Faith Venture

Sorry I’ve slacked off from this blog. Starting last August I have been traveling almost every week, and I simply ran out of time to do my job and also all my “hobbies.” Acutally I’m writing this post on an airplane on the way to Florida on a business trip. But I hope I’ve worked out a process to write occasionally. I’m just back from a second trip to Israel, this time extended with a side trip to Egypt.

Pictures are on Flickr . You can make the trip as a sight-seeing trip, or for history/architecture or for a cultural experience. It is best done as a spiritual journey–to the land where monotheism began and grew. Where Abraham established his legacy and where Jesus walked, taught, died and reappeared. People who view religion as a formula, where you repeat things you were taught to believe can miss an entire panorama of emotions and spiritual insight. And the experience is different every time. It depends on where you are in your journey and where God needs to meet you–or lead you.

Egypt adds an entirely new meaning to the experience. It is the land from which the Hebrews “escaped,” of course. Celebrated in the Passover rituals followed to this day after some 3,000 years. The Pyramids predate Abraham. Age so great that Americans with their paltry 300 years of history cannot comprehend–only to stand in awe of the genius of such ancient people. Maybe we don’t know everything after all. Part of the trip is a hike to the summit of Mt. Sinai. We stood where the Hebrews lost faith in Moses and induced Aaron to lead them in the molding of a god they had left behind in Egypt. This is now the site of one of the oldest monastaries of the Christian faith. The hike is about three miles in a winding path upwards about 2,000 feet in elevation. It is strenuous, but can be taken reasonably slowly with breaks. The final ascent tests your endurance, but then you are standing on the small level summit where Moses communed with God and came down after 40 days with the beginnings of God’s Law. The point of this pilgrammage is to ascend before dawn and witness the sunrise over the distant mountain peaks. The experience is awe inspiring. No wonder Moses could talk to God there. You felt as if you had ascended directly to Him. We are reminded that individually we are not as great as the American self-help gurus would have you believe.

God is Great. And He speaks to you in the stillness of the shores of the Sea of Galilee; in the chaos of the marketplace in Old Jerusalem where Jesus walked his final mile; in the caves of the Judean wilderness where David launched his campaigns; and in the height of Mt. Sinai. To the attentive listener, a message awaits. On my first trip I didn’t feel peace but the hate of distrustful religious followers who cannot break the barrier into understanding and living together. But I also felt challenged to pray for others–not myself–and to consider more deeply what I can do to bring peace to the world. In this second trip, God’s peace was pervasive. I returned at peace and rested.

It’s a trip everyone should make.

Gary Mintchell

This entry was posted on March 24, 2009 at 10:52 am and is filed under Christianity, Spirituality. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.