Sunday in Jerusalem…

 Yes, we spent today in Jerusalem. Although we are staying one more night in Bethlehem, we went to church at St. George’s Anglican Cathedral in East Jerusalem. The service was in both Arabic and English. 

To get there, we had to pass a checkpoint, and for the first time, two soldiers entered the bus to check our passports—a man and a woman, both carrying assault rifles. They wouldn’t make real eye contact. Military service is required for young Israeli citizens. These two young people looked like they didn’t much enjoy their jobs. Here’s the guard tower and wall at the checkpoint.

The church service at the Cathedral was fine—even though it was mostly in Arabic, I could tell where we were. The Dean of  St. George’s College was one of the celebrants. He preached in English and the other priest preached in Arabic. I, of course, opened the hymnal during the Arabic sermon and pondered the words of the first hymn I saw when I opened the book: “Dear Lord and Father of mankind.”  Those words rang true, taking me back to Galilee. I now know that landscape! After the service, I had a good conversation with his wife, Julianna, who works with disabled children of Palestinian mothers. It was a good coffee hour—cake and little eclairs. 

We gathered for a picture in the courtyard of the Cathedral. I slipped back into the church just to take a very quick picture, and when I came out, the group was gone! I walked to where the bus was. It was still there, but locked. I knew then that the group had walked to the American Colony Hotel where we were having lunch, but I didn’t know the way. So I walked back to the courtyard turned on the cellular service on.my phone and called Holly. Before too long, Fadi, our human good shepherd arrived and this lost sheep was found. Whew! I am not straying again…

Lunch at the hotel was phenomenal, made even better by an unexpected visit by Rabbi Michael Cohen, a good friend of cousins Martha and Rich Heileman. They let Michael know that I was here, and he found me! Michael has been dividing his time for the past quarter of a century between his home in Vermont and the Kibbutz Ketura campus of the Arava Institute for Environmental Studies (www.arava.org). At the Institute young Israelis and Palestinians, along with other college age students from around the world are brought together to study, research, and work on the environmental issues affecting this part of the world. 

We hear about so much that is bad that it is good to hear about the positive things going on that bring much needed hope. He will send information about his group’s and other’s efforts and I will pass on what I get to you, dear readers, because good news needs to be amplified!

We spent the afternoon at Ein Karem—where Mary’s cousin Elizabeth (John the Baptist’s mother) lived. We walked up about 150 steps to get there, but it was well worth it. We saw both the lower church (a crusader church) and newer, building built above it. In the courtyard near the entrance to the lower church, there is a whole wall of Magnificats, each in a different language. 

We passed a few hours here—a blessed pause in our busy schedule. There was an outdoor chapel just outside the Upper Church (where a Mass was going on) and there was time for both music and meditating outdoors as we pondered both the strength of these two women and the legends that surround them.

Mural in the Church of the Visitation

We had a late supper tonight. At 9, a young Palestinian woman, Lora, came to speak to us about the reality of being a Palestinian woman under occupation and living under the Palestinian patriarchal government.  It’s clear to me that Palestinian women are both strong and smart. It’s my hope that they will survive their current hardships and thrive. It will be a hard road, though…

Tonight, we’ll pack up and leave early tomorrow for Jerusalem. This has been a really good day; we moved at a more relaxed pace which has been wonderful. I’ve added some pictures here just so you don’t think I have forgotten about pictures for you all. They are easier to share on Facebook, so I have begun sharing them there.  If you are on FaceBook and are not yet a friend, send a friend request to Sudie Mixter Blanchard!

Destination: Dead Sea

Today’s pace was much more relaxed than yesterday’s. Our first stop was the Judean desert—I took some pictures, but they don’t begin to capture the vast expanse of the hills of sand and scrub.  We were on a hill looking down on the road from Jerusalem to Jericho—the road Jesus used in his Good Samaritan illustration. I stood in one place and could see Jerusalem on a hill in the distance to my left and Jericho Down below sea level on my right. We celebrated Eucharist together while we were there—true food in the wilderness.

