We did a lot
of reflecting on our last day in Israel, so there is a lot to share. If the
long post that follows is too daunting, here it is in a nutshell:
On Sunday,
the last day of our pilgrimage to the Holy Lands, our hearts were full as we
gathered for final morning devotions, an Epiphany communion service, a visit to
the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and the Stations of the Cross on the Via
Dolorosa, a time of reflection by the pools of Bethesda, an evening gathering
to share meaningful moments from our trip, and a wonderful banquet.
Now here is
the full mega-post, beginning where Saturday’s post left off:
Last night
(Saturday) after dinner, we gathered in the small synagogue space to meet with
Salim Munayer, a professor at Bethlehem Bible College and the founder and
director of Musalaha, a non-profit organization working toward reconciliation
between the Israelis and Palestinians, based on Biblical principles of peace,
justice and love. At the conclusion of
his provocative reflections on the “intractable conflict,” he left us with
these thoughts:
* You
discover who you are in your enemy – in how you react.
* You learn
about God through your enemy.
* Your
future depends on your relationship with your enemy.
(The future of Israel
depends on its relationship with the Palestinians, and vice versa.)
During our
devotional before breakfast, we returned to the words from Mark 8:29 with which
we had begun our journey in the footsteps of Jesus: “Who do you say that I
am?” Pastor Sean asked us if we had any
new understanding of Jesus after following in his steps. Around the circle we heard these reflections
among others:
* a new
sense of Jesus’ vulnerability in the Garden of Gethsemane;
* Jesus’
modest rural roots; seeing today’s Bedouin camps helps us see God’s message
unfolding in such a humble place;
* a new
appreciation of Jesus’ humanity and a sense of Jesus as a pastor wandering
these hills;
* an
awareness of the local Jesus here: We so
often try to turn Jesus into our image that makes sense in our context, but
here we understand him in his context;
* a more
personal sense of Jesus with his destiny ahead of him, and then it was finally
here;
* Jesus’
bravery, coming into Jerusalem and facing risks throughout his ministry under
Roman rule;
* Jesus as
part of Judaism and as a reformer;
* He didn’t
organize a resistance group – quite the opposite: a resistance of the spirit;
* He did
this for us. He could have changed his
future at any moment;
* seeing no
zealotry in Jesus but rather the complexity and his leadership abilities;
* a sense of
the excitement that the people must have felt around the Sea of Galilee and
Jesus’ compassion around so many people;
* a
reinforced understanding of Jesus’ disciples - how they lived with Jesus and
when they began to bear witness;
* a sense of
peace, thinking of Jesus on a boat on the Sea of Galilee;
* and while
Jesus has sometimes felt distant in time and space, now he feels right here in
time and space.
We joined
with local worshippers for a communion Epiphany service at St. Andrew’s Scots
Memorial Church. Reverend Loren McGrail
gave an inspiring sermon, which is now posted on her blog: http://agardenofdestiny.blogspot.com She floated the idea that our nativity sets
should include Herod, helping us to understand the threat of Jesus to imperial
authority, then and now. Baby Jesus was
born in a land oppressed by occupation.
We should all engage, as the wise men did, in three acts to honor
Jesus: worship - by following the one
who was born from the womb of oppression and hope; repudiate false imperial
gods by refusing to participate in militarism and racism; and head back on a
different path. “The story invites our
participation. May we live Christmas all
year long.”
Following
the church service and fellowship, we entered the Old City through the Jaffa
Gate and wended our way down a busy market passageway of steps and cobblestones
to a courtyard outside of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, crowded with
pilgrims and a corner full of watchful armed soldiers. On Thursday, we had visited the Garden Tomb,
one possible site of Jesus’ crucifixion, burial, and resurrection; now we had
arrived at the site which has claimed the same distinction historically for
much longer. Queen Helena, mother of Constantine, chose this site for the first
Christian church in the land of Israel in the middle of the 4th
century when, according to legend, she found a remnant of a cross there and was
healed from her pains. Many
denominations participated in the rebuilding after Helena’s church was
destroyed in the time of the Crusaders.
We’ve been
following Jesus’ footsteps all week, but today we were following the footsteps
of his suffering in reverse, so that we could descend the hill instead of
climbing it, in light of mobility issues faced by some of our group members. So
we visited the last five of the fourteen Stations of the Cross inside the
church before visiting the earlier stations in descending order after lunch. Lior explained that the construct of the
Stations of the Cross dates from the 14th century. The tenth station is the removal of Jesus’
garments, barely visible through a cloudy window.
