Ancient Stones, Living Stones: The Holy Land in Perspective

Announcing Next Tour April 30-May 21, 2012

2011-02-08T18:27:00.000-08:00

I am beginning to plan the itinerary for my seventh study tour. I love leading these tours and experiencing the delight of tour participants as they encounter the people and places of Israel and Palestine, and immerse themselves at the same time in biblical texts and ancient sites.

I do my best to plan a tour in which participants meet the people of the land and learn to appreciate the contours of Middle Eastern landscapes.

Stay tuned for a link to next year's itinerary. Until then, have a look at last year's tour website at the link to the right of this post. Please contact me if you have an interest in joining a Christian tour like this one. You'll find my contact information on the tour website.

In various posts from now on I'll be presenting some of my favourite photos. The one at the top of this post is a collection of hand-blown glass from a glass factory in Hebron. This stop is well off the beaten path--a shop that doesn't get many tourist buses passing by. Hebron, of course, is rarely visited by tourist groups. Yet it has the famous ancestral burial site, the Cave of Machpelah (Genesis 23), where we also find the best example of Herodian architecture in the whole land.

Do consider joining me as we head off the beaten path now and then.

Israeli Novelist David Grossman on CBC Radio

2010-11-08T19:00:00.000-08:00

On November 7, 2010 Israeli novelist David Grossman was interviewed by Michael Enright on CBC Radio's program "The Sunday Edition." Grossman, writer and peace activist, has been named winner of the 2010 Peace Prize by the German association of publishers and booksellers.

Grossman, 56, is author of The Yellow Wind, a non-fiction work that examined the lives of the Palestinians, and To the End of the Land, a novel that examines the cost of war.

David Grossman is not only Israel's best known novelist he is also one of its most astringent critics. For decades he has condemned his government's treatment of Palestinians in the occupied territories and called for an end to new settlements. He has labored for peace while at the same time turning out world class literature. His latest best seller, To the End of the Land is set against the background of the latest Lebanon war. A war in which his young son Uri was killed. In this hour, a powerful conversation with David Grossman about parenthood, the loss of a child and the heart-breaking search for peace in his troubled land.

To listen to the enlightening interview with Grossman, click here.

We Leave Tomorrow!

2010-04-28T07:21:00.000-07:00

I have not been able to post anything for a long time. We leave tomorrow! I'm looking forward to a wonderful experience with 36 participants ranging in age from 17 to 70something. I've already begun to receive requests for the next tour, which may be in February 2011 (two weeks) or in April/May, 2012 (three weeks). Now if only the to-do list were shorter.

"A Moment of Truth" from Palestinian Christian Leaders

2010-01-29T08:12:00.000-08:00

A group of Palestinian Christian leaders have put together a document entitled "A Moment of Truth" in which they respond theologically to their experience in the Holy Land. In this document we hear one community of "living stones" cry out from the ground. Although there are other perspectives, this one must be heard. Go to their Home Page and read the Kairos Document in English (other languages are available). This is the introduction to that document:

"This document is the Christian Palestinians’ word to the world about what is happening in Palestine. It is written at this time when we wanted to see the Glory of the grace of God in this land and in the sufferings of its people. In this spirit the document requests the international community to stand by the Palestinian people who have faced oppression, displacement, suffering and clear apartheid for more than six decades. The suffering continues while the international community silently looks on at the occupying State, Israel. Our word is a cry of hope, with love, prayer and faith in God. We address it first of all to ourselves and then to all the churches and Christians in the world, asking them to stand against injustice and apartheid, urging them to work for a just peace in our region, calling on them to revisit theologies that justify crimes perpetrated against our people and the dispossession of the land.

In this historic document, we Palestinian Christians declare that the military occupation of our land is a sin against God and humanity, and that any theology that legitimizes the occupation is far from Christian teachings because true Christian theology is a theology of love and solidarity with the oppressed, a call to justice and equality among peoples.

