Annie Dillard on Bethlehem

In her book For the Time Being, Annie Dillard writes this about her experience in the grotto of the Church of the Nativity:

"I have never read any theologian who claims that God is particularly interested in religion, anyway.

Any patch of ground anywhere smacks more of God's presence on earth, to me, than did this marble grotto. The ugliness of the blunt and bumpy silver star impressed me. The bathetic pomp of the heavy, tasseled brocades, the marble, the censers hanging from chains, the embroidered antependium, the aspergillum, the crosiers, the ornate lamps--some human's idea of elegance--bespoke grand comedy, too, that God put up with it. And why should he not? Things here on earth get a whole lot worse than bad taste.

'Every day,' said Rabbi Nachman of Bratslav, 'the glory is ready to emerge from its debasement'."

Without diminishing the significance of the silver star in Bethlehem, Dillard is right: "any patch of ground" is holy land. Any place can be a site of encounter, as Jacob discovered one night. After his dream of the ladder to heaven, he woke and said, "Surely the LORD is in this place, and I did not know it!" (Genesis 28:16). And any encounter, with God or stranger, can be a meeting that transforms (as Jacob also discovered with a night-time wrestler, as told in Genesis 32). Perhaps I read too much of a universal import into those narratives. Even so, it strikes me that I am often resistant to "the glory . . . ready to emerge," especially when that glory appears in the shape of the unfamiliar and the uncomfortable.

Photo Lerma Olayres.

Christmas in Bethlehem 2009

We all know that Christmas is about Jesus. Yet for residents of Bethlehem, Christmas has always been about Jesus, as well as about welcoming pilgrims. According to Luke's account of the nativity, Mary and Joseph found no place "in the inn" (2:7, NRSV). As Kenneth Bailey has argued, "inn" is best understood as "guest room." Even if he's right (and I think he is), the irony of the NRSV translation is this: in 2009 most of the hotels in Bethelehem have plenty of space for guests. Most groups come to the Church of the Nativity for a brief visit and then leave (I know I've said this before in earlier blogs). But now on Christmas eve it's particularly relevant.

Watch this Al Jazeera video by journalist Nour Odeh about "Bethlehem's Christmas Blues." It shows us the current reality in Bethlehem. (Thanks to Rachelle Friesen for alerting me to this piece).

Church of the Nativity

What I like most about visiting the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem is not seeing "the star" in the floor of the grotto that supposedly "marks the spot" where Jesus was born. It's being in a place where followers of Jesus have worshiped and commemorated the nativity since the second century.

The pillars in the photo at the left are mostly from the original fourth century church (Photo Christopher Chan). To read about the church, have a look at the Sacred Destinations website. Here's a sample:

"In 326, Constantine and his mother St. Helena commisioned a church to be built over the cave. This first church, dedicated on May 31, 339, had an octagonal floor plan and was placed directly above the cave. In the center, a 4-meter-wide hole surrounded by a railing provided a view of the cave. Portions of the floor mosaic (my photo below) survive from this period. St. Jerome lived and worked in Bethlehem from 384 AD, and he was buried in a cave beneath the Church of the Nativity.

The Constantinian church was destroyed by Justinian in 530 AD, who built the much larger church that remains today. The Persians spared it during their invasion in 614 AD because, according to legend, they were impressed by a representation of the Magi — fellow Persians — that decorated the building. This was quoted at a 9th-century synod in Jerusalem to show the utility of religious images.

Muslims prevented the application of Hakim's decree (1009) ordering the destruction of Christian monuments because, since the time of Omar (639), they had been permitted to use the south transept for worship.

The Crusaders took Jerusalem on 6 June 1009. Baldwin I and II were crowned there, and in an impressive display of tolerance the Franks and Byzantines cooperated in fully redecorating the interior (1165-69). A Greek inscription in the north transept records this event."

To read more about the Church of the Nativity, CLICK HERE. See also the Photo Gallery at the Sacred Destinations website.

NOVA: The Bible's Buried Secrets

Every tour group to the Holy Land, unless it is a short ten day tour, runs the risk of experiencing archaeological site fatigue. My guide, Khalil, happens to love ancient water systems. After the sixth or so water system some of us began to tease Khalil. Over the days, however, we discovered, in spite of ourselves, that we had gained an insight into life in ancient Israel/Canaan. Water is a precious resource that must be protected. I am tempted to digress by mentioning why water continues to be a contested resource in Israel & Palestine. But more on that in another blog.

For now, let me say that archaeological site fatigue can be remedied in two ways. One depends on the guide, who should be able to bring the site to life by telling stories that link the site to the biblical and historical record. A second depends on the tour participant. I suggest prospective tour participants do some reading and viewing to discover what archaeology contributes to our understanding of the ancient world, and of the biblical text.

