Palestine, Politics, Past and Present

So I thought I was just doing a pilgrimage through biblical and church history.   Nothing about today, nothing about current.  To get a better context on the past.

But I find myself more and more drawn to learning about the contemporary people and situation in Israel and Palestine.  It is a drama and a complex history that is only a little older than I am (the modern state of Israel was founded in 1948; I was born in 1956, when it was only 5 1/2 years old).  I can remember vaguely the 1967 war being in the news when I was 11, and more fully things like the Camp David accords.   I've been aware of the struggle.

And I can see issues on both sides of the issue.  I've been to Auschwitz, Buchenwald, Dachau, Sachsenhausen, Bergen-Belsen, Flossenburg, the Jewish quarter in Prague and other sites, memorials and museums dedicated to the holocaust.  I get that throughout history trauma has been perpetrated again and again on the Jewish people.  I believe that antisemitism is a huge and horrible sin for which Christians have been absolutely guilty throughout history.  I believe that the Jewish people deserve a homeland in their ancestral area.

BUT, I also think that great trauma has been perpetrated upon the Palestinian people, who also have a right to a homeland, and a right to live in a way that allows them to have control over their lives, their lands, their home, and to govern themselves in some way.   I see something that looks and feels like oppression of the Palestinian people.

I feel that both narratives have stories to tell, and both should be respected and attended to.
I'm not a political science person.   I don't know the civic and governmental realities and I can't even speculate on how to solve what looks like an amazingly difficult puzzle.  But I think it needs to be a solution where both sides have something that looks like freedom, where both sides embrace a commitment to resist violence and where both sides experience security and safety.    I don't have any idea what that looks like, but I am dismayed by some of my own government's investment, not limited to the current administration, which feels like a thumb on the scale where that is not appropriate.

In the meantime, I am working on educating myself.   I am reading books like Hanan Ashrawi's This Side of Peace, Sandy Tolan's The Lemon Tree; I am reading the background information to the United Church of Christ's recent resolutions on the Israel-Palestine situation.  If you have a suggestion, please feel free to comment and let me know about it.

And I've started calling what I used to call the West Bank Palestine.  It is, as Rick Steves points out, what they call themselves, and I respect that.  And it is an ancient name.   True, I may not use that word when going through immigration in the Tel Aviv airport.   And I am making sure that my itinerary includes Palestine and includes Arab (both Christian and Muslim) guides, dining and accommodations.

Rich Steves points out in his new documentary that visitors like me to this area have an opportunity that people who live there don't, thanks to the wall.  We can go and hear the stories of the Israelis and the Palestinians. We can move through the border more easily (as long as there are no incidents in the area) and we can talk to people.  I very much hope to take advantage of that, and to learn something about what is one of the most difficult and most destructive running conflicts in our world today.

Press!

Last Sunday, I was at the community Thanksgiving service, and I picked up a copy of the Lutheran Letter, the ELCA's local newspaper.   And they did a full page article on my trip!    How exciting.   You can see the article here.   There are a lot of other great articles, and I've made a promise to write up something for them after the trip as well.    How cool is that?

I've also had smaller articles in the local paper, the Gazette, and the online UCC Press.   All the articles are found in the "Press" area of this blog.  On the right.  Way down. . . .

Media

Rick Steves in the Holy Land. From his web site. (Ricksteves.com)

I don't actually take in information just via books and reading.   I like to have some stuff a bit more interactive, and I like TV!  So some of my best information is gotten visually and through the videos. And some I can carry on my phone.     Here are the media pieces I'm using.

Rick Steves

Yeah.   He shows up here first of all.  He just released a (very timely) video on Israelis and Palestinians, that I've already watched most of the extra material from.  Rick's special The Holy Land: Israelis and Palestinians Today.  There's also a Youtube video available on Facebook  where he is speaking in a Grace Lutheran Church in Palo Alto, CA as a fundraiser for Bright Stars of Bethlehem.   

