Opening One's Eyes

For the second Sunday since arriving in Tiberias, we attended St. Andrew’s Church, a part of the Church of Scotland in the Holy Land.  Last week, Rev. Muriel Pearson preached a wonderful sermon based on the woman at the well in John’s Gospel.  Fifteen or so, many visitors like us, were present to share in the worship and gather together around the table.  Today, the Rev. Dr. Steward Gillan preached and presided over the table.  Again, there may have been 15 of us in attendance.

What was special about today, is that Nancy, Sara and I were invited to share the Gospel reading.  It came from John’s Gospel, the entire 9th chapter.  It was the first time I participated in worship since retiring.  Rev. Gillan reminded us that we don’t all see the same way — and that sometimes when we think we see, we are really blind (see the end of the story).  I loved how he tied it all together.  The theme is something that I struggle with because most people prefer certainty (particularly their own understanding of certainty) to living in the gray.  The older I get, I have come to realize that none of us have it completely figured out.  And asking the questions is not anathema to faith, but instead is honoring God.

It also brought into clearer focus the difference between pilgrims and tourists.  Richard Rohr’s devotion the first week of March was all about pilgrimage.  As I prayed through those devotions, I found myself wanting to be an even better guide to those who are here on a pilgrimage.  Tourism is not a bad thing, and I will admit, that while in Israel I am often a tourist — but there is something powerful about seeking God in the moment that one finds oneself (and isn’t that what being a pilgrim is all about?)  I am seeking to listen more and talk less.  Hear where the spirit is moving in people’s lives and do my best to open them up to that opportunity.

I am thankful that Matt Landry opened me up to Richard Rohr years ago.  Rohr’s understanding of the universal christ (finding the christ in every thing) has been life changing for me.  It has helped me to be a better pilgrim for God’s love.

Israel - Wednesday, November 9

The journey over was uneventful.  I was sitting on the side on the plane with two women, I had the aisle seat.  The woman in the middle seat got up a dozen times during the night --- as you can imagine, I did not sleep very well.

At about 4:00 pm, on Wednesday, we arrived in Tel Aviv.

One we found our bags, and our bus, we began the bus ride to Tiberius where we would begin our journey.  We arrived to the Royal Plaza hotel around 8 pm, ate dinner, and then the five of us from Ridge walked a little over a mile into the city of Tiberius.  After our walk we returned to the hotel and went to bed.

Holy Land Adventure

Tuesday, November 8

The trip begins on a crazy note as I go to O'hare to pick up Nancy for her 9:30 arrival from visiting her parents in North Carolina.  The plane is late (and traffic was horrible), and I pick up Nancy at a little after 10:00 am.  We rush back to Munster, grab a quick bite at Panera and meet the group from Ridge as we begin our odyssey to the Holy Lands.

Our flight from Chicago to New York was late (are you noticing a theme), which turned out to be good.  Instead of a jam packed full plane, the flight to New York was relatively empty. We arrived just a little late, and had about an hour and a half wait until we boarded our plane for Tel Aviv.  Ran into the group from Church of Our Savior from Cincinnati, Ohio.  Grabbed a quick bite to eat, made a coupe of phone calls and boarded the plane a little before 8 pm for our departure at 8:50 for Tel Aviv.  The adventure was really beginning.

Every seemed to be on schedule for an on time departure, the plane was absolutely full (actually had more passengers than seats --- don't ask, it is a long story.)  A little before our scheduled time to pulled away from the gate to jump into the air ---- but alas, it was not to be.  A man, sitting in front of Kathy, was ill.  A doctor on the plane tended to him and the airline stopped the plane on the tarmac.  After a long delay, the airline decided to remove the man from the plane, he, however, refused to deplane without his bags, so they had to find his bag.  After a long wait (and we had no idea that this was going on at the time), we finally backed away from the gate once again to make the long jump to Israel.  At 11:11 pm our plane was airborne and on the way.

Lots of Books and Stuff

In a little over a month I will heading back to Israel for a 13 day trip that will include a few days in Jordan.  The last time I was in Israel was February of 2008 when I was privileged to be the guest of the Grand Encampment of the Knights Templar.  Pictures from that trip can be found at: my flickr site.

