Historical Christianity

Keywords : Desires, Worldy pleasures, Catholicism, Protestantism, Gregory the Great, History

Yesterday we had Lebanese food. Very healthy stuffs. I wish I could describe them all but I’m one who’s not exactly a food connoisseur. I eat anything and almost everything. All I know is there were eggplants mixed with olive oil, and Lebanese bread called ‘foul’, chicken shawarma, and something that looked like yogurt plus also something that looked liked beans. Oh yes, and lots of nice round, yellow-green olives and also leafy mint. Alright since we’re on the topic of food, let me boast by saying I’ve tasted traditional arab coffee. Not Arabica ok? It tastes weird. A typical Chinese like me wont crave for it again. Not sure exactly how the concoction is made but I was told they have ginger and cloves mixed into it. Believe me, it tastes horrible. It took me 10 min. to finish the drink the size of a typical tiny chinese tea cup.

The temperature outside was damn bloody hot. I was told this is not even summer yet. My Jordanian friend was a bit exaggerating I guess when he said this weather is considered winter in Jeddah. Whew! I’m bracing myself for what summer is in store…55 degrees celcius!

This morning I reluctantly joined a Filipino Christian fellowship group. I just happen to be there in one of the guy’s home and didn’t know such a gathering was in store….

Well, If the muslims are divided into 2 categories namely, the Traditional Muslims and the Fundamentalist Muslisms (jihadists…etc.), we also have the Traditional Christians(catholic) and the Fundamentalist Christians (have you been saved and are you sure you are going to heaven if you die now in front of my nose?). The pastor, in his characteristic long-winded sermon was full of gusto and can easily woo anyone who’s a newbie in religion to fall into submission. He continued to ‘khaw peh, khaw bu’ and I almost fell asleep. I’ve heard the same old stuffs probably a hundred times and they strike me as…what’s the term for ‘lack of depth? His talk was not even at the level of the popular book, ‘Purpose Driven Life’. Many people will say the book is very profound. Ask any priest and they will say it’s a yawn. It is very difficult to understand what I mean unless one has been exposed to a solid catholic world-view. Or one has read the writings of Chesterton-the apostle of common sense, CS Lewis, St. Teresa of Avila, St. Therese of Lixeus, St. John of the Cross, or Newman’s ‘Development of Christian Doctrine’, or something more contemporary like David Armstrong’s apologetics, and of course, Thomas A Kempis’ classic ‘Imitations of Christ’ and numerous others I cant recall now with my slowing brain. Well trust me, the fundamentalist christian’s world-view is like drinking artificial flavoured orange water against real fresh squeezed orange juice.

Sorry I cant help being opinionated about religion especially since I am now living at the historic city of Jeddah, it being one of the epicenters of religious history. “Jeddah” is an Arabic word for grandmother and is believed to be where Eve had been buried. Yes, Adam’s wife….The other day I was just loitering at the sidewalk waiting for a friend when a total stranger passed by and greeted me with ‘Asalamu alaikum’. It means ‘Peace be with you’ and I should reply: “alaikum salam” which means “And also with you”. Sounds familiar? This is how they greet each other. Our ‘Hello’ equivalent. This was also how Christ greeted the apostles, if you remember after the Last Supper and this is how at Mass we greet each other. My Egyptian friend said that after every prayer session, and before leaving the mosque, they would look to their left and then to their right with the greeting. This is because muslims believe that we are all given two guardian angels each by God- one always at our left and the other stationed at our right.

Going back on the topic of Christianity. On the surface, Protestant theology seems to be true while catholic theology seems to exhibit characteristics that is prone to suspicion. But if one is to be inquisitive and willing to take the necessary steps to probe and dig deeper, to study and play detective. With a rational and objective mind, one will clearly see how true and beautiful catholic theology is. The detective will be surprised to find that all the pieces of the puzzle fits neatly and perfectly together. One will also discover that protestant theology does not hold water. It tries to explain itself but will eventually result in a frustratingly circular argument that cannot be resolved. Its very existence is self-contradicting and in order to rationalize its existence, one has to adopt an irrational mindset. As Newman would have it : "To be deep in history is to cease being protestant". On the other hand, the beauty of catholic theology is its simplicity. Even a child can understand, and yet it has been said that it is deeper than the ocean and no single human being has ever probed its full depth.