For a very fine exploration of that topic, one can hardly do better than to watch NOVA's (PBS television) "The Bible's Buried Secrets." That web page offers a variety of interactive pieces, including short articles, timelines, and videos on interesting topics like "Moses and the Exodus," "The Palace of David," "Archaeology of the Hebrew Bible," and more. Every one of the links on this page is worth having a look at.

NOVA's must-see two hour television program has been divided into 13 chapters, each of which can be viewed separately. If that link doesn't allow you to view the videos, you can watch it by CLICKING HERE. When one episode is done, click "next" at the top left of the screen.

Becoming informed about archaeology will provide you with a few resources that allow you to be able to ask the right kinds of questions on the site, and to understand better why the "ancient stones" are relevant to a tour like this.

Annunciation Goes Global in Nazareth

I've always marveled at the mosaics in the Church of the Annunciation in Nazareth. They tell us in visual language the biblical story of the angel Gabriel's announcement of Jesus' birth to Mary Luke 1:26-38. Hearing the gospel reading in worship this morning reminded me of my many visits to that amazing church, the largest in the Middle East.

Nazareth is also famous in Luke's gospel as Jesus' home town, where he read his famous "manifesto" from the prophet Isaiah, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor" (Luke 4:18-29; citing Isaiah 61;1-2; 58:6).

It isn't surprising that this same infusion of the Holy Spirit that settled on Mary (Luke 1:34) also empowered Jesus. Could it be that Jesus embraced his mission of justice after learning it from his mother? After all, her empowerment expressed itself in poetic form, imagining God as one who "has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts. He has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly; he has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty" (Luke 1:51-53).

On visiting the Church of the Annunciation, one is struck by the many mosaics that line the walls of the upper level of the church, and of the courtyard walls. Each mosaic depicts either the annunciation scene itself, or Mary with the infant Jesus. Each is designed as imagined by an artist from a different country. It is striking that each one reflects a cultural embodiment, suggesting that this story transcends Nazareth. God's presence, as incarnated in Jesus, is understood as transposed into the garb and idiom of scores of nationalities and ethnicities. Here are a few of the images. Not all of these images are easily photographed, since lighting is limited and flash is not allowed. Click on each one to see the mosaic in a larger format.Japan

France

Brazil

Australia

Cameroon

Italy

Mexico

Thailand

Although you can find more images online, nothing substitutes for meditating quietly on these mosaics in the church itself. I've often experienced being overwhelmed by the diversity of perceptions and perspectives. I have a distinct sense that Jesus doesn't belong to Nazareth; he belongs to the world.

To have a look at an overview of Nazareth, visit the official Nazareth Cultural and Tourism website, where you can see a good slide show on the Church, or the Sacred Destinations web page, where you can read about the history of the site. They also have a photo gallery link there. To watch a video (4:35 mins.) on the church, click here.

When Was Jesus Born?

Photo Tamer Shabaneh.

The other day I was listening to the The Blind Boys of Alabama Christmas CD (Go Tell it On the Mountain). The song "When Was Jesus Born" struck me as worth commenting on during Advent (please do read to the end to watch the video). The fact is, shepherds were not tending their sheep in Bethlehem's "fields" in late December ("the last month of the year," as the song goes) but in summer or into September, some time after the grain harvest in April and May (Luke 2:8-10). Flocks simply wouldn't have been allowed in the fields until then. And that reminds me that we will be visiting the Shepherds' Fields in Beit Sahour, just outside Bethlehem, on May 1, 2010 (our first day on the ground). Although one website I read recently claimed Jesus was born on September 29, 05 B.C., it could have been May. So perhaps we'll celebrate with the shepherds and the angels that day.

I have a wonderful memory of one of my visits to that site (Christmas, 1991). There's a beautiful chapel at the Franciscan site. It was designed by the Italian architect Antonio Barluzzi in 1954 (more on his work in another blog posting). As we were leaving the site, we heard a group inside the chapel singing the old standby, "Angels We Have Heard On High." Our daughter, 3 years old at the time, on hearing the chorus "Gloria in excelsis deo," asked, "Mommy, where are the angels?"

"Tradition"locates the Shepherds' Fields in least two places, one run by the Greek Orthodox and the other by the Franciscans. As one looks around the village of Beit Sahour, one realizes that the entire region surrounding Bethlehem would have been cultivated in grain. Remember the biblical story of Ruth and Boaz? David Roberts' lithograph (1842) presents that image well. CLICK HERE to locate the shepherds' fields on an interactive map of the Bethlehem region.