Rick also, a couple years ago, did a special on Martin Luther, which helped a lot to inform my trip.  We got a copy a couple years ago (I pastor an ELCA church in addition to two UCC churches, and he gave a copy to each church in the country.  Thank you Rick)  That video is here.

Rick's regular shows are helpful I'm watching the associated shows on TV while I work in the evenings. In addition I am downloading some of his audio files to my phone in preparation for walking tours and the like.  AND listening to him every week as a podcast. 

Educational Video

What I've watched so far:

• Holy Land Revealed, A 35 episode course by Jodi Magness, the Kenan Distinquished Professor for Teaching Excellence in Early Judaism at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.  This is one of those packaged college level courses with no college level tests, texts or papers, and really excellent. She covers biblical sites from the time of about David through the fall of Jerusalem as a result of the second Jewish revolt, and is a particular expert on Qumran. 
• Ancient Roads from Christ to Constantine, A six hour series following from the death of Christ and the age of the Apostles to to Constantine helps flesh out a lot of early church history and changes in the church as it struggled as a minority religion in its first three centuries.    Part travel documentary, part church history, and a little dated in appearance.  
• A Survey of Church History, with W. Robert Godfrey is an extended series of half hour courses in two sets.  One follows ancient church history, overlapping a little with Ancient roads, but bringing more thought to theology, especially from a reformed tradition. The second series follows church history through the Middle Ages, and highlights some important folks to my journey, like Francis of Assisi. 
• This Changed Everything, A three part documentary on the Reformation, created for the recent 500th anniversary.   Particularly good at highlighting the story of the Anabaptists, which I found helpful.  Also really highlights the division and fragmentation in the protestant movement.  This series had both Roman Catholic and Protestant theologians and I thought was an exceptionally balanced presentation. 
• In Search of Hidden Holy Sites.  Very new-agey, very mystical, and not particularly helpful for logistics or Christian history.  Can't recommend this. 
• Added 1/16/20 - I found a book and DVD from the 2017 National Synod and from the Presbyterian Church, entitled Resettling Zionism which looks at Zionism and the Palestinian issues.    It has been very worthwhile. 

This list is a work in progress, so if you have ideas or suggestions, please let me know.  I've yet to find something to discuss the Puritan movement.  I'm also interested in podcast options, if you know of any!

Footsteps and the birth of the idea.

Little River Footsteps Trip to Spain in the Mosque in Cordoba.  Photo by Mark Holm

Little River Footsteps Trip to Spain in the Alhambra, Granada, Spain.  Photo by Mark Holm

In the 1990s and 2000s, members of my church (Little River United Church of Christ in Annandale, VA) set out on pilgrimage trips every other year. They visited the Holy Land, Turkey, Greece, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Spain, the Dalmation Coast, Ireland, England, etc., seeing to walk "in the Footsteps" of whoever.

My husband and I went along with two of these: in 2004 to Italy, and in 2008 to Spain, just before I realized that I was called to ministry, and all our extra cash was going to pay for seminary for a while.

A couple years ago I was preaching and used something from my trip to Spain as a sermon illustration.   We were a couple years into the Narrative Lectionary, but I am pretty sure the sermon was touching on interfaith relations, which is what the 2008 trip focused on, and it hit me.   I'm so concerned about context, my community is really digging into context, and one context that I don't have, and that I have not explored is the physical context of the scriptures, especially the Holy Land.

So I emailed Brian Payne, friend extraordinare, and organizer of most of the Footsteps trips to that point.   And he sent them all to me, itineraries for all the locations above, for the Footsteps of Jesus, of Paul, of the Reformation in Germany, of the great church in Italy, of the Muslim period in Spain, of the Swiss Reformation, of the Congregationalists in the Netherlands and in England.

And they became the seed that started my plans.   Oh, yes, I've added many of my own touches (like the Jesus Trail, Subiaco Italy, Trent, and a stop in Strasbourg to study Anabaptists, which I live among) and I have left a lot out: Footsteps travelers visited more contemporary sites, like those associated with WWII, and a LOT of Art, while I'm more interested in pilgrimage, but I am grateful to those travelers, my friends, for the original idea, for sharing Italy and Spain trips with me, and just for modeling intrepid educational travel for me.