1 hour later the pastor passed the baton to this chap named Rom. He said he was in seminary for 8 years before but later left. And that he belonged to S.V.D. That sounds very very familiar. Did I just hear ‘SVD’ mentioned in a protestant sermon? I tried to open my eyes and wake up to make sure that what I just heard is not my subconscious going into la-la land.

Rom continued by saying in his recent visit to Manila , he met one of his fellow-seminarian friend who also left the seminary almost at the same time as him. Now after the long hiatus, his friend told him that he now has decided to re-enter the seminary to start again where he left off. Rom said that this friend is a fil-Chinese with his last name being Banson. Anyway Banson showed him to his room inside the Benedictine ‘monastery’ near Mendiola. (is there one there?). it was a tiny and humble room, with a wooden bed and a stale pillow. No soft mattress. By the side, is a small table with a little lamp and a bible. Nothing else. The room, absolutely bare. Rom asked Banson to explain his reason for re-entering the seminary. Banson said he wasn’t happy or content with life in the middle of the world and believes he will find true freedom of spirit inside the Benedictine cloister. Those words have more weight when coming from someone who seems to have a lot of things made for him. Banson, Rom explained, stays in New Manila and is the heir to Mercury Drug + a host of other businesses and franchises. Here is a man who has tasted the world and found it to be lacking.

Hmm…I’m always fascinated with people like Banson. Perhaps we and the world may ask: “What madness would make a man renounce everything and all the pleasures of the world to suffer and deny himself for the sake of something or someone unseen?” But to the world, he may in turn reply by asking: “What vanity wills one to cling on to temporal and external consolations when all pleasures of this world are fleeting? We get wearied by the very same things that we love to possess….When we do not have them, we eagerly pursue and desire them, but when we have obtained what we desired, almost immediately we get weary and tired of them. We are like children who when they do not have a toy, will scream and jump and cry, but when the child obtains the toy, he / she almost immediately throws it to the side and quickly forgets about it. Strange yet true. Some theologians explained that it is because our hearts have an infinite capacity for happiness, and nothing finite can fill and satisfy it! (but only what is infinite). Echoing one of my personal favourite saints - St. Augustine , the womanizer-turned- saint. After many years of a life lived in pursuit of worldly pleasures and honour, he finally wrote his famous words: “Oh Lord, our hearts are restless until they rest in Thee”.

Come to think of it, it seems like whatever it is that consoles us- soft things, possessions, praise and honour, bodily comfort and pleasures, soon becomes the very same things that afflict and confounds us in other ways. We often find ourselves chained and becoming slaves to the very things we seek…70 years quickly passes and in a short while, death comes to greet us. “He who was dressed in a king’s robe is now covered with worms...” Who was it who said something like: “when I visit the graveyards, and watch the tombs of men who ruled kingdoms and empires. The very same men whose glories were admired by many and whose words instilled fear in many men. And now when I see their tombs lay side by side with other dead men, all forms and manner of awe and envy in me instantly disappear”.

Jeddah Exhibition

My Lebanese colleague drove me to the Jeddah International Exhibition Centre and dropped me off and left. Before we left our hotel, he explained that I should bring my passport along wherever I go because a foreigner without an iqama can be sent to jail immediately without trial. I needed my passport to show him I have a business visa. Cool. I didn’t know that up to today since I arrived, I have been constantly at risk without my passport beside me.

I wanted to come here to witness what an arab building materials expo looks like. It felt strange that they hold their exhibitions at night. In Saudi Arabia , this is norm. I was told that the scorching heat during the day prevents people from venturing out the streets. Hmm.. today I learned something new.

