The following is taken from the newsletter edition of a blog entry originally posted on Courtney's personal blog, Wanderling. You can see the original post here.
I recently came upon a quote that was mentioned on Dr. John Fea's, one of my former history professors, blog (See his post here.). It struck a chord with me both as a historian and, currently, as a missionary:
Historians are not the guardians of universal values, nor can they deliver "the verdict of history"; they must strive to understand each age in its own terms, to take on its own values and priorities, instead of imposing ours. All the resources of scholarship and all the historian's powers of imagination must be harnessed to the task of bringing the past back to life--or resurrecting it....--John Tosh, The Pursuit of History
It seems even more poignant to me now, as I sit at the Beit Sahour School following a lecture and discussion I led for the 11th grade on the topics of ELCA theology on Creation and the relationship of Science and Christianity. As I've grown up, I have realized how our professors and teachers, and really anyone we encounter, can bring us a truth. Yet, that truth may not be the end-all-be-all perfect explanation of life. I gave a lecture to these very bright eleventh graders (in their second language, and they still engaged in dialogue! Can I just say I love this 11th grade class?!) and I had a great time, but I definitely felt that I, while bringing another perspective to the table, was not being accepted as the "guardian of universal values"...and I was so proud!
In a class during my first year of college we talked about wisdom, and how the true mark of wisdom is surrendering your grip on the universal truth and considering that what another person is telling you may be correct. At the same time, though, that wisdom requires not just believing everything anyone else tells you. Wisdom is wrestling with the truth.
So, looking back at that quote I realize how much it applies to life for me here in the Middle East. You could replace "historian" with "missionary living in accompaniment". Regardless of where you are, as a missionary you do not "bring Jesus" (or, heaven forbid, "the right way to live") to anyone. God exists just fine without any of my help (and, in all honesty, despite it). However, what I have been able to do this year is consider another perspective on God, another way in which people experience the Divine.
Seriously, how great is that?!
Part of accompaniment that makes relationships so much work (both during this year, and my life back in the States) is that you have to wrestle with the truth. I can't assume unquestioningly that my community is correct about everything, but I also can't ignore what they have to say because I'm "right". [As an aside, because I know the "Truth" gets to be tricky when we talk about religion, I'm not talking about pluralism. Rather, I'm talking about humility in knowing that we don't know it all.]
This year I've been challenged to take life in the Middle East on its own terms. I can't come in with my American perspective, my paradigmatic lens, and judge my community based on my imposed values (this, of course, is not to say that there aren't values that are shared by my community here and my community back home).
I will not lie and say that there aren't days when I wonder, "Why can't [x] be like it is in America?" but I quickly realize how silly I sound. It's ok for me to miss things back home, but I wouldn't want my community here in Palestine and Israel to change to be the same. They hold too many values, priorities, and truths from which we can and must learn.
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