A Walk on the Wild Side

Portions of the sermon given March 1, 2009

I can think of no more powerful a story than this account of Jesus’ baptism and journey into the wilderness as we begin Lent. Because of where we have been, the story stands out in living color. I see the upsweeping of green hills in Galilee and the quiet, but steady rush of the River Jordan in my minds eye. I even see the wilderness, perhaps as the West Bank or the dry desert hills just outside of Jericho where Bedouin shacks dot the hillside and camels stubbornly stand by. These days, the River Jordan divides Israel and Jordan and the two countries vie for water rights. In order to cross over into either country, you need to be able to tolerate an intimidating passport check, complete with cocked AK 47’s and border police.

The River Jordan IS cold this time of year! Just before leaving Galilee, we stood in the River as we remembered our baptism and received a blessing for the journey ahead. As we lined up to enter the water, a heron flew overhead and the sun danced in the trees across the creek. It was easy to imagine Jesus coming down to the water to be baptized by the wild and crazy John, so full of the spirit, so compelled by the power of the living stream to wash away the old and flood in the new.

According to Mark, Jesus enters immediately into the wilderness for forty days, facing the temptations of Satan, hanging out with wild beasts and finding the strength of angels. Sometimes after a blessing, we barely have time to dry off before we are flung into the wilderness again, to do battle with the good and evil forces of life. This story is given to us to remind us that we will be blessed, but never coddled, in this life; along our way we will encounter the wilderness, with its accompanying temptations, wild beasts and occasional angels.

We enter the wilderness when we experience injustice that cannot be easily fixed or unrelenting loneliness that isolates or conflict that will not be healed. There were times on our pilgrimage when we experienced the harsh tragedy of land divided and people torn apart by the terrible burden on mistrust and hatred. We witnessed the huge wall that has been erected between two holy cities, Jerusalem and Bethlehem. We stood in the cold streets of a Palestinian Refuge Camp and walked through the halls of Yad Veshem, the Israeli Museum honoring the Holocaust. We walked upon the ancient stones of the Temple Mount, and circled the Dome of the Rock, a sacred place to Muslims. We followed the footsteps of Jesus on the Via Dolorosa and entered the Church of the Holy Sepulcher where five Christian denominations try to share rights to the space. Jerusalem is the city where the three Abrahamic faiths collide and crash into each other like difficult children playing in bumper cars.

Today, Israel and the Palestinian Territories are a wilderness where mistrust and disregard is full blown and actively pursued. It is a world where there is separation, tragedy, anxiety and profound despair. A world where there are walls and guards, guns and checkpoints, borders and broken promises.

But there were times of grace-filled blessing on our pilgrimage, Blessed Wilderness. In Bethlehem, children collected shattered glass from the destroyed buildings of the last Intifada and have made tiny dancing angels out of the shards of war. At the border, Israeli mothers come to watch and witness and to make sure that no one is harassed or held back without cause. Father Michael McGarry rises each day to give witness to the hope of peace between people and neighborhoods and continues to pray without ceasing for a just and lasting peace.

The world breaks everyone, but in the broken there may be blessing. We are broken open to discover the hope that is God’s in the midst of human despair. If we rely on our own strength and willfulness, we will never achieve the peace we long for, but if we can imagine the peace that is beyond our understanding, in the heart of God, we have a chance. May God create within each of us, an opening, a blessing in the wilderness, a spacious place for grace and hope filled transformation.

"Unpacking" the Trip

The pilgrims have returned. Maribeth de Jong is back in Chicago, Katherine Fulton is in Florida for a work conference, Peter and Susan Purdy flew back with the rest of us and are now on their way toward southern California visiting friends along the way. We have all begun the process of "unpacking" our trip.

Hossam, our guide in Israel, told us that our pilgrimage to Israel/Palestine and Jordan was far from over. He advised us that, in fact, it had just begun; as we started to tell friends, relatives, workmates, and others about our travels, we would discover aspects of the trip and have reflections on the experience that we didn’t have time to consider while moving at such a rapid pace. I am taking his wise counsel seriously.

