"I'm Leaving on a Jet Plane..."

As I woke up this morning, my heart prayed this prayer. "Lord, grant me an open spirit, a listening ear, and a willing heart." A good prayer for any day, but maybe especially on a day I begin a pilgrimage to Israel.

Today is a travelling day.  The first plane left at 7:11am and arrives in Newark around 9:00. My travel companion and good friend Rose arrives at 1:30.  Our flight to Tel Aviv leaves at 5:00pm and arrives at 10:00am. Problem is that it's a 7 hour time difference so our bodies will be telling us that we are landing at 3:00am. Tomorrow will be a long day.

So since nothing exciting will be happening today (I hope!) I thought I'd share a rough outline of our itinerary.  Since it's just the two of us going, we were able to create our own itinerary based on our interests and passions. After much planning and researching we came up with this plan. We hired a private tour guide Meir More (highly recommended on trip advisor) who helped us put these ideas into action. With more explanation in the coming days, here is what we hope to see while we are here.

March 1 - Arrive in Tel Aviv airport at 10:00. Catch a 5:00pm flight to Eilat on the southern tip of Israel on the Red Sea.

March 2 - Take a guided tour to Jordan and the city of Petra, one of the great wonders of the world.

March 3 - Catch a bus to the Dead Sea and meet our tour guide. Travel to Massada, float in Dead Sea, see Ein Gedi nature reserve, the Qumran caves where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found, and Qasar el Yahud where Jesus was baptized. We might even be able to squeeze in a camel ride.

March 4 - Day 1 in Jerusalem. There's just too much to make a complete list.  In two days we plan to go to the Wailing wall, Holocaust museum, see Dead Sea Scrolls, go to Temple Mount, Via Dolorosa, gates of the city, garden tomb, upper room, golgotha, mount of olives, garden of gethsemane, King David's tomb, the underground tunnels of the wailing wall, pool of Bethseda, 

March 5 - Day 2 in Jerusalem.  See the places above

March 6 - Travel around Jerusalem to Mount of Olives, Bethpage, Bin Karem where John the Baptist was born, Bethlehem, Emmaus.

March 7 - Go to Beit Shean and archeological finds, Mt. Tabor where the transfiguration happened, and Nazareth where Jesus grew up.

March 8 - Start walking the Jesus Trail, a 60 km marked trail, that will take us 3 days.  Today is 14 miles and takes us through Cana where Jesus turned water into wine.

March 9 - Today we walk 12.5 miles through Arbel Nature Park and the caves.

March 10 - Today we finish the Jesus trail walking about 13  going through Migdal (also known as Magdala where Mary was from), Taghba where Jesus fed 5,000 people with a few loaves and fish, and onto the Sea of Galilee and Capernaum.

March 11 - We explore the Sea of Galilee region - the Mount of the Beatitudes, take a boat ride on the Sea of Galilee, eat some of Peter's fish (also known as Tilapia), and explore Tiberius.

March 12 - We now travel north of the Sea of Galilee to see the area where Jesus drove out many demons from one man into a herd of pigs who through themselves from the cliff, and onto some of the natural parks, and Ceasarea Philippi, Mt. Bental, and Mt. Hermon.

March 13- Meeting our tourguide once again, we travel to the west coast of the country on the way back to Tel Aviv. We will see Megiddo from Revelation, Mt. Carmel where Elijah challenged Baal, Ceasarea, Joppa (where Peter stayed with the tanner and had a vision of unclean animals on a sheet).

March 14 - catch a 10:00am flight back to Newark and the United States. Arrive safely home at 10:00pm.

May God grant us an open spirit, a listening ear, and a willing heart.

Ready or Not...

No one is ever ready to be transformed.  Even when a caterpillar goes into a cocoon, it never knows exactly what will happen or how the transformation will end.  As I prepare to enter into a time of transformation through a pilgrimage to Israel, it's hard to know what to expect. Will this once-in-a-lifetime trip live up to my high expectations? Will I really be transformed? If so, what will the process be like? Who will I be afterward?

My last pilgrimage was on the Camino de Santiago in Northern Spain for 6 weeks in 2006.  I hiked with my father the 500 mile trail to arrive 38 days later in Santiago.  And yes, I was transformed. I am still living out the implications of that pilgrimage: the importance of being aware of God's presence every day, the humility to start one's day being open to whatever it holds (even if it wasn't according to the plan), the gift of slowing down and living a more relaxed pace, the opportunity to get to know strangers who quickly become friends, and the surrendering of my will to God's will. I am still affected by that pilgrimage and continue to live out those lessons.

Will this trip be a similar transformative experience or am I asking too much? Only time will tell as I prepare to leave the country in 72 hours. In the meantime, I ask for your prayers: for safety, for clarity in hearing God’s voice, for openness to new experiences, for growth in my spiritual life, and for Nelio and the kids who are making it possible for me to go. Prayers for Mulberry Presbyterian Church: the staff who are filling in the gaps, the two guests preachers and guest celebrant for communion, the congregation.

I am grateful that this time I can share my pilgrimage on a day to day basis with those I love and care for. In addition to my personal journaling, I will post as often as possible the experiences I am having overseas.  So in many ways, I am not just going for myself, but I am taking this pilgrimage for all those who want to join me.  Thank you so much for your love, your prayers, and your support.  God bless.

Preparing for Pilgrimage...and Lent

I'm big on preparation.  It probably has something to do with my type A personality.  When it comes to taking a trip, I'm even more fanatical about being prepared.  I want to make sure all the logistics are taken care of well beforehand: flights, hotels, transportation, and itinerary.  I spend hours upon hours researching each detail to ensure the trip goes as smoothly as possible.

