Since returning from the Holy Land I have been trying to order my thoughts and impressions on the whole experience.
As with any journey to a new place there were the usual first impressions of the landscape, the recent development (or not) of the towns, the pace of life, observing the local people and so on. However, this journey was different from my previous travels in that it had great significance for me as a Christian. Our shared faith is based around the life and death of Jesus Christ at a particular time in the history of mankind.
Making a journey to the land where Jesus lived, and visiting the biblical sites we feel we know so well from our reading of the stories in the Bible, has a profound effect on all our stored and treasured memories. Our daily prayer time and 'thoughts for the day' from Bishop Mike and Bishop Dominic helped to underpin all that we did in our time of shared journeying together.
Desperate plight
I was prepared for the difficulties that we might have faced in regard to security, which we had been warned about (although we didn't encounter any problems), but I was unprepared for the desperate plight of the Palestinian people. We read much about the political factions within the state of Israel, but it's only at first-hand that it's possible to see the effect on the ordinary, everyday life of a beleaguered people.
The continuing dispute over land is rooted in Old Testament times. Water and fertile land have always been an issue between nations and still are today.
The old city of Jerusalem was over-crowded and full of every tribe and nation under the sun, but the teeming bustle of the narrow streets was no doubt as vibrant in biblical times. We happened to be in Jerusalem for the Orthodox Passover, so Jerusalem was full of Jews from all over the world, returning to their homeland to celebrate the most important festival of the Jewish calendar.
Walking the way of the cross, along the Via Dolorosa was a significant experience and visiting the holy sites in and around the city walls helped to imprint their particular role in the story of Jesus. The Mount of Olives, the Garden of Gethsemane, Emmaus, Bethany all have their own story to tell.
The previously short journey out to Bethlehem now involves travelling around the huge concrete wall that has been built to surround the town, with entry only through checkpoints. This wall has divided both land and families and is depriving the Palestinian people of their livelihood by preventing them from working in Israeli-occupied territories.
Water is limited and unreliable, as we found out when visiting a hospital in Bethlehem. The situation in the West Bank is threatening to destroy any moves towards a peaceful settlement. The shepherds' fields now have few sheep as the Palestinians have lost their grazing land to Israeli settlements.
As we moved north to Galilee passing through the Dead Sea area and Jericho, we made a visit to Qurnran, where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found in 1947. In soaring temperatures, at just after 8.30 am, it was quiet and peaceful in the desert which essentially remains unchanged since the time of the Essenes, the strict Jewish sect that lived in the area. They recorded the Hebrew texts on the scrolls, along with how they lived and worshipped God, and evidence to support the life of Jesus. It was one of the highlights of the pilgrimage.
Moving
Masada was an unforgettable visit, again in temperatures in excess of 40 degrees. The top of this rocky outcrop is reached by cable car today but the original scree that the Romans built to mount their assault on the Jewish zealots is still visible. The whole story of Masada is extremely moving and one can only imagine how desperate the Jews must have been to opt to commit multiple suicide rather than be captured by the Romans.
The area around Galilee is very beautiful, green and lush after the barrenness of the desert. The 'sea' is just as described in the gospels, calm but liable to localised storms in the afternoons as the heat in the bowl-shaped area meets the cooling air from the surrounding mountains. The cornfields and the fishing boats were at the heart of many of the miracles of Jesus. Our lakeside eucharists were so special, sitting in the place were Jesus fed the 5,000 and where he appeared to his disciples after the resurrection.
Renewed vows
Capernaum was another significant place where Jesus spent a large amount of time and the remains of the 4th century synagogue is built on the still-visible 1st century foundations - the synagogue where Jesus taught. In Nazareth, we visited the Church of the Annunciation and in Cana, Bishop Dominic conducted a service for those who wanted to renew their marriage vows.
The mountains that are referred to in the New Testament - the Mount of Transfiguration and the Mount of Beatitudes all resonate with the events that happened there. Travelling to the Lebanese/Syrian border to Caesarea Philippi brought us to the source of the Jordan river, where we once again celebrated the eucharist and renewed our baptismal vows in the water of the river.