Little bits and pieces:
As I unpacked yesterday, I found pink sand from Petra sprinkled liberally over the right side of my suitcase. I thought of Patricia and how much she loves to find the sands of Lake Michigan in her shoes at the end of her summer stay there. I remembered the walk into Petra, the much-appreciated glass of hot tea in a cave, Pat Cross and Elizabeth waving to us as their cart driver shouted “Make way for the queen.”

As I took a shower this morning, I realized that I was washing away some of the henna on my hands and the shampoo from the Turkish baths.

As I ate my fried egg sandwich for dinner yesterday, I was once again impressed by the wonderful food offered to us morning, noon and night everywhere we went. We could have lived on the appetizers alone—plate after plate of small salads and great bread.

As I awoke this morning at about 5:00am, I was aware that I didn’t have to be down at the bus at 8:30 to begin our day’s activities. No one would be waiting for me. There would be no roommate check. I was on my own, outside the closeness of the group, writing lists of what I wanted to do today by myself.

None of these observations merit much contemplation. Perhaps the process of "unpacking" the trip begins as it began--with routine tasks and reassuring conversations. But I am trying to stay in the moment, noticing that I both appreciate being home and am longing for the community of the group. And, above all, I am remembering the incredible time we had together.

The End of the Journey

It is 10:09pm, the end of a very long day. As the blog mistress, I wanted youto have some word from us before we started for home. And I really wanted you to know that our visit to Petra, while cold and windy, was extraordinary. Then shortly after returning to our hotel, most of the women of our group left for a Turkish bath, followed by hand, feet, arm, and leg henna painting done by Bedouin women of the community. We are tired, full, beautifully clean, and discreetly decorated. Everyone else has gone upstairs to pack—and I need to as well. We start a very long journey tomorrow morning that will land most of us in Berkeley on Monday afternoon. Please send us your prayers for safe travel. A great number of us will be in church on Sunday, March 1, to share communion with you and to be welcomed back to the fold.

Jeruslaem to Petra

This has been a full day of travelling. We left Jerusalem at 8:30am and arrived in Petra in Jordan at 6:45pm. The hardest part for me was saying goodbye to our marvelous guide Hossam, an Israeli Arab Christian, who has been with us since we arrived in Israel. His spirit, professionalism, and knowledge has been invaluable in navigating this complex and immensely confusing situation. We are collectively mourning Hossam, but we are also very excited about visiting Petra tomorrow.

The highpoint for me today was the lunch dish, a speciality of Jordan, called makluba. Chicken, rice, vegetables, and spices are cooked in a pot and before our eyes turned out on a huge platter. It was delicious. But we have not been lacking in wonderful food. Hummus, babaganoush, pita and other breads, and lots of fresh salads have been staples of our lunches and dinners.

We send you our love and will be back in Berkeley on Monday—as hard as it is for us to believe.

Three Great Faiths in One Place

Our journey today began with the Western Wall where Jewish people come to pray. I was only allowed to pray on the women’s side, seeing women sobbing and bobbing back and forth, involving their hearts, minds and bodies in their earnest prayers. It was sad to see mothers standing on plastic chairs, peeking over the separation wall to witness their sons’ Barmitzvahs. We were especially blessed to see an extended family beating on drums, while dancing down the narrow stone street on their way to the Wall for their son’s Barmitzvah. The young boy balanced proudly on his father’s shoulders as his family clapped and sang.

This is a land of three great faiths, yet a land of walls and barriers. As we climbed to the glorious Temple Mount, there were security checks and soldiers with guns and piles of bullet-proof shields. Guards of one faith guard Pilgrims of another. So as I stood where Jesus preached in the temple and gazed at Al Aqsa Mosque with its golden dome and bright blue mosaic tiles, I was deeply moved, feeling I was in the center of the world of faith. Children with bright smiles shook our hands and greeted us with friendly “Salems.” Such great contrasts!

My heart was later broken open as I wandered through the Holocaust Museum, seeing short film clips of survivors’ tales of horror. I went to the Children’s Memorial where thousands of twinkling stars were shining in the dark, while hearing the names of children who were killed.

We saw so much more today, but it was all amazing!

