A Dustland Fairytale

Yesterday we said "shalom" to Israel after a ten day journey through the Holy Lands. We began our pilgrimage in Tel Aviv on February 6. Our first stop was the beautiful city of Jaffa, where Peter received the vision about clean and unclean animals. Unlike the portrait of Israel I had in my head- a sandy land roamed by panting nomads, northern Israel had the green landscape of Ireland. Our willful Israeli tour guide, Yossi Paz, showed us through the countryside highlighting the areas of Caesarea Maritima, Nazareth, Capernaum, Caesarea Philippi, and Jerusalem.  We spent the majority of our nights in kibbutzes. As Yossi explained, a Kibbutz is a collective community farm. The little church camp-like cabin village reminded me of a monastery. Also placing vacancy at the kibbutzes was a large number of felines. At the second kibbutz we awoke to the meowing harmonies of 15 stray cats outside our window.

My favorite parts of the trip were spent on the water. On the third day we went for a boat ride on the bright blue waters of Galilee (which turns out to be a giant lake) and sang the children’s song “the sea of Galilee”, hand motions and all. The next morning Kelcey, Mark and I revisited the sea and observed a pastel sunrise over the glasslike sea. The next day we visited a second famous body of water, the Dead Sea. Under a blue sky, me and the other huggers ventured into the salty waters and floated like buoys on the rolling waves. Afterwards we got to take a short ride on a brightly clad camel named Charlie. 

We spent the last leg of our journey in the mighty city of Jerusalem. We visited the garden of Gethsemane, Golgotha, the Temple of the Rock and the Wailing Wall. Despite the significance of these places in regards to the bible, what really touched me was not related to the historical city at all. On the last evening we gathered in a round pavilion on the top of a mountain. To show our appreciation for our wonderful tour guide and bus driver (a smiling man named Gidher) we sang “The Lord Bless You and Keep You.” Looking out over the green valleys of Israel it struck me how this land brought our group of American Christians to a place dominated by religious conflict. As we sang to our guides, I realized how unknowingly we had both literally and figuratively followed in Jesus' footsteps as we traveled across Israel. I believe that even though we were not aware of it, God brought us to that country of turmoil to let our Christian lights shine on the people who needed it the most. While we learned a lot from our various guides, I think they also learned a lot about Christianity through the love our HUG family emits.