Yesterday, I was catching up on a few things and I found an article from the Prague Monitor, entitled Poll: Czechs increasingly tolerant toward foreigners, very interesting. “Why?” you ask. Well, Czechs, as a whole, aren’t known as the most friendliest people in Europe, especially towards “outsiders”. You can’t blame them though. Look at their history. I don’t want to recount all of Czech history here, but to sum it up, they have been repeatedly attacked and/or conquered from “outsiders” for centuries! I would imagine after a few hundred years of this it would create some resentment, if not distrust, towards presumed “outsiders.” I do want to defend many of my Czech friends, because I have many warm and deep friendships. However, as a whole you can see some trends. Here is what the Monitor had to say,

Czechs become more and more tolerant of foreigners staying in the country and nearly nine out of 10 Czechs said they believe foreigners should be allowed long-term stays in the Czech Republic, according to the latest CVVM agency’s poll released Tuesday.

But adversely, “Two-fifths said anybody who wanted to permanently stay in the country should have the opportunity.” Which seems a little strange compared to the poll above. I don’t quite understand the rational in the two polls, but as someone who plans, Lord-willing, to spend the rest of his life here, it is good to hear that the tide is changing. It will be interesting in the next 10 years or so, because the people in their teens and twenties have a much different attitude than older generations in many ways. We shall see… But for now, I’m excited because they like us! Or they like us a little bit more that is!

The First of May or the “Day of Love” is upon us, and it really doesn’t mean anything more than a day off of Czech class for me and I guess getting some work done (tear, sniff… Not really.). Maybe some day, I will join in the festivities, but until then I will enjoy it as a day to sleep in and get some work done. So where does this “Day of Love” come from? One of the most renowned, if not the most renowned, Czech poets, Karel Hynek Mácha, wrote a poem entitled, Máj (May), and for the last two centuries this poem has led to much love. Today, I wanted to share a piece of this Czech literary gem with you on this Day of Love. I’ve been told, and read, that the majority of Czech students are required to memorize the beginning verses of Mácha’s poem. Here is some information about Mácha and his famous poem from myczechrepublic.com:

On May 1st, lovers gather at the statue of Karel Hynek Mácha, the Czech Romantic “poet of love”, in Prague’s Petřín park where they lay flowers and spend a few moments. Then they kiss under the blooming cherry trees of the park. Karel Hynek Mácha (1810 – 1836) was a great Czech Romantic poet and author of the epic poem Máj (May). The poem, written in a remarkably beautiful style, tells about the tragic love of two young people and has become a poetic masterpiece of the Czech Romantic period and Czech literature in general.

And now to the poetry. Click here to read more.

Late evening, on the first of May—
The twilit May—the time of love.
Meltingly called the turtle-dove,
Where rich and sweet pinewoods lay.
Whispered of love the mosses frail,
The flowering tree as sweetly lied,
The rose’s fragrant sigh replied
To love-songs of the nightingale.
In shadowy woods the burnished lake
Darkly complained a secret pain,
By circling shores embraced again;
And heaven’s clear sun leaned down to take
A road astray in azure deeps,
Like burning tears the lover weeps.

A haze of stars in heaven hovers—
That church of endless love’s communion—
Each jewel blanches and recovers
As blanch and burn long-parted lovers
In the high rapture of reunion.
How clear, to her full beauty grown,
How pale, how clear, the moon above,
Like maiden seeking for her love,
A rosy halo round her thrown!
Her mirrored image she espied,
And of self-love, beholding, died.
Forth from the farms pale shadows strayed,
Lengthening longing to their kind,
Till they embraced, and close entwined,
Coiled low into the lap of shade,
Grown all one twilight unity.
Tree in the shadows writhes to tree.
In the far mountains’ dark confine
Pine leans to birch and birch to pine.
Wave baunting wave the streamlets move.
For love’s sake—in the time of love—
Anguished goes every living thing.

aia
In 40 minutes I’ll be getting in a car to head an hour or so out of Prague for our spring AIA planning retreat. Shortly our team will be disbanding and heading back to the States (except for me) for various things, and that means planning time! For those who know me, planning and meetings like this aren’t my strongest suit, but I’m actually going into the next 4 days with a good attitude! Praise God! It should be good. Please pray for our time that it would be productive, would bring us together as a team, would bring a clearer group vision and more. One of the things, I’m looking forward to is seeing Billy’s (my director) vision of transitioning from outsider roles (which I would say is very, very common for Campus Crusade and Athletes in Action) “insider roles”. This began to develop in Billy’s mind when I was here on STINT in 2004-2005, but it has yet, in Billy’s opinion, to be owned by all of us. I’ll be honest, it’s this vision that has me on staff here. I believe in it deeply. In places like Prague, or post-Christian environments in general, being an outsider doesn’t make an impact. As places continually become more and more post-Christian we need this missional shift, taking on the skin of a culture and infiltrating it with the love of Jesus. So I’m excited to see what God does in this weekend.

football
Football is going well. We are 2-1 overall, and 1-0 in the Czech League. We lost the game in Dresden, which I am still bummed I missed from being sick. Oh well… This past Saturday night we played down in Brno under the lights and won 30-18. It was a first for me over here, planning under the lights that is. It was fun, even though we didn’t play well and it was raining hard most of the game. In fact, it’s interesting going into games where you are expected to thump an opponent. Our team in general seemed to be playing down to Brno. We will have a the same challenge with Pilsen coming into town this weekend. To make it harder is that we could easily overlook this weekend’s game to next weekend’s game against our rivals, and the current Czech League champs, the Prague Panthers. It should be interesting. Please continue to pray for my health in general. I’m no longer sick, but I still feel my body trying to catch up after that crazy flu I had. My hamstring and ankle are feeling okay, but they aren’t where I want them a 100% yet, so I’m trying to bang off the rust in the midst of trying to get healthy which is uncharted waters for me. Below is a cool pic from Saturday’s game, but to see more click here.

During a recent visit to the branch, Yelena K., a Ukrainian citizen who has been working here for the past three years, threw her arms up in despair as she waited to register her new passport. “I have been waiting here since 4:30 [a.m.], and still I am not sure if I will have any luck,” she said.
Apparently, getting up at 3 in the morning was not enough to secure her a front place in the disorderly queue. “People start lining up in front of the building as early as 2 a.m., but even these people are sometimes out of luck,” said Radka Nichani, a visa-processing specialist who visits the branch on a weekly basis.

Please pray that it isn’t too stressful and that this all gets taking care of. It is one of the not-so-fun-parts-to-living-overseas, but I learn a lot from it! Well, that car is almost here. I need to finish up! Blessings to you this Wednesday!