The final post in this blog was about to be published when my internet time in Jerusalem ran out. I figured I would post when I got home. Our return home took far longer than anticipated. On arrival at the Ben Gurion airport in Tel Aviv, we looked to the large board with flight postings. Only one of the dozens on the board was delayed – ours. We waited 9 hours for our departure to Philadelphia, a flight that would take 12 hours. The layover in Philadelphia was 8 hours and 4 more hours on the plane to Denver. This was my 11th trip to Israel. Never has it taken so long to travel from here to there or there to here. A trip after I returned home to Hartford, CT for the American Baptists delayed my writing even further. So NOW a wrap up post…from our journey-no it was not all by camel!
It has been said that, “Travel is more than the seeing of sights; it is a change that goes on, deep and permanent, in the ideas of living.” It is true. The Israeli Tripsters saw incredible sights: Petra, Wadi Rum, the barren yet beautiful wilderness that is so much a part of the biblical story, The Dead Sea, The Sea of Galilee and the places of Jesus’ Galilean ministry, Jerusalem-in all its beauty and mystery, the temple where Jesus challenged and taught not one but two places that remember his death and resurrection, and the people-the people so rich in history and heritage, conflict and challenge, diversity and drama. One does not travel, however, in a land so rich in varied cultures without seeing the colorful and beautiful mosaic of God’s children. One does not travel in a land so contested over time and not gain new insights into the complexities of the problems and see too another side of the story than what we read and hear in our media. One does not visit the land of the Bible and not hear God speak through the biblical word in new ways. One does not experience the wilderness and not realize that the still small voice of God is more easily heard in the wilderness places of life than in the noisy busy days of our living. Those insights lead to deep and permanent changes in living. We look now at the stories of the Bible through a new lens. The Bible and the newspaper read differently. Theological insights roll around constantly in our heads and we discover new understanding of who and whose we are. Our prayers for the world and for peace are more personal. Across the screen of our mind’s eye march Hanna, Omar, Abbas, Dalia, Naim and Ali. The need of both Israelis and Palestinians for a land to call home is no longer an abstract thought. We can visualize that land so deeply contested and the people so passionate and colorful.
We worshipped on the shore of The Sea of Galilee... 
and we walked and walked miles - sometimes in so much mud that Ali, our bus driver made us clean up!
We saw the power of God's creation in the headwaters of the Jordan River and the beauty of that creation at sunset on the Sea of Galilee