This document did not come about spontaneously, and it is not the result of a coincidence. It is not a theoretical theological study or a policy paper, but is rather a document of faith and work. Its importance stems from the sincere expression of the concerns of the people and their view of this moment in history we are living through. It seeks to be prophetic in addressing things as they are without equivocation and with boldness, in addition it puts forward ending the Israeli occupation of Palestinian land and all forms of discrimination as the solution that will lead to a just and lasting peace. The document also demands that all peoples, political leaders and decision-makers put pressure on Israel and take legal measures in order to oblige its government to put an end to its oppression and disregard for the international law. The document also holds a clear position that non-violent resistance to this injustice is a right and duty for all Palestinians including Christians.

The initiators of this document have been working on it for more than a year, in prayer and discussion, guided by their faith in God and their love for their people, accepting advice from many friends: Palestinians, Arabs and those from the wider international community. We are grateful to our friends for their solidarity with us.

As Palestinian Christians we hope that this document will provide the turning point to focus the efforts of all peace-loving peoples in the world, especially our Christian sisters and brothers. We hope also that it will be welcomed positively and will receive strong support, as was the South Africa Kairos document launched in 1985, which, at that time proved to be a tool in the struggle against oppression and occupation. We believe that liberation from occupation is in the interest of all peoples in the region because the problem is not just a political one, but one in which human beings are destroyed.

We pray God to inspire us all, particularly our leaders and policy-makers, to find the way of justice and equality, and to realize that it is the only way that leads to the genuine peace we are seeking.

Brian McLaren's Reflections on Palestine

2010-01-27T13:38:00.000-08:00

Brian McLaren, author of A New Kind of Christian and other books (including the forthcoming A New Kind of Christianity), has recently visited Palestine (I think he's there even as I write this). It's always interesting to hear how people respond when they are given the opportunity to interact with Jews, Christians, and Muslims who live in the region.

McLaren summarizes some of the words of Mitri Raheb, pastor of the Christmas Lutheran Church in Bethlehem: "A highlight of our time yesterday was hearing Rev Mitri Raheb share five observations about this part of the world. He said ...

1. There are too many peace talkers and there are too few peace workers.
2. There is too much politics and too little care for people on the ground.
3. There is too much religion and not enough true spirituality.
4. There is too much humanitarian aid and not enough economic development.
5. There is too much pess-optimism (swinging from optimism about the next big project to despair when it doesn't work) and not enough steady hope in action."

In a post titled Reflections from Ramallah, Taybeh and Beit Sahour, McLaren writes: "The struggle here is about people being held in various forms bondage - both occupiers and the occupied each in their own ways, and everyone needs liberation. . . . People aren't the enemy. Rather, it's harmful ideologies and world views and narratives that rule and exert power in and through people's lives." CLICK HERE to read more of this post.

And he concludes his post titled Dead Sea, Nazareth, Capernaum Region, Dead Sea with this: "I've been an avid reader on the subject for quite a while, but being here now, I see how many of my most basic assumptions were skewed from a lifetime of half-truths, unfair and imbalanced news, well-planned propaganda, and misinformation."

Mike Todd provides a concrete example of such misunderstanding at the end of the story he tells in his Guest Blog: "The narrative we are exposed to back home tells us this is a dangerous place, that simply to be here is risky. It goes without saying that the narrative says don't get into cars with strangers, that every Palestinian is a danger. This is not true. It seems the intent of this narrative is to keep us from coming, from seeing, and from abandoning the wrong story we have been told."

Here are a few more posts worth reading:
More from the West Bank
Guest Blog by Greg Barrett on Day 1 in Bethlehem
Jewish Voices
Last Day in Israel-Palestine. There are links here to other blogs by tour members Dave Gibbons and Mike Todd.

Archaeological Sites Digital Map

2010-01-22T07:16:00.000-08:00

The Israeli Palestinian Archaeology Working Group has made available a searchable satellite map of every archaeological site (both those excavated or merely surveyed) in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. This is an amazing resource. It is available either on the University of California library website, or through Google Maps. The USC map has more variables. For example, you can set the map to show only Iron Age or Ottoman sites. The Google Maps interface has a handy alphabetical index along the left side of the page.

