elevator follies

this past weekend, i attended our church's servants retreat. to be quite honest, i really didn't want to go. ive been really jaded lately regarding church service (i'd rather not go into this now), however this weekend i was pleasantly surprised by how filled i got with the topic regarding the gifts in Romans 12. in addition, something that was truly needed this weekend was to built a bond with the servants in attendance. weekends like this, you get to speak to different people that you normally don't see on a regular sunday since we are all busy serving. it was a good time and then the icing on the cake came on the last day.

there were 12 of us who got onto an elevator. as soon as we get on, martha said 'imagine we got stuck on the elevator'...of course we kind of just joked around about it. the elevator opened on the second floor and mariam got out...we thought we were home free. somewhere between the 3rd and 4th floors, the elevator suddenly stopped and the comment all of a sudden became reality. i have never been stuck in an elevator before in my life. ive always heard about it and you watch stuff on tv where the elevator gets stuck and at the end it can fall all the way down. so i was stuck...all 11 of us were stuck. we called for help and used our cell phones to contact the rest of the people from the retreat just to let them know we were okay.

however i really didn't expect to be stuck for up almost 50 minutes. we kept the mood relatively light as we joked around a lot. we were thankful that we all knew each other, and that there were no kids stuck with us. the most calm person the entire time in the elevator was my dad. sometimes when people are silent they think something is wrong...but my dad had the right attitude. he had taken communion that morning and also for the first time in his life he was asked to hold the Offering of the Lamb in the beginning of liturgy. he was particularly touched by this and he gained a peace he's never had...so in his mind...whatever happens happens and just go with the flow...mr. star again, truly a star :D

i particularly got concerned as it got hot in the elevator and there was a lack of ventilation. i was concerned for the older people as time went on. we kept joking but we also resorted to prayer. yesterday was the feast day of st. george of el-mezahem. if my arabic serves me correctly...mezahem comes from the word of zahma meaning crowded....we sang a tamgeed or glorfication in the elevator mentioning this saint. we also sang kirye eleisons. we heard our group on the outside singing praises as well.

part of me understood why st. paul would praise God in a prison. i mean you can't really compare much between a prison and an elevator. both circumstances are very different but there's a similarity of being trapped and not being in control of the outcome of the situation. we resorted to God joyfully and with a knowledge that there's nothing we can do except praise God and ask for His mercy. this point really hit home as i started fanning myself and the person next to me.

the ending was particularly touching...we felt the elevator move and the power somehow back on. as we got to the lobby everyone greeted us (i did a zaghroota coming off the elevator), the greeting was very touching...they were cheering but i also saw the stress in everyone's faces. some of the mother's were crying and hugged all of us. one person rescued us with water. we had joked in the elevator that we should use this to take advantage of the situation...we wanted all sorts of special treatment with sandwiches and drinks to greet us. but we got something even more special...the love. we were all united in that moment. we knew that everyone was praying inside and out of the elevator. being stuck for that period of time felt like an eternity...and we were almost packed like sardines. we all bonded inside the elevator and we knew there was a bond happening outside.

the ironic thing was that the fire department showed up after we had just stepped off the elevator. apparently there was a lot of politics of trying to get out us and thankfully we were unaware of this. we also found out that we had lost power between the floors...also something we were unaware of. i dont wish to comment on the negative things since the outcome of this was favorable and everyone was safe.

our positive attitude and prayerful spirit is what kept us going. it was a take home lesson for me to always stay hopeful in a negative situation. i hope never to get stuck again in an elevator but for some reason, im thankful for this experience. our group somehow grew closer together and that is the true meaning of fellowship.