Books

My pile of physical books.

Rick Steves says "Guidebooks are $25 tools for $4,000 experiences."  In my case, closer to a $12,000 or more experience.   As a devotee of Rick's method of travel, I'm doing a lot of preliminary research for a number of reasons.  One, of course, was to do sufficient research to make sure my numbers in the Lilly Endowment application were correct.

Another, and more important, is that I firmly believe, from my experience of travel, that the more prepared I am, the easier it is to understand and truly experience the places around me.   If I know, for example, what is authentic and what is traditional, but probably not authentic, allows me to place myself in the time of Jesus (this is what Jesus saw) or perhaps the time of later pilgrims (this was holy to later pilgrims, even if it was not was Jesus saw.)

So these are the books I've been looking at.   Kind of an annotated bibliography.   If you have done this kind of trip and have some recommendations, by all means add them!  I have seven months left to go!     If you are never planning to do such a trip, feel free to stop after the first set.    If you are interested in doing a pilgrimage of some sort yourself, please feel free to read the whole set!

In all cases I've listed the books in the order of my itinerary.

Hard Copy Books

Some of the books I have gotten as e-books, but there are many, especially those which I am using for preparation, which are either only available as hard copy books, or which I want as a hard copy book, because I don't want to be constantly staring at my phone.   These are the hard copy books.  I've done Amazon links, because those are usually convenient for people.  However, I do urge you to find them somewhere else, especially a small business if possible.   Hearts and Minds Bookstore in Dallastown, PA can order at least all of the religion books, and there are a variety of travel stores where you can order the travel guides.   Order Rick's guides directly from his site, or the Lonely Planet books from that site!  

>The most critical 5:

1. Chasing the Divine in the Holy Land by Ruth Eberhart (Amazon).   I picked this up from Hearts and Minds during a clergy convocation four or so years ago.   Its a memoir of Ruth and her pilgrimage to the Holy Land, and it was the book that most inspired me to want to go to the Holy Land myself.  It's a very easy read, and it is the book my church book group will read while I am on the road. 
2. Jesus> by James Martin, S. J. (Amazon).  Another memoir, this one has a lot more information about Galilee, which is a big draw for me, and a lot of connection to the biblical story.   Also an excellent read, but longer than Eberhart's  book.  My copy of this was lent me by a friend, and I need to get her a new copy  because Audrey got it one day. . . . .(Audrey is my granddaughter, who is almost 3 years old.)
3. Walking the Jesus Trail: Nazareth to the Sea of Galilee by Anna Dintaman and David Landis.  You can get this directly on the Jesus Trail Website.   This is the trail guide, and something I want to have with me as I walk.  It includes almost all the logistics for doing the Jesus Trail, and really detailed maps.   Some of the information is updated on the web site.  I think this book is likely to be badly dog eared before I leave.  
4. In the Steps of Jesus, by Peter Walker.  (Amazon) This book goes step by step through the life of Jesus, looking at the story in scripture (Peter is partial to Luke), then at the setting in the time of Jesus, then in the setting today.   A pretty big, heavy book, it is written by a scholar of classical and ancient history, and full of pictures.  It will NOT go with me on the plane, but has been great for prep.   Walker is a bit more traditional and takes the sights more at face value and scripture more literally than I do, but we've been able to figuratively walk together with these two books, which leads me to. . . 
5. In the Steps of St. Paul, by Peter Walker. (Amazon)  Same as the last, but following St. Paul into Turkey and Greece, and finally Malta and Rome.  This was essential for understanding the sights in Malta, and for feeling a little sad to be skipping Turkey (more on that in a later post.)  Again, this one is not a travel guide, and is large and heavy and full of pictures.   It would help any Christian feel closer to the places where the New Testament happened. 

