I just wrote a few backposts (see July 15 and 17) about stuff that happened last week but I wanted to share. I have mixed feelings about changing the time of a post to other than when it was written. It’s like I’m imposing an artificial chronology on my life that does not reflect the experiential reality. So if I write something now, it won’t be what I would have written two days or a week ago. And so I’m fooling myself (and my readers) if I pass that off as something I wrote back then. But I’ve done it already. So take a look at the previous three or four posts to make sure you’ve read them all.
Archive for July, 2005
On Wednesday we took an afternoon jaunt to The Hague. Although it was blustery and cold, we walked around for a while, visited the VVV (tourist info office), and decided upon the M.C Escher art museum. Escher is famous for his tesselations (interlocking figures that take up the whole canvas) and his mathematical perspective-changing pictures (like the one with an unending river/waterfall or the one with an impossible stairs). Housed in an old royal palace, the museum showed Escher’s progression from realism to surrealism. It was neat to see his works, including woodprint blocks and photos. I particularly enjoyed a virtual reality (headset) experience that took us “into Escher’s worlds,” and a series of computer games where the objective was to arrange blocks in some of Escher’s impossible shapes. As I walked down the grand staircase to the first floor, I distrusted every step, unsure of my visual perception anymore.
Besides being the administrative center of the Netherlands (and some UN offices, like the International Tribunal of Justice), The Hague is a huge cultural center, with dozens of museums and even more music venues and theatre shows. Only a few weeks and a bunch of money could do that justice. So I walked around.
In Haarlem we met with two more of our group for dinner at a small (but evidently popular) Italian restaurant. Besides walking around a beautiful town, I enjoyed being with my friends. We have great conversations about theology and worship and stuff. We headed back to Utrecht relatively early, because the trio of French delegates invited us to their room for a third night of wine and cheese. Tr�s bien!
It is a rare gift to behold an historic event, so rare that I might not have noticed it for the brief ordinariness of it all. I witnessed a small step closer in the dance of ecumenism between long-separated partners: the Catholic Church and the Reformed Church.
In typical Reformed fashion, it began with a study cfommittee charged by the Reformed Ecumenical Council (REC) with the task of evaluating the Heidelberg Catechism Q&A 80 on the Catholic Mass (Eucharist) and the Lord’s Supper. Written in the 16th century, this confession accuses the Catholic Church of “condemnable idolatry” in the celebration of the Mass, on grounds that it denies the uniqueness of Christ in the elements. (There’s a bit more going on there too; read it for yourself. You can also read the Christian Reformed Church in North America’s report on HC80).
On the plane to Amsterdam, I glanced at the ponderous report prepared by the committee. By the time of the presentation session, I had forgotten their main conclusion, and so was suprised to hear their humility and repentance of its gross mischaracterization of Catholic theology, at least today.
When Monsigneur Rodano, head of the Council on Ecumenism at the Vatican, rose to deliver his remarks, his creased hands unfolded a single sheet of paper on the podium. I expected a few dry remarks on the nature of the Catholic Eucharist. Instead, in a light Jersey accent (picture the Godfather in a clerical collar) he voiced an eloquent and impassioned plea for mutual understanding. He warmly commended the CRCNA for its efforts at dialogue with Catholic leaders to learn the nuances of their church’s beliefs, and gave an rousing cry for the honest truth that brings the healing of memory.
I have been in contact with a distant Dutch cousin, Rob Jongejeugd. We’ve arranged an evening at his house in Heerhugowaard in the province of North Holland. I am looking forward to it! In the meantime, I checked out his website and found that we share a common love for hiking. Take a look at his photos to get an idea. The rest of the site is in Dutch.
I just experienced the city of Utrecht in a whole nother light. After walking along the canal from our guesthouse to the downtown, a charming 20-minute walk in its own right, I tried it out on bike. Erin, Chris and I borrowed bikes from the stewards (youth who do the grunt work of the conference). Everyone was out on a bus tour together, but we weren’t interested in doing touristy things. So we got on our bikes and rode, with no map or apparent direction in mind. We turned new corners, rode down narrow alleyways, on gravel paths beside canals, down shopping streets, across main avenues, under the train tracks, and through the brick roads of the downtown. We tried to climb the large tower in the center of town, but ticket times weren’t convenient. It began to rain, so we found a caf� and carried out our original plan for the afternoon: sit and read. I am now reading Debra Rienstra’s new book, “So Much More” (see the website). I’ll write a review when I’m done.
