picture from Ibillin last week

Hope for the future.
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The Last Supper

Co-leaders Tom and Todd are grateful for the expressions of gratitude.
Tom was given a beautiful icon of Jesus and the disciples; Todd was
given an impressive Jerusalem cross. Thanks everyone!

Melvin and Dave - ready to go home

Closing worship and communion

Our final time of worship together on the pilgrimage was held in the
old stone chapel of the Lutheran Church of the Redeemer in the Old
City. We sang, heard Ephesians 3 and Acts 1 in a new way, all shared a
symbol of what we were taking home with us from Jerusalem, broke the
bread and shared the cup, and then closed with joyful embraces as we
passed the peace of Christ one to another.

In the middle of the day....

All five senses come alive along these lanes

Locals come hear to prepare their savory dishes

The narrow, colorful, exciting lanes of the Old City

At any given intersection, one can hear over a half dozen languages,
view the dress of nearly continent, and dodge the local children
playing in the streets

The last day...

Time to rest, renew, journal, talk with new friends, and walk in and
around the old city

Badar Rabadi

Our beloved guide Badar Rabadi with his beautiful family- Lena, Hiya,
Celine, and Kristen

Masada

The pilgrims were reminded that all history telling is biased and that
the story that gets passes on to future generations often depends upon
whom is in power

A seemingly impenetrable fortress

The story of what happened here between the Zealots and the Romans is
at once both tragic and fascinating. The Romans were patient in their
siege and persevered for as much as 3 years until finally the Zealots
chose death over slavery.

The Masada ruins high on the bluff

Herod's impressive palace at Masada

Good laughs with Badar

Badar likes to use plastic bottles as visual aids when talking about
local geography. This habit was not unnoticed by the group.

The Essenes

Bader explains how the Essene community copied ancient scripture onto
the scrolls. The community life of this breakaway sect in this
desolate land is worth further exploration. It is possible that John
the Baptist participated in this sect for a time.

Qumran cave #4

A Bedouin shepherd teenager looking for his lost sheep discovered here
certain leather scrolls in clay jars that would become one of the 20th
century's most important antiquity discoveries

Qumran and the Rift Valley worship

Jim leads worship with Philippians 2 at Qumran, speaking about the
love of God in the midst of every "rift" valley of our lives. God's
unconditional love was revealed to Jim in an epileptic Kenyan boy
named Gnuvu; Jim shared that love with us in the form of the gift of
crosses made and prayed over by Kenyan Aids patients

The Dead Sea

Alas, no pictures for the blog (yet) from the Dead Sea. The Pilgrim
blogger gave his camera to another to take pictures, who then decided
to join the fun. Suffice it to say that nearly all of the group put on
their bathing suits, covered themselves with Dead Sea black mud, and
then proceeded to float around as if we were sitting on rafts - a
picture worthy occasion for sure! What an amazing place this is and a
fun day this has been for the group. Warning - Pictures from the event
will emerge soon.

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If only you had faith as large as a mustard seed...

Jim holds a mustard seed just in front of the fingernail.

Larry leads a time of prayer and reflection

Standing along the road mentioned in the Good Samaritan story

Pilgrims share how they have been helped along this journey

The desolate road to Jericho

A day in Jesus' birthplace

One of the highlights of today was talking with pilgrims from all over
the world - Philippines, Russia, India, Spain, Buffalo, NY, London,
and more. The distinct low point of the day was experiencing the stark
reality of the wall.

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David Kwon leads worship

David shares spiritual insights about the shepherds, both 1st and 21st
century, becoming bearers of the good news of God's grace

Worship at the Shepherd's Field

While we were remembering the announcement of Christ's birth, a
shepherd with his sheep made his way across the opposite hillside

Entering the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem

Dave ducks into the opening, made small to encourage humble, kneeling
devotion and to discourage the entry of cavalry, which happened in the
past

Divine light pouring into the chancel area

The nave of The Church of the Nativity

Entering the nativity chamber

Thousands of pilgrims from all over the world wait for their turn to
touch the stone where tradition claims that Christ was born

