The Conclusion of a Trip

Sixteen days have come and gone. Normal life schedules are slowly reemerging come out of the mists of jetlag. The flight from Amman, Jordan to Dulles was a reminder of what it means to be packed in like sardines. Turkish Airlines knows how to pack a plane! The eleven hours from Istanbul to Dulles was agonizingly long. There was time to reflect upon the last two weeks and consider what I experienced and learned in the many days of travel.

Culturally and politically it became clear that there are no easy answers to the long term struggles of the region. All sides have long memories concerning the treacheries and evils of the past. Each side seems to consider that their personal needs are mutually exclusive and that the only solution is to overcome the otherside. I was most interested in the Jewish Settlements on the West Bank that seemed designed to change the majority of the population of the region from Palestinian to Jewish. The wall that cuts through the region has brought an end to much of the violence within Israel, but has caused social and economic devastation to the Palestinian people. In Bethlehem, a Palestinian community, the wall separates the population from their Olive Tree orchards and cuts through the town in such a fashion as to shutdown the Main Street and kill many of the businesses. It leaves people to think that while the wall was meant to stop terrorists it has also become a tool for retribution and adds one more wound to fuel the long memories of distrust and anger. A sad consequence has been the mass migration of Arab Christians who are caught in the middle and find that the only solution seems to leave. In Samaria only one Christian family remains to care for the ruins of the Chapel of St. John, a site once believed to house the head of John the Baptist. The problems of the region remind me that when groups of people insist on speaking from extreme positions solutions mutually beneficial solutions will never be reached and the innocent will be the ones who suffer.

Historically this trip has brought focus to the genius of human beings from the beginning of time. Giant cities built with architecture that leaves one stunned by its beauty and scale, even two, three and four thousand years later. I look at our modern cities in America that are often thrown together without much thought to scale or visual appeal and am saddened. We are such a young people that we don’t seem to appreciate the opportunities before us. I have wandered avenues built in the time of Herod the Great, seen the walls built by Kings David and Solomon and the lost city of Petra built by the Nabataens. In perspective our communities look one step above a Bedouin campsite. I am humbled by the scale and wonder of what had been done by the great civilizations of the past.

Religiously I have learned that religion too often is kidnapped by politics and the consequence is devastating. Yet faith can trump the foolishness of both politics and religion when the people attend to the will of God revealed in in the the words and deeds of God’s people. I am humble by my brothers and sisters (Arab Christians) who seek to share the love of God and bring moderation to the extremes often presented by others. Too often their (Arab Christians) sacrifice and commitment are lost in the extreme rhetoric of the region. My prayers will be for them to courageously endure and to consider how we who live outside their conditions might be of greatest support and assistance.

Today is but a moment in time as I consider what has been gained from this trip. There are a thousand pictures and a hundred thousand experiences to be processed from the 16 past days. No doubt the days and months ahead will reveal much more of what has been learned.
Shalom
Kevin