Our next stop was the Jordan River. We renewed our Baptismal vows there and had a chance to put our feet in that very special place. There were crowds of people there—one full immersion baptism happened while we were there—It reminded me of the scene in the Gospel with John baptizing in the Jordan. Though today there were no Pharisees muttering in the background…

From there, we went to see the Mount of Temptation. A pretty sere place. There’s a large monastery built into the side of the hill—the current one was built in the 17th century. 2 monks live the now. You can see caves tucked into the wall of the cliffs. I certainly wouldn’t want to spent 40 days and 40 nights there. At the end of our visit, I drank some delicious cold, freshly squeezed pomegranate juice. I’ve gotten kinda hooked on the stuff. They squeeze it for you right there.

It was time for lunch then, so we headed into Jericho.  The restaurant was wonderful—and it was warm enough to sit outside.  

Magluba

The main dish was Magluba—meat, rice, fried vegetables and yummy spices are placed in a pot. It’s baked, and then flipped over to serve—a dramatic presentation. And it was good! Actually, all the food we’ve eaten has been good and healthy! Every meal (even breakfast) Begins with vegetables, hummus, pita bread…  Today’s lunch ended with a Jericho specialty—bananas—and a small cup of Turkish coffee.

Qumran was our next stop—this was a settlement of Essenes—a Jewish sect that stressed purity and kept themselves apart m the rest. The Dead Sea Scrolls which have influenced biblical studies since their discovery were found in caves here. The settlement is located right on the shore of the Dead Sea—the lowest point on earth’s surface—close to 1500 feet below sea level.

Of course, since we were right there, we needed to go to the nearby beach, where some of us went swimming. I was one of the intrepid ones, and took the plunge. The water was much warmer than I expected. It was an odd experience to simply float with no effort. You have to be careful not to get water in your eyes—with a salinity of about 34%, it stings! The hardest thing for me was getting out of the water. I couldn’t get my feet to go where I wanted them to go. A couple of strangers had to help get me up! 

It was a long day, but a good one—I treasured Eucharist in the desert and I will always remember this particular reaffirmation of my baptismal promises to love and serve others and to seek justice and peace. I still haven’t found time to get pictures organized, but ha posted a few on FaceBook. I’m going to bed now. Tomorrow, we’ll be going to church in Jerusalem at St. George’s Anglican Cathedral, with lunch at the American Colony Hotel….

On the road to Bethlehem

When I woke up this morning at 6:10, I was hoping to see a sunrise over the lake. There were clouds, so no real sunrise, but there was a brisk wind and whitecaps on the surface of the water. Experience it with me…

 We are now leaving Galilee and heading south toward Bethlehem and the reality of the wall of separation. As we said Morning Prayer in the bus, I found myself weeping. The psalm—139–is a favorite, and Ana’s choice, “We are only walking each other home” brought more tears. And yes, I was sorry to be leaving this beautiful place, the water, its history and connections with Jesus—I’d liked to have spent more time here, but I think I was weeping more for our world and all its divisions. And I think God must weep, too. Our guide, Fadi, is a Christian with a Palestinian heritage. He is also a citizen of Israel. He feels that two states will never work. He would prefer one state with two peoples with equal rights—that might work…but right, now both sides are corrupt and terrorism is a reality. And Christians are caught in the middle of it—that’s why there are fewer and fewer Christians in this part of the word. Fadi just wants justice. And so do I!

There are serious divisions in my own country that grieve my heart, but the division that is so visible in this country, beloved by so many, takes my grief to a whole new level. I know there are efforts to bring peace—in places like the Center where we went for the boat ride yesterday. But it’s not enough. I’m almost afraid to learn more…

The drive the Bethlehem is about two hours down highway 6, through the coastal plain. It’s much flatter than where we have been for the last few days. There seems to be lots of agriculture here—it’s pretty green. We are driving through western Samaria right now. You can clearly see the wall of separation from the highway where we are.It’s 27’ high. And concrete. We are probably not going to go to Samaria—yesterday a tourist bus was caught in the crossfire between the two sides. 