Other hardcopy Books

1. Jesus Trail and Jerusalem, by Jacob Saar. (Amazon) Another guide to the Jesus trail, this one with really detailed topographical maps.  It takes you by foot to Jerusalem on the Israeli National Trail and has a lot of detail on the Old City in Jerusalem.  This one will go with me as a secondary resource for the hike. 
2. A Pilgrim's Guide to The Lands of St. Paul by Raymond Goodburn and David Housefly. (Amazon) - Great for Greece, and especially Malta, this provided more detail of locations and travel information than the Walker books did, though it is a bit dryer.    A second edition came out in March, but is unavailable, so I am waiting with the first Edition.
3. Streetwise Jerusalem by Michelin. (Amazon) I like Streetwise maps when I'm going to be in a city for a while.  I have 7 nights in Jerusalem's old city, so I expect this clear map to be helpful. 
4. The Story of the Holy Land by Peter Walker.  Walker does for the entire biblical history what he does for Jesus and Paul in his other books, with drop dead gorgeous photos.    This was great to connect with the story in the TaNaKh, which of course, was THE Bible for Jesus and Paul. 
5. Atlas of the Bible, by Jean-Pierre Isbouts.  (Amazon) This special edition of National Geographic is great for the story and for maps.  It also focuses on the time before Jesus more than the time of Jesus, and is a bit bulky to carry. 

E-Books

So, most of the books I'll be carrying with me will be e-books.    Indeed some of the most critical books for this journey will be on the kindle app on my phone.   I'm even considering buying a low end kindle, just for guidebooks!   These are the ones I'm working with:

1. Israel and the Palestinian Territories - Lonely Planet (here) - exhaustive travel guide for Israel and the Palestinian territories, includes all the logistics for my first three weeks.
2. The Holy Land: An Oxford Archaeological Guide, by Jerome Murphy-O'Connor.  James Martin recommends this exhaustive Archeological guide in his book, and having gotten it I can agree.   It is a bit dry, but has helped me find a lot of little things.  It's pretty much limited to places where there is archeological evidence and ruins to visit (so things like the Bay of Parables is not on it) but it is exceptionally helpful.   I will be glad to have this on my phone, and it is a book I am spending a LOT of time with.  One neat thing is that it is written from the point of view of archeology, not necessarily religion, which is a fresh break from most of the books on this list. 
3. The Christian Traveler's Guide to the Holy Land, by by Charles H. Dyer and Gregory A. Hatteberg.   I knew as soon as I opened this book that I would struggle with it, since it is published by Moody Press, and I'm a fairly progressive Christian.    And I did.   It takes far too seriously ANY site that might be traditional (the archeological guide is very good about saying, this tradition is from, say, the 11th century and therefore not very likely) and it takes scripture way too literally for me.   Also, there was nothing new in it.   I can't recommend it.  (And therefore did not give you a link!)
4. The Holy Land for Christian Travelers: An Illustrated Guide to Israel by John A. Beck, (Amazon) by comparison, has a lot to offer.   It lists more obscure sights and identifies when they are probably authentic as opposed to traditional (and most likely not so authentic.)  It was the first book in which I read the controversy over which of three or four sites was Emmaus, for example.   A highlight of this are great illustrations, which are simple enough to navigate on my phone, and which really give me a feel for things like the setup of churches, or a neighborhood.

Then and Now Bible Maps.  Eh.  What you would expect.  I think that Google Maps and other apps will be just as useful. But it's on my phone just in case. 

A Guide to Biblical Sites in Greece and Turkey, by Clyde E. Fant and Mitchell G. Reddish.  (Amazon) I'm just getting started with this one, but it's particularly helpful for Patmos, which was not in the St. Paul Books. 

Greece:Athens and the Peloponnese, Italy, France, Germany all by Rick Steves et. al.   (here)  I wasn't kidding. He's my travel hero.     In addition to the books, there is media, but I'll do a separate post on media at some point.  