So whatever the date (let's say some time in summer), the song "When Was Jesus Born" is still worth listening to. You can hear the crystal clear version sung by the Stars of Faith, with Marion Williams singing lead (video version here). I like the raucous Winans' version set in the context of a Christmas party. Best of all is this video of the Blind Boys of Alabama stealing the show from a very staid Christmas Pageant.

King Herod in Bethlehem and Beyond

Thinking about Bethlehem during Advent reminds us of King Herod, whose tomb was discovered in 2007 just outside the city at the fortress called Herodium. I was pleased to be able to see it for the first time when I led the Ancient Stones, Living Stones tour in the spring of 2008.

Of course Herod and Bethlehem are related to one another in several texts, particularly in Matthew's gospel. Herod appears in the story of the Magi's visit (2:1-12) and in the story of the massacre of the infants (2:16-18). These stories remind us of what Matthew's gospel is doing with the notion of power. Herod, for Matthew, stands in for Pharaoh of the Exodus story. Matthew's gospel even tells us that Mary's and Joseph's escape with baby Jesus is an ironic escape to Egypt because Herod is looking to kill him. Matthew explains the irony by quoting the prophet Hosea, "Out of Egypt I have called my son" (Matt 2:15; Hosea 11:1). The Magi, of course, want to pay "homage" to this new king. The Greek word for "homage" appears three times in Matt 2:1-12, and thirteen times in all in Matthew's gospel (and by comparison not many times in other gospels). Another way of rendering the word "homage" is "worship." Matthew has an agenda. Jesus is the object of worship, of homage, not Herod, nor any other power (cf. 4:9).

Looking at Herod's tomb at the Herodium reminds us of power gone awry. During this tour we will visit at least five of Herod's massive building projects (Herodium, Masada, Temple Mount, Hebron Sanctuary of the Ancestors, and Caesarea by the sea). According to Matthew, King Jesus is building a kingdom whose evidence is discerned in a new community concerned with justice and peace, not in grand stone structures (Matt 16:19).

Read this recent National Geographic article on "King Herod Revealed." Don't miss the Photo Gallery by Michael Melford, and the King Herod quiz!

Banksy in Bethlehem

The first time I entered Bethlehem after the separation barrier had been built, I felt as though I were imprisoned. Unless one stays inside an air-conditioned bus, the massive guard tower and the eight meter high wall (see the photo on a previous blog post) make it impossible to avoid that experience. Tourists are easily whisked into Manger Square for the requisite visit to the Church of the Nativity. But I like my groups to linger for a while. By staying in Bethlehem for four nights, we'll be able to have a richer experience.

One of the blessings of a longer stay is the opportunity to see some of the graffiti art on the separation barrier. The most prominent pieces are those painted by Banksy, a "quasi-anonymous British graffiti artist" (Wikipedia). In 2005 Banksy painted nine images on the wall. Some of those, like the one of the little girl frisking a soldier at a security checkpoint, can be seen on the side of a building in Behlehem. I took that picture in 2006.Here are a few more:

Hole in the wall:
Let's climb over?

Imagining a paradise:

Of course others are also adding variety:



We can only imagine what it must be like for ordinary people to face that wall every day. This house in Bethlehem is surrounded on three sides by the separation wall.



Banksy's graffiti art offers a slightly hopeful imagination, even if terribly ironic, to those who must live with this constant reminder that their only hope for freedom of movement is emigration.

Sinai: A Separate Peace

The March 2009 issue of National Geographic has a fine article: "Sinai: A Separate Peace." Amid a sea of conflict, the Sinai offers pleasure, spiritual refuge, and—potentially—harmony. Here's a paragraph to whet your appetite for reading the whole article.

"For millennia the Sinai Peninsula has served as a bridge. A land bridge for people moving from one continent to another, yes, but also a metaphysical bridge between man and God. The forebears of the three great monotheistic religions are all said to have sought refuge in this triangular desert. According to the Bible, Moses received his assignment in Sinai when God spoke to him from the burning bush, then wandered the desert with his people for 40 years. As a child, Jesus and his family fled into Sinai to escape a jealous King Herod's wrath. Early Christians hid from Roman persecutors among the peninsula's lonely mountains, establishing some of the first monastic communities."

Do not miss having a look at this very fine MAP, and a Photo Gallery by Matt Moyer. The photos and the article depict Sinai in all its contradictions, hosting both ancient traditions and modern indulgences. CLICK HERE for a printer ready version of the article (without page breaks).

Approaching Bethlehem in Advent

This advent season, as we anticipate entering the story that took place long ago in Bethlehem, we think of the angelic announcement to the shepherds in the fields: "To you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord" (Luke 2:11). That announcement is prefaced by the declaration, "Do not be afraid . . . I am bringing you good news" (2:10). Yet there were good reasons to be afraid, not only of the angelic apparition, but also of the consequences of affirming such politically loaded titles as Savior, Messiah, and Lord, which were applied either to Roman emperors or associated with Jewish expectations related to the overthrow of Roman colonial rule.

