Linked Reflections

Hello all! Like so many others, I had trouble posting here during the trip because everything was in Hebrew. I kept posting over at my blog, so I'm taking the time (a little belated) to share the links here. I still have a few more days to write about, now that I'm home.

Here is the homepage, where you can scroll back through to read in order: http://forthesomedaybook.wordpress.com/

Or, you can start here at Day Five (the other links are already on this blog) and just click forward day by day: http://forthesomedaybook.wordpress.com/2012/01/31/day-five-questions-and-sources/

What an amazing trip we had! I am still trying to absorb all the experiences we shared.

Peace,

Jennifer M-K

Nina's Notes for Tuesday

Tuesday, February 7 This has been one of my favorite days of the trip! We made our way out of the city and into the Judean wilderness of Palestine. It is barren, rugged and quite a contrast to the countryside we have seen near Jerusalem. Our initial stop was at Qumran where the first of the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered. Most scholars believe that the Qumran scrolls were left by a Jewish community called the Essenes who hid the scrolls in caves before their city was destroyed by the Romans. We continued our journey to 1,800 feet below sea level as we reached the Dead Sea. The water in the Dead Sea is 23% salt as compared to10% in most oceans. Several of us waded and others ventured out further to float in the Dead Sea. It was a beautiful day and this motley group of pastors enjoyed romping and laughing together in the water. The next stop on our journey was to the oldest city in the world - Jericho. We saw portions of a wall that is 5,000 years old! We visited a monastery that sits high on the face of the mountain in Jericho. We rode cable cars to one level of the mountain, and then had to climb our way up many flights of stairs to reach the monastery. It is literally built in the rock and is beautiful inside. We were able to see their chapel which is small but has many icons and paintings on the walls and ceilings. The monk that let us in spoke with me and asked where we were from. I told him we were from Kentucky and he asked if I knew where Louisville and Lexington were! He has family in Lexington and lived there for five years! It is definitely a small world! We ate lunch and did some shopping in Jericho before piling back on the bus after an exhausting day of swimming, climbing, and exploring the ruins of Jericho. God was and is in this place. How grateful I am that when I read the Scriptures now they will come alive for me as I envision these places I have visited.

Nina's Notes for Monday

Monday, February 6 A miracle has happened! One of my fellow pilgrims figured out how to change the words on the blog site from Hebrew to English. Now I won't be posting things that have no content because I can actually read the instructions in English! My life is now complete :-) We went to Bethlehem today and saw the birth place of Jesus which is located inside the Church of the Nativity. As with most places around here, several people groups claim this site as their own and share space within the church. Thus you will see a very ornate section belonging to the Greek Orthodox church and a very simple chapel belonging to another group. The church is built around the cave where Jesus was born and one can see the manger that Jesus was laid in as a newborn baby. The Catholics didn't get a place within the church so they added their own wing onto the building. On the door of the church is this message: We are hoping that if you enter here as a tourist, you will exit as a pilgrim. If you enter as a pilgrim, you would exit as a holier one. Indeed! Bethlehem is located in a part of the city that requires one to go through a check point where passports are examined and people questioned. There is a wall that separates the people of Bethlehem from the city of Jerusalem. This results in a great deal of tension and prejudice among the people of this land. It is a very complicated situation and we were able to talk with pastor and scholar, Rev. Mitri Raheb of Christmas Lutheran Church about this today. He wrote a book about Palestinian Christians that we read before our trip to Israel. It was an interesting conversation where he spoke about contextual theology and peace making. There was much food for thought as a result of our time together. Tomorrow we head to the Dead Sea, Jericho and Qumran.

Nina's Notes for Sunday

Nina's Notes - Sunday, February 5 Since this is Sunday, my heart has been longing for my faith community in both thoughts and prayers. It was 6:00 pm in Jerusalem when Highland was worshipping at the 11:00 hour and I thought of the music, the prayers, and sharing the Lord's Supper - and I missed being there. Our pilgrim group was gathered in our own time of devotion at 6:00 pm so we paused and prayed for our home churches. We are surrounded by people of so many faiths here in Jerusalem, but I have missed MY people of faith at Highland Baptist Church today. Our worship took place early this morning at the church of the Holy Sepulcher. This church houses the tomb of Jesus and Golgotha, as well as several sanctuaries or worship spaces. We got to experience portions of worship with the Ethiopians, Syrians, Greek Orthodox, Copts, Armenians, and Arabs. All worshipped in different areas of the church at various times this morning. We couldn't understand their language but we did experience their devotion and praise of God. In between the worship services our guest guide, Hana Bendcowsky, of the Jerusalem Center for Jewish-Christian Relations, taught us more about the church and the people who worship there. She is quite a scholar and we felt we had taken an entire seminary course by the time we finished at noon. For lunch we were invited to the Wujud Museum and were served a bountiful lunch by Palestinian Christian women. We were given a tour of the museum which is housed in a 650 year old building that had been refurbished in 2008/2009. We had the privilege of hearing a dynamic woman speak about the plight of the Palestinian Christians. It planted new seeds for many of us to ponder. There are so many images, smells, tastes, and sounds from the day that keep playing through my head - from the beautiful music of the Armenians, to the Coptic priest sharing some of the blessed bread with us, to the feel of the rock at Golgotha. Quite an amazing day and one that I will ponder for some time. Tomorrow we head to Bethlehem so stay tuned!