I moved from booth to booth. Again wasn’t surprised that I seem to be the only asian in the building, with exception to 1 or 2 Filipinos I got to meet. A brick made of volcanic ash/ stones caught my eye and this time, was surprised to find out from the arab that there are volcanos in Saudi Arabia ..oh man, I’m not sure if he was bluffing me or if my non-existent Arabic and his poor English were a source of miscommunication…volcanos in the desert?....There were rows and rows of booths displaying boring steel industries, homogeneous tiles, laminated mdf board….Another item that caught my eye was the PPR(polypropylene) pipes without need for adhesive joining compound but instead are joined by heating- I thought this was quite interesting for an arab invention, later I was told it to be adopting German technology. Or maybe I’m just not updated with technology anymore. Meanwhile, I moved to another booth displaying beautiful stones. The Pakistani assured me that I am inside a museum. His booth showcased decorative stone walls made of rare precious stones such as emerald, agate, and a few others I cant remember the name. These stones are polished and glued together by an industrial transparent epoxy. At the center of each showpiece is a hundred million years-old ammonite fossil. My attention was drawn to the floor I was standing on. Fossilized timber probably hundreds or even thousands of years old. I was told they were made in Mauritius . Hmmm….one of these days, maybe I should visit the place. With my propensity for natural materials in interior deco, I think with a little dash of carpet to soften the ambience, it will make for a real nice and cozy living room.

As i continued to move from one booth to the other, from a distance there looked like a man whose features was much more familiar. Chinky eyes, fair yellow skin. He must be either from china, Taiwan or japan, I thought. I made sure our paths crossed and greeted him. “Hello there sir, Are you Singaporean?” though I knew it a remote possibility for a singaporean to be in this place. “No, I’m Korean.” He replied with a smile. “Oh, I am glad to see an asian here.” He knew what I meant and was glad, too. He was accompanied by an Indian whose features and even body shape looked like a clone of Fr. Anthony of the Church of the Good Shepherd in Singapore . Cool! Later I found out he was a Yemeni born in Kenya . I almost greeted him ‘father’. he has 2 wives. I got none. The Korean said, no problem he’ll find me a girl here. Haha. Just the other day, our Bangladeshi waiter in the office from Dhaka said, “ In Jeddah, it is impossible to find a girlfriend”. I couldn’t agree with him more. In a place where man and women are not to be seen even glancing at each other, and marriages are arranged by their Arabian parents. There is just no way. Now this Korean chap is resourceful! Kim, told me that in his country, majority of people are either sirnamed “Kim”, “Park’ and one other I cant recall. He said the rest have Chinese sirnames like mine. His brother in law is ‘Lim’….hmm..i didn’t know that…He said, he and Ali, the Yemeni are like brothers to each other. There is a great contrast of cultures between the two and yet, they see each other as brothers. Wow.

We moved together hopping from booth to booth and finally Kim was greeted by an Arab wearing a red turban. Immediately, they started talking business…Later on our way home, with Kim on the driver’s seat and Ali at the back, Kim said he flew with this arab businessman to Seoul last year and impressed the chap with his connections with the big boys in Korea . I would imagine he knows one of those cheobols from Samsung or Hyundai…the arab was also talking big, he said his relative owns a petrochemical plant and that he would bring Kim to meet him. Kim explained he has ready buyers of 500mil. Tons (whatever) of gasoline and LPG gas in China . It was amusing to listen to their conversations as both seem to be intent on impressing the other. I think I can believe the arab bec. When I mentioned our project, immediately he said he knew the bosses of Savola and Kinan. The financiers of our $800m. mixed use development, currently still on the drawing boards stage.

As we reached home, Kim assured me that should I need anything, just holler and give him a ring. He said we should have dinner or lunch one of these days.

I’m still adjusting to life here and he knew how difficult it is….Meanwhile, I thanked him for the ride and said bye for now to the 2 brothers.