Written by Becky Wright

Stepping Back into the Old Testament

Today (Wednesday, February 18th), we took a giant step back into Old Testament history as we descended from the heights of Jerusalem to the harsh Judean desert. With its rocky cliffs inhabited mostly by wandering ibex and the ever visible Dead Sea, we began our journey with a stop at Qumran. Here two centuries before Christ, the Essenes, a break-away sect, lived in isolation where they prayed, bathed and re-wrote on sheep skin many of the Old Testament books. When faced with an inevitable Roman invasion in 68 A.D., they stored these texts in clay jars in the caves which they inhabited only to have them discovered by a Bedouin shepherd in 1947. Today, we know them as the famed Dead Sea Scrolls! How amazing it was to hike around these ruins, hear this history and see the almost inaccessible cave of discovery.

Further down the shores of the Dead Sea, with its azure water and receding shoreline (an environmental concern for Israel as the Sea’s fresh water sources are diverted for agriculture), we visited Herod’s palace/fortress at Masada. Less known by Christians, it is a special site of pilgrimage for Jews because of the 900 zealots who held the site against the Romans at the end of the Jewish revolt and the fall of Jerusalem in 73 A.D. In the end, rather than surrender to a legion of 10,000 Romans sent to capture them, men, women and children committed mass suicide as opposed to surrendering their faith and themselves to their conquerors. Happily, we could reach these imposing mountainous ruins by a spectacular funicular ride where we walked among the remains of Herod’s lavish palace together with busloads of local Israeli village school children exploring their own history. Following a well earned lunch at the foot of the cliffs, we made our way to the shores of the Dead Sea for a delicious float in those warm but acrid waters. And then – like so many others – we headed back through the security checkpoints to Jerusalem.

Planting An Olive Tree in Bethlehem

Today, February 17, we ventured back to Bethlehem for the second time. After stopping to shop a bit and to visit the Church of the Nativity and the grotto where Jesus was born, “according to tradition,” as we say, we moved on to the East Jerusalem YMCA. We were met by Beha Hilo, a gorgeous Palestinian young man, who runs the Olive Tree Campaign among other things. He and Charlotte have been in touch trying to set up this time for us to plant trees. Unfortunately the weather did not cooperate. The fields were muddy, after yesterday’s rain, and olive trees don’t take to being planted in mud. So we had to settle for a very informative conversation with Behar and his boss, Nidal abuZuluf, the manager of the Joint Advocacy Initiative, and the ceremonial planting of just one tree in an area close to the Y. I found the experience moving and strangely exhilarating: we all took turns breaking up the soil and digging the hole, we placed the little tree in the hole, and patted the dirt around it. We will leave this land having actually done something to help, symbolic as it was.

Walls and Bridges

We left the relative tranquility and cultivated landscape of Galilee on Sunday morning, having worshipped together. We were headed to Jerusalem and Bethlehem, on Sunday afternoon and then all day Monday.

Little did we realize just how dramatic it would be to cross over into a very different landscape in every sense. We entered the hilly, rocky desert, and were soon in the West Bank, which was once part of Jordan and is mostly home to Arabs but is controlled by Israel. Well away from official Israeli territory, our guide pointed out an isolated settlement that Jews have built, quite literally up the hill from Palestinian shacks that had been denied the water and electricity that now flowed to the new settlement.

Over the past two days, we have crossed 8 or 9 checkpoints. The political reality of modern Palestine was brought home very quickly. The most dramatic of the crossings is captured in the photograph here--which is political art on the wall that now separates Jerusalem from Bethlehem. "To exist is to resist."

I found it impossible to see this person's protest--and not reflect on the obvious parallels to the Jesus story we had just been retracing. We had entered Jerusalem on Mt Olive, to a spectacular view of the wall of the old city, and the Jewish and Muslim cemeteries outside the wall. We walked down the hill to the garden of Gethsemane, to remember Jesus' agony on the night before the Romans crucified him for his own protest against the established order.

Today we had the rare tourist experience of seeing modern Bethlehem rather than just the tourist sites that we will see tomorrow. We visited Dheisheh Refugee Camp, where 12,000 Palestinians live, and two amazing organizations that serve the Palestinians--the International Center of Bethlehem with its Diyar Consortium, and the Wi'am-Palestinian Conflict Resolution Center. Both of these organizations are led by charismatic, visionary leaders, are supported by Christian ministries and are clearly making a difference to those who have no choice but to make the best of a reality that they feel otherwise helpless to influence.