We are now heading east, up into the hills of Judea, toward Jerusalem. Almond trees along the highway are in bloom. After a restroom stop, we passed Jerusalem and are now headed to Bethlehem—no little town of Bethlehem now. There are 80,000 inhabitants now. Just went through the checkpoint. We are in the West Bank…

Later at bedtime…

This day was is hard to explain. It may take a while to sort it out. On the one hand singing “Thanks be to you, O holy One” with Ana, followed by a rousing rendition of Hark the herald angels started by a man in another group in the wonderfully acoustic chapel at the Shepherds’ Field was meaningful and a joy for this musician, and praying together in several places in several churches during the day brought new meaning, the reality of life here for regular Palestinians stood in stark contrast. This is no longer  O Little Town of Bethlehem…

Note large water tanks on roofs

What we see and hear in the United States is not a reflection of the reality here. We don’t hear about the water tanks on the roofs of Palestinian homes that are needed to store water for when the water is routinely shut off. The are no such tanks on Israeli homes. There is more. Much more. Now that I anm here on the ground, I realize that.much of our news has a pro-Israel bias which is not justified, especially with the new government here. I want to make it clear that I am not being anti-Semitic. I love the Jewish faith, and I believe that the God both Jews and Christians worship is a God of justice and mercy. What is happening here is neither just nor merciful. I think God must weep.

Walled Off Hotel and the wall--28' tall

There is a lot to ponder here, but I wanted to at least write this down while it is fresh. More to come later.  The artwork of the British street artist Banksy both on the wall itself and in The Walled Off Hotel located right next to the wall brings a lot into focus for me.

We enjoyed another wonderful meal and some skilled Palestinian dancers at Shepherds Valley Tent Restaurant. That lightened my mood considerably…Here’s a video treat for you, dear reader!

I must say that I am missing peaceful Galilee.  It is Saturday morning now. Today we’ ll head south to Jericho and the Dead Sea. I’ll bring my bathing suit! Will try to get to more pictures on the bus today…

Around the Sea of Galilee

 Today, we really saw the sun, at least in the morning. I even broke out the sunglasses! We all climbed aboard the bus at 9am for our scheduled ride on a boat somewhat like a first century boat, but much larger.

Sign in Hebrew, Arabic and English

The boats and more are part of Kibbutz Ginnosa’s "Yigal Allon Center." The Center sees Israeli society as simultaneously Zionist-Jewish and equal-democratic. The Center strives for peace and is inspired by Yigal Allon’s values and legacy. One sign of that purpose is that the signs I saw at the Center and down by the boats were in Hebrew, English and Arabic. This tells me they welcome all Israeli citizens. Many places here in Israel don’t. The Center has programs that bring young people on the different sides together so they become friends. This is just an observation of mine and not really part of our day. But it’s an example of something good being done in the face of real injustice.

Anyway, the boat ride was fun. We went out to the middle of the lake and had our Morning Prayer service right there in the middle of the Sea of Galilee. After this, we went to Tabga, the place where the scene at the end of John might have place—the fish breakfast and the reconciliation between Jesus and Peter. There’s a rather contemporary church commemorating the event.  

While we were there, Liz and I took off our shoes and socks and waded into the Sea of Galilee!

Our next stop was Capharnum—the Bible calls it Capernaum—the home town of Peter and several of the disciples. We saw the ruins of what almost certainly was Peter’s mother-in-law’s house. Close by were the ruins of a sequence of synagogues. There was, of course, a church built above the ruins to commemorate that location.

Then there was lunch—and we were hungry! Tanureen Galilee Resaurant was the place and the food was phenomenal! Almost all of us had a whole St. Peter’s fish—tilapia—It was better than any tilapia I have ever eaten! 

Our next stop was the spot where the Sermon on the Mount took place—the mountain of the Beatitudes. While we were there, we spent some time contemplating which of the beatitudes held our attention and how might God be calling us to use our various gifts. This was helpful space for me to ponder the question I brought with me: “What now?” The beatitude that caught my attention was “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.”

Our last stop, (and by now my feet were hurting and my back ached— the old gray mare, she ain’t what she used to be!) was the place where the feeding of the 5000 might have happened. There was a church there, too, and I took a look but went back to the bus before the others to do a little writing…I think a poem might be in the works…

We then headed back to the hotel and celebrated a wonderful informal Eucharist near the lake—that was a real treat! We used to have these informal services pretty frequently back before COVID, but none recently in either of the St. George’s churches where I have served/attended. I had almost forgotten what they were like, and this one was special! 

Then it was time to get ready for dinner. Liz and I were getting ready when, suddenly there was a knock on the door. It was her prodigal suitcase! Hallelujahs were said and we both went to dinner happy!

