When I started in ministry 22 years ago I never thought I would have the opportunity, or take the opportunity to go to Jerusalem. Now twenty-two years later I have been to Jerusalem three times and each time I have discovered something new in this embattled city which still carries a "vision of peace" for the world.
The first trip Joan and I took was nearly 20 years ago with the Presbytery of Philadelphia as we were trying to understand the Palestinian/Israeli conflict. It was during the Intifada (the uprising) and we spoke with politicians on both sides. We toured a Middle Council of Churches school in the Gaza Strip, a settlement in the West Bank, the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem, the Western (Wailing) Wall in Jerusalem, a School in Nazareth, the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, a hospital in Ramalla, and the Holocaust Museum. It was a heart wrenching trip as we heard the pain and fears of Palestinians and Israelis alike. I came away understanding that the issues were more complext than I could imagine or fully understanding. It was a once in a lifetime experience that I didn't think I would ever do again.
The second trip caught me by surprise. Our denomination passed an Overture at the 2004 General Assembly to consider divesting in companies who were involved in bulldozing Palestian houses or building the security fence (wall) seperating Palestinian and Israeli territory. After this GA action, I received a call from Sam Muyskens at Interfaith Ministry who said there were several area rabbis who wanted to talk to Presbyterian pastors about this GA action. Joan and I were two of a group of several Presbyterian and Jewish clergy and leaders that started to meet regularly to talk about why the security fence was being built and the issues around it. We discovered that we had very different perspectives on this issue and in an effort to try to understand each other we decided to engage our churches and synagogues in a shared study of Genesis. We discovered that even when we look at the same scripture that we interpret that scripture differently. So we decided that perhaps we needed to go to Israel together to see through each others eyes, and to hear with each other's ears to better understand each other around this issue. We also decided that the trip must include not only Christian and Jewish representatives but also Muslim representatives and include a visit to Jordan as well as Israel and the Palestinian territories. When we left for the Holy Land in the winter of 2008, we were a group of twelve: 7 Christians, 3 Jews and 2 Muslims. I hadn't planned on going back to Jerusalem but I couldn't resist this opportunity to see the Holy Land through different eyes and to share my faith with other colleagues and friends. It was a powerful experience and very different from the first trip. Several of our Jewish colleagues had lived or extended stays in Israel. Our Muslim brothers reflected Suni and Shiite faith and were originally from Syria and Iran so we had an opportunity to learn about these distinctions and perspectives as we toured each others religious sites together and processed what we saw and heard each night. Again we worshipped at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre but it was different as our Jewish and Muslim friends looked on. Again we visited the Western Wall but it was different as we heard the whole history of the Wall and worshipped at the site with our Jewish and Mslim friends We all woshipped toether at a synagoge, we spent time in prayer with a Suffi Shiek and we went to a Lutheran Church and worshipped in Arabic and English. We studied the Koran, Torah and the New Testament together in the origianl langauges and in English. We discovered that indeed our faiths are different, our stories are different and yet we could appreciate each other's perspective, story and faith. We went on our journey as travellers together and we came back as friends and colleages. And we met Muslim, Jewish and Christian leaders during our trip who were working on the ground, every day for peace. We were an encouragement for them and they were an encouragement for us. And our trip to Jordan bore fruit as we met with a wonderful Palestinian family who had realtives in Wichita and a heart warming sory to share. As we shared dessert in this home we knew that we had been blessed with a life changing experience. On the way back to Israel we stopped at Mt. Nebo, where Moses had seen the promised land that he would never get to inhabit. In some ways we felt like Moses. We had a vision for peace, but it was unclear that we would see peace in our lifetimes.
And that gets me to the last trip to Jerusalem. This trip I took without leaving Wichita. It was our Vacation Bible School curriculum this year: Jerusalem Market place. Our VBS planners transformed our church and Great Room into a Jerusalem market place. We has potters, spice mearchants, weavers, bakers, carpenters, basket weavers, beggars, prophets, rabbis. The kids were put into the twelve tribes of Israel and we learned about the last week of Jesus life even as we learned about Jerusalem life and culture. And the kids taught me not just to learn with my mind but to learn with my heart and soul and srength. They taught me to use all my senses: touch, taste, smell, sight and hearing to discover the Gospel. And in the closing ceremony, as I was talking about the concept of "shalom" as peace, wholeness, health, welcome; a little boy raised his hand. He said, you forgot "chevarim" the Hebrew word for "friend". The song we sang was "Shalom chevarim". He was right. He was reminding me of what I had learned on my last trip to Israel. It is not so much what you learn about peace but who you learn from and with. It is about the God who loves us so much that he entered into Jeruslaem even at risk to his own life so that he could save our lives. It is about Christ's commandment to "love each other that all will know we are his disciples." It is about loving the stranger, the alien and even our enemy. My latest trip taught me that the peace we seek in Jerusalem is for our children and the Israeli children and the Palestinian children and it will come as we get to know each other and care for each other the way I now know and care for my travel companions. I thank God for my three trips to Jerusalem and for my partners in each journey.
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