Pilgrimage

Home again, home again jiggity jig.  Our group of 25, who began calling ourselves western Bedouins, returned home to Houston Saturday afternoon.  Someone had figured out that we had been awake, with the exception of airplane sleep, which we all know is so restful and peaceful, just about forty eight hours.  Together we had weathered the intensive security at Tel Aviv, the long, confusing marathon of getting through customs, claiming luggage, rechecking luggage (that only requires one to drag their luggage to a counter) and navigate the convoluted instructions from Delta in how to get from Terminal B to Terminal 2.  The 25 had endured the the airline's favorite game of hurry up and wait and being served less than appealing airline food.  We had finished the course, we had kept our faith.  Hey, since I have just returned from the Holy Land, I had to wrap up the paragraph spiritually.  Selah. 

By most accounts, this was a fabulous trip and a few lessons in flexibility of schedule were included free of charge.  There were 44 of us who made the trip. Less you think we lost the others, a group did an extension trip to Rome.  We left on December 27 and once we hit the ground in Israel, we didn't take time to pause, but to make the most of our time because the days are short.  For the record, nights are short too when one has a 6:00 am wake up call to be ready, eat breakfast and do some bus shopping (merchants displaying their wares beside our bus) and be seated having done the buddy check by 7:45. 

Other than the obvious, seeing the Bible land in person, was such a fun, yet insightful trip for me. I was very fortunate to make this trip with close friends and had the immense joy of making new friends.  Dena and I roomed together.  Over the years of our friendship we have traveled together and we travel well together.  Our getting ready routines compliment and the added bonus is we have a lot of fun together.  The fun includes our serious reviews of all the day held.  Loved that Dena took notes because I will be borrowing her notes.  She has the gift of being able to write in a moving bus, I do not.

Once I download and go through pictures from the trip I hope to post a few of highlights.  I did a lot of preparation for this trip, giving thought to it months in advance.  I prepared by reading almost all the Old Testament and Gospels.  I used a devotional titled Going Places With God which uses biblical locations to give a sense of history and then the spiritual application and meaning of the place.  With the trip in mind I tried to prepare a trip attire and although I used a few of the things I bought specifically for the trip, in the end I went with comfortable and I don't care if I am seen in repeat clothes look.  I tried to prepare physically, walking and building up endurance in the months proceeding the trip.  I should have remembered my training for hiking the Olympic Mountains in Washington state, one cannot adequately train for inclines and multiple stairs made for people with short feet in the land of level ground.  You know I was asking the Lord to do this for me,

 Isaiah 40:4
"Fill in the valleys, and level the mountains and hills. Straighten the curves, and smooth out the rough places." 

 

It was rougher on me physically than I had anticipated.  I pushed myself because there wasn't any other option and even in my pushing I severely lacked the stamina and strength of others.  I soon became that animal you see in wild life shows, the one that the lion will attack because it is too weak to stay in the pack.  Thankfully, God sent along compassionate friends who helped me up the stairs, down the stairs, across the rocky paths (lots of those in Israel), encouraged me when I wanted to just sit down and cry, wept with me when I was in such unbelievable pain and rejoiced with me when I conquered a grotto, church, chapel, basilica stairs and made it through. 

There are so many things I want to write about but the day is beckoning and lots of laundry to be done, Hebrews homework and a trip to Target to help me readjust to returning to the states.  So I will leave you with this; after we loaded our luggage onto the bus, we headed out of Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.  It was already dusk and full on night by the time we made the 45 minute ride.  We made one stop before getting to our hotel, the Mount of Olives.  We went to one of the famous overlooks into the city of Jerusalem.  The moon was bright and the lights twinkled.  The night was turning cooler but we didn't mind as we took pictures and marveled at the sights before us.  In the distance we could hear the call to prayer by another religion to its followers.  Peaceful, calm...in our pilgrimage eyes.  Of course the next day, even though it was still the sabbath, the city was busy, loud, hectic and chaotic.  Churches, vendors, peddlers, beggars and some of the most aggressive drivers in the world vied for and got our attention.  The pace of the city itself, hurried.  The pace of pilgrimage magnified the chaotic.  So very different from the serene scene of the night before.  The chaos. the bedlam, the disarray and turmoil amplified in the days following the sabbath.  I think I will read and understand Psalm 122:6-7 in a completely different way.  I have always prayed for Jerusalem and the peace for Jerusalem with the mindset of enemies in the surrounding nations that want to do away with it.  Now I understand the peace of Jerusalem must also include the activities and mindset inside the city.

Psalm 122:6-7

New Living Translation (NLT)

⁶ Pray for peace in Jerusalem.
May all who love this city prosper.
⁷ O Jerusalem, may there be peace within your walls and prosperity in your palaces.