After dinner, we all walked down to St. Andrew’s Chapel—part of the Church of Scotland—for a wonderful informal concert given by our own Ana Hernandez who has been coordinating the music on this pilgrimage.  After walking back to the hotel, I checked the number of step I walked—over 12,000 today. No wonder my feet are crying out!

We leave here for Bethlehem tomorrow.  A two hour drive and our first experience of a checkpoint as we go through one of the “barrier walls” into the West Bank.

Here’s a link to more of today’s pictures:  https://share.icloud.com/photos/034TITPphMiMIh1hXP2OWAlXw

Day 2 — On the way to Galilee…

Arabic Hymnal

What a remarkable day! After a night of thunderstorms—I was awake for 2 of them, and I woke for the call to prayer from the mosque next door—the sun came out! We began the day with Morning Prayer said at the Anglican church in Nazareth—-Christ Church. It’s located right next to the convent—an easy walk, but three flights of stairs to get to the entrance—and no handicap access! Like much of Nazareth, it’s built into the hillside. The prayer books and hymnals are all in Arabic—in Arabic, you read right to left, even with music. They have some of the same hymns as we do, but the music reads right to left. Of course, we sang a couple of songs that Ana taught us—we are sounding pretty good!  During the service, a local rooster added his voice to ours. I light some of the fancier churches we are seeing, this felt like a community church. Some Christmas ornaments were stashed behind the organ bench…it just felt like home. 

Mt Tabor

After the service, we went back to the convent, gathered our bags and brought them to be loaded into the van for transport to our bus, which was parked several blocks away.  The streets in the old part of Nazareth are far too narrow for our bus! And we were on our way to Mt. Precipice—the synagogue members who were upset with what Jesus had said at the service intended to toss him off the cliff. It is indeed a high cliff! And it has a magnificent view…a clear view of Mt. Tabor the mountain of the Transfiguration…the Megiddo valley—-now green with agriculture, but through history, the site of many battles…you can see in the distance Mt. Gilboa, where King Saul met his end. I could go on like this for a long time. In short, being here, for me, brings the Bible to life in ways that simply didn’t happen for me in reading books….

From there, we went to the Ancient Basilica of St. Anne—a ruin really of an ancient church dedicated the Anna, mother of Mary and grandmother of Jesus. Two charming monks (and their two cats) manage the property. There was a beautiful garden there—we formed a circle and remembered our grandmothers and the other older women who have guided us. A touching moment for many.

Remembering our grandmothers

Our next stop ,was the Greek Orthodox Church of St. George in Cana—commemorating Jesus first miracle—changing water into wine. In the church are two stone containers the Greek Orthox believe were two of those jars.  I don’t know this for a fact, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the Roman church next do has stone jars of their own, claiming to be original! The icons and decoration in this church are quite beautiful, but a little over the top for my liking. But I did like the St. George connection—there was a dramatic icon of his slaying of the dragon.

On the same Cana theme, we stopped at a shop to sample some wine—the same vintage as the wine at that wedding long ago! Well, no.  It wasn't great wine. The plain grape juice tasted better to me than the wine.

Hungry, we stopped for some middle eastern “fast food:” falafels and  shawarma. Messy, but delicious!

Ancient synagogue at Mt. Arbel

Restored, we got on the bus for our next stop: the fascinating ruin of a first century synagogue on Mt. Arbel—it’s possible that Jesus visited this—it’s quite near where his grandparents lived. It also had a wonderful view of the surrounding area. I don’t quite know how to express this well, but I felt “grounded” here—at home in a way that I have to ponder.  The churches we’ve seen are beautiful, but don’t touch me the way this ruin did…

I think I was not the only one who was getting a little weary by now,but we had one more stop: Magdala,  the home of Mary Magdalene. 

The Magdala Stone

This is an archeological site right on the shore of Lake Tiberius (aka the Sea of Galilee) where they have unearthed another first Century synagogue—another that Jesus might have visited.  Our tour guide was a lovely woman front western Ireland. She was passionate about this site—and helped us imagine what it would be like being there, perhaps with Jesus there. The moments I’ll remember from that visit will be making a circle around the fountain in the center of the Women’s Atrium and singing in wonderful acoustics!  I would loved to spend more time in this place, but it was time to get settled in at our new hotel before dinner.

