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Show The Salt Lake Tribune Section C RELIGION Mi BULLETIN BOARD/C.2 I WORLD VIEW/C-3 @ ENTERTAINMENT/C-4,5 @TV/COMICS/C-6,7 BATSIN THE BELFRY Churches have hard time getting rid of flying mammals /C-2 SATURDAY, DECEMBER26,1998 Holy LandBraces for Millennium Preparations for 2000 years of Christianity are full of uncertainty Palestinian declaration of statehood in May 1999 — events sure tosetoff a chain reaction affecting the Arab-Israeli peace process, as well as the tone and magni- tude of millennialcelebrations. A papalvisit is another uncertainty Top Vatican official Cardinal Roger Etchegaray recently expressed the “hope that Pope John Paul II might himself BY ELAINE RUTH FLETCHER RELIGION NEWS SERVICE come in pilgrimage to this Holy Land.” Earlier, the pope expressed his desire to convenea “historic meeting in a place of exceptional symbolic importance be- BETHLEHEM, West Bank — This an‘cient town, the traditional birthplace of JTesus, is in the throes of being trans‘ormed froma dusty and neglected backwater to what Palestinians hope will bea tween Jews, Muslims and Christians.” World-class tourist destination for the year 2000, a place of tree-lined parks, luxury hotels and historic old-quarter renovations. However, it is not just Bethlehem that is being readied for an anticipated wave of millennium-connected tourism in the incidents of petty intolerance or harass- ment that could nonetheless take on larger-than-life proportions against the asking whether the Holy Land’s residents will indeed be ready — politilly, emotionally and spiritually — by emotional backdrop of the millennium. “Thereis the year 2000 as the tourism event, and the year 2000 as theintense, 100 for the expected hordes of tourists. Over the course of the comingyear, a numberof landmarkpolitical events will spectacular religious event,” said Ger- likely converge on the countdown calen- shom Gorenberg, a Jerusalem liaison to Boston University’s Center For Millenni- dar with unpredictable consequences. Chief among them areIsraeli elections for a new prime minister anda possible See HOLY LAND,Page C-2 Search Location: 4 [http://www jesus2000.comd Guide Images. Print Seourity Stop — TOTHE HOLYLANDclick on 1} are just a few mouseclicks away from a rael, Jesus2000: The Virtual Pilgrim to the Holy Land (www.jesus2000.com) was officially launchedthis past week. Far morelikely, however, are simple ceeds apace, religious andpolitical lead- Netscape: Jesus2000,AVirtual Pilgrim to the Holy Land | “a 2 al + 6 BH | Home THESALT LAKE TRIBUNE in the Holy Land — and vice versa. Onefear is the possibility of collaboration between messianic-minded Jewish aimed at sabotaging Muslim holysites, such as the mosquesthat currently grace Jerusalem's Temple Mount, the site of the biblical Jewish temples. a Reload Shepherds and wise men needed angels and star to find the Christ child, but today’s computer-savvy believers virtual tour of where Jesus was born and ministered. The brainchild of Barak & Thunder and fundamentalist Christian extremists Holy Land. Keysites in othercities and towns such as Jerusalem and Nazareth gh Forward BY BOB MIMS Meanwhile, religious and political leaders are wondering what impact millions of Christian pilgrims in the year 2000 might have on the delicate and troubled web of Jewish-Muslim relations arefilled with the sounds of construction. But while work at ground zero pro- ers are Someavoid trouble, expense by making theirtrip a virtual one i 2 Back Computers & CommunicationsLtd, of IsBy Tuesday, it had registered more than 1 million “hits,” or Internet connec- tions. “It is already living up to my ex- pectations,” Alex Barak, chief executive of Barak & Thunder, said ina telephone interview from Tel Aviv. To arrive at Jesus2000's Holy Land, World Wide Web surfers actually start their digital trek in a bank of computers in Utah Valley While thesite’s pictures, sounds, vid- eo,text and online Holy Land Shopping Mall all originatein Israel, Orem’s Inter- net ServersInc. is the cyberspace jumping-off point for the electronic trek to Jerusalem and environs. The ironyis not lost on Kent Milling- ton, president