One of the things that I hope to do is blog everyday about the trip.  I usually write a diary, but instead I will do it online.  I hope that this will provide some type of written journal not only for me but also for all those who join me on this trip.

One of the things that I am most excited about is the opportunity to return to Jordan.  I am not even certain when the last time I was there, but I would guess it was close to 10 years ago.

One of the things that I like to do on this blog is keep up to date on the books I have been reading.  I have been very dilatory in posting my reviews, and I doubt I will ever go back and do it.  So let me just share some of the books that I remember that I have read this summer.

Imperium by Robert Harris (very good story about Ancient Rome)

Pictures at A Revolution by Mark Harris (Wonderful history of Hollywood in 1967 and how that year transformed Hollywood forever.

Speaking Christian by Marcus Borg (Challenging book about how Christian words have lost their original meanings.)

Blue Like Jazz and A Million Miles in a Thousand Years by Donald Miller (Miller is an author who often speaks my language, and when he doesn't he really gets me thinking --- I would highly recommend his books!)
Harvard Yard by William Martin (Fun historical fiction about the history of Harvard)

My Horizontal Life by Chelsea Handler (Don't waste your time!!!)

In the Garden of Beasts by Eric Larson (Wow, I have loved everything that I have read from Larson and this one is no exception.  This is the story of an American diplomat during the rise of Hitler in Germany, 1933.  For any history buffs, this is a must read!)

The Last Stand by Nathaniel Philbreck (This may be the definitive book on Custer, Sitting Bull and the Battle of the Little Big Horn.  It has made me want to travel to see the sights.)

Fire and Rain by David Browne (Great follow up to Pictures at a Revolution because this book follows the careers of The Beatles, Simon and Garfunkel, James Taylor, CSNY in 1970.  This book was a lot of fun and brought back lots of great memories!)

Sacred Trash by Peter Cole and Adina Hoffman  (OK, you have to be a little off to enjoy this book, and I did, since it is the story of the discovery of ancient texts from a Cairo Geniza.  You really have to be into archaeology and the back story to get into a book like this.)

I also just recently completed two books about Bicycle Touring.  One about touring on the Blue Ridge Parkway, the other about touring the Natchez Trace.  I plan on riding the Natchez Trace next summer, now I just have to get a bike!

I am sure I have forgotten a few books along the way.  I am going to try to do better and post regularly so that I don't fall so far behind, and so that I get in the habit before the trip to Israel.

Catching Up

Been way too long since I last posted. And I unfortunately don't see that changing any time soon. Oh well, that is the way life goes.

Monday I will head to Indianapolis to attend a training session put on by the United Way of Indiana to help Long Term Recovery Committees. I think that we will have six or so from LARRI coming for the event. After it is over, I am going to try to take Jessica out for a quick dinner --- she has a commitment that night, and then load up some of her stuff, since she will be moving out on the 21st. Next semester Jessica will be in Australia. Must be nice to be a student today!

I have a few books to share with you. A few weeks ago I finished Who Were The Early Israelites and Where Did They Come From? by William Dever. Not a book that I imagine that many of you will run out and buy, but I really enjoyed his analysis of the development of the Israelite people. His view runs counter to the view of Finkelstein, whose book I had read earlier. I would have to say that Dever's suggestion seems to make more sense. Of course, like many archaeologists Dever questions the historical accuracy of the Biblical story. From my experience in Israel and my reading, again I would have to agree with his position. The final chapter of the book does an excellent job in explaining why he questions the value of the bible as a "history book", but also why it has value despite it's flaws. If you want to really dig into a book that goes into explaining how archeology works and why it is important --- I would recommend Dever's work.

I just finished on Monday, John Dominic Crossan's newest book God & Empire. This is a powerful book. The writing style left something to be desired, but the content is very important! Crossan argues how civilization and violence go hand in hand. The norm for civilization is Peace through Victory. That victory may come by me conquering you, or by my dominating your life. If one thinks about it, this argument is very true. Whether we are talking about the Monroe Doctrine or the Bush Doctrine. Peace in the United States of America is sought through coercion --- or at the end of a gun.

Crossan suggests that Jesus offers to us another way of seeking peace. Not through Victory (or violence) but through Justice! Crossan then goes through the biblical stories (as only he can) identifying what most likely goes back to Jesus and how his life was all about seeking Peace through Justice until the Romans (civilization) decided to seek their Peace through Victory (ie. killing Jesus and many others on a cross).