We will be entering Bethlehem when we arrive on April 30, 2010. We go there for a variety of reasons. One of those reasons, of course, is to ponder the story of Jesus' birth and to ask how his birth intersects with our lives and the lives of those who live in Bethlehem today. Unfortunately, Bethlehem is now walled off with the security wall you see pictured above. The great irony of the wall is displayed on a huge sign hung there by the Israel Ministry of Tourism. I do indeed wish for peace for all who enter these gates. Unfortunately, not all can come and go as they please. Palestinian Christians living in Jerusalem, for example, cannot go to Bethlehem for the Christmas celebrations. This common Middle Eastern greeting "Peace be with you," is not easily experienced in its full sense by Jesus followers living in the region. Jesus' birthplace has restricted access.

A contemporary cartoon about the magi trying to enter Bethlehem by digging under the wall is now on offer as a set of Christmas cards. This image has been criticized by some who suggest that it presents an unfortunate (and inappropriate) link between the ancient biblical story and contemporary political realities. Perhaps. But think for a moment about Mary's expectations (Luke 2:52-53), or those of Zechariah (Luke 2:71, 74), or of the question raised later in the gospel about whether Jesus' approach to Jerusalem might spark the onset of God's kingdom (Luke 19:11). Wouldn't it make sense to insist that the place where the "prince of peace" (Isaiah 9:6) was born be open and accessible to all?

Do you remember what the angels announced in their short poem of praise? "Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favours" (Luke 2:14). May this story continue to challenge the powers that be, from every nation on earth, to heed Jesus' beatitude, "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall see God."

Who Owns the Holy Land?

This is the hottest topic for participants on tours to the Holy Land. Voices in the debate reflect every colour of the theological or ideological spectrum. Theologian Gabriel Fackre once wrote an article in which he set out some twelve or more Christian perspectives alone. It's not possible to approach this subject dispassionately. Over the next few months I will be recommending a few items that tour participants can read ahead of time. I'll begin by suggesting the short article by Gary Burge (Professor at Wheaton College) in Books & Culture: A Christian Review. The article, titled "Who Owns the Holy Land?" is the second in a series. I mentioned the first one, by Gerald McDermott, in a blog on November 1, 2009. CLICK HERE to read the article.

Pool of Siloam Discovered

In the Gospel of John we read of a blind man whose sight is restored after being told by Jesus, "Go, wash in the pool of Siloam." The original pool has recently been uncovered. It is located near the bottom of the hill in the traditional area of the "City of David," which has long been an Arab section of Jerusalem called Silwan (taking its name from Siloam) just south of the Old City.

We will be visiting this site on May 7, where I will share some reflections on the motifs of "water" and "seeing" in John's gospel. This site will provide us with an occasion, as pilgrims, to enter imaginatively into the biblical story and ask, How does this text enter my experience?

According to Biblical Archaeology Review, this pool is one of the top ten archaeological discoveries related to the Bible. According to the Biblical Archaeology Review, "Traditionally, the site was believed to be the pool and church that were built by the Byzantine empress Eudocia (c. 400–460 A.D.) to commemorate the miracle recounted in the New Testament. However, the exact location of the pool itself as it existed during the time of Jesus remained a mystery until June 2004. During construction work to repair a large water pipe south of Jerusalem’s Temple Mount, on the ridge known as the City of David, archaeologists Ronny Reich and Eli Shukron identified two ancient stone steps. Further excavation revealed that they were part of a monumental pool from the Second Temple period, the period in which Jesus lived. The structure Reich and Shukron discovered was 225 feet long, with corners that are slightly greater than 90 degrees, indicating a trapezoidal shape, with the widening end oriented toward Tyropoeon valley. The pool is adjacent to the area in the ancient City of David known as the King’s Garden, and is just southeast of the remains of the fifth-century church and pool originally believed to be the sacred site.

The pool is fed by waters from the Gihon Spring, located in the Kidron Valley. As with many sites in the Holy Land, the origins of the Siloam Pool reach back even further in history—at least seven centuries before the time of Jesus. Judah’s King Hezekiah (late eighth century B.C.) correctly anticipated a siege against Jerusalem by the Assyrian monarch Sennacherib. To protect the city’s water supply during the siege, Hezekiah undertook a strategic engineering project that would be an impressive feat in any age: He ordered the digging of a 1,750-foot tunnel under the City of David to bring water from the Gihon Spring, which lay outside the city wall, inside the city to a pool on the opposite side of the ridge. In the years that followed, “Hezekiah’s Tunnel” continued to carry fresh water to this section of Jerusalem, and different pools were built here over the centuries, including the Second Temple pool that Jesus knew."

