Newsletter:
Vol. 14, Iss. 1
May 2015
Pilgrimage Reflection
The Rev. Darren Morgan
Many of our churches sing We Gather Together during our Thanksgiving worship
services. It reminds us not only to ask for God's blessing in this season
of harvest, but also to ask God's presence as we gather with family and friends
around our holiday tables. While there is much to be thankful for, we sometimes
overlook and take for granted the many freedoms we enjoy as Americans. Experiencing
a culture outside our own helps us to recognize the immense freedoms we experience
on a daily basis.
I led a pilgrimage to the Holy Land a few weeks before Thanksgiving. We journeyed
to a known yet unknown land. Many were seeking a spiritual encounter with
the Holy in the place that plays such a prominent role in Christian faith.
For me, it was a personal experience of the Holy in the people we met along
the way. During this trip, I gained most, not from the historical/religious
sites we visited, but from the personal conversations we had with those who
live in the region.
This was my second journey to the Holy Land. As a first time pilgrim to the
holy sites, I would describe my experience as being "lost in wonder, love
and praise," to borrow a phrase from Love divine All Love's Excelling. On
this second journey, I was more attuned to the contemporary issues that the
people of this land face on a daily basis. My reflection this Thanksgiving
week is to be thankful not only for all the blessings in my life, but also
for the people I met during this recent visit to the Holy Land.
We were able to visit with Shay Davidovich, a former Israeli soldier who had
served in Hebron and is currently a member of Breaking the Silence. Breaking
the Silence is an Israeli organization made up of IDF veterans who object
to Israel's presence in the West Bank and is dedicated to educating Israelis
about what that presence means. We met with Hagi Ben-Artzi, an Israeli Army
officer and a professor of Jewish studies at Bar-Ilan University. Dr. Ben-Artzi
spoke about Israel's return to its homeland as a fulfillment of the promise
of God. He stated that the basis for Israel's existence comes from the Bible
and that the will of God is stronger than any leader or power, including the
United States. He believes that the establishment of the State of Israel is
a Diving process and that to resist this process is to go against God's will.
We also met with an Israeli journalist and peace activist, Lydia Aisenberg,
who lives on a kibbutz in Galilee and works for an joint Israeli Arab & Jewish
peace center called Givat Haviva. Lydia describes herself as a Zionist. Givat
Haviva is an organization whose mission is based on understanding that building
and maintaining a shared society characterized by mutual responsibility, full
participation, and equal opportunity among all the citizenry is essential
to peaceful, democratic and prosperous development. On a visit to the only
brewery in the West Bank, we met with the Khoury family, proud owners of Taybeh
Brewing Company, who established the only craft brewery in the Middle East
to fulfill their dream of contributing to the Palestinian economy.
I am thankful to the people we met during our pilgrimage who opened my eyes
to the current presence of God in this Holy place. In this season of harvest,
I am exceedingly thankful for the men and women who journeyed with me to the
Holy Land and who shared this experience with me. I am thankful for the witness
each carries of what we saw and heard in our time together. Finally, I am
thankful for the United Church of Christ which for decades has called for
peace between Israelis and Palestinians. As Martin Luther King, Jr. said,
"We must learn to live together as brothers or we will perish together as
fools."
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