November 25, 2001

Marthame preached this morning at St. Matthew's Anglican Church. Father Hossam was actually able to make it to Zababdeh this morning from Nablus, though a bit later than usual due to the roads. He passed by the destroyed car of Abu Hanood, the Hamas leader assassinated by Israel yesterday. Today, nothing remains of the car's interior. Instead, it is filled with flowers. The text for this morning was Matthew 9:18-26, the story of a girl brought to life by Jesus at her funeral and a woman healed by touching the hem of Jesus' garment.

Marthame flips the maqlube.

For some reason, the Anglican calendar here doesn't include Christ the King in its church calendar. Marthame made up for that by cooking maqlube (literally, "upside-down") - the idea being that Jesus was not a king in a traditional sense - he did not have riches, he did not have political power, he did not control great armies, and his crown was one of thorns, not gold. As such a king, he turned the world on its ear - upside-down.

Marthame with Fr. Ra’ed and his parents.

We gathered for dinner with Abuna Ra'ed's extended family - it's not often that he gets to come back to Zababdeh, and his parents (not to mention his little nieces and nephews) were thrilled to get to see him.