Jimmy - 4th post

Jerusalem, Jerusalem, oh....the beautiful and glorious city! ***  IT IS MUCH...., TOO MUCH FOR ME TO DESCRIBE IN WORDS HOW I FEEL, WHAT I'VE SEEN, WHAT I'VE SMELLED AND WHAT I'VE HEARD. IT IS AMAZING.  *** I would ask that you forgive my above description, it's just that there are a flood of emotions in my heart after being in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher and witnessing the multiple worship services going on simultaneously.  I touched the place of The Cross. I touched the palace of the Empty Tomb.  I've done what many millions of people have longed and long to do...thank you, Lord. Thank you, The Cousins Foundation. Thank you Trish, Jane and Claudia.  *** There is something transformative about this place.  Through my experiences so far, there something in me that desires to be better than what I am,  do more than what I've done and dream higher than what I've dreamt.   I hope God will do a mighty and holy work through me as a consequence of my experience here.  Can I be available to Him?  Will I be available to Him? *** Palestinian people (Muslims and Christians) are suffering horribly under the mighty oppressive hand of political Israel.  It is a travesty that goes unreported and ignored by U. S. media and policy.  Lord, have mercy.  Jimmy

Nina's Notes - February 3-4 I'm sorry for the posts that have had nothing in them. The words on the blog are in Hebrew so I have to try and remember which "word" was the magic one that ge ts this posted. Sorry for the false starts. Didn't write yesterday as it was quite busy and by the time dinner was over at 8:00 I was ready for bed! We did several things that day including going to Megiddo, Caesarea Maritima, and then we drove to Jerusalem, quickly unloaded our suitcases and got ready for a shabbat service at a local synagogue, came back after synagogue and had dinner. Talk about sensory overload! We started the day in Megiddo which is a hill called a "tell". Archaeologists excavate them and attempt to separate the layers and reconstruct the cities that lie covered below. The city of Megiddo emerged as the result of this sort of excavation. They told us there are 28 layers in this tell. I found the water system in this ancient city most fascinating. Outside the city is a spring. As the tell grew higher over the years it was harder to access it so they built a deep shaft inside the city walls and connected to the spring with a horizontal tunnel. This allowed them to be able to have water in the city even when they were under siege. There were stairs that wrapped around the vertical shaft so they could have access to the water. Those have been replaced with steps which we were able to descend - all 183 of them - to get to the bottom and walk through the tunnel to see the spring. Of course what comes down has to go up - but it was only 80 steps to the top outside the tunnel. Thank goodness! Next we went to Caesarea Maritima on the Mediterranean Sea. This is a huge city that has and continues to be excavated. We saw a theater built by Herod the Great that seated 4,000 spectators and an amphitheater which served as a race track. We were also able to see different parts of the exterior walls. Some were built in the Byzantine era,some by the Romans and some by the Crusaders. We ate sandwiches on the rocks of the Mediterranean Sea before heading to the bus again for our journey to Jerusalem. Once we got to our destination we had a short time before we headed to meet Debbie Friedman who is a founding member of the synagogue we attended. She met with us for about 45 minutes explaining about their synagogue and going through the service we were about to attend so we would understand what was happening. She was the one giving the sermon that evening. It was wonderful to worship with the Jews who live in this community. We learned that all Jews walk to their synagogue so they worship very close to where they live. After the service we headed back to the hotel for dinner and then to bed. A very long but wonderful day. Saturday - Another very busy day which began with us delivering the books that we brought with us to the Lutheran school. We met Ellie who is serving there and she had arranged with one of our leaders for each of us to bring a duffel bag full of books to the children at the school. Instead of bringing two suitcases for the trip we elected to bring one plus the duffel bag of books. We delivered 600 pounds of books to the school today! Ellie said the children were so excited to be able to receive that many books at one time. Next we saw the Mount of Olives, the Garden of Gethsemane, the Basilica of the Agony, and we saw the Stations of the Cross as we walked the Via Dolorosa. The 10th- the 14th Stations are inside the Church of the Holy Sepulcher which houses Golgotha and the tomb. It was an emotional day and a day of surprises. The Via Dolorosa is a busy market street where vendors are constantly calling at you to look at their wares. It was crowded with tourists and other pilgrims. I would imagine it would have been as busy when Jesus carried the cross that day. It was such a play between being attracted and called to by the people and things of this world, and then wanting to focus on what truly happened on this narrow, yet busy street. I imagined it in a very different way than what it was, but realized the challenge is still the same. Separating the presence of the Holy from the distractions of daily living. I have a lot left to think and pray about from this day.