and CEOofthe company, which was acquired in January by Verio Web Hosting. purportedly the world’s largest Web-hosting company. TheVerio corporate family has morethan 45,000 clients in 70 countries, Millington said. “It is kind of an interesting angle, that you haveoneplacethatcalls itself Zion cided to develop a virtual pilgrimage to the Holy Land,” he said. Barakestimatesit costs $2,000-$2,500 on average for Americans to book tickets and accommodationsfora tripto Israel Visitors spend about $1,500-$2,000 more on keepsakesof their journey, he said. hosting another calling itself Zion,” he It costs nothing, however, toclick your be us.” Jesus2000 was created a year ago opens with a mapof the Holy Land and said. “It’s fascinating thatit happens to when Barak andhis colleagues weredis- cussing the approachingmillennium and its refocusing of attention on the Middle East. “We thought about the year 2000 and its significance to the Christian and de way to Jesus2000. The site's home page links to a virtual guided tourof Bethiehem, Jerusalem, Nazareth, the Sea of Galilee and other sacred and modern sites in Palestine The site also made plansfor a first live See PILGRIMAGE, Page C-2 _ Sister Wendy Retail outlets cater | to Mormon market Makesa Habit Of High Art for temple clothing oy Knowledge, passion for art makeher a hit as PBScritic §a BY MARY ROURKE ‘TIMES tfii LOS ANGELES — Sister Wendy has just persuaded a Beverly Hills waiter to sing one of his songs. The patio restaurant wheresheis having lunch sparkles y" e with Old Hollywood directors, Rodeo qj Drive shoppersandpolished young faces : > ready for their close-up, but only one woman is being serenaded — the nunin the sensible shoes Somewhere between the poached - 5 35 A THE SALT LAKE LEADLEASASATESTSTLALLESTELESS, a ‘ SeaeOTETET,ALLELESESLS 2 $3 : salmon entree, the refills of bread and olive oil and the three glasses of wine, she elicited the young man’s dream of composing a Broadway musical. Not only that, she reassured him she wanted nothing more than to hear him sing. He can’t. He doesn't, he'd really rather not cK TRIBUNE S trolling along the secondfloorof ZCMI Center Mall, eyes glazed by all the commercial temptations, you might be stopped by a window of whitene: A newstore, Latter-day Creations, Rick Egan /The Salt Lake Tribune White slacks, ties, shoes andbelts line the walls at Latter-day Creations in the ZCMI Center, whichfeaturesattire suitable for LDS temple worship. ples. White dresses, pants, ties, shoes and evenbelts. Another company, White Elegance. sells temple cloth r thestreet from Fashion Place Mall, and Lynette’s promotes the same Templeworshipis one ofthe distinguishing features of The Church of s Christ of Latter-day Saints, is hawking apparel worn in LDS tem items via the Internet ‘To some,this marketing makes find ing good temple clothes easier and is 4 welcomeimprovement on the poly. ester outfits produced by the LDS Church, Forothers,it has crossedthe boundary between the sacredand the profane. “Thecritical placeof the templein modern Mormonism makes this [marketing templeclothes] a very impor. tant issue,” says Jan Shipps, a reli gious studies scholar in Indiana and Pam McBride, below, shopsfor a dress ensembleatthe store in downtown Salt Lake City. But here he is singing, shyly, on one knee, beside her chair Such close encounters of the social kind are rare. At age 68, Sister Wendy Beckett lives alone in trailer on the grounds of a Carmelite monastery in Norfolk, England, wheresherises in the dark morning to begin a dayof silent prayer. hipps says. Under thecurrent president, Gor: donB. Hinckley, the church has been She entered the Sisters of Notre Dame at 16 but received permission from the Vatican 25 yearslater to leave that order and pursue a life of solitude. Since then she has lived as a hermit in Norfolk. She working at a furious pace to complete dozens of new temples. The church has either built or announced plans knew what she wanted long before age to build nearly100 temples 16. Bornin South Africa, theoldest child of a medical doctor, she chose her future at an early age. Upon entering the temple, Mormon faithful change from