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Guest author: Liz Budd Ellmann, MDiv
The night before the journey from Jerusalem to Bethlehem, I slept restlessly. I felt anxious about crossing into Palestinian Territories through heavily armed border gates, past the haunting huge wall that seems to go on forever separating Jerusalem from Bethlehem. As a fledgling pilgrim group from Africa, Europe, North, and South America, I knew the day would rattle us. Shaking us out of our spiritual comfort zone, we would witness a divided Israel up close and hear stories from local people about how the barriers affect living in the West Bank.
I also worried about the olive tree. We planned on planting a tree as a visible sign of hope and a gift of peace from the Spiritual Directors International community. I tossed and turned in my sleep, fretting about the health of the tree after we planted it. Who will water it and help it grow?
When dawn finally arrived, I was grateful for the pilgrim community and the contemplative practice time we spent together, preparing us for the day. My huge anxiety from the night before shrunk to a little distress. I silently breathed in and out the phrase, “Fear not,” while boarding the bus, not knowing yet that God would offer courage in the dark skies overhead.
No kidding. A rainbow appeared on our way to Bethlehem.
Not only that, the one time we experienced rain during the entire interfaith pilgrimage to Israel and Palestine was when we traveled to Bethlehem. The rainbow and rain lifted my spirits, reminding me that God guided the pilgrimage and that people all over the world were praying with us and for us just as we were praying with and for you.
Not only would God be present with us, but also with the Palestinians, the Israelis, the Muslims, the Jews, the Christians—with everyone—during that day and into the far future. God would care for the olive tree. And sure enough, a Palestinian family helped us plant the olive tree. They expressed their gratitude for the gift of a tree that now grows in their field as a reminder of hope.
At the end of an intense day in and around Bethlehem, I could hold my anxiety about the future of Israel and Palestine with a new kind of hope. Not the clean, clear, logical kind of hope that lives in my head, but a hope that is embodied, earthy like the mud that we planted the tree in. My body knows that the graffiti-covered wall that now separates Jerusalem from Bethlehem previously was open land supporting simple shepherds who once noticed a strange, starry, sign of hope in the night sky. I squinted into the hillside and imagined a landscape where only olive trees separated Bethlehem and Jerusalem, remembering that in this season, “with God, all things are possible.”
Like a simple shepherd, I invite us to look up, look around, and notice signs of hope during this sacred season. It has been a brutal year for many people and for the planet. Where are you noticing signs of hope?
Please add your stories of hope to the blog.
12/01,2010, at 21:00
Dear Liz; I am with you in thought and spirit. And now you can see why it is so important to me to take our young people to this place of faith for so many. The young people I travel with, and the youth we meet when we get to our destination, encompass the hope and faith of new ideas and future peace. This is where I see our hope. I think of you often and pray to travel with you again soon. Many blessings to you and SDI. Salaam/Shalom/Peace - Deb
12/01,2010, at 21:30
Thank you for sharing such a beautiful and moving experience. My signs of hope are much closer to home but stirring just the same. I see it in the check out line when the stranger in front of me reaches back to share her coupons. I feel it when a stranger at the coffee shop hears my daughter asking for yesterday's newspaper and runs out to her car to bring in her own. And I am filled with hope when I read the blogs and Facebook entries written by young people who post links and articles about the homeless, the hungry and other social issues - asking others to pay attention and take action. May hope light the season for us all.
12/02,2010, at 02:50
I greatly appreciate Liz's sharing. I just been back from Israel, Jordan and Egypt as well. The trip last for 10 days which has given me a lot of reflection as around 10 Hong Kong pastors joined, 2 from Mainland China. However, I did not experience the feeling of separation of Jerusalem and Bethlehem. I have visit both cities. Did I miss something?
12/02,2010, at 06:31
Just over two weeks ago (November 15) I also stood here with a group of pilgri ms from Romford, UK. For most it was the first time they had experienced the reality of what they see on TV. For some it was THE wailing wall and a place for prayer. For all the encounters we had with places of reconciliation and social care were a highlight of the Pilgrimage and a cause for hope.
12/02,2010, at 19:24
I traveled to Bethlehem during a week in Israel/Palestine in February of 2010 with my husband and children, ages 8 and 14. We traveled out of Jerusalem via a public Arab bus, and passed through the military checkpoint on foot, and found a taxi among a throng of unemployed Palestinian taxi drivers when we emerged from the chain link and barbed wire tunnel. We spent an amazing day in Bethlehem,and nearby Herodium, shown around by our driver, a young Muslim man with an IT degree that he couldn't use in the restrictive economy of Bethlehem. We were overwhelmed by his kindness and hospitality when he offered to serve us tea in his own home, where he introduced us to his parents and 8-month old son. My husband and I shared a few uneasy moments, hoping we had not misread his character or the situation,as we waited for tea and realized that not a soul on earth knew where we were or what would have become of us if we were mistaken in our placement of trust. We took a risk, and experienced unforgettable hospitality as strangers in a foreign land. Louie shared stories about his life and his family as he showed us around the typical tourist sites in Bethlehem as well as the comfortable but modest home he and his wife shared with an extended family network. We also spoke with Palestinians around us as we waited in line to cross back through the "Separation Wall." Frustration was palpable as we witnessed the inconvenience and humiliation endured by Palestinians who must pass through this checkpoint to go anywhere beyond Bethlehem. Our experiences as a family brought home the extreme difficulty of living behind "The Wall" and the thorny politics of resolving tensions that have existed for millenia. After returning home, I learned about a family farm in Bethlehem called "Tent of Nations" that is guided by its mission of peaceful resistance to oppressive policies, and is committed to promoting interfaith cooperation and mutual understanding. I take some comfort in seeing these signs of hope in a bleak landscape. Thank you for sharing your experiences.
12/03,2010, at 11:41
Thank you for sharing your experiences of visiting the beautiful and torn landscape of Bethlehem. I continue to reflect on the power of witness and the potential of prayer and presence for transformation. The SDI pilgrimage demonstrated how fifty people of many faiths from different parts of the planet would choose to walk and offer contemplative practices together for peace. In East Jerusalem, a Palestinian man told me, "Once every five years we see interfaith pilgrims. We need this kind of interfaith pilgrimage every month to build trust." He told me this as I wept with his wife watching TV images from the late October al-Qaida terror cell’s brutal bloodbath inside a Baghdad cathedral. Trusting is a risky choice. These are some of the many gifts of meeting regularly with a spiritual director: courage and discernment.
12/07,2010, at 11:08
From my perspective it is definitely a sign of hope, but not all members of the United Church of Canada see it as such - that is, a Muslim Studies program at our major theological college in Toronto Ontario. I participated in the series this fall titled "Women, Gender and Islam." Taught by a young vibrant feminist Muslim women, I learned that the issues facing Muslim women are not that different than those faced by Christian feminists fifty or so years ago. Patriarchy as a paradigm must continue to be challenged by those seeking gender and racial equality. Face to face conversations with young and older Muslim men and women in the class restored my hope that if we can experience more of one another, learn about our similarities and differences, we can at begin by making peace in our own hearts with all our neighbours - distant and next door.