed - though we had spent a quiet and restful day (digesting last night's excesses, playing backgammon, reading), the sun was going down and it was beginning to get cold. We decided to head out and pay a couple of visits anyway, and noticed that everyone else's lights were on. Finally, we checked our circuit breaker. It was off. Feeling quite dumb (a feeling we have too often here it seems!), we flipped the switch and headed out to visit people, deciding not to tell them of our day-long folly.

We look forward to celebrating Deacon Firas’ ordination to the priesthood!

Marthame spoke with the Melkite Deacon Firas in the evening, who had made a trip to Haifa and back to see his bishop today. The official news is that his ordination will be on December 14th in Zababdeh. Unfortunately, his church remains a building in need of great repair, so it's unclear where exactly he will lead worship. But he is beside himself with the good news.