The most interesting part of the book was when Crossan worked through Paul, and John of Patmos and their understandings of Jesus. Paul, Crossan argues, was on the same page with Jesus and sought Peace through Justice. Wait a minute you are saying, isn't this the same guy who told women to shut up. No, Crossan argues, it is not the same guy. He goes through the 13 books attributed to Paul (1/2 of the New Testament books) and divides them three ways --- those certainly written by Paul --- 1 and 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Philippians, 1 Thessalonians, and Philemon (7 books) those probably not from Paul --- 2 Thessalonians, Colossians, and Ephesians (3 books) and those certainly not from Paul --- 1 and 2 Timothy and Titus (3 books).

In these books, Crossan argues that Paul moves from the Radical Paul (who agreed with Jesus) to the Liberal Paul and then to the Conservative or Reactionary Paul. His arguments make great sense. But I could never articulate them here. But let me say this, after reading Crossan's analysis I can say something I never thought I would say before --- If Crossan is correct -- I really like the Radical Paul! Yes, I really said that.

This part of the book is worth the difficulty in reading it!

The last section he looks at John of Patmos --- maybe his chapter title says it all "Apocalypse and the Pornography of Violence." Crossan walks through how we turned the Prince of Peace into an avenging God seeking to destroy the world. WOW! Being someone who by nature is a pacifist his analysis struck home with me. Jesus did not come to destroy --- we chose to "re-invent God" so that his great clean up would get rid of all those people we didn't like.

This is a powerful book that is work the effort it will require to read.

Crossan asks: "The fundamental question is whether we Christians imagine our God as violent or nonviolent." Well, how do you view God?

In the epilogue he asks three questions:

How is it possible to be a faithful Christian in the American Empire?

How is it possible to be a nonviolent Christian within a violent
Christianity based on a violent Bible?

How is it possible to be a faithful Christian in an American Empire
facilitated by a violent Christian Bible?

Tough questions! He answers himself by saying: "It is the radicality of God's justice and not the normalcy of civilization's injustice that, as a Christian, I find incarnate in Jesus of Nazareth." Me too!

If anyone wants to read this book and sit down and discuss it --- count me in!!

I'm Back

I had a terrible time getting home from Israel. Worse than the trip in January. We arrived just fine (although a little late) into NY JFK airport on Friday morning. The flight from Tel Aviv was long and restless --- I just don't sleep well on a plane. I had gotten word in Tel Aviv that my flight had been changed from an 8:30 am departure, to a 3:40 pm departure, but I had no idea why. Getting to NY I found that the early flight was canceled do mechanical issues. I asked if there were any other flights and they said "NO". I was then stuck with what to do? I had not slept much for the past 40 hours (I had gotten up early on Thursday to go to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre). I knew that I could not sleep in the terminal (I had my camera bag and laptop), so I decided to buy a day pace to the American Airlines "Admirals Club". I found a nice corner and went to sleep for about three hours.

Once I got up, I started making phone calls. I was scheduled to preside over a funeral service the next morning in Munster. I had not met the family, (it was the grandmother of someone Lindsey and Haley babysit for) so I needed to gather some information. I was hoping that I would be able to swing by the funeral home before going to the Theater to see "La Cage Aux Folles". Well, my plane decided to be delayed --- by 2 hours, so I did not get home until 9:00pm. The amazing thing is that I somehow caught the bus, otherwise it would have been 10pm before I got home. Needless to say, I made it to neither the funeral home nor the theater that night! Nancy was not a happy camper having to go to the show without me.

The good news was the nap at JFK helped me to get over my jet lag pretty quickly. Unfortunately, I caught the bug that was going around our bus on the last day and it was starting to kick in.

Since getting home I have had three people die (funeral tonight and another one Saturday morning). We also have a couple of people who are pretty close to dying as well. Crazy times here at Ridge Church.

I really enjoyed this trip. It was very different for a number of reasons. First we were in different hotels and used a different travel company than I have traveled with before. Second, the guide was excellent (even if he was WRONG sometimes). But he was much more even handed in his dealing the the Palestinian people. Don't get me wrong, he was very PRO Israeli, but he seemed to have some compassion for the Palestinian people's plight. Third, I got to visit some places that I have never been to before. Finally, the group of pastors I was with were AWESOME. I met some really cool people.

