I know, I’m back home. The pilgrimage continues, however. I’ve been asked the same question by several people since I’ve returned from Jerusalem. How has this changed your life? It’s a question that has taken a bit of time to answer. It is not a question that is easily answered in the first two or three days following this kind of journey. As I’ve pondered it for the last few weeks I have come to the following conclusion(s).
My life has been changed by this pilgrimage to Jerusalem. It is not that I’m a more spiritual person. I believe I always have been. It is not that my faith has been strengthened by visiting the places that Jesus visited. I believe my faith has always been and remains strong, although I do have doubts now and then as anyone does.
The Bible has become more real to me since I’ve visited many of the places mentioned and I can visualize them when reading many passages in scripture.
The biggest change for me has been the increase in sensitivity to the divisions which surround us daily. I am continually amazed at the ways we human beings can find to divide ourselves from one another. It seems that anything can be used to set a group of people apart so they can be treated as less than the rest of humanity.
The readings for Morning Prayer for the last few days have been from Genesis recounting the story of Joseph, his being ostracized by his brothers because they perceived he was favored by their father. He achieved an exalted position with the ruler of Egypt and was able to help his family through a severe famine and arrange for them to move to Egypt. Just recently the story continued with Joseph telling his brothers that they should claim to be “cattle hands” rather than shepherds because the Egyptians disliked shepherds! This is but one example of how we can divide ourselves and single out a group for persecution, hatred, and even death on the slightest provocation.
Jerusalem is considered the center of the world, indeed, even the “naval” of the world by the three major monotheistic religions that acknowledge God. Yet this city is divided and the divisions are clear. Our minister of hospitality at St. George’s College told us that, if we were in a position where one would need a taxi to return to the college, we should not give the address directly. Some taxi drivers would refuse to take us because the college is situated in the “wrong” area of the City of Peace (Jerusalem). It is so hard for me to believe that human beings can treat one another with such contempt and yet confess the same God.
I have long used the simple explanation that “origi
nal sin,” that sin which we inherited from our first parents, is our tendency to be God, to covet control, to always believe that we know what is best. I have altered that a bit, since my experience in Jerusalem, to say that original sin might well be our heartfelt desire to separate ourselves into groups devoted to hating one another.
Our first parents, Adam and Eve, knew nothing but bliss until they sinned. Their first act was to blame the other. Their sons, Cain and Abel, engaged in battle because one was a farmer and one a shepherd and they perceived that one of them was favored by God. They could divide and dislike or even hate the other.
Wherever we are, wherever we look, we can see that people are categorized by being different in some way from others. It can be because of the color of our skin. It can be because others are not the same intellectually. It can be because others have not achieved the same degree of financial security. It can be because others come from a different country, have differing political views, sexual orientation, physical disabilities. Anything at all, absolutely anything can give us reason to divide, dislike, hate, persecute, deny freedoms, even kill.
A few years ago I met a man much younger than myself (and who isn’t at this point in my life!) who was raised a Roman Catholic. He told me quite honestly that he had given up his faith because he had come to the conclusion that all the bloodshed in this world has taken place because of religion. When he told me this I was shocked. I could not perceive that one could lose one’s faith over what had happened in the past. I still cannot. But I can understand his point more clearly now. The battles over control of Jerusalem have been fought by people of faith. The atrocities that have been committed have been committed by people of faith.
The Gospels for the last two Sundays were interesting. The Samaritan woman at the well came to believe in Jesus with no doubt. She accepted what he told her and then began to evangelize, to spread the word. The man born blind was told to go to the religious authorities after he regained his sight. There he met nothing but questioning, disbelief, and accusations against his healer because Jesus had broken a “rule.”
We do not have to go to Jerusalem to experience the hatred of which I speak. Just recently the “pastor” of the Westboro Baptist Church died. His church which was dedicated to the hatred of persons whom they perceived to be sinners, excommunicated him, and is currently in crisis because some members (being of his family) think the church should be more kindly toward others. This, supposedly, is a church who acknowledges as Lord the one who washed his disciples feet and said that they should love one another.
We used to hear these words at the beginning of every Mass: Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And second is like unto it: thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. Perhaps we heard them so often we no longer really hear them. The divisions I saw in Jerusalem and the divisions that I see in my own country, state and city certainly do not reflect our Lord’s commandments.
I pray for the peace of Jerusalem. I pray for the peace of the world. I pray that all people everywhere might come to know the Lord of Love, and truly love one another as he loves us. I cannot heal the divisions myself, but I will pray with all my might that healing can be brought to this world and do what I can to assist in this healing.
