Leaving the Holy Land
I knew that my pilgrimage to the Holy Land would be a transformative experience, but I had no idea how it would feel so life changing in so many different ways. I found Christ in the land and in the scriptures, in the waters, and at so many incredible sites – it almost felt at times that I was closer to God just breathing in that air. But what I didn’t anticipate was the closeness and the vulnerability that I’d enter into with friends (new and old) and strangers alike, as together we explored this sacred place.
Michael, my big brother, who has been to hell with me and never left my side. What an honour to walk these footsteps with you. Amy, who hugged me this morning and told me she wished she could be my Mom. Watching Ann's wonder and awe as we knelt together in the empty tomb, and shared in laughter when I suggested – that in Klingon – we say the Lord’s Prayer. Richard and Nadal who made my heart burn within me as they broke open the scriptures in ways I had never known before. Hamzeh, and Nael, and Carmiel, and Bishara, who have me discerning what’s next for me in my vocational relationship to these holy people and this important and holy place.
I leave feeling like a very different person than when I arrived 10 days ago, with more questions about the future than answers about the past. I fell in love with a place I have dreamed of my whole life, and through God’s gift of these amazing people, I think I have discovered a new part of myself.