Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. – Psalm 19:105
As I sat down to write this month’s article, it was a chilly evening with anticipation of ice and snow. The neighborhood was particularly more quiet than normal and my mind wandered back to our recent trip to Palestine and Israel. So many of you have asked how our trip was and although I have answered you with a “great”, “fantastic”, or “amazing”, there truly is no simple way to capture all that we saw, did, ate, experienced, and felt in those thirteen days in the Holy Land. So, for now, I’ll label it as a remarkable trip. Indeed, it was truly a life changing and life giving experience and we (Brad and I) are both looking forward to sharing more of our experiences with you all as we move along.
Thus far, we have shared a few highlights with you all. We shared a chalice and paten during communion. The cup and small plate were from a little, narrow galley like shop along the winding but bustling streets of Jerusalem as we walked through the local markets during some our free time one evening. And this upcoming Sunday, as you pick up the weekly worship bulletin, the cover photo was taken from the Mount of the Beatitudes, where tradition says that Jesus preached the Sermon on the Mount. This is just the beginning, we have so much more to share with you all.
We look forward to sharing an abundance of our experiences – expected and unexpected, as well as other fun and interesting moments on Sunday, March 19th following our worship service. We will be serving some traditional Palestinian and Israeli foods with you as well as sharing photos and stories too. But until then, I’ll share a few highlights and teasers with you. We walked the streets and explored the cities of Bethlehem, Jerusalem, and Nazareth. We visited numerous churches; Church of the Nativity, Church of the Resurrection, and St. Anne’s Church, just to name a few. We hiked in the Wadi el Qelt in the Judean Wilderness down to Jericho. We walked along the seashore of the Sea of Galilee. We rolled up our pants to stand in the Jordan River (it was frigidly cold!) We floated in the Dead Sea and found it to be such a strange sensation to be able to float without any effort. We hiked to the Mount of Olives and strolled through the Garden of Gethsemane. We visited a primary grade school and Bethlehem University where we had the opportunity to engage with students, teachers, and administrators. We celebrated the Greek Orthodox Christmas with midnight Mass followed by a Christmas Day Parade with marching bands and bagpipes!
We walked A LOT – almost sixty five miles according to our Apple devices. I often joked that we only seemed to walk uphill, both ways! We covered so much territory physically but what I wasn’t completely prepared for (and not sure how I could have) was how mentally, emotionally, and spiritually exhausting this trip was going to be. Amazing, yes, but exhausting on all fronts. As some of you have heard me express in regards to my seminary studies, there is often a lot of processing that must be done in the work of learning such a thing and I am certainly still processing all that we saw, did, ate, experienced and felt while on this life changing and life giving trip. So, until we gather at the table on March 19th, I look forward to continuing to share bits of our experiences in Palestine and Israel.
Shalom,
Pastor Heidi