I have so many feelings and can't begin to express them all. I'll close by describing the scene at the International Center, which I will never forget. A 23-year-old woman named Angie, who is the communications director, showed us the center--which exists to preserve, shape and revitalize the Palestinian culture. It is a place of beauty and healing, where students make documentary films, couples can get marriage counseling, and the elderly find meaning and community. Angie seemed much older than 23. She walked us through the temporary art gallery in the lobby, where children ages 6 to 16 have put their drawings and paintings up in a contest. The first one that caught my eye showed a dove crying onto the Palestinian flag. Simple scenes of guns, tanks and bullets became completely profound as drawn by the hand of a small child, dealing with the trauma. Some of the scenes were hauntingly similar to those writ large on the wall itself--as in the photo pictured here.

From the lobby, we moved into a workshop, and Angie told us the story of this place, where students had gathered in 2002, after Bethlehem was bombed and a strict 40-day curfew was lifted. The children had been challenged to turn their despair into hope and opportunity--and they gathered broken glass and made them into iconic angels. Katharine and I were both broken open, and looked at each other in tears. Here at last, it felt, was a bridge, not a wall.

Nazareth and Environs

This is written by Janet Eadie yesterday when we were not able to use the computer in Nazareth. I am sitting in the lobby of our hotel in Jerusalem on the desk clerk's computer because the business center is closed today. I'll tell you more about our journey to Jerusalem tomorrow when, I hope, everything will be open and working.
Here's Janet: "Today [actually on Saturday] we went to Ibillen and visited the Mar Elias Educational Institution and after enjoying a strangely satisfying lunch that included sandwiches of chicken, salad, and french fries all folded together into giant rolls of bread, we drove back to Nazareth where we walked through a recreated first century Nazareth Village.

Bishop Elias Chacour founded the Mar Elias Educational Institution so that children of differing religious backgrounds could be schooled and, by knowing each other, learn to respect each other regardless of their different cultures and beliefs. At the school we were greeted by Michael Chacour. Michael is the Bishop's nephew and is in charge of buildings and facilities. Michael is a charming man who has a twinkle in his eyes, a mischievous sense of humor and a generous spirit. However, when commenting on the conflict between the sate of Israel and the Palestinians, it was clear that pain and grief are just below the surface. When I asked him what he wanted me to tell you, he asked that you read one of his uncle's books. Blood Brothers is available in our church library.

At our next stop, we were guided through a model of Nazareth by Daniel, a Messianic Jew who moved to Israel from Romania two years ago. He led us on a tour that included an olive oil pressing room, a weaving room, a synogogue, and a Nazarene home, providing us with the Middle East equivalent of the Williamsburg Village experience."

Weary Pilgrims

We are weary pilgrims at the end of this day in which we travelled from Tiberius to Nazareth. Most of us are afflicted with sore feet and tired legs. But we are happily in the hands of the Sisters of the Rosary who are showing us splendid hospitality. So what did we do? We saw the site of the wedding at Cana and acted out the story with water and freshly squeezed pomegranate juice. On to the top of Mount Carmel and the Elijah story. To the "tel" of Megiddo (known as Armageddon to some), where 25 civilizations are stacked on top of each other from the 4th millennium BC to the 4th century BC. There is an ingenious water-fetching-during-siege system which involved, for us, climbing down 187 steps and up about 40. The photo shows those who have made the climb welcoming those who are coming through the opening. On to Nazareth and visits to two churches of the annunciation and our first mosque. We are doing so well and thoroughly enjoying each other's company.

Hello FCCB Folks! It is Day Two, and our enthusiasm for this adventure continues. We are striking a balance between savoring the spiritual aspects of our journey and pondering the socio-political implications of the Israel-Palestine question. Our guide has just touched the surface of the latter, and we look forward to deepening our understanding of that as the days go on. On the spiritual side, our visits to where Jesus delivered the Sermon on the Mount, where he peformed the miracle of the loaves and fishes and to the Jordan River were memorable. The highlight at the end of the day was a baptism ceremony performed by Pat and Charlotte (Janet asked if we could "double dip" and we did) in the waters of the Jordan.