Here's an exercise you can do. Take Jerome Murphy-O'Connor's archaeological guidebook The Holy Land, and look up each of the sites in your tour itinerary (see my blog post on the book). You can zoom in on the map so closely that you can actually see the contours and colors of the land. I'm awe-struck. But don't become impatient with it. Because the site names are, for the most part, in Arabic, you may need Murphy-O'Connor's book to figure out what's what. The Google Map interface option may be helpful because it juxtaposes the sites onto a map with modern place names nearby. You may have to play around with both of the maps to locate the various sites on your itinerary. And don't be intimidated by the Jerusalem area. Just keep zooming in (but not too far) until the number of sites does not overwhelm the page.

The USC dynamic map is only able to display 600 locations in a view. If more than 600 locations are returned for your search, please take one of the following actions:

-add more limits to your search
-zoom in closer by double-clicking the map or using the ± zoom tool on the left side of the map

Here is a description of the project from the website of the University of California Digital Library:

"This collection includes lists of archaeological sites that have been surveyed or excavated since Israel occupied the West Bank and East Jerusalem in 1967. Since that time, the oversight of the antiquities of the area has devolved on two government bodies: the military administration's Staff Officer for Archaeology (SOA) in Judea and Samaria and the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA). The IAA, which is responsible for East Jerusalem, is a civil branch of government and its records are open for inspection. Some of the records of the Staff Officer for Archaeology in Judea and Samaria are being accessed in full for the first time as a result of the joint Israeli-Palestinian Archaeology Working Group. This involved a team of Israeli and a team of Palestinian archaeologists and cultural heritage professionals working in concert to create new data resources that document the single, unitary archaeological landscape of the southern Levant, which is now bisected by the modern borders.

The Israeli-Palestinian Archaeology Working Group sponsored and partly funded a research effort by Rafi Greenberg (Tel Aviv) and Adi Keinan (University College London) in order to gather details about each site in the West Bank excavated or surveyed between 1967 (updated periodically). These data include the site name(s), location on a GIS grid, description of the site's major components (e.g. olive oil press; ritual bath; sheikh's tomb; church, synagogue, village); details about the periods when the site was occupied (e.g. Neolithic, Byzantine [Christian]; Iron Age II; Ottoman); and information about the excavators or surveyors who gathered data about the site; and relevant publications/bibliography. The database file that contains this information initially will be available in a publication by Greenberg and Keinan. This collection page provides access to a database, which is a work in progress. We look forward to additions to this database file in the future as additional data are provided by Israelis, Palestinians and others.

The data contained in this database is also available in a visually searchable Google Map interface."

City of David: Archaeology is Political

2010-01-16T11:21:00.000-08:00

The tires were slashed and windows smashed in the small Suzuki four wheel drive vehicle we were driving. I was with an Italian friend of mine. It was his car. It had blue West Bank license plates, so we thought we would be fine. But we looked like strangers, and therefore suspicious. Silwan was still "hot" in 1991, just after the first intifada. And it remains a contested area today. The major archaeological sites there (the City of David, Hezekiah's Tunnel, and the Pool of Siloam) are situated at the centre of a heated controversy. Visitors with eyes wide open discover very quickly that archaeology is political. But most of the 500,000 annual visitors to the site don't get it.

Silwan has long been an Arab village on the hill just south of the Old City of Jerusalem, within spitting distance of the Temple Mount area, or the Haram es Sharif (Noble Sanctuary). The area has been continuously inhabited (more or less) for 5000 years. After all, who wouldn't want to live on a hill near a year-round spring? Among the earliest inhabitants of the area were Jebusites, who, according to the books of Joshua and Judges, could not be conquered (Josh 15:63; Judg 1:21). Hundreds of years later, the city became King David's capital, according to the story in 2 Samuel 5. But even then, the Jebusites continued to live alongside of the first Israelite population in Jerusalem. In the late 19th century the City of David area became a settlement for Yemenite Jewish immigrants. Although Jews and Arabs have lived in the area off and on over the centuries, in recent decades archaeology has been drawn into the conflict.

