When my friend William Hamilton suggested making this trip, I was immediately interested. I have visited Saudi Arabia and viewed Muslim holy sites from a distance. I had never visited Israel or the sites central to my own religious tradition.
Given the mix of Protestant and Catholics, Christians, Jews, religious and secular, the makeup of the group offered a healthy blend of perspectives, but given the sponsorship of the trip I expected the information to be slanted. After all, a Jewish organization taking Christians to Israel has a story to tell.
I was right, they have a story to tell but learning does not always conform to expectations. We all have stories to tell. In the first days, learning about one another took up a good deal of our time. Perspectives among the Christians varied and the Protestants and Catholics needed to update their notions of one another. The Evangelicals’ worldview rubbed against the world view of the United Church of Christ as did the Episcopal perspective and the academic perspective of the chaplain to the Institute.
And all the Christians needed to enroll again in Judaism 101. So have we learned? You bet!
Then there was Israel. And it is clear that we all suffer from knowledge that is partial and truths that are elusive. Halfway through the trip I'm aware that the paradoxes that I have seen are not easily resolved, e.g. the desire for peace and the need to use force to protect the peace.
The recognition of shared humanity occupies the same space as the recognition that there are those who wish to kill to serve their ideology. The recognition that politicians may intend good but are often no wiser than their constituents is jarring. Democracy is sometimes better served by those who do not respond to their constituents everywhere should. And that service cuts both ways.
By the time we leave a degree of clarity may have emerged from this world of paradox. I hope so. But for now I am confident that about several things:
1. I am wiser for this experience
2. Israel is here to stay but remains a work in progress
3. Those who wish for need to pay close attention to what is going on in Israel
4. The United States cannot disengage from the conflict with those who believe Israel has no right to exist
5. The key to the future is knowing the better the religious traditions that help make us whole for within those traditions are to be found, and resources that will lead to peace
Half the trip and a good bit of rhetoric! By the end of our time here I want a bit of clarity. If I find it, I'll let you know.
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