11: Jesus is
nailed to the cross, portrayed in a large arched mosaic.
12: The
cross is put in place on the hillside at Golgotha; we climbed up steep winding
steps and saw small portions of the rocky hill around which the church had been
built.
13: Jesus is
removed from the cross. We saw a large
flat stone reputed to be the place where Jesus’ body was prepared for
burial. Many people were rubbing the
stone with cloths and kissing the stone.
14: Jesus is
placed in the tomb, which we did not wait in line to enter.
As we came
back into the light of the courtyard, Pastor Sean told us that he had heard of
a suggestion by a poet that emerging from the church into the light is the
fifteenth station of resurrection.
After lunch
and time to poke around the Old City on our own, we descended the hill down Via
Dolorosa, hugging the walls when cars passed us on the narrow street. On this road we visited the first nine
Stations of the Cross in reverse order, including the three places where Jesus
fell, the place where he met his mother, the place where he was forced to carry
his cross, and the first station, Judgment Hall, where Jesus was condemned to
crucifixion by Pontius Pilate.
Shortly
beyond the first station, we entered the grounds of St. Anne’s Church and
visited the ancient ruins of the pools of Bethesda. We practiced saying Bethesda in Lior’s way,
“Bet-christa,” with a guttural k:
“Bet-kkkkreesta,” meaning “house of mercy.” In our final devotion near these pools, we
read John 5:1-15, the story of Jesus’ coming to the pools of Bethesda and healing
a lame man who had hoped in vain for many years to be helped into its curative
waters. Jesus said, “Take up your mat
and walk.” We shared reflections about
the day. Pastor Sean said, “I never
thought about the close proximity of this place of healing to the place of
sorrows.” He also said that as we think
about the two possible places where Jesus was crucified, buried, and risen,
there is truth in both places: there is truth surrounding church life today,
and there is truth in the serenity of the garden. But ultimately: the tomb is empty. Crucifixion and resurrection will always be
juxtaposed. Thinking about the pain of
life in today’s Bethlehem, we also know that in the end, love is born. As Sean solicited final thoughts, Marnel
said, “For me, there will never be a final thought.” Going forward, we will continue to ponder and
process all that we have seen and heard, thought and felt.
Inside the
stone sanctuary of St. Anne’s Church, we stood on the stone steps under the high
dome and began to sing with a chorus of our own echoes. We sang the Doxology, Praise God, and Angels We
Have Heard on High; in the echoes it felt every bit as if the heavenly host
were singing with us. Not ready to leave
the magic of our humble music made ethereal by stone, we sang the gospel song Amen, followed by Joy to the World. After
hushing the echoes with a gentle verse of Silent
Night, we left quietly.
We had a
last gathering at the hotel before dinner.
Sean invited each of us to share one image from the trip that had made an
impact on us. Some of the special
moments were connected to water. Diane,
Jean, Sherry J., Kathryn, and Karen spoke of feeling peace and Jesus’ presence
on the Sea of Galilee. Devar was stirred
by reading Scripture during our devotions on the boat trip. John was moved by
visiting places of Jesus’ ministry in the hills and banks framing the sea. Marnel, Wendy, and Sherri B. spoke of the
special experience of reaffirmation of baptism in the Jordan River, and Carol
said that she and others had been brought to tears watching the ritual that had
begun in these waters 2,000 years earlier. For Sarah, nature moves her and connects her
with God, and the water in the desert at the national park yesterday was a
moving image.
Some shared
images of specific places from Jesus’ last days in human form. Bob was affected by the Garden of Gethsemane
and Jesus’ resolution to let the will of God be done. Jeanie and Sherry J. spoke about taking
communion together just after visiting the garden tomb, and Jeanie also
mentioned Jean’s Scripture reading of the women at the tomb. Stan found that the Stations of the Cross
brought to life what Jesus had gone through.
Some shared images
of vistas. Kay’s shared moment was
driving down from Galilee, past Bedoin camps.
For Susan, the first sight of Jerusalem was unexpected and greatly
exciting, enhanced by celebratory music Lior played as we entered the city;
this image had resonated with Ed as well, coming through the tunnel into
Jerusalem on the hill. Sherri B. teared
up as she told us that her sister’s ashes were scattered on the Mount of
Olives. Gregg remembered looking down
from a mountain top and seeing the village where Mary Magdalene was from. Rob remarked on the same mountain, having
realized that from Bible stories we form an image of Jesus popping up here and
popping up there, but he seems more human now that we have seen where Jesus
walked, and how far. Many of us had experienced
a profound sense of Jesus’ humanity in specific places and throughout our
pilgrimage.
