Teaching Steps
The sun is bright.
The birds are chirping.
Music is being played for a Bar Mitzvah behind the wall.
I climb the steps and look out over the south portion of the city. The great wall sits directly behind me. To my left I can see the white washed hillside of the Jewish Cemetery. In front of me I can see the house of Caiaphas, where Jesus was taken after his arrest.
I sit upon the steps.
These aren't just any steps they are known to be the steps that Jesus sat upon and taught his disciples. In our faith tradition they are known as the Teaching Steps I sat there thinking of all the people that might have climbed the steps and entered the city through the gates that I sat under.
Jesus' firmness and yet gentleness as he spoke came streaming through the steps that I was sitting upon. The life that he was offering was being lifted up for me to come and drink from.
As I sat there this morning I was overwhelmed by all that God has entrusted into my care. He has asked me to teach His people. Invited me into a journey that involves being firm and yet gentle, speaking truth seasoned with kindness. He has invited me into a journey that asked that I not just teach but to have a spirit and willingness to be taught. To lean into ways that are higher than mine.
Teaching is profound, learning and sitting at the Master's feet is transformative.
Today there is a spirit of thankfulness.
A sense of awe and gladness.
A readiness to return home to the sweet place in which I leave and walk with the people that have been entrusted into my care.
To listen intently to the struggles,
be open to the diversity that makes a community,
to learn from them and with them and to
sit with the Master.
This will be my last entry from the Holy Lands. I am leaving in the morning and will be traveling all day long. Thanks for walking alongside me in this journey.
The birds are chirping.
Music is being played for a Bar Mitzvah behind the wall.
I climb the steps and look out over the south portion of the city. The great wall sits directly behind me. To my left I can see the white washed hillside of the Jewish Cemetery. In front of me I can see the house of Caiaphas, where Jesus was taken after his arrest.
I sit upon the steps.
These aren't just any steps they are known to be the steps that Jesus sat upon and taught his disciples. In our faith tradition they are known as the Teaching Steps I sat there thinking of all the people that might have climbed the steps and entered the city through the gates that I sat under.
Jesus' firmness and yet gentleness as he spoke came streaming through the steps that I was sitting upon. The life that he was offering was being lifted up for me to come and drink from.
As I sat there this morning I was overwhelmed by all that God has entrusted into my care. He has asked me to teach His people. Invited me into a journey that involves being firm and yet gentle, speaking truth seasoned with kindness. He has invited me into a journey that asked that I not just teach but to have a spirit and willingness to be taught. To lean into ways that are higher than mine.
Teaching is profound, learning and sitting at the Master's feet is transformative.
Today there is a spirit of thankfulness.
A sense of awe and gladness.
A readiness to return home to the sweet place in which I leave and walk with the people that have been entrusted into my care.
To listen intently to the struggles,
be open to the diversity that makes a community,
to learn from them and with them and to
sit with the Master.
This will be my last entry from the Holy Lands. I am leaving in the morning and will be traveling all day long. Thanks for walking alongside me in this journey.
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