So when the dream of going on a pilgrimage to Israel became a reality, I dove right in to the logistics.  Hours upon hours later I had chosen the perfect hotels, birthed an exciting itinerary, discovered a wonderful tour guide, and booked the best transportation.  Next was the packing list and anything that needed to be bought for the trip.  Then there was work that needed to be covered: guest preachers, liturgists, Ash Wednesday service, excused absences from meetings, etc.  But that wasn't all.  I was missing a big part of my preparation. Perhaps the most important part of all: my spiritual preparation.

Preparing spiritually for a life transforming event is essential.  Without adequate preparation opportunities to grow deeper will be missed, whispers from the Holy One will be drowned out, and personal change will only be superficial.  Perhaps that is why the seasons of Lent and Advent were introduced into the Christian calendar.

You see, it's easy to neglect the spiritual preparation for a journey.  Lent is a spiritual journey toward the cross, and ultimately the empty tomb.  Yet for many, Easter preparation centers around Easter clothes, Easter lilies, Easter dinner, and Easter egg hunts, instead of an inward invitation to go deeper into the spiritual life.  We need Lent in order to experience Easter in all its fullness.  We need that time to prepare and do the spiritual work required of us.

Spiritual preparation includes prayer, scripture reading, personal reflection and awareness, discernment, holy listening, journaling, and holy reading.  That's true for a trip to Israel or Lent.  So now that much of the logistics and physical preparations have been completed, it's time to turn to the spiritual.  Time to engage in spiritual preparation for the pilgrimage ahead...the pilgrimage to Israel and the pilgrimage of Lent.

How are you preparing yourself spiritually for Lent?

Will You Go On a Pilgrimage With Me?

           With an upcoming pilgrimage to Israel, there is no better time or reason to resurrect this blog.  I took a pilgrimage once back in 2006 to the Camino de Santiago.  It was a life changing experience.  Now as I anticipate a pilgrimage to Israel on Feburary 28-March 14, 2014, I recall the meaning of pilgrimage once again in my life.  I invite you to join me on this pilgrimage as I share my thoughts and experiences with you.

            First, a little background on pilgrimage.  Pilgrimage is one of the most ancient practices of humankind.  It is associated with a great variety of religions and spiritual traditions.  While it can be traced back many centuries to the cultures of Babylonia, Egypt, Greece, and Rome, the pilgrim instinct itself lies deep within the human heart.  The earliest pilgrimage, recorded 4,000 years ago, is Genesis 12 when God tells Abraham to leave his country to a new land.  It is no surprise then that the three great monotheistic faiths, Judaism, Islam, and Christianity, have historically discovered meaning in pilgrimage.  The Jewish people make pilgrimage to Jerusalem, the holy city.  The Muslims, who list pilgrimage as one of the five pillars of faith, travel to Mecca in Saudi Arabia.  Also, the Hindu religion uplifts the importance of pilgrimage to seven holy rivers, such as the Ganges River in India.  Buddhists undertake pilgrimages to the four holy places associated with Buddha in Nepal.

Christianity has a long history with pilgrimage.  As mentioned, the first pilgrim ever recorded was in Genesis 12.  The first Christian pilgrims arrived at Jesus’ birth site, Bethlehem.  These magi traveled great distances, no doubt in great danger, to lay their gifts at Jesus’ feet and worship him.  It wasn’t until Constantine came to power in the 300s that the idea of pilgrimage was established among Jesus’ followers.  Now that Christianity had become an acceptable religion under Constantine, his mother Helena traveled to the Holy Land to look for Jesus’ birth place.  When she found it (and we don’t know what kind of “proof” she had) she had a church built on top of it, the Church of the Nativity.  The Church of the Holy Sepulchre was also built on the site of Jesus’ tomb.  Since then, Christians have been making pilgrimages back to Jerusalem to see the holy sites associated with Jesus’ life and death and resurrection.  After the destruction of Jerusalem when travel became much harder and more dangerous, Rome became a popular pilgrimage destination.  With the deaths of Peter and Paul in that area along with the central power of the church, it quickly rose to the second most popular site.  In the ninth century, the Santiago de Compostela in Northern Spain came into existence and rose to its height in the middle ages.  Because of some abuses and the idea of “earning” forgiveness, the Reformers railed against the idea of pilgrimage which then lost its popularity and has only just begun to see an increase in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

Why did people go on pilgrimage?  Many were forced to by the justice system, especially in the Middle Ages.  It was their punishment to make a pilgrimage and come back with proof that it had been completed.  Others did it as a form of penance, to make up for their sins to God and ask forgiveness.  Still others as a form of love and devotion toward God.  In the early years, to go on pilgrimage meant that one might not return.  They created wills and “set their things in order” before they left.  But why do people go on pilgrimage now?  Here are some quotes that might give us an idea.  “The object of pilgrimage is not rest and recreation–to get away from it all.  To set out on a pilgrimage is to throw down a challenge to everyday life.”  (Phil Cousineau in The Art of Pilgrimage)  “Pilgrimage-a transformative journey to a sacred center.”  (Phil Cousineau)  A Buddhist monk explained, “The point of the pilgrimage is to improve yourself by enduring and overcoming difficulties.”  Theologian Richard Neibuhr said, “Pilgrims are person in motion–passing through territories not their own–seeking something we might call completion.”

Nowadays, pilgrimage is a way of reflection, meditation, discernment, and listening to God.  It is a unique challenge to body, mind, and soul that can be found nowhere else in the spiritual life.  Pilgrimage is a journey of the soul, into the depths of one’s being and God’s heart.  Pilgrimage has a great history with so many religions.  Perhaps the Protestant Churches can also claim this rich tradition and incorporate this powerful spiritual practice as a way of growing in the Christian faith.  Join me on pilgrimage to Israel and let us grow in our faith together.