A Pilgrim's Guide to Italy: A Guide to the Saints, by James Heater. (Amazon) A VERY quirky book, it helped me clarify what I'd do for the period between the death of Paul and the Reformation.  Originally I thought to go visit the sites of the great counsels of the church, but they are in Turkey, which I am skipping.  So I settled on Rome and a couple of saints that mean something to me.  Benedict, who defined monasticism can be studied in a day trip from Rome to Subiaco, and a couple days in Assisi, where Francis and Claire were centered.  

I continue prepping and reading.   Some of my inspiration (especially for Reformation and Puritan sites) came from other sources.   I will write shortly on Footsteps, on Media, and on Turkey. 

Skipping Turkey, Ginna, and the Armenian Genocide

Ginna Minasian Dalton, speaking, at a retreat of members of Little River UCC

Ginna Minasian Dalton is one of the people who has been one of my greatest mentors, one of my dearest friends.  We lost her 9 months ago, and all of us are poorer for having lost her.   She was the first person to ask me if I was called to ministry, which I dismissed, but she was right. She celebrated with me when I finally was willing to admit I was, she guided me, she encouraged me to go to Howard.   She taught me about doing worship for people who understand God differently than I, and she taught me, most importantly, about listening and living well.   She was gracious and beautiful.

She was also part of the Armenian diaspora.   And one of the most important things to her was raising   awareness of the 1915 Armenian Genocide.   As many as 1,800,000 Armenians were murdered or expelled in an effort to rid Turkey of them, by the Turkish.   It is the reason I do not like the use of the phrase "Young Turks," because that was the name of the group behind this.   The Armenian Genocide was the first modern genocide.   And it was something that emboldened Hitler to massacre six million during the Holocaust in Germany.  Turkey, to this day, persists in denying this holocaust, though it is well documented, and accepted by most countries and international bodies.

in 2014, when Mark and I celebrated our 25th anniversary with a Greek Isles cruise, we selected this very carefully, avoiding any itinerary even with a stop in Turkey.  And in walking through Church history, skipping Turkey has pretty significant consequences.   After all, Paul's first two journeys were through what is now Turkey.  Ephesus is in Turkey.  Istanbul/Byzantium/Constantinople is an important site in the history of the church, especially the Eastern church. The early church councils were in Turkey.   This does indeed impact my experience if I skip it in a real way.  It makes my experience less than it might have been.

But, Ginna, you are right. There is no way to love you, to understand that history, to behave justly, and to include Turkey in my itinerary.   I know my travel guru Rick Steves might encourage me to go and to listen and to try to understand the people.  I agree with him most of the time.    In this I do not. Genocide goes beyond the pale.   I cannot support a state which will deny it.

So I will not go to Turkey.   I pray that some day the Turkish Government will admit the Genocide and seek grace around it.   I hope that,  like Germany has with it's dark history, Turkey will open it up for people to see, and to understand, and that they will stop denial of this dark chapter.   When that happens, I will with joy visit Istanbul, Ephesus, and all the other sites.  For now, I'm skipping Turkey.   In part, Ginna, this is for you.   In part it is because I must behave justly.

Add caption

Gear

So I am going to be hiking from Nazareth to Capernaum, and carrying with me everything I need for 15 weeks.  This requires some specialized gear!!!!

Now, some I have (hostel sheets, travel clothesline, Moneybelt, travel shirts). Some I can borrow (water bottles), but some I needed to buy. 

Like an internal frame backpack, hiking boots, socks, poles.  (backpack and boots are a gift from my wonderful husband!)  Since I’m not the richest person around, and since some of these things are better worn in a little, I am carefully balancing and slowly acquiring things.   A Tilly hat.  A map of Jerusalem.  

You will note 2 pairs of pants (there will eventually be a third pair in black) and a skirt.  This is because since I started planning, I have lost almost 70 pounds.   I can indeed use existing shirts in my travel wear collection, but the bottoms just fall off me.   So, new bottoms, but by bit (this lightweight, quick dry stuff with security pockets is not cheap, so I’m not getting many, or very fast).   