First Impressions of Jeddah

I was awoken by sounds of muslim prayer chants. It struck me that the average faithful and pious muslim lives a life of ascetism and prayer probably more rigorous than our Carmelite monks.  I am not sure how many times our Carmelite brothers pray as a community in a day but here, the muslims pray 6 x daily beginning at 4:50am. During the day, They utter ‘Hamdullilah’ after every sentence they make. It means ‘Allah be praised’. I suppose if every christian would imitate: ‘Praise be to God/ Jesus Christ’, he would also be on his way to sainthood. Compare this to the average fil-chinese hokkien-speaking burgher like myself. I cant count the no. of times the typical suffix ‘sai nia’ ends in every sentence. Or the prefix ‘piao si’ before every sentence. ‘tsap tsing’, ‘kan nin nia’ ‘tsao tsi bai’ ( Singapore hokkien). We greet each other with “Sai nia, kumusta na pare?” or ‘pare, long time no see, din peh, di leh tsong sia loh ah tseh?” and we reply by the usual: “piao si eh, seng dih tsin paih ah”. Without these suffixes and prefixes, the sentence just sounds grammatically incorrect.

Life here is monastic even for the wealthy arabs. There is nothing to do here except pray and eat and sleep. Though it seemed to me that the people aren’t complaining. They don’t feel deprived as we would probably think. There is no shopping culture here and I wonder how the humble malls even survive. No movie theatres to go to. No fine dining restos, no pubs with billard tables much lest dancefloors. Only lots of ugly men with ugly beards and miles and miles of desert sand dunes, sandstorms, and no pigs. No fair & smooth-skinned babes on miniskirts. Many world cities seem to be evolving to share similar broad characters- skyscrapers skyline, retail and commercial shopping malls left and right, bustling streets with fashionable ladies and men in shiny big cars...adjust your lense’s focus to the background and you find the contrast against beggars by the wayside, worn-out faces of construction workers…fast-walking men in smart suits, politicians making speeches, rallies, labour strikes…Look around some more and you’ll see women in shorts walking their dogs in the park, men drinking beer and getting drunk, families and friends in alfresco restaurants, children playing balls on the streets, Christmas lights, santa claus, couples in fine dining, packed sports stadium, group of teenagers yakking and laughing, cyclers talking on their handphones, tourists posing and taking photos, lovers kissing, frantic cabbies, buses and jampacked trains, kayakers practicing by the river, women sipping coffee on one hand and a pocketbook on the other, bars, pubs and neon lights. Teeming with activities 24-hour non-stop and yet, sometimes, I wonder if all these activities even make us truly happier? Or is it just a mask? Here, you look around and will discover all of the above is non-existent, their only entertainment or sports it seems to me is football and kite-flying. People are generally stoic. They don’t laugh or smile much but they seem to be content. This place is truly unique. Compare Jeddah to other cities in the world, this place is, well….now I am unable to decide so quickly in all honesty which one is heaven and which one hell.

First Impressions of Jeddah

Today is Friday. Our Sunday equivalent in Saudi Arabia . I went strolling to explore a bit of the surrounding areas around where I am staying. I found a Chinese resto nearby selling fish soup for 8SR, also I was interested in getting a 19SR steamed fish. I was out hunting for ‘safe’ food for me to eat as I was recently diagnosed with gallstone. No meat, no oily food and no fatty food allowed. Their restaurants have separate entries for single people and for families with wives and children. Singles are basically referring to men. Women are not allowed to walk alone in the streets unaccompanied by their husbands.

I came out of Carrefour and felt it very eerie as the place is so desolate. Not a single soul in the mall…whew. I felt like I was in ghost town. Outside, the streets were equally desolate. I attempted to take a few photo shots using my handphone. I was warned by the Singapore consulate that taking photographs here is banned. For what strange reasons, I wasn’t told. So I treaded carefully and with extreme caution less I get caught. From what I heard, it is especially forbidden to take photographs of women. As if there is anything revealing about their black ninja suits.

