In the midst of everyday living

As we move from sacred site to holy ground, from the Sea, to the river to the stark landscapes, seeking all that is Jesus and his ministry, sometimes at a pace that can be overwhelming and not as reflective as we might have imagined, life in the 21st century continues on.  I am finding that my pictures are of these special places but also of everyday life.  The apartments with the water tanks on top and the AC units hanging on the outside wall.

The "Arab Fried Chicken" restaurant and the US Embassy - also known as McDonald's restuarant (Our guides joke).  Young children counting "one, two" as the only English words they appear to know.  Shops with amazing fruit in many boxes, all for sale.  People waiting in line patiently as American tourists by water, snacks, and soda trying to figure out how many shekels equal a dollar.

The people in the shop, the kids playing in the yard, the people ignoring the bus of pilgrims who are putting a face and place to voices they've heard over the years while sitting in the church pews or their holy closets, reading the scriptures.  Don't they understand this journey we are on?  Don't they realize how blessed they are to be so close to these places?

In the midst of Nazareth we stop at the church of the Annunciation, a facility enlarged dramatically when a Pope visited and felt it deserved far greater attention than the somewhat small chapel that celebrated Mary's home when the Holy Spirit came to visit.  Walking to and from the bus there are men playing backgammon, vendors sweeping in front of their shops, a young man squeezing pomegranates for their amazing juice which he sells to neighbors but mostly tourists.  We are somewhat secluded from the news of the world, until we get to the bus and connect with the vehicle's WIFI but there is plenty going on around us that lets us know that life continues, even among the sacred and holy.

In our everyday life in our cities, in our homes, in our workplaces, do we see the sacred?  Do we realize how close we are living or working to that which represents the living presence of Christ?  It may not be where Jesus fed the Disciples one last time before returning to the right side of God but it could be where a broken soul was healed, a hopeless person received new life, or a young person decided that serving God was their calling in life.

As we go about our business today, do we see Jesus walking with us, feel the love of God within us, experience the guiding power of the Holy Spirit through us?  Is that just for certain sacred times in specific holy places or are we seeking it wherever we go?

I have no answers other than to say I am grateful to be reminded that in the midst of everyday living, the sacred and holy are all around us, signs of the living and loving Christ within us. As one of the guides told their bus, and I think I've got most of it right, Jesus didn't come to make a rock holy but rather to share God's love with all.  May we all seek the sacred and holy amongst every day living today.

#neholyland16

In the midst of the sacred...

Receiving Communion on the Sea of Gailee.  Walking down the path that Jesus took from the Mount of Olives to the gate into the city of Jerusalem on Palm Sunday.   Worship amongst the olive trees in the Garden of Gethsemane - some over 2,000 years old.  Feeling the cool of the Jordan River as we are invited to remember our baptism.

Our guide shares that one Palestinian male with a knife, only Israelies can carry guns wherever they go-Palstinians will be put in prison if they even own a gun, attacks five policemen at the West Gate of the Old city of Jerusalem-if a Palestinian commits suicide they go to hell, if they are killed they will go to heavan, and dies.  As we drive through one of the checkpoints at the Wall built by Israel not so much for security as harassment for the Palestinians who must carry their ID's with them at all times and must produce them whenever a soldier requires it, a young Israeli soldier enters our bus of many nationalities and walks down the aisle with his machine gun-why does he do that I wonder "Because he can" is the voice in my head.  As we drive past the West Gate of the old city of Jerusalem we witness at least four police officers with two German Shepherds (One of which is barking and appears to be in attack mode) who are surrounding a young man in jeans, a blue and white short-sleeved three button rugby shirt.  One is patting him down like a criminal.  Is he just coming home from school?  Maybe walking with friends who have scattered?  Was he walking alone?  He is Palestinian.  Our guide understands security but wonders why no others who are on the sidewalk are getting the same treatment.  A comment from our African-American sisters is simply "It happens all the time.  Yes, it happens all the time."  

Running by the Sea of Galilee before sunrise realizing Jesus walked around this mass of water many times. Seeing the Gold Dome in Jersulam for the first time and hearing the song "O Jerusalem" playing over the bus speakers.  Standing in front of a nativity set carved by an artisan from a tree that is over 2,200 years old.  

In the midst of the sacred...

#neholyland16