Images Middle East

Traveling in the Middle East provides many opportunities to encounter the unexpected. The landscape, the aromas, the taste of exotic spices and of the sense of movement of the heart. While some of this was expected the actual experience was so different from my imagination. All of it became spiritual nourishment for the pilgrimage in these beautiful lands.

One of the most surprising and intense moments for me was standing at the Mount of Olives, certainly in proximity to where Yeshua stood, and looking upon Jerusalem which seemed more like a vision before me rather than the actual city. It was a moment out of time in connection with all that has passed within this city. Our guide, Jill, read the following passage by Yeshua from Matthew:

“Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you that kill the prophets and stone those who are sent to you! How often have I longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you refused. Look! Your house will be deserted, for, I promise, you shall not see me any more until you are saying: Blessed is he who is coming in the name of the Lord.”

And I grieved with Yeshua--Jerusalem still so divided and its potential not yet fulfilled. In that time, I felt the intensity of those passages in Scripture that express a deep longing to return to Jerusalem, the spiritual source of the writers, and I wept. There in the city today Muslims, Jews, Christians and others bump up against one another, some in friendship, and many in friction and conflict. Could it possibly ever be they are like Monks living in very close quarters who a Zen monk observed, “Monks are polished by rubbing against each other.” It is to be hoped that those “polished beings” will someday usher in a new vision for this eternal city.

Perhaps Jerusalem stands as that great metaphor of our individual longing to return to our source, that place of acceptance, and union. This image now shines in my heart as a beacon that calls me to live into its historical promise. In our travels as a group in the Middle East I believe we contributed in many ways to that journey that calls us to--our own Jerusalem. Our encounter with the people who live in the region was a time of mutual acceptance and love expressed with clarity and passion. For now maybe the best we can do is to meet all strangers in the Jerusalem of our hearts with a “Blessing in the Name of the Lord.” It will make a difference.