Patrick's Breastplate

This is a prayer passed down from the very beginnings of Celtic Christianity. The legend says that when Patrick and his missionary companions were traveling to preach to a pagan Irish king, God warned Patrick in a dream that a group of druids would be waiting to ambush and kill the missionaries. At this time, druidic mysticism was the religion of power, and a core belief they held was that the druids could shape-shift. While Patrick and his friends continued their journey, they chanted this prayer. When the missionaries neared the waiting druids, God transformed them into a group of deer and they walked past the ambush safely. I'm sure you can see the significance in this, just like when God used Moses' miracles to intentionally defy the Egyptian belief system and show who the true God is.

Celtic Christianity grew up with very little outside influence from the rest of Christianity. Patrick was a British shepherd boy in the outer reaches of the Roman Empire, who was kidnapped when he was young and had little formal training before almost single-handedly spreading the Gospel through Ireland. And during the time that Christianity was birthed in Ireland, it was dying in Rome while the empire was ransacked and splintered. If you want to kno wmore about that, I'll let you borrow Thomas Cahill's book "How the Irish Saved Civilization". This little prayer will give you a glimpse into the way the Celtic Christians viewed the world and God.



I arise today
Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity,
Through a belief in the Threeness,
Through confession of the Oneness
Of the Creator of creation.

I arise today
Through the strength of Christ's birth and His baptism,
Through the strength of His crucifixion and His burial,
Through the strength of His resurrection and His ascension,
Through the strength of His descent for the judgment of doom.

I arise today
Through the strength of the love of cherubim,
In obedience of angels,
In service of archangels,
In the hope of resurrection to meet with reward,
In the prayers of patriarchs,
In preachings of the apostles,
In faiths of confessors,
In innocence of virgins,
In deeds of righteous men.

I arise today
Through the strength of heaven;
Light of sun,
Splendor of fire,
Speed of lightning,
Swiftness of wind,
Depth of sea,
Stability of earth,
Firmness of rock.

I arise today through the power of God:
God's might to comfort me,
God's wisdom to guide me,
God's eye to look before me,
God's ear to hear me,
God's word to speak for me,
God's hand to lead me,
God's way to lie before me,
God's shield to protect me,
God's Heavenly Host to save me
from the snares of the devil,
from temptations to sin,
from all who wish me ill,
from near and afar,
alone and with others.

May Christ shield me today
against poison and fire,
against drowning and wounding,
so that I may fulfill my mission
and bear fruit in abundance.

Christ be with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me,
Christ in me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ on my right, Christ on my left,
Christ when I lie down, Christ when I sit down, Christ when I arise,
Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me,
Christ in every eye that sees me,
Christ in every ear that hears me.

I arise today
Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity,
Through a belief in the Threeness,
Through confession of the Oneness
Of the Creator of creation.

shwarma and fallafel

Every time I come across a story about Israel and Palestine (like this one) it reminds me of the Furnace trip. I pulled a map on Wikimapia and was looking at the area again, remembering different locations and events. I try to find our hostel in Tel Aviv, then follow the roads to find the bus station and the park where we did a lot of outreach to drug addicts and homeless folks. Then I track north to Galilee and the tour stops, baptisms, and Jesus Boats. I think something special happened on one of those boats...

Then I try to find the road that runs along the Jordan River back into Jerusalem that our bus followed. That is especially fun, because on Wikimapia users can tag locations on the map, and there are tags all over Jerusalem. So it is instant memories, as I can find the Mount of Olives, Temple Mount, and (what might be) Jesus' tomb. I think I even found the house where we stayed with our "guides", and now I'm looking for Cafe Aroma and Meat Burger. Yes, there's not much better than a chocolate croissant and an Iced Aroma. (Tela... VIV!) Interestingly, both of those last two, according to google, are located on Hilel St. At the time I didn't know who Hilel was, but now I do! (Thanks Rob!)

And really, I can thank (or blame...) this trip for why I'm in Pasadena typing this right now. It was standing on the Mount of Olives and looking down at Jerusalem that I thought "This is where everything happened". It came alive like never before, and seeing these places made we want to learn more and more. I can't remember if that was before or after Ryan and I rode on the camel, but I'm sure it was unrelated! :) Hahaha! Good times.

So to all of the Tel Aviv team for being so cool and stomping so well, to Ryan for keeping me company during the tours and the camel ride, to Ben for showing us how a camel really should be ridden (with an umbrella, for the record), to Frierson for not ditching us for the Ethiopians, to Joe for being my personal photographer, to Ron for singing, to B for buying IDF t-shirts with me, to Stefan for setting the bar impossibly high (and still taking time to hang out with us and not just his new fiance), and to Matt for the good debriefing talk just before we left, thanks for the memories. Love you all!