morning chants

Last night I stayed up all night with long time German friends Mira and Micha, discussing the nature of our condition. On the one hand, Georgians have been foolish and we're pissed. On the other, now we're dealing with an unpredictable giant in the form of the Russian military. So far, their bombing raids have mostly been on tactical targets, but that doesn't mean they will continue so. Do we leave completely, or stay in a population center that might in fact be the safest place?

A little before 5am, we heard a muffled thud that sounded like someone had dropped a piece of furniture upstairs. Micha knew differently though, and said that sound becomes oddly warped as it echoes off the hills. Sure enough, we heard the distant roar of an airplane, and knew another Russian bomb had been dropped somewhere nearby.

We decided to walk down to Freedom Square to take in the situation, but once there, realized that we couldn't see anything clearly because it was still dark out. We hiked up to the Bethlehem Churches underneith Narikala Fortress, and with a gang of men already assembled, we looked at a plume of smoke on the horizon through a pair of binoculars. Again, it didn't seem to be a city target but something outside. Later we read this posting on www.civilgeorgia.ge

"Russian warplanes carried out strikes on Kojori military unite and mount of Makhata, where military installations are located, Shota Utiashvili, the Georgian Interior Ministry spokesman, told Civil.Ge. Two explosions were heard in the city center in Tbilisi at about 4:35am on Monday. Information was not immediately available if there were casualties or not."

While we were watching the dark clouds distinguish themselves from an ever lightening sky, I heard chant coming from the nearby Bethlehem Church. I wandered in and was surprised to find an All Night Vigil in progress. Introducing myself to the choir, they informed me there was a special service for victims of the war, and invited me to sing with them. It was the perfect antidote to an exhausting overload of negative information in the last few days. The church is newly renovated, with a new stone iconostasis, blue-hued frescoes, and a simple circular chandelier with real candles hanging from the high dome above. The church is actually very large, and I was so pleased to hear the acoustics as nearly perfect. With only four voices, singing quietly, the chant filled the space and returned to us as a reverberation from above after we finished singing. Tuned chords and the booming voice of the deacon through the church... it seemed the perfect antidote to a chaotic and unpredictable moment outdoors.

I sang chant until 7am, and then returned to Mira and Micha's flat in the early dawn, the city not yet awake. I found them in final preparations to drive to Armenia, but after a half hour nap, I decided Sighnaghi is my destination.

I've gathered all of my research books and I'm headed for my house, where the figs are ripening within reach of my porch and fresh produce is growing in every nearby field and garden. No military bases in sight.

I won't have very much internet access there, but I'll try to post every other day at least, thanks for keeping in touch everyone.

Love, John