Journey Back to Eden.pdf - St Mark Coptic Orthodox Church Chicago

JULYA TIME FOR FAREWELLSThe Crucible of Upper EgyptJULY 1–3, WEDNESDAY–FRIDAYThe last several days have been spent taking a train tour ofEgypt, south of Cairo, traveling from one village to the next intoareas of Egypt that are more and more Coptic. As we pass throughtowns that are increasingly Christian, there is a noticeable change inthe landscape. The number of church steeples with crosses atopthem begins to show as high a frequency as the number of minaretswith crescent moons on top. The skyline is sometimes dramatic becauseof this—and strangely beautiful. If only the faithful of bothreligions could so beautifully coexist as their towers on the horizon!The tensions between the Christians and the Moslems in thisarea are greater than in the north. Perhaps it is because the Christianshave a higher profile here; perhaps they are more outspokenhere. Perhaps just the very sign of them atop the churches, as wellas their greater numbers, confirms the success they enjoy. Thismakes the lack of unanimity, the fact that the nation is not entirelyIslamic, more difficult for the Egyptian majority to endure. A numberof Moslems have recently told me how painful it is for them toacknowledge that, after so many centuries, there are still people inEgypt who are not Muslim. They say that since it is obvious toanyone with an open mind that Mohammed is God’s prophet, it isdifficult, even agonizing, from their perspective, to imagine that somany cannot grasp this “truth.” They wonder if it is, indeed, hardheadedness,hard-heartedness, contempt, or arrogance, by whichthe Copts refuse the “obvious truth” of the Islamic religion.194