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Christmas Joy

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Due to the final Friday in Ramadan, our group opted to stay out of Jerusalem. Because of the Muslim holiday, many streets and checkpoints were closed, making it challenging to navigate the Old City.  Instead, we made our way along backroads through Wadi Nar to the ancient city of Bethany, now called al-Azariya, the home of Mary, Mary, and Lazarus. We went to the church over the tomb where Lazarus was resurrected.  Light pours into the church from every direction, reminding us of the eternal life and light of Christ. However, the tomb is much darker and smaller.  We then returned to Bethlehem for a visit to one of Shepherd's fields, one at the local Greek Orthodox Church. We navigated through the ruins to an ancient cave adorned with icons. Up the stairs was a beautiful church, every inch covered with icons depicting the biblical world. Lunch featured another feast followed by us dressing up as Palestinians and dancing with joy. Perhaps we felt something akin to the joy th...
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Entry into Jerusalem

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Of the many things one anticipates on a pilgrimage, entering Jerusalem has to top the list. Like the ancients before us, they reflected on the significance of the holy city and how they would meet God there.  While we didn't sing the Psalms of Ascent as we ascended 3600 feet from the Dead Sea Basin in 17 miles, we did stop along the same route. Wadi Qelt overlooks St. George Monastery and the Valley of the Shadow of Death (Psalm 23).  We paused and reflected on Psalm 122:   I will lift up my eyes to the hills -      from where will my help come? My help comes from the LORD,      who made heaven and earth. He will not let your foot be moved;     he who keeps you will not slumber. He who keeps Israel     will neither slumber nor sleep. The LORD is your keeper;     The LORD is your shade at your right hand. The sun shall not strike you by day     nor the moon by night. The LORD will keep you from all ...
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Rivers in the Dessert

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See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland. Isaiah 43:19  Masada in the morning. The Dead Sea Scrolls at lunch. The Zacchaeus Tree for an afternoon snack. And floating in the Dead Sea for dessert. What a full day!   But the most meaningful experience for us happened at the muddy creek that they call the Jordan River.  Driving to the river near Jericho is quite the trek. A narrow road has been cleared through a minefield that serves as a security barrier between Israel and Jordan. On the Israeli side, ruins of ancient churches stand as sentinels, while across the river, the Jordanians have built huge modern churches to commemorate the spot where John the Baptist conducted his ministry.  The river had recently flooded and the water was a murky, muddy mess. Much of the seating/steps that lead down to the water were closed and stepping into the water was a slimy, slippery e...
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Drinking Living Water

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One of the ongoing conversations we have is if the site we are seeing is traditional or authentic. For example, the traditional site might evoke a sense of a place described in the biblical account while an authentic place has some sort of archeological evidence that validates the claim that "Jesus was here."   So when we made our way into West Bank, we found ourselves having lunch outside of the ruins of King Ahab and Jezebel's palace. The Bible tells us this was the capital of the Northern Kingdom of Israel and the ruins mark the spot. Largely unexcavated, we could see more of the remains of the Roman period.   Not to be outdone, we made our way to the Church of Phontina, on the outskirts of Nablus (the home of the Samaritans), where Jesus encountered the Samaritan woman. Jacob's Well has been functioning for thousands and thousands of years. Since you can't move a spring, this is an authentic spot where Jesus changed the life of an ostracized woman and welcomed...
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Fellowship around Food

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We began the day in the church at Cana.  Marriage and friendship vows were renewed in the marriage chapel. Pastor Debbie included a change from the traditional vows when she asked us to not take each other for granted. Our trek to the northern part of the country landed us near the Syrian and Lebanese border at the site of Caesarea Philippi. It is here at the entrance of a pagan temple that Jesus poses the question that all os are required to answer:  Who do you say that I am?  For the disciples, just like us, there are many options:  a good teacher, a holy man, or our Lord and savior.   We, too, reflected on that question as we celebrated communion for the first time. Who is Jesus to us?  A acknowledged that all of us re different spiritual journeys, Erica gave us a glimpse of the kingdom as the pilgrims from California and Ohio, along with our Palestinian guide, received the body and blood of Christ. Indeed, there is no distinction between nationalit...
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Worship - Nazareth Style

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There is something about worship that stirs the soul. Music touches a part of our soul that needs the healing balm of praise and petition: the shift in perspective that we are not in charge and our hope is found in God.  Here in the holy land, the liturgical calendar doesn't always square with the church holidays we celebrate in the West. With far more Christians from the Eastern tradition, many churches celebrated Easter a week later than we did in the USA.   This meant we celebrated Easter with our Arab brothers and sisters in Christ in Nazareth. As we entered the church, we were greeted by the hospitality of a small Baptist group of believers. They had arranged headsets for us to follow the Arabic service in English.   The moment the music began, we were transported by the exuberant joy of the congregation singing about the resurrected Christ. Some of us tried to sing the English transliteration of the Arabic script. But even as we stumbled with the lang...
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Every pilgrimage has its surprises. The unexpected upends your expectations and you find yourself trekking down a different path.   Today was one of those days. We started with a boat ride on the Sea of Galilee, where to a person, it was a surprise that Jesus' ministry took place in a small geographical area.  When the motor was shut off, you could hear the lapping of the water against the boat and imagine Jesus out with his disciples.  In times of confusion, storms, and calm, it was profound to think that Jesus saw the same geography we were seeing. Just when it seemed like it could get any better, we shuffled onto the shore to see a recent discovery of the "Jesus Boat," a first-century boat similar to the ones that the disciples would have used.  Claudia even lined everyone up to see if 12 people or disciples could fit in the boat with Jesus sleeping in the stern. But even as she set up the "photo" shoot to prove her point, one had to question - did the discip...
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