Newsletter:
Vol. 6. Iss.2
15 April 2006
Reflections of a Pilgrim
The Rev. Dr. Gary L. Olin
It took me three trips to Israel/Palestine before I
realized that there is more to Christian Pilgrimage than visiting ancient
sites. It is not that I am a particularly slow learner, yet the total focus
of my trips in the 1980s was to walk where Jesus walked. Then with the encouragement
of a more savvy friend, I began to wonder about what was happening to the
people now living in the land of Jesus.
Then I met Peter Miano who in 1993 along with
his wife Dana was United Methodist missionary liaison to Jerusalem. Five days
of traveling with Peter among the people of Israel and Palestine that January
taught me that there is a better way to do pilgrimage. Studying the Bible
while looking into the faces of persons struggling to find meaning in the
lands of the Bible became a holy enterprise.
Now, thirteen years later I continue to deepen my commitment to Christian
pilgrimage that draws persons into living encounters with the Bible. Such
pilgrimage listens and learns from visiting holy lands while engaging the
people who live there. This travel is transforming, bringing new insights
to understanding the Bible while allowing the Bible to speak to the contemporary
issues of the people. Such is the mission of the Society For Biblical Studies.
I reaffirmed the importance of such travel this past year as I participated
in two programs offered by SBS; “Christian Origins and Mission in Turkey”,
November 2005; and “The Land of Jesus Then and Now”, January 2006.
Both were outstanding opportunities to grow in knowledge and the spirit. They
each had educational integrity, interaction with the indigenous population
and spiritual challenge.
Peter Miano, who led each program offered a wealth of knowledge of history
and of the Bible. His on-site lectures reflect a depth of scholarship that
revealed the subtle nuances of the history of places and people bringing them
alive for the pilgrim. His presentations of such topics as “Christian
Mission in a World of Diversity” and “The Dynamics Conflict”
provided greater understanding and significant challenge.
SBS programs always offer experiences for meeting the people of the land.
Whether it is being set loose to find lunch on ones own in a town in western
Turkey, or meeting representatives of varies constituencies of Israeli and
Palestinian society, the pilgrim learns much about the real struggles and
hopes of the people. I was pleased to stay in smaller, locally owned and operated
hotels. To have accommodations for five days in Bethlehem where people live
in a desperate financial and social situation under occupation is itself an
education.
I also found once again that this sort of travel touches my heart. Walking
the streets of ancient Ephesus I reconnected at some deep level to the Apostle
Paul and his passion to serve his Lord. I heard again the call of Jesus to
disciples as I sat on a quiet hill above the Sea of Galilee. The angry frustrated
ranting of young Palestinian father facing financial ruin drew from me deep
empathy and a quiet prayer for hope. I was touched by the richness of diversity
among Christians in their worship life as I attended vespers at the Armenian
Orthodox Church of St James in the Old City of Jerusalem. When I am on a true
Christian pilgrimage, I experience God in all sorts of places, I see Jesus
in the faces of the many, and I am empowered to return to my own place of
service with renewed dedication.
I am pleased to a part of the Society For Biblical Studies. These experiences
renew my commitment of time, energy and financial support to the work of the
Society as together we seek to make a difference in the life of the Church
by enabling clergy and laity to study the Bible and the mission of the church
in the context of the lands of the Bible.