By next April I’ll have all I need ( or will not need what I don’t have :-). )

Yeah, this post was supposed to post later in the week, but I think some of you saw it early.   I was trying to post from my phone.   Later, maybe next week, I'll talk about apps. 

Tickets

I have airline tickets.
Leaving May 19 for Tel Aviv, returning August 29 from Hamburg!
Whoopee!!!!

The Jesus Trail

Photo by David Landis from www.jesustrail.com.

He left Nazareth and settled in Capernaum, which lies alongside the sea in the area of Zebulun and Naphtali. (Matthew 4:13, CEB)

So Jesus had a home as an adult (Mark 2:1), and that home was in Capernaum.   He grew up, and presumably his parents more or less stayed, in Nazareth (though after Joseph's death, Mary could have followed him.)  Which means that the distance between Nazareth and Capernaum was likely crossed multiple times by Jesus' feet.

The Jesus Trail is a 40 mile pilgrimage trail that takes the pilgrim from Nazareth, where Jesus grew up, to Capernaum, on the shores of the sea of Galilee.    Along the way you pass a number of important 1st century sites: the Roman city of Sepphoris (Zippori), the town of Cana (Kafr Kanna), the opportunity to walk on 1st century Roman Roads, Magdala, home of Mary Magdalene (Migdal), Ginosaur, where an extant first century boat still exists.  And in a fairly easy day of walking within Capernaum, the ability to see the Bay of Parables, the Mount of the Beatitudes, the site of Simon Peter's house, Tabgha, where the loaves and fishes were multiplied.    And, I hope, take a boat trip on the Sea of Galilee.

According to the Synoptic Gospels, this area of Galilee, and a little further west, into the Decapolis, is where the majority of Jesus' ministry was done.  Even John, who has him spending more time in Jerusalem than the other three, only has him going there for festivals, then returning north to his home base.

For my spirituality, Jesus life, Jesus very human life, is central.   And to walk in the places that he walked, sail on the Sea he sailed (and walked) on, be in the places he taught, is a great opportunity.

When I was beginning to plan this Sabbatical, I was thrilled to find the Jesus trail.   And I was glad to adjust my plans to include it close to the beginning of the Sabbatical, to set the tone for the entire trip.   After 2 days in Akko (Acre), and Caeseria Maritima, I'll head for three nights in Nazareth, hopefully giving me enough time to see this place where Jesus grew up as well as nearby Mt. Tabor, and I will set off on a four day, 40 mile journey, with all my things in a single backpack, staying in hostels and other pilgrim accommodation (both Israeli and Palestinian) along the route.   While traveling I plan to listen to the Gospels, especially focused on the Galilean ministry of Jesus.

For more on the Jesus Trail, look here.

Doing a Lilly Endowment Grant Application

Google Maps rendition of the major stops on my journey.
You can continue to view the evolving map here. 

One of the reasons why I have done so much planning already is that I early on made the decision to apply for a 2019 Lilly Endowment Clergy Renewal Grant.   You can read about the program from the Endowment's point of view here.   As a part time pastor, a sabbatical of the scope that I was thinking of was simply not feasible.  I knew I wanted to travel, and that I wanted to do so as a pilgrim, but three months of travel is not cost free, even when done as simply as possible.

When I looked at the application, however, I was severely daunted.  The detail required was pretty high, there were a lot of pieces, and it looked like any missing or not up to snuff piece would automatically result in not being considered.   But as I thought about it, I began to see the grant process as a huge opportunity.

First it required both my community and me to talk and think about where we were, what we'd been about in our ministry together, including both my journey and theirs.  It made us look at how our faith had developed together, how my theological education (which was my only experience before coming to them) my previous church as a layperson, and their needs and direction had interacted with each other.  And it helped us discuss concrete hopes for what this sabbatical can bring to both of us.
For us, it was all about context, as I wrote in the narrative portion of my application:

"In Seminary my eyes were opened as I discovered so many contexts to apply to my understanding of scripture: historical context, context of original audience, literary context of the individual books and the books as they related to each other, the concerns of the time, even the context of the language across time and across translation.    Moreover, as I chose to go to a seminary outside my personal cultural context, I found that the experience of studying and deeply listening to people who had very different life experiences, very different contexts than I, was transformative.   My time as a white student at Howard University School of Divinity was a rich and wonderful time for me.  In addition to learning exegesis, it changed me deeply and helped me to understand more fully the struggles of others, and to think about the experience of others when trying to process my understanding of scripture from an ancient context into a contemporary context.   