I am now almost ready for bed after an amazing dinner buffet of many different Mediterranean dishes here at the Ron Beach Hotel—delicious preparations of all kinds of vegetables, and delectable desserts. 

I am going to publish this and go to bed. I’d like to see the sunrise at around 6:30 am, and we take a boat,ride on the lake a little later in the morning. Pictures will be posted tomorrow I think.

Later the next day—the link to the photos I took on the way to https://share.icloud.com/photos/0e0lwdbE_bZue07u48sW4ATeQ

Day 1– Hail, Mary…

 Two reasons for the title…first, today we focused on Mary, here in her home town of Nazareth and second, some of the showers we encountered today contained hail—not large, but recognizable as hail. The suitcases are still MIA, so roommate Liz and I are washing out our undies and hoping that our suitcases show up soon. Evidently 22 of our 24 made it to Tel Aviv, and two are,still in Istanbul—Liz has an Apple tag in hers which says that one in Istanbul is hers. I expect that they are waiting for the two left behind to arrive before making the 1.5 hour drive to Nazareth.

Church of the Annunciation

There have been some lovely moments today.  In the morning, we saw two churches—first, the Greek Orthodox Church of the Annunciation—there were some beautiful icons there. This  church is located over an underground spring, which according to Eastern Orthodox belief is where Mary was drawing water at the time of the Annunciation. The spring is still active today. If you go downstairs into the crypt, you can see the water still flowing… 

Basilica of the Annunciation

We next went to the Roman Catholic Basilica—a newer building consecrated in 1969. It was built on the site of what was believed to be Mary’s family house where she was visited by the Angel Gabriel. We were there in time for the noonday Angelus procession by the Franciscans. The courtyard gallery of large icons offered by Catholics in many countries around the world was impressive. I particularly liked the ones from Indonesia, Wales and Ukraine. 

So the Greek Orthodox believe that the Annunciation happened at the well and the Catholics believe she was at home. Our guide, Fadi, suggested that it could be both! That sounds good to me.

We had lunch at a popular local restaurant called (predictably) Holy Land Restaurant. Then we went for tea at Ghada’s Corner. Ghada is a remarkable Palestinian woman who has training in anthropology and is passionate about various cultures, particularly in this region. The bulk of her current offerings are creations made by women—I bought a small embroidered purse made by a woman in one of the large refugee camps populated by Palestinians whose homes have been destroyed/occupied by Israeli settlers.

Walls of 1st century house?

We went back to the convent where we had a tour of the remarkable archaeological finds located under the building. The following article explains the site better than I can in this space: https://bibleinterp.arizona.edu/articles/sisters-nazareth-site but the author approaches his work scientifically, and my own perspective is one of faith. 

Seeing these possibly first century ruins gave me “good goosebumps”  These could be the original stone walls of Mary and Joseph’s house in Nazareth. Of course, we will never know, but at least I can imagine…

I am beginning to understand why the Holy Land is called “the Fifth Gospel”…

Just as we sat down to dinner, 22 of our 24 our suitcases arrived. Mine was one of them. Unfortunately, snowstorms in Istanbul are complicating the return of the two that were left behind. Liz and Joyce’s bags are still MIA, but sisters help sisters, right? Within 20 minutes, she had appropriate “loaner outfits” for the next couple of days!  I also discovered that I had a minor problem—I had my suitcase, but the baggage handlers managed to mangle the TSA lock I had bought—the numbers wouldn’t line up. I needed a heavy duty cutter of some kind to get into my suitcase! I was sure I would need to find a maintenance person. But within 5 minutes of sending out a plea on our What’s app group, my “sister pilgrim” Katherine was at the door with a handy implement that did the trick. Need help? Ask a woman!

It’s getting late and I must end. No pictures in the blog today (Pictures inserted after I got home!). But I took lots. The internet here is wobbly, and complicates the sharing of large files. I will find a better way, but not tonight. Tomorrow, we head north to Galilee, with a stop in Cana.

Later—- I woke up very early this morning at 4am  to a thunderstorm, dozed off but was awakened again by the call to prayer from the neighboring mosque…after that sleep was elusive , so I worked on getting pictures on the blog. Try this link and see what you think….

https://share.icloud.com/photos/07aFuHS2M1wK_MRlxH-YJoILA

We all made it, but what a trip!