Well we travelled to Jerusalem yesterday and on the way made some great stops.  One stop was Megiddo, which is incredible.  It is a tel with 28 layers and the history is incredible.  Also, like the other water systems, the one in Megiddo is an engineering marvel.  After Megiddo we went to Caesarea.  This, too, was a remarkable stop.  The control over this port city changed hands over the centuries often.  We were able to see evidence of each era, from Herod, to Muslim rule, to crusades and more.  After Caesarea we made our way to Jerusalem.  Wow.  That's all I can say right now is Wow.  Ok, I'll say a little more.  We began our stay by getting into the Notre Dame hotel in the late afternoon but before Shabbat.  We got ready for worship at a synagogue.  It was a fascinating experience and one I enjoyed greatly despite not knowing one lick of the Hebrew they were reading and singing.  Dinner was next and then sleep after a long day.  This morning we got up early for a trip of a lifetime.  We began at the Mt. of Olives/ Gethsemane.  Oh my, how awe-inspiring.  We then went down to the Kidron Valley to the Via Dolorosa.  Again, just remarkable.  There simply is no describing it but I'll do my best when I get back for my good friends at Fourth Presbyterian.  Suffice it to say for now that I went to the place of Jesus' crucifixion (Golgotha) and to the site of his burial.  There were of course many many stops before that, but I think you know those stops.  Just think of the Passion narrative from Palm Sunday to Easter and you'll get the sense of what I was blessed to experience.  Afterward, a friend I met on this trip and I walked around Jerusalem.  We went to the wailing wall and I spent some time in prayer there.  .  Was very spiritual to pray with so many others at a location unlike any other I've been in.  Just wonderful.  Did some walking in Jerusalem outside the wall then came back to the hotel to type.  That about sums up the day as for what I did, but I'll have to share more on what it meant spiritually to me when I return.  I have a plan for a presentation on a Wednesday night.  Don't worry it won't be one long slide show.  anyway, that's it for today.  I'll try to write more later this week.   Blessings to you all from the Holy Land. Miss being with you all and look forward to seeing you when I return.  

Jimmy - 3rd post

Well..., this is my last day on the Sea of Galilee. Tomorrow we are heading to the Holy City, Jerusalem!  I am getting back to my full strength just in time (I've been battling this cold since day one of this trip...been feeling pretty miserable on most of the excursions, but I told our tour director that I didn't travel 6,000 miles to be sidelined by a cold). **** Being on the sea has been incredibly peaceful and calm.  My room is literally 40 feet from the shoreline. **** This has been a fascinated time for me...a time of reflection, clearing of my mind, listening to God's voice as He calms my soul. **** Yesterday I went to Caesarea Philippi, now known as Banias (Or Panias in Greek, after the Greek god Pan).  We visited a magnificent waterfall that was breathtaking.  I'm posting video footage of my trip to this waterfall on my Facebook page (hint, hint, you should check it out under James Wilson, it will be there during the week Feb 13th).   Historians don't know why Jesus took the Disciples to this area.  Caesarea Philippi is not mentioned in any other place in the Gospels...it was a land filled with temples and idols to foreign gods.  Additionally, it is so far removed from the handful of cities that the Gospels reflect where Jesus did ministry.  My theory, however, is that Jesus goes to the heart of pagan territory and a land filled with falsehood to proclaim and affirm the authority of His Truth and the constancy of God's power in and through His church.  It is the ultimate in comparison and contrast. **** This trip is also helping me gain a better understanding of the humanity of Jesus.  In my earlier post I mentioned how Jesus might have been physically fit, due to the nature of this terrain and that poor people of this time would have walked from city to city.  Our tour guide gave insightful commentary on a theory of why Jesus left Nazareth to come to Capernaum as the basis of His Galileean ministry.   From a strategic standpoint, Nazareth was a small village of about 200 people.  If Jesus wanted to take His message of redemption to a wider stage, He needed a different marketplace.  Given the pivotal location of Capernaum, what better location could there have been?  It was a much larger multicultural community near a main thoroughfare of travelers. He called Peter, who, as evidence might suggest,  was someone that had the financial means and willing heart to further Jesus' movement.  Humanly speaking, Jesus was a clever strategist!  Hmm?  We, the Church, people of faith, businesses, individuals, social service agencies, local and national governments can learn a thing from the Master, the Ultimate Strategic Planner.   Jimmy

