Tag: Israel

Called to Stand

In my last post I told you that Butch and I participated in a pilgrimage to Israel. Our tour leader was Mike Fanning and our pastor, Trey Little, was co-leader. Mike took care of the archeology and Trey took care of the spirituality. Two busloads of people, mostly from our church, toured from one end of Israel to the other. More than a check-off on the bucket list, it was indeed the trip of a lifetime.

People who had been before warned me that I would never read the Bible the same way nor think about Jesus the same way. This was certainly my experience. For instance, I was amazed at how small Israel is and how close together all the famous biblical sites are. The gospels are jammed packed with stories about Jesus and his travels from this town to that village. But while sailing on the Sea of Galilee, Mike pointed out that the area of Jesus’ ministry encompassed less than a quarter of the shore. I was shocked. Such big things happening in such a small area. How I read the Bible will never be the same.

I learned that Jesus probably traveled to a large Roman city, Sepphoris, that was within a few miles of Nazareth in order to work as a carpenter. While he was there he was undoubtedly exposed to Roman culture, religion, architecture and society. He was not the small-town, unsophisticated boy that I have always pictured. I will never think of him in the same way.

Before the trip I expected that visiting the Garden Tomb would be spiritually overwhelming. But no. It was interesting and enlightening, but not the knock-your-socks-off experience I was sure it would be. I anticipated that I would feel the crush of historic and spiritual significance at the Wailing Wall. But again, no. Don’t misunderstand; both were significant experiences, just not as I imagined.

Where I did experience the most profound spiritual experience was in the Garden of Gethsemane. I’m not going to write about it here. But if you go to this link (click here) you will be taken to a reflection I recorded for Morningside Ministries* and hear what I experienced that morning. In the video you will see a photo of what I saw as I gazed across the Kidron Valley toward the walls of the Old City. As I saw what Jesus saw it helped me to understood more profoundly what he experienced. Now I know him better. I certainly will never think of him the same way.

Moving through Lent toward Holy Week and Easter Sunday always causes me to pause and reflect on what Jesus was doing and feeling on those days. However, this year my Garden experience is illuminating my meditations of that time so long ago and what it means in my life today. Jesus was called to stand during the most agonizing time of his life. And he did it faithfully. I will never be called to stand and wait to be arrested and then crucified, but every day I am called to stand. I’m called to stand in difficult situations from which I’d rather run. I’m called to stand and wait patiently when what I’d rather do is run, or scream, or threaten to get my way and get it now. My hope and prayer is for me, and for you, to stand when called to do so and to do so faithfully.

Woodpile Kitty hopes for you a meaningful Lenten season in preparation for a joyous Easter.

* The website mmLearn.org is a service of Morningside Ministries. mmLearn was created and designed for caregivers, both those who work in care facilities and those who care for loved ones at home. The webcast, Called to Stand: A Lenten Reflection, is part of mmLearn’s Prayers for a Caregiver series which offers spiritual support to caregivers in the home.

Happy Belated New Year

In my very first blog post (click here to read it), I confessed how scared I was. More than scared, I was terrified. Terrified of being vulnerable to people I know, not to mention people I don’t know. Even though that was two years ago just thinking about it makes my heart beat faster and my palms start to sweat. Now I’ve been away from the Woodpile Kitty since August and I am feeling a little terrified once again. The best remedy for those feelings is to get right back in the saddle. So here goes:

It’s the end of January and I’m still thinking about New Year’s Resolutions. One of which is getting this blog going again. I think the best way to start is to bring you up to date on what’s been going on.

First of all, our youngest son got married on November 9 to a smart, sweet, beautiful young woman named Meredith. I am now  a mother-in-law. That title carries a lot of connotations; however, I am striving to bring a new reputation to the office of mother-in-law. If I fail at this endeavor, it won’t be because of my daughter-in-law; she’s great. I remember a day well before Joe and Meredith got engaged when I was feeling like I wanted to take my relationship with Meredith to the next level. I was beginning to fall in love with her and I didn’t want to make that kind of emotional commitment if Joe didn’t intend to marry her. So I asked him, prefacing my question with “you don’t have to tell me if you think it’s none of my business”. He laughed his little laugh and said he thought that they would get married. They just weren’t talking about it. It wasn’t too many months later when Joe popped the question in New York City at the Guggenheim Museum and sent a video so we could cyber-witness the occasion. There wasn’t any audio, but the body language said it all.

Secondly, Butch and I went to Israel right after Christmas. We flew out on December 27th and returned home on January 5th. It was a trip we had always wanted to take but every time there was an opportunity the time wasn’t right. Then last spring I read an announcement in our church newsletter that our pastor, Trey Little, was organizing an “In the Steps of Jesus” trip. We immediately signed up. Everyone who has ever been to Israel has told me that once you go you will never read the Bible in the same way and you will never think about Jesus in the same way. My expectation was just that. But the trip was so much more. I fell in love with Israel and especially with Jerusalem. Stories in the Bible came to life. After our first full day in Jerusalem my brain was tired from all I had learned, my body was tired from walking five miles and standing on stone pavement, and my spirit was tired–in a good way–from all I had experienced. I’m sure Israel experiences will enter my blogs as time goes on. I even dreamed about aspects of Israel for two weeks after my return. My own bed and dreams of Israel, what could be better.

The worst part of returning home was being thrown into the midst of the Christmas aftermath. Almost all the decorations were still out. Joe had taken down the things the cats might knock over: the nativity displayed on the piano along with Mary, Baby Jesus and Joseph who lived on the mantle with the Wise Men. Everything else was still out including the tree. Trey and Andy stayed a few days after we left. But they followed my instructions on what to do with leftovers so that the kitchen and, especially, the refrigerator were in good shape. There was still some of the general disarray six people leave after opening gifts, eating and drinking enough to peg the gorge-o-meter and playing dominoes until all hours for three nights in a row. As I write this, Christmas is but a memory–except, oops, the outside lights. We forgot the outside lights! OK, so there’s one more thing to do.

In between all of this we competed in the Rock n Roll Half-Marathon in San Antonio, spent Thanksgiving in Marfa–all 6 of us, thanks to Trey–weathered an ice storm and are waiting for another to arrive tonight.

It was a fun end of the year even though some of it was a lot of work. Some things were joyous–wedding–and some were sad–leaving Jerusalem. But the best part of all is what’s going to happen: the first grandchild! She’s due to arrive on July 2, but since she doesn’t know how to read a calendar she will probably not appear on that exact date. Grandparents and uncles of the Gerfers household are looking forward to being grandparents and uncles. I’m sure she will also star in several upcoming posts. With photos, too, of course.

So now you’re up to date. Let me hear from you. What’s new in your life? What are you looking forward to in 2014?

Woodpile Kitty wishes you the very happiest New Year!