Jessen: What I learned about religion talking to a craftsman in Egypt

As the Israel-Hamas war passed the two month mark, Hanukkah, a lesser Jewish holiday that often coincides near Christmas, began. On Oct. 7, my wife and I were flying across the Atlantic for a two-week stay in Egypt and Israel. We never got to Israel, instead spending all the time in Egypt. The Egyptians were gracious hosts, and understood our disappointment.

Egypt would like to be known as a country of peace right now, and the word is on tour buses right next to pictures of the pyramids. Rosalynn Carter's death reminds us all of Jimmy Carter's Camp David Accords between Egypt’s Anwar Sadat and Israel’s Menachem Begin. Egypt was the first nation to make peace with Israel, but Sadat suffered the death of peacemakers when he was assassinated several years later. We saw a huge monument in his honor at the place where he was killed, and his name adorns cities, streets, and other public places.

Instead of a boat ride on the Sea of Galilee, or the holy places of three religions in Jerusalem, we explored Alexandria and took a special trip by air to the Aswan Dam, where Lake Nasser marks the leader who made missionaries leave and strengthened ties with Russia. Cruising down the Nile was a delight, as we saw fertile fields and remembered the agricultural missionary work of my wife’s family.

Egypt draws together three continents; it’s part of both Asia and Africa, with great ties to Europe through the Mediterranean.

One of the most delightful experiences was at a Nubian Island near Aswan. I talked to a craftsman and leader of his large family who explained the Nubians adopted the Hebrew religion while the descendants of Abraham sojourned there. Then, when Jesus came along in that region, they accepted him as the Jewish Messiah. Centuries later they accepted Mohammed as a prophet of God. Then, he explained, the Nubians combined these religions, explaining that his toddler daughter had been washed and cleansed in the Nile as prayers were said.

“Does that remind you of something?” he asked.

Of course it reminded me of baptism, a traditional Christian rite at birth.

“We have combined the best of three religions, and wish the world might do the same.”

We would call it syncretism, but what words of wisdom.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Columnist shares what he learned by visiting Egypt