street clothes into all white clothing for marriages, baptisms and other rituals that focus ontheeternal potential of family From the time I was my parents knew I would be a nun,” she says. “I al ways wanted to belong completely to of Mormonism. Mostdays in Norfolk, the only person sheseesis the one who brings her food from the monasterykitchen. Shelives on tionships. They also wear a “ rgarment and other priestly according to the Encyclopedia God.” Only church members who are an authority on Mormonism. “It has enormous religious significance.” skim milk, rye crackers and coffee, Sev en hours of prayer, hours more spent See SHOPS Page C-3 See SISTER WENDY, Page C-3 Spreading Joy Causesa Different KindofSpreadfor Repeat Recipients of Holiday Goody Baskets Editor's note: Robert Kirby is on vaation. mn. This is an updated 1994 col- Christmas was interesting this year. I gained 21 pounds in six days because strangers were leaving edibles on doorSteps in an effort to spread joy pose, to avoid the unsavory Christmastime Practice of group joying. Victims of a drive-by joying were then supposed to joy someoneelse, preferably by seeking out someonewithout the joy passwordhanging in their windows. This ensured a couple of things: a) that everyone got joyed and, b) that everyone The origin ofthis practice is still a little would have “just one more #@&%! med by someone whodidn’t have enough to everyone knows,is thetime of year when sketchyto me,but it must have been start- =do and figured the same was true for ev=éryoneelse. Here’s how it worked . Thefirst person selected a joy recipient, made up a basket of goodies, then deliv- éred it anonymously to the recipient's rstep. Included with the basket was a eet of paper with the word “Joy” onit. e people who got the basket were then pposed to hang the paper in their win- w. This served mow who had (OPY toJet the neighborhood “joyed” and, I sup- ROBERTKIRBY were so manypeople inourneighborhood that cared so much or were so obsessive that theyfelt obligated not to break the time. The joy spreading started about a week ago. I opened my doorone eveningto find a homemade loaf of banana-nut bread along with the requisite joy sign. I ate the bread and tossed the sign. I hate things hanging in my windows. Twonights later, we got joyed again oe time it was popcorn balls — and r joy sign. Down the hatch with an- Me # a wasteof time at this point. Everyone has popcorn balls andinto the trash with the please hang this in your window?” N 0. I figure God wants peopleto spreadjoy. It's probably even a commandment(al- doorbell rang,westarted to drool. We got candy bars, salsa and chips, fryjtcake (which went the wayofthe signs), Ws Thisbrings me to the point of my own responsibility to spreadjoy. I could cruise the neighborhood looking for a house It finally cameto anendlast night. The doorbell rang and I fought with the dog to answerit. There was nothing on the porch were on a roll. Two days later it was like Dr. Pavlov was running our house. Every time the from the Kirbys) for trying to make cycle of joy. The federal governmentis © 1998, The Salt Lake Tribune sign. I was smart enough to knowthat we this idea deserves somethanks (especially Christmasa little brighter. without joyin its window. I would if I Tunbyjust such finefolks. thing” to do during Christmas. Which, as people have the greatest amount of free candy canes, nuts and even a small ham which, unfortunately, the dogs found before we did. It was touching. I never knew there but a joysign and a note. “Would you though in this case cash would be more preferable to yet another box of chocolate-covered cherries). Who am I to stop people from doing what says? Seriously, the person whdameup with could drag myself away from myvigil near the porch. However, it would probably be been joyed. Instead, I'll send a check to the local homeless shelterin the nameof my neigh- borhood. The people there don't have win- dowsto hangjoysigns in,but they'll probably appreciate theoffer. Salt Lake Tribune columnist Robert Kirbylives in Springville. The self-de scribed “OxyMormgn” welcomes mail at P.O. Box 684, S; ville, UT 84663, or e-mail at rkirby@xItrib.com |
