Reflections on Israel: Part I

Shores of the Sea of Galilee

As many of you know, Kate and I got the opportunity to visit the land that is close to the heart of God: Israel. It was such a powerful trip and I took in so much as I visited the same places that Jesus and the disciples walked, performed miracles, and grew together. Words cannot describe the feelings I felt there, but I thought I would try for the next few or so posts.

Kate and I on the Sea

First…I HATE AIRPLANES. I used to not mind riding in them at all, even almost enjoyed them. But for some reason, maybe old age, I really get anxious and nervous flying. But with all that being said, some of my spiritual reflections happened in relation to airports and airplanes. A couple of things caught my attention as Kate and I started our pilgrimage to the Holy Land. The first was our flight attendant who turned out to be an Israeli native. As she found out the whole entire plane was en route to her native country, she started to cry. But this cry was different. It was a cry of pride and honor. It was a good cry as she couldn’t stop talking about her heritage and was so glad to see us go, knowing that the passengers would have a common bond with her soon. I’m not sure if she had any kind of faith or not, but I was thinking she did. The second event that caught my attention was on my way to the bathroom after a GREAT Qdoba meal. As I passed by a gate, I saw a young couple in obvious pain. They were weeping uncontrollably as they had to say goodbye to each other. This made me really start to ponder: What was the difference? This might just be rambling…but here were my thoughts. As I compared these two instances of emotion, I saw trust. The flight attendant cried with trust that we will meet God just like she has there. She knew we were trusting that God would be with us and would change our view on our faith in a very real way

In a boat, where Jesus didn't need one to walk

. The couple who could not let go of each other didn’t have that trust. They cried with a distrust that they might not see each other again. It is good to show love in a yearning way but by the actions of this couple, it was obvious they were clinging to their own powers instead of a higher one. It gave me a whole new perspective on plane rides as I walked down the ramp to the plane doors and I’ll never regret it.