To have a look at more pictures and articles on the Pool of Siloam, CLICK HERE to go to the BiblePlaces website.

Elias Chacour's "Blood Brothers"

In previous tours I've been privileged to hear Abuna (Father) Elias Chacour speak to my groups. Now that he has been appointed Archbishop of the Melkite Church, he doesn't have as much time to greet groups as he did in years past. If we don't have an audience with him, we will certainly meet others in the community of the Mar Elias Educational Institutions (MEII) who can speak about the joys and challenges of bringing quality education to the Palestinian community in Israel. If the term "Melkite" is puzzling to you, look for a future post in which I suggest ways you might familiarize yourself with the various Christian communities in the Holy Land. The MEII website provides this brief biography of Abuna Chacour:

"Elias Chacour was born November 29, 1939 in the village of Biram in Upper Galilee in Arab Palestine to a Palestinian Christian family, members of the Melkite Catholic Church, an Eastern Byzantine Church in communion with Rome.

At the age of eight years, he experienced the tragedy of his people. He was evicted, along with his whole village, by the Israeli authorities and became a deportee and a refugee in his own country, the Palestine of his birth. Because he remained in the country of his forefathers, he was granted citizenship of Israel when the state of Israel was created in 1948.

Father Elias Chacour came to Ibillin as a young priest in 1965. He quickly saw the lack of educational opportunities for Palestinian youth beyond the 8th grade. A vision of a school for all the children of Israel began to take shape in his mind. Today, this vision has become a reality in the village of Ibillin, Galilee.

In the early 1980s, on an empty hillside now known as the Mount of Light, a classroom building was begun. The newly formed high school moved from temporary quarters in the community center to the new building as soon as it was ready. The original High School has expended considerably, and the history and background speaks of the expansion on the Mount of Light.

Father Chacour has become an ambassador for non-violence and someone, who not only preaches, but lives the Sermon on the Mount. He travels very often between the Middle East and other countries around the world. In addition, hundreds of groups of visitors, fact-finding missions, and pilgrims have visited and continue to visit with him in Ibillin. He has received many International peace awards and been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize on three occasions. On March 10th, 1994 , Father Elias Chacour received the prestigious World Methodist Peace Award that has been presented in the past to such pilgrims for peace as former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and the late Egyptian President Anwar el-Sadat. On Feb 19th, 2001, Abuna was announced to be the recipient of the Niwano Peace Prize.

Abuna (Arabic for Father, the affectionate and respectful term given to their priests) is the author of two “best selling” books, Blood Brothers and We Belong to the Land."

I am recommending that all tour participants read Blood Brothers. Whet your appetite by reading the first 95 pages (CLICK HERE for the pdf file), and then order the book from your local bookstore or online. Amazon.ca or Amazon.com

Climbing Mt. Sinai

I've received a number of emails from people asking about the hike up Mt. Sinai (Jebel Musa in Arabic). I'll answer their questions about the hike (and more) in this post. I'd like to tell you why I think it's important to to visit Mt. Sinai and St. Catherine's Monastery.

(1) To get out of our minds once and for all the idea that the ancient Israelite sojourn in the wilderness must have been something like walking across the Sahara.

(2) To visit St. Catherine's Monastery after our descent from the mountain. The monastery has a rich collection of very, very old icons. It is famous also for its library "with the second finest collection of manuscripts in the world (after the Vatican), including 3,500 manuscripts and 2,000 scrolls. Most of these are in Greek and were copied by the monks of this monastery. In 1844, the German scholar Friedrich von Tischendorf discovered Codex Sinaiticus here, one of the earliest copies of the Bible (4th century A.D.)." (BiblePlaces.com). Tischendorf "took" or stole most of the manuscript on three occasions (1844, 1853, 1859). The photo to the left is courtesy of BiblePlaces.com (the others are my own). Click on the link to see more pictures and to read about Jebel Musa. There are also six good websites noted there. Visit them to learn more.

(3) To hear a lecture by Father Justin (originally from Texas), the librarian at the monastery. If he is at the monastery, it is very likely he will be able to give us a short talk. I've met him three times. Twice he spoke to my group inside the monastery library (a rare treat for a tour group). And once we met in the upscale mall next to the Hynes Convention Center in Boston. We were both attending the Society of Biblical Literature convention there a few years ago. Father Justin knows a great deal about the library, and about the Codex Sinaiticus in particular. The Codex (Latin for "book") now resides in four places: most of it is in the British Museum, and parts are in the Leipzig University Library, the National Library of Russia (St Petersburg), and St. Catherine's Monastery. There is now a wonderful project underway to digitize the entire manuscript. CLICK HERE to go to the Codex Sinaiticus Project website. There is much to see and to learn at this website.

