I discover a new meaning of the phrase “Thank God, it’s Friday” when I set off to attend the Anglican service of the regular community for the first time. In the first week a class mate and I went to the Sunday service and were told that it is mainly frequented by tourists and some refugees who do not work. The service for the people with a regular working week is held on Fridays because nearly everyone is free then. The Friday community is not mainly British either. Many Americans, some Egyptians and various international expatriates complete the picture. I find the service very similar to the German Lutheran liturgy I am familiar with. The community is very open and I am happy to be welcomed in a group if younger people who for example regularly have lunch together after the service.
The current series of sermons centers on Exodus. Of course it is not possible to talk about the symbolic meaning with a side glance on history alone when the service actually takes place IN EGYPT, the same name, the same place, though none of us is imprisoned here and Egyptian authorities do not keep us from going home. I remember my visit to Amsterdam and the very informative and engaging permanent exhibition of the Jewish Museum. The room on Jewish thinking and religion invited the visitor to reflect upon some questions themselves and one of them was, “What is your Egypt?”, meaning, of course, what confines you? In my opinion the sermons I hear at All Saints’ find a good balance discussing the meaning Egypt has in the texts without ignoring that this happened to be the country we happen to live in now, but also reflecting upon the positive role Egypt plays in the New Testament, the situation of Christians in Egypt today and the crucial choices to be made right now by the whole people of Egypt.
During the three weeks with my first host family I also attended some Coptic services in the new and magnificent church of Archangel Michael.
I’ve never been to orthodox services before. Even without my host mother’s translations I’d get a vivid impression of yet another part of Christianity with many experiences very different from my background. Men and women sit in different parts of the church, most women wear head scarves, often white lace containing pictures of crosses or Jesus or the Archangel. Different clergymen (in black robes and turbans or caps and with the obligatory waving beard) and some ten to twenty men and boys from the community (dressed in white with red and gold stoles) perform different rituals. Burning incense is swirled, crosses and icons are carried around in a certain manner, hand bells accompany ling chants sung by the assembled community.
Apart from that I learn that Pope Shenouda III. of Alexandria is awarded this year’s Augsburg's Peace Prize!
Being the oldest, but in some ways marginalized religious group in Egypt I find many Christians to hold somewhat ambivalent opinions about the revolution and the period of uncertainty it caused.
The role religion plays in many Egyptians’ lives, it seems to me, does not differ very widely between Muslims and Christians. In conversations I find it deep rooted in people’s thinking and acting and it is also otherwise visible and else. Apart from the ever more prevalent veil and the huge number of both mosques and churches I see spots on men’s foreheads from praying, taxi drivers often put Quran copies in their window and some like to listen to Quran recitations while driving, people decorate their homes and shops with pictures of Jesus, saints, important clergymen and Bible verses or pictures of Mecca and Medina and Quran verses respectively. Two years ago I found the Muslim creed sprayed onto concrete blocks at the Alexandria shore, now I see it printed on some bus doors. Less obvious are the stamp sized crosses many Christians have tattooed on their hand or forearm.
Coming from a continent that fiercely discusses how banned (which!) religion should be from the public sphere, Egypt certainly appears to be tattooed with religiosity, though what exactly is behind it remains hard to tell. Coming to terms with the diversity (may it be centuries old or a more recent development) instead of members of the powerful majority just ignoring it, on the other hand, will probably be crucial for a peaceful future both in Egypt and Europe.
The Cross-and-Crescent graffiti I see in many places in Cairo could be something I’d like to take home with me as a positive example.
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