The Fruits of our Work

October 10, 2010

So, today was without a doubt one of the best days I have had here and now it is time to try to articulate it here haha.  Here it goes!

I had to wake up a bit early (around 6:30am) to allow enough time to make it to Ramallah by 10:30am for church which was a bit of a struggle to say the least.  The drive this morning on the taxi (aka…service and container) was very different then the past few trips I have made.  The cool morning air was very refreshing walking to the Bethlehem bus station, and the visibility this morning of the surrounding countryside was breathtaking!  One of my friends pointed out that the way the taxi goes to Ramallah is likely similar to the route that Mary and Joseph made to Bethlehem, and this journey is one that is difficult enough in a vehicle.  The huge hills that they would have crossed over, the rocky terrain and the unpredictable weather would have been unreal for them to endure.  One of the most beautiful things about the journey is how much you can see on a clear day.  This morning, I could see the Jordanian mountains and the Mount of Olives at the same time!  One of the most amazing, and depressing things about being here is how close all of these different places are, but because of checkpoints everywhere, walls, fences, and other boundaries travel takes hours longer than necessary.  I find it so hard to believe that everything is so close together.  When I read the Bible before coming here I thought of these places being so far apart, but in reality several areas can be seen at one place on top of some of these hills.  I can not help but think, “so close, but yet so far,” because after living here I believe the saying had to have come from this region for sure. 

Today after church, one of the teachers’s at my school picked me up and took me to his village.  This experience was one that I will forever remember and cherish as being so enlightening for me.  The funny thing was that it was not what was being said that was so profound, rather the silence that we had sitting under the olive trees that we picked from and just admiring the surrounding hillsides, caves, and the shepherds tending their sheep.  The serenity of those moments just opened my eyes to the pure beauty of this land here in Palestine.  Sitting there on the hillside and walking around the teacher’s house picking olives off the trees was just amazing, and I felt so privileged to take part in this tradition because olives are the heart and soul of agriculture, sustenance, and much more here in Palestine.  The olive picking season is a wonderful time of the year as the maintenance and care that was given to these trees is now yielding a new life source for the coming months.  These small olives mean so much to the lives of every Palestinian family, and I feel like I have a much better understanding of this now.  I am sure this task of picking olives may seem mundane to some people, but I feel like I was deeply involved with a very historical aspect of Palestinian culture today that everyone needs to know about.

While traveling through these different areas of Palestine I am a witness to some of the most cherished land in the world to Christianity, Islam, and Judaism, but the time I spend in community with the people who live here is often more real to me then visiting some of these historical sights.  Of course being at Nativity Church, the Holy Sepulchre, and the Mount of Olives are forever going to be in my mind as life changing moments for me, but the people I have met have already changed me in so many ways.  Their perseverance keeps these stories alive so that we may come to this land and understand what we are looking at and experiencing, and we have the responsibility to tell their stories to everyone we meet when we return from our journey.

May we all be good shepherds of faith as we enter new places in our lives, so that we may be open to everyone regardless of their beliefs, and simply see everyone as our brothers and sisters in faith.  May the peace of God be with you all!

Peace always,

David