This focus on context, both on the historical context and personal context, is something that the churches have appreciated in my preaching and teaching.  We have a book group that has read a number of books about context, including Marcus Borg’s The Evolution of the Word,  and Amy-Jill Levine’s Short Stories by Jesus, which engages the parables within the context of Jesus’ first century Judaism.  For the last three years we have been using the Narrative Lectionary, which presents Scripture within the larger context of the biblical narrative.   I love this approach and the community has responded enthusiastically, applying the lessons to their own context, and to talk about how context shifts happen.  This renewal will let me gather a kinesthetic, special, and visual context of the bible and my faith." (from my Lilly Endowment Clergy Renewal Grant Application)

So once I knew that context was what was going to be the overriding theme I thought through what kind of contexts would be helpful, and we finally decided that travel to the places where the bible happened, and where the church grew, and where important church history happened would allow me the chance to get visual, experiential and kinesthetic context of the places that Jesus, Paul, the church,  the reformation, and the predecessor denominations of the United Church of Christ and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America grew up, in Europe.   So this trip will take me to Israel, to Greece, to  Italy, to Germany and Switzerland, to Strasbourg France, and to Leiden in the Netherlands and Scrooby Hall in England, to look at the origins in Europe of Christianity, Evangelical Protestantism, Reformed Protestantism, and the Puritan movement.   The map above traces the locations that I will be visiting.

Service Component of Sabbatical at Brot und Rosen.

Logo of Brot und Rosen (www.brot-und-rosen.de)

I feel like I should be writing this entry in German!

My sabbatical plans have always included a service component, and I am excited today to have finalized those plans. 

I am very thrilled to have made plans to work with Brot und Rosen, a community of people supporting refugees in the Hamburg Germany area.  Although I'd hoped to spend all of August with them, it looks like it will be more like 3 weeks, due to the school holidays at the beginning of August.  In any case I will be doing this as a service component of my sabbatical.

Brot und  Rosen is modeled on the Catholic Worker movement started by Dorothy Day, and people who work there live communally along with the refugees they serve. Their service is a commitment to hospitality, room, food and shelter (they do not provide social services.) 

Brot und Rosen does not receive public or corporate money; they are entirely funded by donations.  I will donate my salary for the time I am with them.  I urge you to go to their English language website, here, and read more about them. 

I picked Brot und Rosen in part because of their ethic, which I admire, and in part because they work with refugees.  Europe, and Germany in particular, has shouldered more than its share of the refugee work in the last decade, while America has put up barriers, including an extensive and difficult screening process that may leave the most vulnerable refugees out, and most recently draconian reductions in the number of refugees admitted.  Lest anyone think I'm picking on a politician, this has happened under both Republican and Democratic administrations.   Because we lack the will to work on comprehensive immigration reform, which is desperately needed, we leave too many people in terrible situations.   God loves deeply every one of his children, and as Christians we are called to do the same.   This opportunity to work with Brot und Rosen is my opportunity to express as part of my sabbatical my own commitment to see every person as a beloved child of God.

Beginning the booking process.

Fauzi Azar Inn in Nazareth, from their Facebook page.  

It is so exciting to start booking things for my SabbaticalI  I have the travel advance from my congregation, now that they have the check.   I'm booked for a week at at the Citadel Hostel in the old City in Jerusalem, and three nights at the Fauzi Azar Inn (pictured above) in Nazareth.  That gives me two full days in the city that Jesus grew up in, and will allow me time to get out to Mt. Tabor, where the Transfiguration is traditionally thought to take place.

