{"id":359,"date":"2010-12-10T07:22:00","date_gmt":"2010-12-10T14:22:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/69.195.124.95\/~redletu4\/advent-for-aliens\/"},"modified":"2010-12-10T07:22:00","modified_gmt":"2010-12-10T14:22:00","slug":"advent-for-aliens","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/advent-for-aliens\/","title":{"rendered":"Advent for aliens"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>
It was a lonely December in Adana, Turkey. As a 21-year old airman with a wife and a new baby, this was my first Christmas away from home.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Every morning before dawn, the loudspeaker outside our apartment would broadcast a call to prayer. A few faithful Muslim men would\u00a0 shuffle up to pray, feet bared,\u00a0bowing toward the rising sun. It was a brew of smells, sounds and sights that stirred up my sense of wonder.\n

It\u00a0was a strange feeling holding on to\u00a0customs that no one else did, this Advent stirring I had. I now understand how foreigners feel when they come to this country and\u00a0can\u2019t find their favorite food or hear any music from home. The whole world\u00a0\u2014 from worship, to driving patterns to conversation \u2014 is foreign beyond words.<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
Walking throught the crowded shopping district during December was different too.\u00a0No garish\u00a0signs. No midnight madness. No dogs barking Jingle Bells over the sound system. The rug sellers, the glass shops, the merchants selling fruit, \u201cyes, the very best\u00a0fruit around mister\u201d\u00a0were all oblivious to\u00a0\u00a0the American oddity of commercializing a Holy Day. \n

There was one shop owned by a man who spoke wonderful English, rich with the\u00a0tonal\u00a0qualities\u00a0picked up from\u00a0 BBC broadcasts on shortwave. He loved Americans and wanted to show off his language skills and converse about American life. \u201cDallas<\/em>, good TV show, yes? Farah Fawcett beautiful woman. Lovely teeth. Stayin Alive, Stayin Alive, ah-ah-ah!\u201d <\/p>\n

And to display\u00a0his \u201ccomplete understanding\u201d of American culture, he propped a two-foot\u00a0Santa Claus doll in his window, strung tinsel over his copper wares, and played the same tape of Christmas songs, over and again. \u201cSilent night\u201d and \u201cAway in a Manager,\u201d were songs he hummed,\u00a0but didn\u2019t understand.<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
Aside from this one haven, there\u00a0were no twinkling lights, no decorations and no reminders of our precious season.\u00a0To them, it was just another month \u2014 of survival.\n<\/div>\n
In our little apartment, we\u00a0decided to make it festive. Buying a spruce tree in this desert land was out of the question, so we found a two-foot lemon bush sold from a stand on street corner\u00a0and decorated it with strands of \u00a0licorice strands and popcorn strings. We hung a fig sprig over the doorway instead of mistletoe, playing\u00a0Bing Crosby on the cheap tape player. Amazingly, we got the spirit.\n

But the best moment came on Christmas Eve. I went to the Base Post Office and there was a notice for me to come to the counter. The military mail clerk had me pull up to the loading dock where told he helped me load\u00a0\u00a0it into my 72 Chevy station wagon.<\/p><\/div>\n


<\/span><\/p>\n

Once home, the three of us ripped open the box that was sent sometime in October \u2014 not waiting till Christmas morning. Our families had sent items from home \u2014 Cracker Jacks, soft toilet tissue, newspapers, a baseball glove,\u00a0videotapes of the Bob Newhart show, and cherry chocolates. All the comforts of home.\n<\/div>\n
Although the family situation\u00a0has changed, I\u2019m 25 pounds heavier and no longer wear those stripes, I still remember the simple joys.<\/div>\n
\n
And today, as a\u00a0stranger in\u00a0a strange land, an alien, I\u2019m still trying to create things that last beyond the\u00a0din of a world gone crazy.\n

Comment?<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Over at <\/span><\/em>Faith Barista<\/em><\/span><\/a>, Bonnie Gray is hosting a blog carnival on faith. This week, the subject is the simplicity of Christmas.<\/span><\/em>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

\n\"Enhanced<\/a><\/span>\n<\/div>\n
Please, share with a friend if you feel moved.
\nRead all past issues at http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert<\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It was a lonely December in Adana, Turkey. As a 21-year old airman with a wife and a new baby, this was my first Christmas away from home. Every morning before dawn, the loudspeaker outside our apartment would broadcast a call to prayer. A few faithful Muslim men would\u00a0 shuffle up to pray, feet bared,\u00a0bowing […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2375,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[134,491,916],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-359","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-christmas","category-lemon-tree","category-turkey"],"yoast_head":"\nAdvent for aliens<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"It was a lonely December in Adana, Turkey. As a 21-year old airman with a wife and a new baby, this was my first Christmas away from home. 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