Anafora with the Copic Christians [from a few weeks ago]

I started writing this a few weekends ago when we got back from Anafora.
Never finished. Rambled. but capped it off today so if you're interested...read on...

Coptic-American Meeting at Anafora
Anafora is a monastery about 2 hours outside of Cairo…it’s used as a retreat center for many Coptic Christian churches.
What’s the Coptic Christian Church?
Basically Coptic is equivalent to Egyptian (non Arab Egyptian that is). The Coptic Christian Church is the Orthodox Church that was started in Egypt by the Apostle Mark.
Sooo.
Friday we drove to Anafora with a group from one of the Coptic churches…The day was spent in dialogue. Constant dialogue. Soon after we arrived, we intermixed and split into 5 groups for some open discussion.
We talked about the 7 sacraments of the Coptic Church: Baptism, Confirmation, Anointing, Communion, Matrimony, and Priesthood (the first 4 are what’s most important)…traditions, the role of men/women in the church, the architectural significance of the church, fasting, prayer etc. Basically we just asked each other a lot of questions about each other’s church traditions…

A few things I got from this discussion:
- On one hand I gained ENORMOUS respect for the traditions within the Orthodox church… My eyes were fully opened to the beauty of tradition. There is meaning behind literally almost everything (where one sits during mass, the location and number of entries/exits, the structure of the building, the color of Mary and Jesus’ clothing in iconography, the number of pillars supporting the church, etc...). Not only is meaning and symbolism present, but it’s known, appreciated, wanted…It’s not an empty shell. It’s full of passion.
I’m not sure if it’s because Christianity is the minority religion here and there is a form of persecution/discrimination so therefore it’s forced people to either fully embrace their faith or convert…or if it’s because this church was started by THE Apostle Mark, the Mark that walked with Jesus…or if it’s simply that religion is more apart of society and each individual’s life in this part of the world than in the west…
I’m not sure, but whatever it is…I find beauty in the meaning…and I understand how it can bring one closer to Christ.
- On the opposite side of the spectrum…While recognizing the beauty of tradition and the importance of discipline/structure, I was also reminded of the beauty of Christ’s sacrifice on the cross and how that is all that truly matters. Buildings will fall, songs will be forgotten, water won’t always be present… there is beauty in not needing these traditions and practices because as long as your heart is seeking after Christ and your life is following thereafter (however that may look), it is enough. These things bring us closer to Christ; they are important in guiding and teaching us, but we are not dependent upon them for Salvation.
The structure of a building may be a form of teaching or worship…but the structure of a building is not where you find the Church. You find the Church within the body of Believers, wherever they may be.

We had a break for lunch, which was it amazing. The food was vegan and all grown on the grounds. SO GOOOOD.
Then we gathered all together and Bishop Thomas lead a devotional. It was such an interesting devotional…definitely not Western is the only way I can describe it. It was more like listening to one’s grandfather tell a beautiful/moving story about an encounter with Christ.

We had a second discussion period which was even better than the first because people were more relaxed…less defensive…it was more dialogue instead of us simply asking them questions and them answering.

From this discussion I learned more about the Christian/Muslim relationship and the tensions felt by the Christians.
Through the conversation I came to understand how powerful media and education can be.
There seems to be a general trend…the more education a person has, the more open they, the more willing they are to accept others and disregard differences (such as differences in religion).
Also in line with education…People fear the unknown; they fear things they do not understand...a lot of Muslims avoid Christians and don’t know much about Christianity and a lot of Christians avoid Muslims and don’t know much about Islam…This ignorance cultivates fear and it cultivates misunderstanding…which then lead to separation and even tension.

This is why media is important too. Media is a powerful educational tool… it exposes people to ideas; it exposes people to ways of life. It can teach individuals a lot about cultures, beliefs, traditions, etc.
It also familiarizes things making them seem more acceptable and normal. Showing Christians and Muslims interacting as close friends in movies familiarizes this concept and encourages it in real life. (too bad there isn’t really much interaction between the two in the media here)

I also learned of something else that helps ease the tensions between the Christians and Muslims: SOCCER.
Go figure.
One of the Coptic Christians expressed how thankful he is for soccer sometimes because when Egypt is playing and doing well people disregard religion and people become people. Egyptians become Egyptian. Not Muslim and Coptic. It’s a temporary* break from the tension between the two groups.



Later in the evening we worshiped together with the Coptic Christians in the sanctuary at the monastery. Here's some of the music...Some English, some Arabic, some Swedish...
The experience was so beautiful and meaningful...all worshiping together in multiple languages from different backgrounds...worshiping the ONE GOD... At one point someone started reading Romans 5:3-5 (which happens to have been my soccer team's verse last year). It was in this moment that I was reduced to tears, completely overwhelmed with the power and beauty of the night.





Final thought:
Ignorance is not Bliss.

Maybe childlike ignorance is bliss…But general ignorance is, in my opinion, simply a catalyst for conflict.