February 2, 2012

Our last day near the Sea of Galilee --tomorrow Jerusalem! I marvel at all we have seen and experienced and at the camaraderie being developed in our group. I'm traveling with wonderful pilgrims --people of deep faith and integrity. Today was our day to do as we chose. Some went to the city of Tiberias and 3 hardy and healthy souls biked around the entire Sea of Galilee. Others, myself included, took our tour bus to a restaurant about 2-3 km beyond Cahpernaum and had lunch at St. Peter's restaurant. I mean, really, where else would you eat in Cahpernaum?. We walked back to our hotel --somewhere in the neighborhood of 3 to 5 miles, stopping to see a Greek Orthodox Church on the way --it was small and every space was painted with stunning scenes from Biblical stories. From there we stopped again in the gates of Cahpernaum where you will see the ruins of a synagogue and a modern church built over the ruins of what is thought to be Peter's mother-in-law's home. Then on to the Primacy of Peter Church and a little further to Tabgha and then to our hotel. The sun, which has been sorely missed was out all day! None of us can believe that we have been gone a whole week. This has been an incredible journey so far. I was a reluctant traveler but I am absolutely thrilled to be here and humbled by this opportunity! Of course, keep the prayers coming because I do have to fly home!

Nina's Notes - February 3,2012 Today was deemed a free day for exploration and/or rest so six of us rode the bus into Tiberius which is not far from where we are staying. We had a grand time looking around and experiencing the sounds and sights of the city. We looked in a variety of stores, explored the abandoned mosque in town, and enjoyed eating falafels on the boardwalk. It was a beautiful day and we enjoyed the sunshine and each other's company. When we got back to Tabgha we went down to the Sea of Galilee and waded into the water. It was icy cold and there are lots of stones, but it was worth it - check out the pictures on Facebook. I sat there letting my feet dry and read from the Psalms. It was so peaceful and the presence of the Lord was in that place. I thought I would share with you some of the unusual things we experienced today, in bulleted form. We saw young men and women walking about in military uniforms carrying guns while shopping. All young men and women have to serve for three years in the army when they turn 18. Many were at the bus depot going home for the weekend which is Friday and Saturday We saw many Hisidic Jews in the city today. The men were wearing their kipa on their heads with their pe'ots (a long single ringlet). You cannot be a citizen of Israel unless you are a Jew. We saw lots of fruit for sale at the market such as pomegrantes, bananas, dates and dried fruits of all sorts. We also saw a fish market and stores with various kinds of nuts, and spices. We ate falafels on the boardwalk where there are numerous vendors all wanting you to try their food. The city bus we rode was like a tour bus and the round trip cost $22.40 in shekels which is about $7.50 in American money. Well, that is enough for now. We have our evening devotions soon and I have a few more things to throw in the suitcase. We leave very early in the morning for Jerusalem. I will hate to leave the peaceful area of the Galilee.

Nina's Notes - Wednesday, February 2, 201 Today was a busy day filled with new sights and LOTS of rain. Despite the rain we maintained good attitudes as we explored the Zippori National Park near Nazareth. The remains of a magnificent city were discovered here and some of the things we saw were the remains of city streets, houses, a theater, bathhouses, a synagogue. These date mainly from the Roman and Byzantine periods. The mosaics on the floors of the synagogue and some of the houses are amazing. In the synagogue there is a floor that contains 1.5 million tiles of 23 colors! In between the raindrops we were able to make our way to the Church of the Annunciation. The interior and the exterior of the church are breathtaking. Inside there are murals from countries all around the world depicting Mary and they are truly magnificent! (It may seem I am using hyperbole here, but it is truly hard to describe without it). The lower floor of the church contains another smaller chapel where they were finishing mass when we arrived. Behind the altar is the opening to the cave where they believe Mary lived and received the announcement from the angel that she was going to have a child. The cave had a facade on it orginally, but the living quarters were inside the cave. Who knew? Last night several of us walked back to the Church of the Loaves and Fishes which is close to where we are staying. We wanted to attend evening vespers in the church. It was a quiet, candlelit service of which we understood nothing as it was all in German. It didn't matter to us though as we were able to worship and sense the spirit in our midst even though we couldn't understand the words being spoken and sung. There were six of us who went and we were joined by one other person worshipping and two priests inside this small chapel. I was aware these priests are faithful day in and day out, for this is their work of Love -whether there is one or twenty people that participate. May I be found as faithful in the work that I do. Since traveling in this area, it is a new experience now when I read the gospels. I understand the places and situations of the time better and I have enjoyed reading back through Matthew this week. It has really made the scriptures come alive. When we visit these sites we read the text in the gospels that talks about where we are. That has been extremely meaningful to me as well as our prayer and devotion times we have twice a day. My head is bubbling with new insights and new questions, but most of all deep gratitude for this experience. Peace be with each of you, Nina