Luke 10:4 The Message (MSG)

“Travel light. Comb and toothbrush and no extra luggage.

I'm in a female dorm room, which I think is the one in the picture.   Pretty place, huh?  Other places I enquired via email, and began hearing back on this morning.

My accommodation preference is hostels, like Fauzi Azar.    One place where that will not happen is in Caparnaum - I arrive on Friday, and I think the hostel there is closed Friday night.

One location seems to be full the night I need, so I'll email and also look for alternatives.   Otherwise I am excited.   I've also found a good set of flights and am watching them via a couple of flight booking sites.   Hopefully I'll find a good price on them in the next month or so.

I've added a couple days onto the beginning of my trip to explore a location that a friend recommended: Akko, so that I will have 3 days to explore Akko and Caeseria Maritima at the beginning of the trip, also giving me some time to adjust to the new time schedule, before heading out on the trail.

It is exciting to book things, even though some (like the inn above) require prepayment.    I think this is where it begins to become real.  I'm working down through my itinerary, starting with places with fewer options and going to some with more options.    Next, I need to work out the rest of the Jesus trail and Bethlehem accommodation.   Then I can start booking Greece.

Who Am I?

Julie in front of two of her three churches.

I'm a second career pastor of three small rural churches in central Pennsylvania.   I was called to ministry in my 50s, attended Howard University School of Divinity for seminary and ended up in a part time pastorate in central Pennsylvania starting in February 2012.

The Brush Valley Fusion of Faith consists of three churches: St. Peter's UCC, on the left in my picture, St. Peter's Lutheran (ELCA) on the right in the picture, both located in Rebersburg, PA, and Christ UCC in Madisonburg, PA, four miles down the road.

I had a 30 year career in IT, as well, including 20+ years focused on machine reasoning of a variety of sorts, especially helping business people figure out technologies related to Artificial Intelligence.   In 2017 I retired from IBM, which I had been working for half time, and now am just the part time pastor (not that there are part time pastors).

I started in 2012, and I love my ecumenical, beautiful, mission-oriented congregation.  And together we have spent a lot of time revisiting scripture with a real focus on the context.   For us this means the context of the time that it was written in, and the context that we bring it to in the twenty-first century, as well as it's context in the library that is the bible.  Attending to the last, we have for the last four years followed the Narrative Lectionary, which follows scripture from beginning to the end, and follows a gospel from beginning to end, every year.  This has really given us new ways to think about our holy book, and about Jesus and our Creator.  It has breathed the Spirit into us.

But it is time for me, and for my community, to find new understandings.   I hope to do that during this sabbatical, to walk in the context of Jesus, to see the places where things happened, to experience a contextual depth for my scripture that is kinesthetic, visual, and situational.    More information about the contexts that I will explore in my next post!

Headed to the Holy Land

So I can now announce that my church community and I are recipients of a 2019 Lilly Endowment Grant (Link is here to the official press release.)   I'll leave sometime around the 21st of May and return the 1st of September for a dream sabbatical, and my community will journey with me via reading, study and prayer.

My plan is to do a pilgrimage, walking in the steps of Jesus, Paul, the early church, the Reformation (both Evangelical and Reformed) and the pilgrims, to experience more deeply the context of the scriptures I love and the church I also love.   I will spend a lot of time walking where Jesus walked, including walking the 40 mile Jesus Trail from Nazareth to Capernaum in Galilee, where Jesus did most of his ministry.   I will, literally, walk where Jesus walked, as I follow first century Roman Roads on this endeavor.

While I will do a report, do talks to everyone when I get back, and keep a journal, this blog will be the primary place where I share, as it is happening, what is going on: the planning, the experience, day by day, and my initial reactions.   So if you want to follow me, this is the place to follow.

In the next couple of days I will share my feelings on the grant and on starting my journey.  Between now and May I will try to blog at least weekly, while on the journey I will do my best to blog daily.

Join me here for my journey of a lifetime!

Julie

Photo Credit: Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Jerusalem by Tim Mossholder on Unsplash