There are two organizations, both interested in archaeology, that are telling the story of Silwan. One of these writes on its website: "Buried under the village lands, 5000 years of history bind the stories of ancient nations and rulers with the present life of the local residents. Dozens of excavated archaeological strata tell the complex multi-cultural saga of Jerusalem.

We, a group of archaeologists and residents of Silwan, invite you to hear the story of ancient Jerusalem and of life in the village today. Our tour sheds light on the role of archaeology in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and in the discourse of the future of Jerusalem. We will offer a different perspective: archaeology without an ownership, one that bridges between periods, cultures and nations; archaeology which involves the local residents and examines the past as a shared asset regardless of religion or nationality.

We believe that archaeology in Silwan/"City of David" has the power to change the dynamics of the conflict and promote tolerance and respect for other cultures, past and present, for a better future for both the local residents and the whole region."

Browse through the alt-arch.org website for treasures like these: a history timeline, survey of excavations in Silwan (all of which will be relevant for our visit), principles of a peaceable archaeology, and much more. There is a very fine short essay on the Yemenite Jewish settlement in the late 19th century, and another on the current Jewish settlement in Silwan. These two pieces are must reading prior to a visit to the City of David. Of course all tellings of the story are selective, as this piece at the Jewish Virtual Library website illustrates. The story is accurate, but incomplete. The Wikipedia article on Silwan seems to present a broader perspective.

The problem, as those essays point out, is that the City of David archaeological site has become attached to a partisan agenda. I won't say more here. You can read the articles. Or, read the articles listed at the bottom of the Wikipedia page on Albert Glock, an archaeologist who was murdered on January 19, 1992 in Palestine. I attended his funeral.

Elad, the organization that now runs the City of David archaeological park, has created an wonderful website about the City of David excavations. The home page includes a slide show with uplifting accompanying music. Pick your language and enter an educational smorgasbord of interactive maps, virtual tours, a 360 degree interactive panoramic photograph (read the instructions first), etc. Don't miss any portion of this website. There are menus across the top and bottom of the page. Because it's such a rich page, may take a while to load.

For more on the City of David, see Bible Places, and the Israeli Foreign Ministry Archaeology page.

This hasn't been a long blog post, but the content of the websites toward which I've directed you should keep you busy for a few hours. I am looking forward to another visit to Silwan and the City of David this spring!

Biblical Archaeology Review

2010-01-10T14:42:00.000-08:00

In 1978 I participated in an archaeological dig at Lachish. The site is mentioned in only 22 verses in the Bible. Yet it is one of the most important archaeological sites for understanding ancient Israelite history in relation to the imperial powers seeking to dominate the region at the time.

For me, archaeological sites are not simply "ancient stones." They are storied places. People lived in these sites, worshiped their gods, raised families, and much more. Each site is alive with memory.

One of the ways tour members can prepare for a tour is to acquaint themselves with some of the ancient sites. Biblical Archaeology Review's website is a good place to visit now and then. There's a wealth of information available there, even without subscribing to the magazine.

Here are a few examples. On this tour we will be visiting the Shrine of the Book (at the Israel Museum) as well as the ancient site of Qumran, where those scrolls were discovered. The scrolls have been in the news recently, as Jordan has asked Canada to return those scrolls currently on display in Toronto to Jordanian control. The News section of the website provides a link to the CBC news report on this item. Even more, BAR's website includes a special section called "The Dead Sea Scrolls and Why They Matter." BAR tends to be a bit controversial at times. But that's part of the fun of archaeology, which is a cross between science, detective work, and creative imagination.

While I was working on the archaeological dig at Lachish, Gabriel Barkay was the junior archaeologist on the site, working under the supervision of now retired archaeologist David Ussishkin. On the BAR site I found an audio lecture by Barkay on "Ten Key Points on Authenticity of Artefacts." Parts of this lecture may not make sense unless you've had a little experience with archaeology, but it is interesting nonetheless!