(4) To climb Jebel Musa. The monastery sits at an elevation of 5150 feet (1570 meters). The mountain of Jebel Musa rises to 7498 feet in elevation (2286 m). So the climb is 2348 vertical feet. A steady walk takes between 2 and 3 hours (depending on one's vigor at 2:00 a.m.). Yes, we sleep for a few hours only to be rudely awakened for the night-time hike. If you prefer not to hike the whole way up, you can hire a camel to take you to the last tea house, from where you climb up the 750 stone steps to arrive before sunrise at the top of the mountain. Using walking sticks (collapsible) can be a great advantage for anyone looking for a little extra help and safety.

(5) To enter imaginatively, as pilgrims do, into the biblical text. After being on the top of the mountain with quite a few other people, it's a delight to be able to walk down alone, pondering the stories of Moses being hidden in a crevice after being refused the sight of God's glory (Exodus 33:12-23), and of the prophet Elijah who unexpectedly discerns God's presence in the "sound of sheer silence" (v 12, NRSV). The mountain is oddly famous in these stories for preserving a measure of divine mystery. Even though thousands climb out of touristic curiosity, I find myself each time amazed at the strangeness of this place that continues both to preserve a great heritage of faith, and to prevent a facile identification of the human with the divine.

Exploring the "Ancient Stones"

Visits to the Holy Land usually include countless "holy places." But what does it mean to call a place "holy"? I like to think of it as a place that, at one time or another, reflects life at the intersection of the divine and the human. Given that definition, are not all places holy?

On this tour we'll visit the requisite sites. And by considering the entire land as storied landscape, we'll find ourselves living imaginatively into the biblical story. Some say the biblical text "comes alive" while walking into ancient archaeological sites.

For texts to come alive, however, the sites and the landscape must also be brought to life. And there's hardly a better way to facilitate that than to read Jerome Murphy-O'Connor's book The Holy Land: An Oxford Archaeological Guide (5th edition; Oxford, 2008). Of course, most tour groups are accompanied by an authorized guide. Yet with Murphy-O'Connor as our tutor we'll more easily recognize what we're looking at and we'll know how to ask intelligent questions.

Murphy-O'Connor has a section on every site we visit. Read him before visiting the site (bedtime reading the night before!). Refresh your memory of the biblical texts associated with that site. Take photographs at the site as you are inspired to do so. Then, when you get home, you'll be able to make that memorable slide show for friends and family, impressing them with all the pertinent information (thanks to Murphy-O'Connor). How else will you remember that the first Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem was dedicated on May 31, 339?

Palestinian Walks, with Raja Shehadeh

On this tour we will do our best to "walk the land." On at least four days we will get out of the bus and walk the hills and the wadis of Israel and Palestine. We walk into Wadi Qilt. It used to be possible for us to walk from St. George's Monastery to Jericho. I've done that a number of times with my groups. The last time I found myself in that famous wadi, at the end of which lies King Herod's summer palace and the bountiful, beautiful, and ancient city of Jericho, it was closed for "security reasons." Although I lament that we may not be able to take that walk this spring, we will hike Jebel Musa in the Sinai (so-called Mt. Sinai), scramble up to the waterfalls of Ein Gedi (where David hid from King Saul, 1 Samuel 23-24), and wander around Tel Dan and along the gorgeous headwaters of the Jordan River at Banyas (ancient Caesarea Phillipi).

The importance of walking the land was impressed on me recently when I read Raja Shehadeh's moving account (Palestinian Walks: Forays into a Vanishing Landscape. Scribner, 2007). Raja Shehadeh is a passionate hill walker. He enjoys nothing more than heading out into the countryside that surrounds his home. But in recent years, his hikes have become less than bucolic and sometimes downright dangerous. That is because his home is Ramallah, on the Palestinian West Bank, and the landscape he traverses is now the site of a tense standoff between his fellow Palestinians and settlers newly arrived from Israel. In this original and evocative book, we accompany Shehadeh on six walks taken between 1978 and 2006.

Amid the many and varied tragedies of the Middle East, the loss of a simple pleasure such as the ability to roam the countryside at will may seem a minor matter. But in Palestinian Walks, Raja Shehadeh's elegy for his lost footpaths becomes a heartbreaking metaphor for the deprivations of an entire people estranged from their land.

You can read excerpts of his book. For parts of chapter 5, CLICK HERE, and for parts of chapter 6, CLICK HERE. Even better, CLICK HERE to watch an illustrated reading by Shehadeh himself.

