anyone visited Syria??

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Permalink Reply by Lynda Keen on September 14, 2009 at 7:58pm

I worked twice in Lebanon, for a total of five and a half years, so of course visited Syria many times.
In Lebanon, too, despite what the western media printed about the "civil" war and the deep sectarian divisions worked up by the local warlords and by outside countries, multi faiths in fact co-exist and pray together.
I'm Anglican but have prayed and taken communion with friends in Maronite, Roman Catholic, Armenian, Greek Catholic and Greek Orthodox churches.
I first went to Lebanon to work on 1 December 1981. There were Christmas lights in Hamra, the shopping district of west Beirut, strung alongside Muslim moons, crescents and stars celebrating Eid el Fitr, the festival at the end of Ramadan. That was at the height of the sectarian "civil" war.
Another Christmas, a Druze taxi driver played St Nicholas for me on Christmas Eve, and delivered presents in person to my friends in the village where I lived.
When Pope John Paul II visited Lebanon, he gave Mass to all faiths. There were hundreds of thousands of us in the downtown central square and it was very, very beautiful to take communion with all the Christian denominations plus Sunni and Shi'a Muslims, Alawieh, Druze, Jews and Bahai.
My Lebanese driver, Yahya, who is more of a brother to me than my own two brothers, is a Shi'a Muslim. When I ran an "In the Footsteps of Jesus in Lebanon" coach tour for my Beirut church, All Saints, he rode shotgun because we were going into Hezbollah territory. He came to all the church services along the way and I have a beautiful photo of him and me together singing "He's got you and me, brother, in his hands", a song I chose especially for him for our communion service in Tyre, at a Roman Catholic church where a Franciscan friar welcomes people from all religions. I intend to post details of that tour, with that photo, on this site at some future point when I have time. Yahya is from a village near Tyre and Jesus visited Tyre and Sidon, both in south Lebanon.
In the Holy Land, too, despite the dreadful political situation, ordinary people of different faiths can live amicably together. I taught in a school in Jaffa where both staff and students were Christian, Muslim and Jewish.
When Bishop Riah abu al Asal was inaugurated as Bishop of Jerusalem and the Middle East, the Muslim Grand Mufti attended the service, alongside the Jewish Chief Rabbi and the Greek Orthodox Archbishop.
On my return to live in Britain in 2004, I found Britain to be terribly stuffy and behind the times about multi-faith issues. Here, politically correct lip service is paid to multi faith and multi culturism but in reality we're just supposed to kowtow to one minority non-Christian faith, which is a pretty dreadful situation for our government to have put the country in and rather counter-productive in terms of real interfaith understanding and co-operation.
Thank you for posing such a fascinating question.
God bless. Lynda

Permalink Reply by Paul Hawgood on September 15, 2009 at 6:39pm

Dear Lynda,

Many thanks for your lovely response. I do appreciate this.
As to myself I have held a long interest in comparative religion...I sometimes think that pluralism is a little condescending and I tend to go in a guarded way towadrs relativism!
I spent many long times in Thailand especially where I had a home..also in India which I love. I have also been to Nepal and Vietnam as I am so fascinated by other cultures.
I have long had an interest in Damascus and seeing the street called Straight! and so much else.I appreciate your comments and that tends to confirm my own feelings.
I share your feelings about this country. we have to be realistic but there seems to be a biased slant through the media!
I am most interested in the mass celebration by the Pope!
I happen to be in a city of London guild which is organising a visit to Syria. There is no way I could afford this and I tend to prefer not going in groups anyway but the very mention of all the places prompted me to write as I did. That visit also has a lot of official things which I prefer to void.
I have great interest in Franciscan spirituality also...I can only make sense of things through this!
Sorry this is a disjointed reply but yes I would be interested in anything else you put on the site when you have time!
warm greetings...Paul

Permalink Reply by Lynda Keen on September 15, 2009 at 7:41pm

When are you going to Syria with the guild? Is the date set yet?
Will you stay in Damascus or do a Grand Tour of the country? Damascus is great to visit but there is so much more of interest to see - Queen Zenobia's city of Palmyra (Tadmor) across the Yellow Desert (where the sand is actually reddish pink), the Crusader castle Krak des Chevalier, Aleppo fort, and best of all the Phoenician port city of Ras al Shamra (Ugarit), where the most beautiful ancient Syrian poetry was written.
Though for me when travelling, the most important aspect is the people I meet along the way. I've always found most Syrian people I've come into contact with are very friendly, too, especially if you try to speak a few words of Arabic and compliment all the lovely things there that merit praise.
Maybe you could post some info here about Thailand, India, Nepal and Vietnam?
Nepal is a big gap in my life as I would love to visit but haven't had chance to ... yet.
As you're in London, maybe we'll meet up one day in the City. Are you planning to attend Jim Rosenthal's ordination on 29th of this month? Or St Stephen Walbrook's Business Harvest Festival on 30th?
God bless. Lynda

Permalink Reply by Paul Hawgood on September 16, 2009 at 7:46am

Many thanks Lynda,
No I am sorry I was not clear before. the Guild I belong to lays on many activities during the year most of which are too expensive for me! The trip to Syria is such..it is also too expensive and involves some official functions which I do not want to attend. I normally prefer to travel alone though getting older, I realise that a small group is probably a better bet! So no I am not going with the guild visit. It just turned my mind back to wanting to go there that is all!
Like you I am entirely fascinated by people..what they think and backgrounds and my travels are always about that and not staying in posh tourist hotels etc.

Thank you for the reference to the events..something which I am afraid I had not yet noticed. I am away at the end of the month..only to Suffolk! (I love the walks and quiet there).
Yes I would be happy to meet up and will keep an eye on future planned events.

warm thanks and every good wish,
Paul

Permalink Reply by Lynda Keen on September 16, 2009 at 12:22pm

Don't let the expense of the Guild trip put you off going to Syria.
Syria's a really cheap place to visit independently. There are loads of cheap hotels in Damascus and Aleppo - even Palmyra's two hotels, though luxury ones, are not very expensive. Transport (bus, shared taxi or taxi) is cheap and you can't get lost once you realise that Damascus is called Shams. Food and drinks are cheap, whether in cafes or bought from street stalls.
You don't even need to pay for a flight. You can bus right across Europe and go into Syria from Turkey, which is a very pleasant journey. Or take a boat from Mersin into northern Cyprus then go into Syria to Lattakia (which is where Ugarit is) .I hope that's still possible - I've done this but don't know if that ferry service still operates - check the timetables out of Mersin, maybe available online these days.