Unpacking the meanings of pilgrimage

What am I doing in Israel?  I hesitate to call it the Holy Land, as if there's only one. I hesitate to call it a pilgrimage either, because it sounds intimidating.

And yet, soon after the bishop announced this opportunity, I was gathering money and making time.  A pilgrimage is for me travel with particular attention to how the journey can nurture me. Some days, a simple walk with my dog along the Hudson is a pilgrimage, because I return to my daily life more aware of God's grace.  This time, it's an exploration of Jesus' geography.

One surprise: it has also become for me an exploration of how it feels to be in a line of people over the centuries who have been touched by Jesus and want to know more.  We--those who  actually followed Jesus, those who were moved enough to mark a place as holy, those who gathered the money and built the churches on top of the places, those who rebuilt bigger and better churches on top of the churches that were already there, etc., and those from everywhere, with more motives than pilgrims--i am part of a line of saints across time and space who seek meaning and connection, with ourselves, other people, God, and the land.

 How can a land make so much difference?  I have been amazed by how seeing what Jesus might have seen connects me with memories of praying on hills overlooking oceans in the very similar geography of southern California, my childhood home.  Walking through ruins of towns we know Jesus visited connects Biblical stories of compassion, righteous anger, and healing with the need for these same virtues on the streets of Fort Lee.

I will continue to unpack the meanings of pilgrimage and Holy Land for me, but I am clearer that I am on a journey that is nurturing my body, mind, and soul.

Allison