Holy Land Trip Observations

on March 10, 2011 by Walt Dilg

Holy Land Trip Observations

I haven't mentioned on the blog but it is circulating through the church that I returned back with a slipped disc.  It happened as we headed into Jordan, yet I just pushed-on, not wanting to miss anything, making it worse.  Bed rest and drugs are the order-of-the-day the orthopedic says, and I have progressed from excruciating pain to a level somewhat better.  A MRI today will indicate a future course.  

I hadn't intended to return from the Holy Land as an illustration, but it is true that we all have returned touched by this trip.  Thankfully, not all of us literally feel like Jacob who wrestled with God and had his hip put out.  But all of us did some wrestling and have been altered to some degree.  Some of us have rediscovered Jesus in an almost tangible way; others have gained new political insights and have had sort-sightedness exposed;  still others have been led into the spiritual practices of their faith with new urgency.

As the opportunities allow, I want to share some observations that have come to mind about our Holy Land Trip - some new learnings or some reinforced understandings.  I have shared with many of you before a comment from a mentor who told me the more time a person spends in the Holy Land the less that person comprehends it.  The truth of that statement is that simple explanations fall away as inadequate as one further comes to appreciate the complexity of it all.  And I think this may have to do with our spiritual-religious experience as it does with the socio-political reality. Nevertheless, an observation or two come to mind as the hours pass bedridden, and with your indulgence I will give them voice.   

And the first is obvious - everyone gets touched and altered by a trip to the Holy Land.  It's a life changing trip that if at all possible everyone should find a way to take.