Buttercups in Bloom

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...

I've been here long enough that relationships are being forged.   Shop owners nod as I pass by. They acknowledge my presence here. I wave letting them know that I am passing them and that I know who they are and where they are within the maze of the Old City. Today I did not venture out of the comforts of the Guesthouse until it was dinner time.  The streets (if you have never been the streets inside the Old City are more like alley ways and not proper streets.  People are often wall to wall in the streets. Often your personal space does not exist as people brush by you when they are passing or stop to shop) were almost empty.  Many of the shops closed within the Christian Quarter to honor the Sabbath.  For others their days were quickly winding down.  I passed the Tamara shop and the nephew of the owner asked if I wanted to stop to have tea.  I really wanted to make sure that the restaurant I wanted to dine at for dinner was still open so I told...

There are moments in our lives that are pivotal. There are moments when our very foundation seems to shake and feel on the verge of crumbling. There are moments in our lives when it feels as though the very things that provided security leave us exposed and vulnerable. These are the moments when we begin to wonder if the all-powerful, all mighty God that we have heard so much about and believed in will stand with and for us.  We wonder if the God that has confirmed our baptism is present and watching over us or has left us to fall to our enemy. Yesterday I spent time walking along the rampart of the city.  The view was stunning, I could see the villages in every direction rising out of the desert.  I saw a sneak peak into the everyday lives of those who live here in the city, as their outdoor patios were filled with simple chairs and always a long table that was an invitation to sit and become part of the family. It was during this walk that I began to hear God ...

Tonight's blog isn't really thing life shattering or spiritually profound, it's just something that has been on my mind and heart all day. There is something powerful when you have a life partner that allows you to do the things you love and fill your soul.  I am so thankful that Luke Diamond always....always lets me 'run away' when I need it most.  He never discourages my crazy sabbath ideas (even when they leave you stranded on your anniversary with your mother-n-law in a beautiful city).  He knows that I need time away. He knows that I am a better wife, mother, pastor, friend and self when I have time to sit and be, travel at my own pace in places that fill my being. This trip has been one that people questioned from the beginning.  People would say to me, really, you're going alone?  Many have wondered why I would come to the Holy Lands alone.  Some have asked if I was scared to be doing it alone.  Several have commented that they would never t...

If you are reading  my blog you know my now that yesterday I did a lot of walking and I do mean a lot! I loved every single conversation that I had yesterday. They were enriching and life giving.  Every single one of them reminded me that we are not alone in our journey of faith, we are all longing to belong and be connected to someone and something greater than ourselves. Confession:  I  was so frustrated because I when I left the Mount of Olives and walked back toward the Dung Gate I knew that I wanted to pass it to enter this Zion Gate but as I made the climb there wasn't anything about the way that seemed familiar. I entered the Zion Gate and began walking to the right.  I knew that the Jewish quarter should be there but it isn't like entering the other gates where the city is full of life and you know exactly where to go. I walked to the right, down and around the corner but I just couldn't get my senses.  I knew the Jewish Quarter should be in tha...

Brian D McLaren has a book entitled "We Make the Road by Walking".  I have been reading this book off and on for the past several months. Today was all about walking . I wish I knew how many miles that I actually walked but in the long run it's not the miles that you cover but what you do while you are walking the road. When we walk there are people whom we are able to meet and have conversation with that we might not otherwise have the opportunity to see the depth of who they are and the strengths that they extend into the fellowship of life. This morning I was able to walk through the Western Wall Tunnels.  It's a tour that takes you beneath the modern day Western Wall. {Short history lesson: our Jewish brothers and sisters Mount Moriah is the holiest place for their faith.  It is on the Foundation Stone that Abraham walked with Isaac, willing to give his only son to Yahweh.  It is believed that this is the spot where the angles were 'walking' /cli...

Yesterday was a day of making a movement to come and see all that God was offering. It was a day that challenged me to step into a spirit of setting aside my own desires and my will to listen to the paths that was unfolding. Today began with listening... Listening to the call to prayer that called through the city at 3:30....it moved into listening to the sounds of the early morning trash and delivery trucks that navigate the narrow, dark roads of the Old City......then I listened as the birds made their entrance into the beauty of the day and harkened us to rise from our beds and enter the day with fullness.  As I sat with my bible this morning and listened to the birds greet one another the passage for the day from the book that I am currently reading laid forth passages in John, Galatians and Colossians. Each of the passages were a reminder that our God is a creative and mighty God.  Our God is a God that calls us his children and covers us with the promise that in ...

Getting here isn't easy. It takes planning. It takes stepping away. It may just involve a land of many languages. And yet we are embraced and empowered to Come and Listen. David Crowder has a song entitled "Come and Listen". It has this line, that merely beackons us to "come and listen to what he has done....come and listen to what he has done....come and listen to what he has done....come to the waters edge." The words are ever so slight but oh so powerful because Crowder has this way of gentling bringing you to the edge of these lyrics.  His soft repetitive prose draws us into a space as if the Trinity itself were harkening out name. This seems like such a simple, easy thing to do but if I were honest I'm not sure how fully I've been able come to listen to all that God has done for me lately. I've been walking through the motions that have left my soul aching and longing for a richness that only one that satisfy. Come..... There i...