Of Diversions and Arrivals

You can't get there from here. No one actually ever said it, but one of the things bout traveling through the Holy Land is that you rarely travel in a straight line. Sometimes it's geography that gets in the way. Visiting the places that Jesus knew around the Sea of Galilee involves driving around the lake, unless you have access to a boat. The drive from Ein Gedi on the Dead Sea to Bethlehem looks like a straight shot, until you realize that the rock hewn mountains and stone strewn wadis of the Judean Desert are in the way. And even in Jerusalem itself, you find yourself traveling round in circles, circumnavigating the Old City time and time again, even though it would be almost quicker to travel through on foot.

One of the things that you realize when you read the Gospel according to St Mark, is that Jesus rarely travels in straight lines either. But it's not just because of the geography. From the time that he goes into the wilderness after his baptism, right to the time he is arrested, Jesus is driven by the Holy Spirit to do the work of God (Thanks to the Rev Dr Christopher King for this insight, in one of the many conversations among the pilgrims this last week). Deep down, most of us, I suspect, think that life should go in straight lines. But the reality is that life rarely works out like that. There are innumerable twists and turns and diversions. Often it is incredibly frustrating, as we look at where we want to go, but somehow can't get there from where we are. Yet looking back at our lives, we often find that what we thought were detours in fact took us places we needed to go, without which we would not be the people we have become. And sometimes we can even see the hand of God in them.

The pilgrimage to the Holy Land is over. I began this blog entry in the bus traveling through Jerusalem; I'm finishing it in an office on Long Island. I have a suspicion that the pilgrimage will, in time, prove to be one of those detours that will shape my life in unexpected ways. If nothing else, the process of pilgrimage teaches you to let go of your own illusion of control and receive the unexpected as a gift, trusting that God will lead you in straight paths and detours alike.


The Rev. Dr. Raewynne Whiteley

Heading Home

Bishop and Mrs. Provenzano, together with the Long Island Diocese clergy spouses/partners who have made the pilgrimage to the Holy Land, board the plane for the voyage home to New York.

Safe travel, and welcome home!

At the Garden Tomb

We celebrated Eucharist here at the Garden Tomb to complete our pilgrimage.

Place of prayer: the Western Wall

The Western Wall, dating back to the period of the Second Temple and the reign of Herod the Great, is one of the most sacred places in Judaism. It has been a place of devotion and prayer for centuries.

Top photo: pilgrims from the diocese of Long Island praying at the Western Wall.
Bottom two photos: images of a life of prayer at the Western Wall.

Learn more: http://www.sacred-destinations.com/israel/jerusalem-western-wall

On the Temple Mount

Visiting the Temple Mount

Here is a website to learn about the history and importance of the Temple Mount (only the authors are responsible for the opinions expressed): http://www.templemount.org/

And here a site about the Dome of the Rock, the Muslim shrine built on the Temple Mount: http://www.sacred-destinations.com/israel/jerusalem-dome-of-the-rock

Experiencing unity and division

Church this morning was at the Anglican (Episcopal) Cathedral of St George in East Jerusalem, on the Arab side of the city. Just a couple of blocks away, the wall marks the boundary with the Palestinian West Bank. Walking towards the Old city from the Cathedral, you travel along a busy street, lined with Arab shops and market stalls, and after passing into the Old City through the Damascus Gate, you find yourself on the boundary between the Muslim Quarter on the left and the Christian Quarter on the right, though there is no visible difference between the two.

Mostly at home, when we hear about Israel, we hear about Jewish Israelis on the one hand and Muslim Palestinians on the other. But rarely do we hear about the people caught in between: the 170,000 or so Palestinian or Arab Christians, like Isaac, who owns a shop near the Cathedral. Isaac is Israeli; he also happens to be Arab and Christian. His parents' home was in West Jerusalem, now a Jewish area; after the 1948 war they were forced to move east. When the wall dividing the West Bank from Israel proper was built, Isaac's home ended up on the wrong side. It's only two blocks from his shop, but is behind the wall. He has had to make a choice - live in his home, and forgo his Israeli identity and his livelihood, or keep his shop and live with his wife and children in one room in the Old City. He has chosen the latter, and so his home lies empty and may eventually be bulldozed.

This morning the Eucharist was celebrated in two languages. At times it alternated between English and Arabic. The sermon was preached twice, once in each language. We sang the hymns and said the responses in our own languages, English and Arabic simultaneously. And at for end, we went into the parish hall for cake and Turkish coffee. It was truly a taste of the time to come when, as Isaiah says, "On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well aged wines..." (Isaiah 25:6). Pray for our brothers and sisters in the Middle East, and for the peace of Jerusalem.

The Rev. Dr. Raewynne Whiteley

At the Western Wall

Young soldiers, women included, in the Israeli military, are patrolling right by the Western Wall in Jerusalem. Every Israeli citizen is required to serve in the military.