I am trying to get my pictures on line. Hopefully I will get a few more up today and finish it up over the weekend. I will also retrace my steps and talk about each day a little. So stay tuned . . . more will follow.

Israel --- Jerusalem

I am in the greatest city in the world! BAR NONE!!!

It is good to be home! While I love the Galilee, nothing compares to Jerusalem. We got here late last night, and today we had a free day. After going to church at St. George Cathedral I met up with two other guys and then we traveled all over the Old City. I went to a ton of places that I had never been to before. Including a number of very old churches, one that claims to have a painting of Jesus and Mary by Luke and the "real" location for the last supper. We also just had a great time!

The group is a real mixed lot which makes it a lot of fun. From Southern Baptists, Seventh Day Adventists to Anglicans, Presbyterians and a couple of others. Everybody gets along and seem to really enjoy each other.

I don't have Internet access readily available which is a pain in the rear. I should be able to get on Friday Evening for me (late afternoon for you).

I hope everybody is doing well.

Israel --- Tel Aviv

I have arrived in Tel Aviv. I forgot how much I hate that flight (It was only 5 weeks ago I did this). I was able to sleep a little on the plane, and I am trying to stay up until 10pm (2 in the afternoon for you) so that I will be over the jet lag by tommorrow.

We are spending the night at the Tal Hotel (I don't recommend it).

Tommorrow we will begin by visiting ancient Joppa, then heading north up the coast to Ceasarea and Megiddo on our way to Tiberius. We spend a couple of nights there before we head to Jerusalem.

The weather is good. Although they say that it snowed in Jerusalem on Monday. It is supposed to be in the 50/60's by the time we get there at the end of the week.

Hope everyone at home is doing well. I will try to get pictures on line tomorrow (assuming I have internet access.)

Home!

After an long and arduous trip home, we are safe and sound. It took almost 30 hours from our wake up call to get home! But we arrived. Without too much damage.

Jessica lost her camera bag at O'Hare. We are hoping she left it on the plane, but lost and found isn't open until 9am today. Or if not there, that some good Samaritan would have turned it in to O'Hare's lost and found. A couple of our purchases leaked and one Hebron glass got broken, so overall not too bad. The biggest problem was the bus did not arrive at JFK to take us to LaGuardia, so we were forced to hop in cabs and after having been on the road for 24 hours that was not fun.

Overall, I think the trip was a huge success. I am anxious to talk with everyone after they have had some time to get over their jet lag.

We had an awesome closing communion service in the Garden Tomb --- for many it was the highlight of the trip.

I will get the rest of my pictures up shortly.

Thanks for keep up with us --- We knew you were with us!

Packed Up

Well, I have just finished packing up my stuff. I wore every piece of clothing I brought, except one sock (who's mate got lost!). The weather was fantastic, no rain, no bad days. Everything was great. We ended the trip with a wonderful communion service at the Garden Tomb --- a very peaceful and beautiful place in a crazy yet wonderful city.

It is 9:15 p.m. here (1:15 pm at home) and we have a wake up call set for 1 am. I am going to take a quick shower and try to sleep for a couple of hours. I will be a long trip home. We are scheduled to arrive at O'Hare at 9:00 pm Friday night.

They have Internet at both the Tel Aviv and the Istanbul airports so I will get today's pictures on line while we wait for our planes.

See you all on Sunday!

What a crazy day!

The day began by us heading up to the Mount of Olives for the obligatory group picture and camel riding adventure --- but it was interrupted when Lindsey and Jessica almost caused an international incident. Jessica was trying to buy some postcards (30 for $1), and Lindsey was going to get a poster of Jerusalem (also $1). While they were getting their money out another peddler tried to get in on the action and began a fight with the first peddler. When the smoke cleared their was postcards blowing in the wind, posters all over the place, one peddler bleeding above his eye and the other being restrained by the police. Remember this was over $2. In the end, neither made a sale and the girls rode the camel instead.