Some shared moments
of solitude. Bill said he had been at
Justine’s side all week and that it had been special to be alone at the Wailing
Wall, leaving a prayer he had written – a first for him, as he is new to the
faith. Linda C. shared that while most
of the group was at the shore of the Dead Sea yesterday afternoon, she had sat
by herself a little way up the hill, enjoying the sunset glowing on the water,
then on the shining sand, then on the mountains across the sea in Jordan.
Some shared
conceptual reflections. Tom was able to
put business problems in perspective as he reflected on the message of Epiphany
that the dark won’t snuff out the light.
Lori, who had joined us for the last three days of our trip, appreciated
the chance to see the secular problems of the region through the eyes of the
two Palestinian Christians who had shared with us messages of hope in a land of
no hope. As Salim had said last night,
“Nothing in my religion taught me to hate my enemy.” Karen came away from the Sea of Galilee with
a sense that there was a plan, and she was able to hold onto that sense of a
plan when coming into Jerusalem and its chaos.
Suzie remarked that we did not need a Frommer’s or Michelin’s guidebook,
for the Bible was our guide everywhere we went, and it had been special to go
to all of these places together. She spoke of Bethlehem, where Angie had
talked about war: killing with bullets and bombs, and the psychological death
of hope. Suzie had come away with a
powerful sense that we need to bring hope to more people.
Sean shared
that as a pastor, this had been quite a week for him, very humbling, not just
to walk here but to lead a group here, as he thought about his colleagues and
mentors. The image he mentioned was
seeing Jean and Carol coming up over the edge of the hill to the top of Mount
Arbel. He was inspired by Jean’s
determination and said he was also deeply grateful throughout the trip for
having to walk more slowly than usual, which had given him an opportunity to
experience more fully. After this
incredible trip, his preaching will be more complex.
Our guide
Lior shared that it is not just his personal search to understand the Bible,
but that each time he leads a group he sees through the eyes of the people, and
he is open, never bored, seeing from a different direction. And he will always find it special to see the
Sea of Galilee each morning and the beauty of this land.
Sean thanked
Ed for conceiving of and planning this trip to the Holy Lands and presented him
with a little plaque saying, “Shalom, Y’all.”
He thanked the Norvells for their awesome photography. And we all thanked Lior for his masterful
grasp of group dynamics, his engagement with the group, his deep knowledge of
the land and the Bible, his balanced views of complex issues, his gentleness
and kindness, his love of his country, and his teaching.
At our
farewell dinner banquet, we also thanked “King David” our bus driver, who
always managed to be in the right place at the right time everywhere we went,
even in the clogged streets of Jerusalem.
Representatives of our tour company gave us certificates and other
tokens of appreciation.
We rose at
1:00 a.m. to begin our long day of travel, and after three trying hours at the
airport in Tel Aviv, we are on our way home.
Our pilgrimage in the footsteps of Jesus has taken us to ancient ruins,
grand churches, and sacred grottos; to mountaintops, peaceful waters, and the
lowest spot on Earth; to the walls of Old Jerusalem and to high walls born of
mistrust separating two peoples who cherish the same land. We’ve come together each day for prayers,
Scriptures, and time for quiet contemplation.
We are full to the brim with images, percolating ideas, and new
understandings. We have taken this journey together, and we have taken private journeys
in our hearts, minds, and souls. As we continue to process our pilgrimage to
the Holy Lands, perhaps we will embrace one of the challenges presented by our
Epiphany preacher and “head back on a different path.”
Wendy Petti,
Jean Fisler, and Carol Fisler, for the 27 pilgrims:
PPC Members:
Sean and
Sarah Miller
Ed and Lynda
Tennent
John and Kay
Norvell
Gregg and
Sherry Johnson
Rob Wescott
and Karen Wise
Stan and
Jeanie Bissey
Susan and
Kathryn Haynes
Bill and
Justine Sancho
Jean Fisler
and Wendy Petti
Marnell
Williams
Diane Chapin
Bob Stow
PPC Friends and Family:
Tom and
Sherri McKenna
Devar and
Suzie Burbage
Linda
Carlson
