Near the end of the trip, we challenged each other to try to describe our experiences over the past two weeks in five words. Words always fail me, but here's the best I could come up with.
Learning - We learned about life and places in Biblical times from our tour guides
Connecting - We associated what we learned with what we've read in the Bible throughout our lives. It's like adding a fourth dimension to God's word. At the sea of Galilee when I did my Bible study, I began in John where it records Jesus visiting the Sea of Galilee... how cool is that???
Hiking - If you're not going uphill or downhill in the Holyland, you are not actually moving.
Understanding - I had a good number of "Aha!" moments. One in particular, I realized why the Israelites complained so much in the desert (see Hiking).
Pita - No meal is complete without it.
Obviously, there's so much more to it than just five words (or ten thousand words) could describe.
Especially in Israel, I quickly realized that "tradition" means everything to the religious pilgrims who come to these places.
"This is the traditional place of David tomb."
"This is where Jesus traditionally ascended into heaven."
"According to tradition, Jesus fed the five thousand here."
If Jesus had been seen spitting on the sidewalk, they'd have built a church at that site. So I began to wonder, as I saw more and more people kissing traditional stones and visiting overly decorated traditional Holy sites, if they had forgotten the true meaning of their faith. Were they more focused on the material places and things than they were on their God? Were they going so far as to worship these places and things? A woman sprawled out on the supposed stone where Jesus' body was laid. A man kneeling to kiss the place where Jesus was supposedly born. I became convinced that this was some twisted sort of idolatry. It's a good thing I have everything figured out. Right? I know God is equally present everywhere. I know that He's risen, so why do they wait in line for hours to see the place where He no longer is?
But wait...
When was the last time I built a gold-plated church for God? When have I prostrated myself over an oily slab of rock, in pure surrender? When have I waited in long lines just to touch the place my Savior was? I considered myself above the materialism, so above that I forgot this was another way of worshiping the same God. Worship depends completely on the attitude of the heart. And I could see beautiful, surrendering hearts praying at these places. People saw these holy sites not as gods, but as an opportunity to worship God.
It was time I changed my opinion on stone-kissing.
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