Do enjoy exploring BAR's website. You might even want to download a free e-book. Excellent options might be "Israel: An Archaeological Journey," or "The Dead Sea Scrolls: What They Really Say."

Annie Dillard on Bethlehem

2009-12-25T11:25:00.000-08:00

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

2009-12-24T09:58:00.000-08:00

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

2009-12-23T20:11:00.000-08:00

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

2009-12-22T05:35:00.000-08:00

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

2009-12-20T12:47:00.000-08:00

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?

2009-12-18T10:35:00.000-08:00

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

2009-12-15T11:26:00.000-08:00

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

2009-12-13T15:07:00.000-08:00

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

2009-12-11T05:46:00.000-08:00

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

2009-12-08T12:12:00.001-08:00

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?

2009-12-06T19:43:00.001-08:00

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

2009-12-05T09:44:00.000-08:00

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"

2009-11-26T17:34:00.000-08:00

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

2009-11-14T15:42:00.000-08:00

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"

2009-11-08T18:49:00.000-08:00

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

2009-11-04T08:13:00.001-08:00

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

2009-11-01T06:35:00.000-08:00

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

2009-10-27T07:35:00.000-07:00

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

2009-10-21T15:50:00.000-07:00

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

2009-10-19T19:23:00.000-07:00

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

2009-10-18T17:39:00.000-07:00

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

2009-10-18T17:09:00.000-07:00

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

2009-10-14T17:33:00.000-07:00

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.

Read Sandy Tolan's book The Lemon Tree

2009-10-13T18:18:00.000-07:00

This will be my sixth tour to the Middle East. I am pleased to be able to introduce participants to the wonder of this holy but troubled land through encounter with the land and its people. In blog posts to come, I will share ways in which you can prepare for this tour. I begin by recommending a book: Sandy Tolan’s The Lemon Tree: An Arab, A Jew, and the Heart of the Middle East (Bloomsbury, 2006). It tells the story of the conflict between Israeli Jews and Palestinians through the experiences of two people who lived in the same house. This book is one of the the best places to start for coming to understand the conflict in the region.

I invite you to browse the tour itinerary by CLICKING HERE.

Notice the many links to biblical sites, organizations, and accommodations. We will again be visiting Petra and Sinai, two exotic side-trips that are a highlight for me. We have a very fine Palestinian guide, whom we thoroughly enjoyed on our 2008 tour. We will be staying in a hotel on Manger Square, in the heart of Bethlehem, as well as in the Old City of Jerusalem. Most tour groups visit Bethlehem for half a day, and do not stay inside the Old City. This tour allows for 21 days on the ground, not including travel days. Most commercial tours are 12-14 days, including travel days. A longer tour offers us a more robust experience, allowing for more than a superficial encounter with the land and its people. Rather than running where Jesus walked, we’ll have time to meet the people of the land, to take a good number of nature hikes, and much more. We’ll have some free time in Bethlehem, and a full day in Jerusalem.

An Experience of a Lifetime: April 29-May 21, 2010

2009-10-11T12:53:00.000-07:00

I invite you to join me on a journey through time to the land of Joshua and Jesus!

Click here to check details on the tour website.

Through this 21-day Study Tour to the Holy Land, we will:

Walk into the world of the biblical texts.
Visit the ancient stones, the important biblical/archaeological sites and pilgrimage locations in Israel & Palestine. Included this year is a visit to Petra (one of the New Seven Wonders of the World, and the Sinai Peninsula.
Meet the living stones, the many and varied people-groups living in present-day Israel/Palestine (Jews, Christians, and Muslims).
Discover the complexity of conflict and the prospects for peace between Israelis and Palestinians, and wrestle with the challenges facing Middle Eastern and Western Christians, Jews and Muslims over this issue.

As you make the connection between the ancient stones and the living stones, you will discover the wonder and the complexity of these two worlds, and see how they coexist side-by-side. Often the two worlds will press in on you at the same time—the world of the biblical text, and the world of contemporary issues and political agenda. When the tour is over, you will be able to say: “I will never read the Bible or the news the same way again.”