Our group with Christians for Fair Witness on the Middle East arrived in Tel Aviv yesterday evening, boarded a bus, and headed for Jerusalem. As we were ascending the hills toward the Holy City our leader, Sister Ruth, read the "Psalm of Ascents:"(Psalm 122)
I was glad when they said to me,
‘Let us go to the house of the Lord!’
Our feet are standing
within your gates, O Jerusalem.
Jerusalem—built as a city
that is bound firmly together.
To it the tribes go up,
the tribes of the Lord,
as was decreed for Israel,
to give thanks to the name of the Lord.
For there the thrones for judgement were set up,
the thrones of the house of David.
Pray for the peace of Jerusalem:
‘May they prosper who love you.
Peace be within your walls,
and security within your towers.’
For the sake of my relatives and friends
I will say, ‘Peace be within you.’
For the sake of the house of the Lord our God,
I will seek your good.
Here with this small team of pilgrims to learn about the many layers of conflict here, and feeling us literally ascend into the city of Jerusalem, these words of unity, peace and security were haunting and beautiful -- because our very reason for being here is the lack of these things.
After dinner and a time of prayer and conversation, at about 9:30 pm, two of my fellow pilgrims and I headed out on foot toward the old city in search of a cafe that had this Palestinian beer that one of them loved. As we walked the narrow streets of the Old City, all I could think about was all the history and scripture I have ever read that took place in the places where I was walking. But this was not a museum -- this is a living city, with people of all sorts bustling around living their lives.
We got our itineraries last night for our stay here and each day is packed. The range of things we will be seeing and people we will be meeting with is tremendous. In addition to seeing many of the holy sites, we will be listening to a mixture of people from all sides of the conflicts here. From the architect of Israel's security barrier to people living in Palestinian refugee camps, to Anglican Bishops and Deans to a spokesperson from the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) and a representative of the PLO and the Israeli Foreign Ministry and even the CEO of the Palestine Stock Exchange. The list goes on and on.
Several of us asked Sister Ruth about blogging during this journey and she said she was going to ask us not to write daily blogs for two reasons. The first is that each day we will be hearing different voices -- and each voice will touch us in a different way. The point is not to react to each voice but to hold them each close to our hearts and listen to the next voice. Then, at the end, through thought, prayer and conversation, try to get a sense of what all these voices held together mean. Daily blogging is bound to be reactive and not reflective -- and would be counter to our purpose for being here.
Second, is that she said that every group she has brought here (and she has lost track of that number) has been moved in profound and different ways, and part of that is the open and honest conversations we have with one another. She has found that people posting daily online can have a muting effect on those conversations.
Both of these reasons make absolute sense to me. So, with the exception of posting some photos on Facebook, I'm going to go "deep and quiet" for the next week or so. That's a phrase submariners use when they are trying to go undetected by the enemy. For me, it means I am going into a posture of listening and holding things close to my heart. Going quiet in an attempt to go deep. The last two days of my journey here, I will be on my own staying at St. George's College and perhaps I will do some writing and trying to express the total picture then.
Please continue to hold me in prayer and know that I am holding all of you -- family, friends, the people of Christ Church Cathedral and the people of St. Louis -- in mine.
The top picture is the view from my hotel window. The second is three of us having drinks in the Old City.
I was glad when they said to me,‘Let us go to the house of the Lord!’
Our feet are standing
within your gates, O Jerusalem.
Jerusalem—built as a city
that is bound firmly together.
To it the tribes go up,
the tribes of the Lord,
as was decreed for Israel,
to give thanks to the name of the Lord.
For there the thrones for judgement were set up,
the thrones of the house of David.
Pray for the peace of Jerusalem:
‘May they prosper who love you.
Peace be within your walls,
and security within your towers.’
For the sake of my relatives and friends
I will say, ‘Peace be within you.’
For the sake of the house of the Lord our God,
I will seek your good.
Here with this small team of pilgrims to learn about the many layers of conflict here, and feeling us literally ascend into the city of Jerusalem, these words of unity, peace and security were haunting and beautiful -- because our very reason for being here is the lack of these things.
We got our itineraries last night for our stay here and each day is packed. The range of things we will be seeing and people we will be meeting with is tremendous. In addition to seeing many of the holy sites, we will be listening to a mixture of people from all sides of the conflicts here. From the architect of Israel's security barrier to people living in Palestinian refugee camps, to Anglican Bishops and Deans to a spokesperson from the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) and a representative of the PLO and the Israeli Foreign Ministry and even the CEO of the Palestine Stock Exchange. The list goes on and on.
Several of us asked Sister Ruth about blogging during this journey and she said she was going to ask us not to write daily blogs for two reasons. The first is that each day we will be hearing different voices -- and each voice will touch us in a different way. The point is not to react to each voice but to hold them each close to our hearts and listen to the next voice. Then, at the end, through thought, prayer and conversation, try to get a sense of what all these voices held together mean. Daily blogging is bound to be reactive and not reflective -- and would be counter to our purpose for being here.
Second, is that she said that every group she has brought here (and she has lost track of that number) has been moved in profound and different ways, and part of that is the open and honest conversations we have with one another. She has found that people posting daily online can have a muting effect on those conversations.
Both of these reasons make absolute sense to me. So, with the exception of posting some photos on Facebook, I'm going to go "deep and quiet" for the next week or so. That's a phrase submariners use when they are trying to go undetected by the enemy. For me, it means I am going into a posture of listening and holding things close to my heart. Going quiet in an attempt to go deep. The last two days of my journey here, I will be on my own staying at St. George's College and perhaps I will do some writing and trying to express the total picture then.
Please continue to hold me in prayer and know that I am holding all of you -- family, friends, the people of Christ Church Cathedral and the people of St. Louis -- in mine.
The top picture is the view from my hotel window. The second is three of us having drinks in the Old City.
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