For Christians, this is an enormously important phrase. For our group of Jewish and Christian pilgrims it was a transformative period. Awaking in a kibbutz, we spent our first hours at the tip of the Northern "finger" of Galilee looking into Lebanon. from our vantage, we could see Hezbollah villages, while hearing a challenging but honest safe now (disturbingly honest) presentation.
Almost all global politics are particularly local. Before the day was out we could look into politics of what is or has been Jordan, Syria, the West Bank, and of course Israel. Where else in the world?
For me, the graces of the day included a step at Capernaum (where sits the synagogue of Jesus' teaching and the home of Peter), the traditional site of the miracle of the loaves and fishes, as well as that for the delivery of the Sermon on the Mount. And -- AND -- we entered Jerusalem, most of us for the first time, with Psalms and prayer.
If the location of the border of Israel, the home of Jesus and the sites of the two central events for Christians were not enough, we also put our feet in the Jordan River and drove past Tiberias Magdala, and Jericho.
I am filled to the brim. Filled with sensation, observation, inspiration, and conversation. Filled with concern. Filled with trepidation. Filled, too, with hope. This third day has encountered history, anxiety and promise. And so filled this way, I am also longing to digest. To understand. To apprehend.
Maybe on the fourth day.
As a note -- an aside -- beyond the Jordan, the houses of worship, the international borders, what touches me most is the conversation on the bus and at our meals. What is quite powerful is our talking and listening and even hearing each other. Of course for Christians, discussions along the way and revelations that tables are also enormously important
For me, in this group, they are all graces.
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