Skip to main content

The light of experience – first reflections on a pilgrimage to Israel/Palestine

Image
By
Sharon and Sarah having just climbed Mount Tabor

Question: What’s the connection between a Bingley coffee shop and a late night   conversation by the Sea of Galilee?
Answer: Sharon and Sarah!

It was on an early summer sunny day that we decided to make this unforgettable journey to the Holy Land.

So strange, there, to see the motorway signs to Biblical places: Tiberius, Nazareth, Mount Tabor, Bethlehem, Jericho and Jerusalem and to reflect on the stories, events and people of faith; from a boat on the Sea of Galilee watch the sun’s rays penetrate the morning haze. For a moment, the water and my life, calm and still – soon to be storm-tossed like Jesus’s fearful friends in their sinking ship.

So many beautiful churches built to mark the places of God’s presence in some special way. We saw in construction, beside the archaeological site of Magdala, yet another church with the communion table, looking through a boat shaped window over the Sea of Galilee to the hills, the Golan Heights, beyond. The past and present inextricably connected.

As we travelled through the Jordon Valley, on the West Bank, I tried to imagine Jesus and his motley crowd of followers, on his last journey from familiar farms and fishing boats to the cosmopolitan city with Jewish Temple and Roman Palace. I wonder if Jesus saw then, as we did, people oppressed and ill-treated.

This Holy Land for Christians, Jews and Muslims is torn apart. We might despair as did Mary and Martha at the death of their brother, Lazarus. In the tomb, we remembered Jesus’s commandment, ‘Unbind him and let him go free!’  These are words of hope and new life for individuals and countries alike.

In Advent, we prepare to meet the child of hope. I want to share a message of hope from Bethlehem. Many young Palestinian Christians are leaving their homeland because life is so difficult.  In conversation with one such young woman, training to be a teacher, we asked if she too would leave her native Bethlehem, getting away from the restrictions of living beyond the separation wall. Her response was simple and clear, ‘This is my home and I want to help children growing up here.’ No church will be built to mark this sign of hope, God’s presence. Yet we can pray and act for those who strive in dark times to bring hope, light and justice to a troubled Holy Land, so that the Prince of Peace may reign.

Shalom,
Sarah




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Christmas Day Worship 2021

By
Today is the day - Christmas! The central candle is lit. The waiting is over. The child is born. As we celebrate the Feast and Holy-Day of Christmas, with the Psalmist (Ps. 98:4-6) we proclaim: Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth, burst into jubilant song with music; make music to the LORD with the harp, with the harp and the sound of singing, with trumpets and the blast of the ram’s horn – shout for joy before the LORD, the King. Prayer Let us pray: Generous God, even as we praise you for the good news of today, and seek to shout for joy at the coming of the Christ-child, we acknowledge Mary’s mix of pain and joy, both today and in the days to come. As we do so, we face our own emotions on this difficult and delightful day, and ask your help to live it well. Amen. Carol You might like to sing, or reflect on the words of Geoffrey Ainger’s hymn at StF 193/H&P 95, Born in the night, Mary’s child, a long way from your home; coming in need, Mary’s child, born in a borro...
Post a Comment
Read more

Pastoral Letter - 9 December 2021

By
Dear friends We have been through a lot together over this last 18 months since the pandemic first started, as households, as communities and as the people of the church. At times we have struggled, but we have also recognised the support we can offer one another in times of adversity. When things have been far from normal, we have adapted in new ways to continue the life and mission of the church. In the face of great hurt and great need, we have found the value of faith and hope. Since the summer we have seen signs of hope in the re-opening of buildings and the re-starting of some of our church and community groups. However, recent news of a new variant of the virus has once again raised the level of concern. Clearly, the pandemic is not yet over. Consequently, as I am sure you are already aware, the government has decided that there is a need for greater restrictions to be in place once again - see detailed guidance  dated 8th December. In the light of this, the Methodist Church...
Post a Comment
Read more

Prayer Column - January 2022

By
The turn of the year As a new year approaches we tend to wonder what lies ahead, hoping always to shake off the past’s bad record and for something better to come, as if hoping could make it so. We wonder about next year because of course we don’t know what lies around the corner (however great the store of human knowledge, and however thorough our Googling). Search as we may, and it’s a royal honour to do so (Prov 25:2), some things are known only to God: times and seasons fixed by his authority are not for us to know (Acts 1:7), for the future is his. This is a time to remind ourselves of God’s omniscience: he does know (Rom 11:33). He knows the plans he has for us – plans to prosper us and not to harm us, plans to give us a hope and a future (Jer 29:11). And it’s time to remember also that God is not far-off and aloof, but a loving, heavenly Father who wants a close living relationship with each of us, day by day and breath by breath – he sent Jesus to bring us back to him. So ...
Post a Comment
Read more