An arab in his car parked by the side horned me. I ignored him. He horned 2 more times, I continued walking as if I didn’t notice him. He turned on his engine and started following me on the road while I walked nonchalantly by the sidewalk. He horned again and this time I looked at him with my solid black dark shades on and signaled him to leave me alone. I was wearing a t-shirt and long faded casual brown pants. I was wondering to myself what he wanted. He accelerated and disappeared ahead on the road. Whew. I thought he was going to be persistent and I was already planning my next move.

The Red sea was nice but not as beautiful as I imagined. There were floating seaweeds and across the sea, you can see the King’s palace on an island. This place is called Corniche. From where I was standing, just a 50 meter away were 3 white seagulls hovering around in circles. Every now and then, one of the birds will dive down into the water in its attempt to catch some fish or maybe simply to cool its head from the heat? It was almost sunset actually….i was just strolling romantically by myself along the shore when I saw the same familiar white car coming toward me. He parked it just a few meters away from where I was standing and was about to alight. I sensed danger. Instinctively, I started running away from the shore toward the city. I quickly crossed the double 6-lane highway amidst the running vehicles (very few though) and headed toward the direction where I came from earlier. I run fast as fast as I could. It wasn’t easy to hide as the streets were wide and the place so desolate that there are hardly any people by the roads and sidewalks. Occasional 1 or 2 passersby and that’s it. So any moving object is easy to spot. I stopped to catch my breath and hid behind one of the corner of the building. All buildings here looked the same. Soul-less 4-6 storey high white painted stucco and plain dull facades reminiscent of Mediterranean architecture.

I peeped through the sharp corner of the wall to check if he is following behind. Nothing. I was a bit relieved but knew I wasn’t safe yet. A friend of mine said that ‘the joy of the prize is in the hunt’. I felt like a chicken in a lion’s den. This is ridiculous and it almost seemed surreal to me that this is happening. I was being chased by an arab who thinks I am a woman just bec. I have smooth asian skin and don’t wear a beard. I don’t have to pinch myself to tell me that this is real. I know this is real and its happening. Now I can identify with how threatened women feels when confronted with idiotic man…no fun man, believe me. I tried to relax and started walking briskly toward the direction of small alleys. I don’t dare confront him as he is much bigger and this is his territory where my understanding of shariah law says it is not unlawful to kill an infidel. ( a non-muslim ). Lots of small god-forsaken alleys with abandoned rusting cars and dirt roads. Still everywhere all buildings look the same to me and I was getting a bit disoriented as to which direction leads back to the suite I was staying in. I passed through several more alleys and open parking spaces enclosed in chain-linked fence. Luckily it wasn’t totally locked up so that I needed to do a u-turn. There was a small hole in the fence and I just slipped through to get to the other side. Occasionally I saw a few black boys on the streets playing some games with their black mothers wearing the traditional abaya and baby-sitting. These are migrants from nearby Ethiopia or Somalia I guess. I walked slowly cutting through more alleys. At last I passed through a mosque, and discovered the reason for the desolated streets and shops. Its prayer time. Devout muslims parked their cars outside the mosque and one by one they walked in through the gates into the hall to pray. I said to myself that if he reappears again, I will go inside the mosque. I figured it seemed to be the only safe place as the streets are literally empty. Inside, I can hide myself amidst the hundreds of people praying. Although i will still look odd with my yellow t-shirt, pants and timberland costume contrasts with their white arab tunic and sandals. I am sure most muslims are good people. I was just unlucky to bump into this exceptional chap.

I need a disguise fast. Growing my beard may not be enough. Later my friend suggested I send him my body stat so he can send me a wig, high heels, ear rings and a bra, and then I can wear an abaya.

When I reached home, I watch a dvd by Jet Li I brought with me from Singapore . I also needed to practice some basic kung fu self defense.