Pilgrims exiting the nativity chamber

Leaving Berhlehem through the checkpoint

Many have to endure long lines (or worse) here every day

Henry Carse

Tonight, Sunday, we met with Henry Carse, exec director of Kids4Peace. A Vermont native, Henry has studied and lived in Jerusalem and Galilee for many years. His PhD dissertation was related to the creative ambiguity of modern pilgrim narratives. Today, he works to bring together Israeli and Palestinian youngsters in interfaith education for peace. For Carse, Kids4peace is practiced spirituality, for pilgrimage always has an ethical edge. The recognition of and response to this ethical dimension is critical for the pilgrimage to come full circle.

Carse utilized the poem below to begin our conversation about pilgrimage:
"I give you the end of a golden string
Only wind it into a ball.
It will lead you in at heaven's gate
Built in Jerusalem's wall"
(William Blake)

 Why are you here? What was your motivation for pilgrimage?
Primary answers to this question  from across the ages:
I heard from someone else
I have deep spiritual need
To understand the Bible more fully

Consider the maze and the labyrinth - one is meant to baffle and the other is meant to lead. Given the labyrinth as a model for pilgrimage, where are you now on the pilgrimage?Where did you start? Where are you heading?

The Pilgrim compass -  East south west north - or stages of pilgrimage: 

Encounter  
Struggle - with whom do you struggle?
Wound (or waking) - any wounding or awakening
Naming - what can I do about this? Or how am I different because of this? So what?

Finally, Carse spoke about his work with the kids. He lis convinced that this Political conflict only has a spiritual solution or response; the Middle East needs spiritual leaders, like the Civil Rights movement or Ghandi or South Africa...Kids4Peace seeks to nurture spiritual leaders.

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Father McGarry of the Tantur Ecumenical Institute

Father Michael Mcgarry

Last night, Saturday, we met with Father Michael McGarry. Executive director of Tantur Ecumenical Institute. A Paulist Priest,  Father McGarry has spent much of his career on Jewish-Christian relations. For the last ten years he has lived and worked in Jerusalem.

Some of Father McGarry's encouragements to us are as follows:  

-Listen to many voices and narratives and expect to be confused about the political situation here. If someone thinks they have it all figured out, they are misinformed.

-Some Palestinians are extreme and violent; the vast majority just want to feed their families.

-Israel political situation is intractable. Do not look too quickly for solutions. Listen and learn.

-Many are now thinking that dialogue only cloaks peace - normalizes an abnormal situation. People feel better because they are talking, but the systems are not changing. One of the most active wars is the war of propagandas.
-Optimism is based on evidence. It is hard to be optimistic here. But hope is a gift from God. We are called to live as if the situation is not hopeless. Christians are not called to be "successful", only faithful.

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Golgotha, the "place of the skull"

The Garden Tomb

He is not here; He is risen!!

Bread and wine at the Garden Tomb

A scriptural liturgy combined with singing "Were You There When They
Crucified My Lord?" moved us to tears

Footwashing by servant Tom

I give a new commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you

The Church of St Peter Gallincantu

Beautiful basilica at sight where Peter denied Jesus three times
before the cock crowed. A cock crowed in the midst of our worship,
crossing the centuries for us in an instant

The "Pit" where first century prisoners were beaten and held

Read Psalm 88

Worship on the first century steps leading up to Caiaphas' house

Jesus would have been marched up these steps by the soldiers. Tom and
Margie led two beautiful, effective, inspiring services of worship
today, utilizing the Scripture and special liturgies with music to
deepen our experiences of the day

Another feast - this time at the Naverna Restaurant in the Christian
Quarter

Larry journaling in the Golden Walls lobby at the of a spiritually moving Sunday

Triumphal entry route

An entrepreneur along the way...

Palm sunday walk

Bonnie and Margie lead the procession

Olive trees that could be 2000 years old

Obviously not a Protestant congregation

The sanctuary at the Garden of Gethsamane

"...Not my will, but thy will be done..."

David, Margie, Suzan, and Peter lead the singing in the Garden

Garden of Gethsamane

Worship and reflection time in the garden

Entering the gates of the city