In early spring of 1989 I made my first trip to the lands we call “Holy.” I traveled there again about 3 years later, and not again since. There were safety concerns on that first trip. We risked hi-jacks, bombs, crashes. Fear of terrorism makes travel more difficult still today.
We cannot escape risk. It is part of life, part of travel. Yet things we assume are safe are often the most risky, simply because they are part of our everyday life. Look at auto accidents, for example. And I live on an island with an active volcano! Just this past month we had sulfur dioxide levels high enough to put my village on evacuation warning!
A brochure designed to give comfort was offered on that first trip to Israel. It stated that 1 out of 75,000 bicyclists die, 1 out of 68,000 choke on food, 1 of 20,000 swimmers drown, 1 out of 600,000 die in air crashes, and one out of every two women will experience domestic violence in their lifetime.
On a mile for mile basis, we are 100 times more likely to crash in a car than in a plane. We were told how few fatal accidents take place in over 135 million air hours (or 1 per 978,000 hours in the air). We received letters of reassurance from those traveling Holy Lands at the time. It seemed safer than the streets of Los Angeles. I wasn’t worried.
The brochure added that we would have a better life expectancy if we lost 10 pounds – and I agree!
Now, almost twenty years later, things still are not resolved in the Middle East! I wonder if they ever will be?
I began both trips with prayerful contemplation, for they would be more than just a physical journey. I wanted them to be journeys of Spiritual Growth. I wanted my mind challenged, wanted to spend time in reflection, in self evaluation, in reassessing my life.
Once there, I walked where Jesus walked, followed him from the shores of Galilee to the Garden of Gethsemane - and beyond! When Jesus made the journey to Jerusalem, it was a journey toward death. He, too, faced risks even greater than mine in travel.
At thirty years of age, he left his father’s craft shop in Nazareth and went away by himself to be alone with God. For forty days in a mountain desert he had wild beasts for company while he discovered God’s purpose for his life.
Normally, we set aside the same forty days to pray and think during the season of Lent. But what do we do the rest of the year??
Today I’d like to look at Summer as another appropriate time for prayer and reflection. Summer is a season of vacation travel and movement. It also is a time of growth, not only of plants, but growth within.
There are many opportunities for growth, and we don’t always see them. In Summer, we can take time to see them more clearly, to see a new vision of what the world could be, to see our place in making that vision come true.
In the days of Summer, we can take time to look at life seriously, not with despair, but a sense of commitment to new priorities, and New Life!
What are your plans for Summer? Take time to plan your own spiritual journey to Jerusalem. Don’t just shove more activities into the same time slots. The goal is growth, not frustration. Let your Summer include sources of nourishment.
Take time to meditate on the meaning of family, the meaning of friendships, on the meaning of a Christ-like life. The spiritual journey for each of us is unique. It’s not a smooth journey, yet we can discover new meanings in life.
Let your Summer journey be one of being on a rich and beautiful road of Oneness. Let this Summer be for you a season of movement, of spiritual travel. As you study and meditate, you will learn more about God’s will for your life.
Begin this journey by thinking of the goal you want to reach. It may be a goal of renewal of your faith, or maybe of deeper love, of new commitment.
This Spiritual Journey requires forty days. Mark it on your calendar and plan how you can spend those days. Tolkien says “Not all who wander are lost.” The goal of our Pilgrimage is to be transformed from within, not to think of ourselves as lost!
We cannot escape risk. It is part of life, part of travel. Yet things we assume are safe are often the most risky, simply because they are part of our everyday life. Look at auto accidents, for example. And I live on an island with an active volcano! Just this past month we had sulfur dioxide levels high enough to put my village on evacuation warning!
A brochure designed to give comfort was offered on that first trip to Israel. It stated that 1 out of 75,000 bicyclists die, 1 out of 68,000 choke on food, 1 of 20,000 swimmers drown, 1 out of 600,000 die in air crashes, and one out of every two women will experience domestic violence in their lifetime.
On a mile for mile basis, we are 100 times more likely to crash in a car than in a plane. We were told how few fatal accidents take place in over 135 million air hours (or 1 per 978,000 hours in the air). We received letters of reassurance from those traveling Holy Lands at the time. It seemed safer than the streets of Los Angeles. I wasn’t worried.
The brochure added that we would have a better life expectancy if we lost 10 pounds – and I agree!
Now, almost twenty years later, things still are not resolved in the Middle East! I wonder if they ever will be?
I began both trips with prayerful contemplation, for they would be more than just a physical journey. I wanted them to be journeys of Spiritual Growth. I wanted my mind challenged, wanted to spend time in reflection, in self evaluation, in reassessing my life.
Once there, I walked where Jesus walked, followed him from the shores of Galilee to the Garden of Gethsemane - and beyond! When Jesus made the journey to Jerusalem, it was a journey toward death. He, too, faced risks even greater than mine in travel.
At thirty years of age, he left his father’s craft shop in Nazareth and went away by himself to be alone with God. For forty days in a mountain desert he had wild beasts for company while he discovered God’s purpose for his life.
Normally, we set aside the same forty days to pray and think during the season of Lent. But what do we do the rest of the year??
Today I’d like to look at Summer as another appropriate time for prayer and reflection. Summer is a season of vacation travel and movement. It also is a time of growth, not only of plants, but growth within.
There are many opportunities for growth, and we don’t always see them. In Summer, we can take time to see them more clearly, to see a new vision of what the world could be, to see our place in making that vision come true.
In the days of Summer, we can take time to look at life seriously, not with despair, but a sense of commitment to new priorities, and New Life!
What are your plans for Summer? Take time to plan your own spiritual journey to Jerusalem. Don’t just shove more activities into the same time slots. The goal is growth, not frustration. Let your Summer include sources of nourishment.
Take time to meditate on the meaning of family, the meaning of friendships, on the meaning of a Christ-like life. The spiritual journey for each of us is unique. It’s not a smooth journey, yet we can discover new meanings in life.
Let your Summer journey be one of being on a rich and beautiful road of Oneness. Let this Summer be for you a season of movement, of spiritual travel. As you study and meditate, you will learn more about God’s will for your life.
Begin this journey by thinking of the goal you want to reach. It may be a goal of renewal of your faith, or maybe of deeper love, of new commitment.
This Spiritual Journey requires forty days. Mark it on your calendar and plan how you can spend those days. Tolkien says “Not all who wander are lost.” The goal of our Pilgrimage is to be transformed from within, not to think of ourselves as lost!
So let Summer begin. Start your journey!
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2 comments:
Thanks for that post in particular, Lucy.
Hilton
Traveling for some spiritual place is a wonderful thought,It help us to pay regards to God for all his grace.
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