The Land: Evangelicals and Israel

Many Christian tour groups to Israel and Palestine never seriously engage with the fact that there is a dispute about the land and its governance. They visit the holy sites, shop a while, and get out. Many group participants are led to believe that the way things are now is how they ought to be. They assume that the political arrangements, including the occupation of the West Bank, is decreed by Scripture. The fact is, the entire Middle East as we know it know is a modern construction. As a good friend put it to me recently, "Modern nation-states throughout the Middle East were born in a political context in which 'countries' as we know them were just emerging, stifled somewhat by the colonialism of the Europeans after World War 1, and the Ottomans before that. Europe initiated the idea of 'countries' at the treaty of Westfalia in the 1600's as a response to interminable warfare. It took to the middle of the 20th century for that model to cover the whole world." Christian understandings of the land of Israel, and its relationship to Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, have actually been rather diverse. Of course one can read entire books on the subject (and I will post a bibliography some day soon). A good place to start is the article by Gerald McDermott, "The Land: Evangelicals and Israel." The title of the article is slightly misleading, in that McDermott surveys more than "evangelical" approaches. CLICK HERE to read the article.

O Little Town of Bethlehem

Most tour groups whisk people in and out of Bethlehem. Half a day at the most. They visit the traditional site of the Shepherd's Fields (either Latin or Orthodox), then the Church of the Nativity and they're gone. On the Ancient Stones, Living Stones tour, we spend four nights in Bethlehem. This gives us barely enough time to get a feel for the city and, most importantly, to meet some of the people who live there. It's important to me that tour participants get a good sense of what life in Bethlehem is like. You might want to read the National Geographic article and watch their short video about Bethlehem today.

We will be staying at the Casa Nova Palace (OK, not a palace) right on "Manger Square." Next door we'll visit the Church of the Nativity, built by Emperor Justinian in the sixth century A.D. on foundations that go back to the fourth century. There are fine mosaic floors still visible from the 4th century structure. Of course any visit to that church raises the question, Where was Jesus born? Kenneth Bailey offers a helpful response to that question in an article titled "The Manger and the Inn." To read a short version, click here, and for a more in depth article, click here.

I always enjoy meeting the people in Bethlehem. During our days in Bethlehem we'll take a tour of the Deheisheh Refugee Camp, we'll visit with Zoughbi Zoughbi of the Wi'am Palestinian Conflict Resolution Center, and we'll worship with Palestinian Christians in Bethlehem on Sunday. I plan to set up a conversation with Mitri Raheb, Pastor of Christmas Lutheran Church. If you are able, you may want to read his book, I am a Palestinian Christian (Fortress Press, 2005).

I hope this whets your appetite for an engaging and eye-opening experience in Bethlehem, home town of King David, birthplace of Jesus.

Stations of the Cross

It used to be possible (before the big separation wall) to walk from Bethany (home of Mary, Martha, and Lazarus) all the way to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. I've done that with groups on previous tours. I mourn the loss of that opportunity. What a wonderful day-long adventure it was to do that walk as Jesus may have done many times. Now, instead, we walk only from the top of the Mount of Olives, through the Kidron Valley into Jerusalem, and then all the way down the Via Dolorosa to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. I wasn't schooled in the tradition of praying the Stations of the Cross. But walking the streets of the Old City reminds me that the passion story of the Gospels took place in real space and time. Moreover, Jesus did invite us to "take up our cross." What might such a cryptic saying mean? Walking the ground in Jerusalem, that contested holy city, forces us to ask that question in fresh and imaginative ways. Here's a short article by Dennis Bratcher that I recommend: "The Cross as a Journey: The Stations of the Cross for Protestant Worship." CLICK HERE to read the article

24 things to do in Jerusalem

Participants in Holy Land tours usually have the privilege of getting a day off in Jerusalem to do whatever they like. Although I should probably sleep half the day to recover from the gruelling schedule, I usually end up exploring the city and visiting with shopkeepers. Given the other 20 very structured days of my tour, I like to relax by hanging out in the Old City. This is what I would enjoy if I could get up early enough. Begin by attending the 6:00 a.m. worship at the Armenian Cathedral of St. James. After that, find a place to sit and drink Arabic Coffee until 8:00 (probably at Samir Said's at 11 Christian Quarter Road). Then walk the ramparts from Jaffa Gate to Damascus Gate. Wander the streets of the Old City until about 11:00, visiting with some my favorite shopkeepers. Then go to Abu Shukri for lunch (photo above), arriving there around 11:30. I always make sure I visit my friend Yasser Barakat's shop in the Muristan area of the Old City. Return at least once to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.

If you would like to see all 24 of my suggestions, CLICK HERE.