As in all historical perceptions, there is an element of flexibility about the exact sites of biblical events, but having said that, it didn't detract or destroy the fact that Jesus lived and ministered in that place and encountered the people of that land. His impact then and continuing effect today on the lives of those who follow in faith is as amazingly powerful as ever.
Having seen at first-hand some of the problems Israel is facing, I was drawn into the history of how Israel became a nation state and its growth and development. As it celebrates 60 years since it was founded, the Palestinians can only feel more acutely aware of their loss. Both sides of the divide want a peaceful resolution to the impasse that they find themselves in. Violence is not the way forward and the lessons of history tell us this most forcefully. In all situations that involve partition of land and settlement of different races, there must be a sense of honesty, justice and trust. I was reading some very profound observations made by the Archbishop of Armagh which are relevant to the situation in Israel. He said that since peace has been restored in Northern Ireland, 'Ireland still lives with its past but not in it. For there to be winners there must always be losers, but experience insists that all must be winners or all will be losers. No conflict can be fully ended until all parties derive some, preferably equal advantage (not that one group has gained at the expense of another). Peace and stability depend on the creation of win-win situations'.
This vision of peace and interdependency requires patient commitment by all parties. We pray that the ongoing peace talks will be fruitful and that the Holy Land can be a place of shared faith, shared culture and shared land.
As we flew home on National Holocaust Memorial Day, the sound of the siren from the Jewish ghettos was played over the El Al plane's PA system for two minute observation and our visit to Yad Vashem in Jerusalem was something we will never forget. The pain and suffering of war and the enmity between differing races is to be avoided at all cost, if we are to live together in mutual understanding and peace.
Every blessing
The afternoon of May 15 was dull after a very wet morning when the intrepid band of Tawny Owls (Year 1 at Burchetts Green Infants' School) set out to walk across the fields from school to Stubbings church. Arriving a little tired and rather muddy, they were pleased to sit down in the Soltau Centre and have a drink and biscuits.
Suitably refreshed, they then went into the church, where the church warden explained the purpose of the font, lectern and pulpit. They then moved to sit in the chancel to admire the Victorian tiles, hear the story of the Ascension told in the stained-glass window and learn how the altar is the table where we have a special meal of bread and wine to remember Jesus.
During this interregnum, a team of willing volunteers is maintaining the parish's link with Burchetts Green Infants School by once a week leading their assembly with a story from the Bible. The next occasion when we shall have the pleasure of welcoming the pupils into church will be July 22, when they will have their leavers' service in Hurley church.
Talk bring two faiths together
In May, agroup of people from the parish went to Maidenhead Synagogue to hear Bishop John speak. We were warmly welcomed to the meeting which was arranged by the Council for Christians and Jews (CCJ) and organised with Maidenhead's rabbi, Jonathan Remain.
Speaking on the subject of the 'Prayerful Journey', Bishop John talked about his personal outward journey through his life so far and his inner journey of faith.
He listed five things that had fed his inner journey, all beginning with the letter'S' - Story, Silence, Sacrament, Symbols and Song.
The Bishop is a consummate storyteller so it was fascinating to hear him expand his points into meaningful explanations and then relate them to the practices of the Jewish faith and, by definition, to the Hebrew scriptures - our Old Testament.
His talk was followed by a time for questions and he responded to questions relating to world suffering, the natural disasters that so devastatingly destroy human life, the Embryology Bill currently, being debated, and other issues that people of all faiths have to wrestle with.
He spoke eloquently about his Christian faith but in a sensitive and open way that encouraged participation. He also asked his own questions about Jewish rituals and traditions.
I think all who gathered in the synagogue found the evening helpful and affirming to both faiths - Christian and Jewish. Occasions like this help us to relate and share our faith with other faith communities. More of this engagement is needed in our world today.
Thank you to our Jewish friends for their hospitality and to Bishop John for making the evening a step forward in our own inner journeys.
Dilys Woodmore
Weddings & Blessings
May 17 David and Wina Todd Littlewick Green
Baptisms
May 11 Lydia Joy Hurley Littlewick Green
May 11 George Isaac Perkins Littlewick Green
Funerals & Cremations
May 7 Keith Richardson Littlewick Green
May14 Joan Hasler Slough Crematorium
May16 Sylvia Heath Chilterns Crematorium
May 22 Sylvia Hillier Slough Crematorium