 

At Riverwoods ready to leave!

It’s now about 1:40 am on Tuesday! We finally got to Nazareth about 1 am after the most grueling days of travel that I can remember. Liz and I began our journey  on Sunday morning, riding the C&J bus to Port Authority in NYC. I am grateful that Liz worked in the city earlier in her life and knows enough to get us on the subway, out to Jamaica Center where we picked up the Airtrain to JFK. Unfortunately, the Terminal 1 station is under construction, so we had to get a shuttle bus at Station 8. Counting the car Mel used to trip us off in Portsmouth, that’s four conveyances—so far!  We got to Turkish Airlines by 5, but couldn’t check in or get through security until 8, so we spent some time checking out the limited options for fast food dining. Members of our group began showing up around 7, and we all checked in for our flight at about 8. We learned along the way that our flight would be 30 minute delayed. The weather in Istanbul has been awful these last few days, with snow, freezing rain and wind cancelling many flights, but not ours! We finally got off more than an hour late, at about 1:30am. It was a long flight—about 9.5 hours. I slept very little. The weather coming into Istanbul was terrible—no visibility at all, but the pilot landed our “big bird” beautifully. He even got a round of applause from all the passengers!

The next trick was getting to our connecting flight to Tel Aviv. That plane hadn’t taken off yet, so we raced to get to it. Some of us raced in the wrong direction and ended up on the floor where we didn’t need to be, ended up going through security, but we finally ended up making it anyway. Just barely. We all made the flight, but our checked luggage didn’t.  We got to Tel Aviv, went through the Israeli immigration system and headed for the baggage claim and waited. And waited.  Long story short, none of our baggage made it. So then we each had to fill out claims! 

We got on the road to Nazareth just before midnight. The night view of Nazareth just after the rain was a sight to see.  I’ll leave you with a picture of the Church of the Annunciation. We are staying at a convent run by the Sisters of Nazareth, perhaps right above where Mary and and Joseph lived. 

Church of the Annunciation

One week...and counting

Well, the last of the trip items have arrived--the compression socks recommended by my doctor for the long plane flight arrived yesterday.  I'm trying them out today to make sure they are comfortable for me. Things waiting to be packed are carefully set out in a corner of our bedroom.

This time next week, if all goes as planned, Liz R. and I will be packed and ready to head to the C&J bus terminal in Portsmouth to take the bus to NYC. This will be just the first leg of our Big Adventure.  Once at the Port Authority, we'll find transport to JFK airport and meet up with the rest of the group--25 fabulous women in all.  To say I am excited now would be an understatement.... I just hope and pray that COVID, the weather or the unrest in the West Bank don't unravel these plans...

I've been asked by some what I expect to gain from this pilgrimage.  Truthfully, I really don't know--and I think that's OK.  In my experience, pilgrimage can lead you in unexpected directions, so it's best to hold any expectations you might have lightly.  I do, however, have a question...

Early in Advent this year, "Now what?" started rumbling around in my brain...  Just before those 4 weeks began last November, I reached a milestone moment in my life.  On the 20th, after more than 16 years as deacon, I retired from active ministry at St. George's in York Harbor, ME.  It was a truly wonderful celebration--the people in that parish have been such a blessing to me over the 22 years I have been associated with them.  

Now I am officially "retired" from everything. Library work. Chaplaincy. All of it. At the moment, I am still in a leadership role helping our Afghan family get a good start in America, but that's beginning to wind down now. 

I am not dead yet, so there must be a new "call" out there.  When your vow is to serve Christ, and you take that vow seriously, there's really no such thing as retirement.  "Now what?" is a question I will carry with me into this pilgrimage, along with my baggage.  I am in my 76th year, and don't have quite the bounce in my step as I used to, but I know I still have something to give...

Packing for a Pilgrimage -- A poem I wrote in preparation for this trip

 

Getting ready to go…

For the last few weeks, I've been spending time reading, writing a little, praying and yes, gathering needed travel items--we had some of this before we moved--we'd done international travel before-- but I'm not sure it all made the cut when we down-sized and moved. Maybe I thought we'd never travel again? It seems those last months in York are sort of a blur now. So starting from scratch, thanks to Amazon...