Queen Rania on Israel/Palestine

Here's a fine speech by Queen Rania of Jordan. Although we will be in Petra next spring, unless we have a great stroke of luck, this is as close as we will get to having her address us in the "Living Stones" part of the tour. To hear the speech, click on the link below the photo.

Queen Rania addresses students at Yale University

Queen Rania Al Abdullah calls for greater political courage in resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. New York, United States / September 23, 2009 الملكة رانيا متحدثة في جامعة ييل: السلام يتطلب الشجاعة والمسؤولية والتحرك، والتزام تام من المجتمع... الدولي والعالم العربي. الولايات المتحدة، 23 أيلول 2009Read More

The Meaning of Pilgrimage

This tour is both a study tour and a pilgrimage tour. I encourage anyone considering a Holy Land tour to read Tom Wright's short book The Way of the Lord: Christian Pilgrimage Today (Eerdmans, 1999). Here are the last few paragraphs of that book. To read the entire final chapter, "The Holy Land Today," CLICK HERE.

When we go on pilgrimage today, then, we do not go in order to comment on or criticize other people for their inability to solve political problems. God knows we can’t solve our own, which are much smaller and less rooted in history. Of course, we will grieve over injustice, oppression and violence wherever it occurs and whoever instigates it; but in highly complex situations it behoves us to go with our eyes and ears open, ready to learn rather than to condemn. But as pilgrims we go, above all, to pray. In the same passage where Paul speaks of God’s intention to make the whole world his Holy Land, to renew and liberate the whole of creation, he also speaks of the whole creation at present groaning in travail; and then he declares that we who have the first fruits of the Spirit groan inwardly as we, too, wait for our final redemption (Romans 8.18-27). It is in that context that he says that all things work together for good to those who love God (8.28). What can he mean?

He means, I think, that our vocation as Christians includes the vocation to be in prayer at the place where the world is in pain. We are not to expect to pray only at places of great beauty, stillness and peace. We are not to look only for selfish refreshment, to top up our own spiritual batteries while forgetting everyone else. We are to stand or kneel at the place where the world, and particularly our brother and sister Christians, are in pain and need, and, understanding and feeling their sufferings, to pray with and for them, not knowing (as Paul again says) what precisely to ask for, but allowing the Spirit to pray within us with groanings that cannot come into articulate speech. We are called, in other words, to become in ourselves places where the living, loving and grieving God can be present at the places of pain in his world and among his children. We are called to discover the other side of pilgrimage: not only to go somewhere else to find God in a new way, but to go somewhere else in order to bring God in a new way to that place, not by tub-thumping evangelism or patronizing, well-meaning but shallow advice, but by our presence, our grief, our sympathy, our encouragement, our prayer.

As we do this, in going to the Holy Land today, we find the three things I said about pilgrimage in the introduction to this book reinforced and given particular direction. Pilgrimage is a teaching aid: at this level, it teaches us not only about the roots of our faith, but about the ways in which injustice still rampages through communities, some of them within our own family. It opens our eyes to see God’s world the way it is, rather than the way we would like to imagine it. Second, pilgrimage is a way of prayer: both a way of drinking in the presence and love of God in Christ, as we visit places particularly associated with him, and also now a way of standing at the place of pain, at the foot of the cross literally and metaphorically, holding on to that pain in the presence of God in Christ, not knowing what the solution will be but only that God is there, grieving with and in us, in a perpetual Holy Week at the heart of the Holy Land. Third, pilgrimage is a way of discipleship: both to be reinforced in our own daily life and work as Christians, and now also to be reinforced in thinking, working, speaking, writing and praying for justice and peace to be restored to the Middle East, to Northern Ireland, to the Sudan, to God’s entire creation.

We do not go on pilgrimage, then, because we have the answers and want to impose them. That would make us crusaders, not pilgrims; the world has had enough of that, and I dare say God has had enough of that. We go on the pilgrim way, we follow the way of the Lord, because he himself is the way – and, as he said himself, the truth and the life as well. We go to meet him afresh, to share his agony, and to pray and work for the victory he won on the cross to be implemented, and for his way to be followed, in Israel and Palestine, in our own countries, and in the whole world.

A "Living Stones" Pilgrimage

Part of the tour title includes the words "Living Stones." This alludes, of course, to the text in 1 Peter 2:5, which refers to believers as "living stones" being built into a spiritual house of God. In the context of this tour, the words refer to the people who continue to embody the story of God in the twenty-first century. The June 2009 issue of National Geographic had an article on “The Christian Exodus from the Holy Land” by Don Belt. Since part of the experience on the tour is meeting and worshiping with Palestinian Christians, this article will introduce you to their current reality. You can read the article by clicking here. On the left side of the page is a link to an excellent short video (or click here) by Ed Kashi on the Christians in the region. For a printer friendly version of the article (all on one page) click here.