God's will

An extremely listless day - yesterday. The weather again was unrelenting. Nevertheless I made the Way of the Cross. It was a smaller group than usual - one group of Spaniards and another American I think. But I did meet a Mainland Chinese friend who's studying at the Hebrew University; he brought a few friends from Macau to visit the Muslim Quarter just as the Way of the Cross started. And I think the Bishop of Quwait was also present. There were no incidents yesterday - we had a heavy military presence escorting us.

Started packing my luggage for Dar es Salaam. Nothing much to carry but because of the new liquid restriction law for carryon luggage, it means I have to bring two luggage with me - one to be checked-in and the other hand hand-carry. What a bother. Today the 3 Lebanese seminarians are coming to help me clear up my room (they don't know that yet!). We had dinner at the Legacy yesterday - as usual it was superb food and service. You guys ought to come and experience the Legacy. It was previously the YMCA but is now renovated and newly managed by Nazarene Tours. Great job they did!

Anyway at dinner were the 3 Lebanese seminarians whom I will not longer see, as they have to move to Rome for their studies. They're William, Jihad and Ziad. They're all in their 1st year of Theology. We chatted alot and laughed alot. But none of us remembered to bring a camera so today they're coming over for photos.

Yesterday and today's readings deal with the terrible fate of kingship in ancient Judea. Athaliah the queen mother tried to usurp power and the rebellion led by Jehoida the Priest ended her rule (she was the only woman who actually ruled Judea). Then Joash the next king kills Zechariah the son of Jehoida the Priest (who had died) because he was criticised for idolatry; in effect it was another call for rebellion against the new king. Here we see religion and politics clashing. I think several things comes to mind when we read these passages: 1. The kingship was a bad idea, Samuel had already warned the people of the tragedy of having a king "like the other nations", and rejecting God as their only king. 2. Religion offers a system of check-and-balance for an otherwise all-powerful kingship in the ancient world. Be that as it may, our reflection comes back to ourselves: sometimes we find this struggle within our very selves - the desire to aggrandize, overlording others, exerting oneself; and the spiritual instinct to holdback, be humble, serve. No one can say which side of the balance is better for you. Only doing God's will is the best.