Two group photos. One is from the airport in Amman. The second is standing on the edge of the Sea of Galilee, just after our lunch of various appetizers and St. Peter fish from the sea. It is the sea that I want to tell you a tiny bit about. It is not hard to believe that Jesus found this place hospitable and welcoming to his teachings. There is a magical quality to the light and the air and the sea makes the surrounding area fertile and green. After visiting Capernaum, we took a small boat out into the sea. Seagulls were flying along beside. The sea was calm. Patricia read us Mary Oliver poem and our guide suggested that we be silent for a moment and imagine these hills without any buildings or signs of the modern world and see the land as Jesus saw it when he was on the sea. It brings tears to my eyes to remember. We wish you could be with us to share our experience.

We're here

We're here safely in Amman. The trip was uneventful--other than Katherine Fulton having to sprint through the airport in Paris to make our plane to Amman. We are so glad to be here. And I am having the adventure of trying to type on an arabic keyboard. I have been trying to add a photo of us at the Amman airport but so far without success. Maribeth de Jong should arrive in the next few hours--and our group will be complete. Tomorrow we drive north and enter into Israel.

A Blessing and a Blur

This morning, February 8, at the end of worship at First Congregational Church of Berkeley, the travelers were blessed and sent on their way to the Holy Land. The photo that Sam Keen took for me is a very colorful blur. In many ways, a blurred photograph is entirely appropriate. For most of us, the last two or three weeks have been extremely busy: a mixture of uncertainty, anxiety and excitement; the rush to get projects finished; and now the final throes of packing, reassuring friends and relatives, and preparing ourselves in all the ways you can imagine to be away for two weeks in a remarkable and complicated place. We will try to keep you updated on our adventures. Please send us your comments and your prayers and hold us safe in your hearts until we return February 23.

Open Hearts, Open Minds

Eleven of the 15 folks who are making the trip to Israel and Jordan together gathered at Kathy Helliesen’s on Thursday evening, February 5, for delicious Middle Eastern food and great conversation about our hopes and dreams for the trip. Most everyone agreed that we wanted to go into the trip with both open hearts and open minds. Susan and Peter Purdy, friends of Patricia’s and Cynthia’s from New York, joined the group for the first time.
Thirteen of us are meeting at the airport on Monday at 1:30pm to check in for our 3:30pm Air France flight. This group includes Elizabeth Barkley, Charlotte Russell, Cynthia Lloyd, Janet Eadie, Katharine Kunst, Kathy Helliesen, Melissa Moss, Pat Cross, Peter and Susan Purdy, Becky Wright, Patricia de Jong, and Susan Cook Hoganson. Katherine Fulton will meet us in Paris for the flight to Amman. Maribeth de Jong, Patricia's sister from Chicago, will meet us in Amman.

Everything's a go!

The FCCB Peace-Seeking Pilgrimage to Israel and Palestine, 2009, is on schedule. Trip participants will post reflections on their experiences on this blog. Return here often to keep track of the pilgrimage, as well as to post your own comments and leave prayers for our travelers in the Holy Land.

Blessings for the Journey ...

Our peace-seeking pilgrimage to Israel and Palestine will be blessed by Rabbi Yoel Kahn of Congregation Beth El at the end of worship at FCCB on Sunday, February 8.

The group will depart from San Francisco on Monday, February 9, returning Monday, Feb. 23. Pat de Jong, Charlotte Russell and a dozen members and friends of FCCB will begin their pilgrimage in Galilee, following the story of Jesus’ ministry in Capernaum, Tiberias, the Mount of the Beatitudes, Nazareth, Cana, and then south to Jerusalem.

Along the way, they will be meeting and visiting with people of the three major faiths of this land: at the White Mosque; in Safed, the city of the Kabbala, and at the Mar Elias Educational Institution where Jewish, Muslim and Palestinian Christian children learn together. The Jordan River, Jericho, the Mount of Olives, the Garden of Gethsemane, Bethlehem, and the Shepherds’ field will be among the places they will visit.

While in Bethlehem, they will join Fr. Michael McGarry to visit the Deheisheh Refugee Camp and plan to join in planting olive trees in the Palestinian territory .Masada, Qumran, the site of the Dead Sea Scrolls and a swim in the Dead Sea will follow. Maps, the complete itinerary and images of their journey will be on display in the Large Assembly the next two Sundays.
You can keep up with them through this blog.

Your prayers will be welcome as they bear witness to hope and peace in this land sacred to so many.