After visiting the sites around the old city we got our first taste of the Old City today. We visited the Palm Sunday Walk, the Garden of Gethsemane, the Western Wall, the Southern Wall excavations, St Peter in Gallicantu, the Upper Room, David's Tomb and the Dormition Abbey. Once we were done, with the sites, at about 3:15 a group of us walked back through the Old City to our Hotel on the opposite side. Mary Jo said that this was worse than a 1st grade field trip --- trying to keep everyone together and out of all the shops. The one mile walk took until about 5:00! Fortunately, I remembered the route and we got back to the hotel before it really got dark.

It has been an interesting trip. For some reason almost 1/2 of the group has been sick at some point. For three we had to get a doctor to give them a shot. And almost everyone is exhausted. Even our college kids have run out of gas! I was afraid they would do me in. Next week, I will pay for it!

Too Busy

Sorry I haven't written anything. We have been way too busy and I am having a hard time keeping us just getting pictures on line. But before I go to bed tonight I will be caught up.

We have had a couple of people under the weather, and everyone is exhausted but we are having a great time.

At 8:00 this morning, while we were on the road to Masada, we joined all of you at home ringing in the new year. Our college collection stayed up last night to ring in the New Year here as well (and they are really dragging tonight!).

I need to get back to my pictures. I know I take way too many, but oh well, you can look through them quickly and I never know what image I may want to use for a bulletin or a sermon.

Tomorrow we go into the Old City for the first time! YEAH I love that place!

Friday --- The Galilee

Today we spent the day around the Sea of Galilee. We go to the hotel pretty late last night, and everyone was pretty beat, but we still got going by 7:30 and had a full day. Overall, it was a great day. The weather was and sunny!!! Much better than Munster, that I am sure.

We started off by going to the Valley of the Wind and Doves, this is a valley that Jesus would have walked as he came from Nazareth to the Galilee. I had been up on Arabel before, but never on this path (at least not that I remember). It was pretty awesome. HOWEVER, when we got there I found out that I had taken my SD card out of my camera to upload the couple of pictures last night and forgot to put it back in. Lindsey came to the rescue and let me use her card. I owe her BIG time --- just don't tell her I say so! Not sure why I have the funky blue coloring in the first pictures, something I will need to work on when I get home.

Next we went to Kibbutz Nof Ginnosar --- it is here that the famous "Jesus Boat" is housed. It is pretty amazing, because it is a 1st Century boat.

After Nof Ginnosar we began our visits to the Jesus sites along the northern shore of the Sea. We started at the Mount of Beatitudes. Most everyone got a chance to read a story connected with the area. Following that we headed down the hill to the shore and the two sites known as Tabgha (a corruption of a word meaning seven springs). We visited the church of the Loaves and Fish and also the Church of the Primacy of Peter. They are next door to each other, but you have to drive around to get to them because they are controlled by different branches of Roman Catholicism.

We then drove the short distance to Capernaum --- the Primary outpost of Jesus in the Galilee. It is a great town, although you only see part because it is partially in control of the RC Church and another by the Greek Orthodox Church. We saw only the RC side.

We then we to lunch at Ein Gev. Matthew and I and a few others had St Peter's Fish (check out Matthew's pic in my flikr site.

Following lunch we continued down the Eastern side of the Sea to the Southern end when the Jordan River flows out of the Sea. We stopped at the tourist created Baptismal site --- fortunately it was not very crowded and we all paused to "remember our Baptisms". It was an amazing experience --- I am just glad no one wanted to go into the water because it was COLD!.

We finished up our day by taking a 45 minute drive up a crazy, winding road to the top of the Golan Heights to a little park to watch the sunset. It was a great way to finish our first day in Israel.

The pictures are up, but I had some problem tagging them --- I will try to get to them tomorrow, but I need to get to bed. Nancy is trying to go to sleep. We are up again at 6:00 am and on the road by 7:30. Going all the way North tomorrow to Mt. Hermon.

We Arrived

We arrived this evening after a long an uneventful set of flights. We got to Tel Aviv about an hour late, and by the time we got through security and got our bags it was about 6:30 pm. We then drove the 1 1/2 hours to Tiberias ate dinner and went to bed!!!! It was a long day.

Tommorow we begin our touring, visiting the sites around the Sea of Galilee. It should be fun. I will try to post every early afternoon for you (late evening for us!)

I will be putting more photo's on my Flikr site.