Pilgrimage to Easter

The trek began with Palm Sunday at United Church of Chapel Hill, with palm branches swaying;
next step, moving onward to Maundy Thursday and the upper room at United Church of Chapel Hill; then to Good Friday stations of the cross at Chapel of the Cross, Chapel Hill; and tomorrow, Easter pulls us forward to Eastertide.

Soon, the words will drip off my lips, "He is risen! He is risen! He is risen, indeed!"

Buen Camino!

B

Pilgrimage in Israel-Egypt, 2011

Just got confirmation from Egypt: all is well in the Sinai part of Egypt.

Pilgrimage in the Wilderness 2011: Nov. 10-22, 2011, $2,500!

Come one and all!

B

Why We Travel (with thanks to Paul Theroux)

This from the nyt.com by Paul Theroux:

The earth is often perceived as a foolproof Google map — not very large, easily accessible and knowable by any finger-drumming geek with a computer. In some respects this is true. Distance is no longer a problem. You can nip over to Hong Kong or spend a weekend in Dubai, or Rio. But as some countries open up, others shut down. And some countries have yet to earn their place on the traveler’s map, such as Turkmenistan and Sudan. But I’ve been to both not long ago — one of very few sightseers. And along with oppression and human rights violations, I found hospitality, marvels and a sense of discovery.

In my own “Tao of Travel,” the fact that a place is out of fashion, forgotten or not yet on the map doesn’t make it less interesting, just more itself, and any visit perhaps more of a challenge. But travel maps have always been provisional and penciled in, continually updated. The map of the possible world being redrawn right now — parts of it in tragic and unsettling ways — might soon mean new opportunities for the traveler who dares to try it. Travel, especially of the old laborious kind, has never seemed to me of greater importance, more essential, more enlightening.

What makes pilgrimage even more important is that it takes you to a deeper place, because pilgrimage is like making love to the world.

Click here for more!

Buen camino!

B

Buechner on Faith's Pilgrimage...again

Frederick Buechner wrote that "faith is the word that describes the direction our feet start moving when we find we are loved. Faith is stepping out into the unknown with nothing to guide us but a hand just beyond our grasp." From Magnificent Defeat

Buen Camino!

B

Spring Pilgrimage

We have begun Lent. Shrove Tuesday set it all off, because it was followed by Ash Wed. So for me, Lent is a spring pilgrimage.

Well, imagine my surprise to find out that spring pilgrimage can also mean something about playwrights. Consider this from the nyt.com:

“DO you know what Spring Pilgrimage is?” asked Brenda Caradine, the chairwoman of the Tennessee Williams Birthday Celebration in Columbus, Miss. “It’s when you Yankees come down South to see our antebellum homes and we take back your money.”

Happy Birthday Tennessee Williams!

Buen Camino!

B

Zen Buddhist Retreat Center (Chapel Hill) and Hindu Temple (Cary/Morrisville)

I took students from my world religion class to the Zen Buddhist Retreat Center in Chapel Hill last month, and this month we went to the Hindu Temple in Cary/Morrisville, NC. IT is fantastic to talk, read, and then immerse ourselves in the faith traditions we are exploring.

Buen Camino!

B

Injustice: Israel Refuses Anglican Bishop Residency

Having spent a lot of time in the Middle East, I was very concerned about the latest news out of Israel, in which the Anglican Bishop of Jerusalem, Bishop Dawani, has been refused residency because he is Palestinian. From Religious News Service:

By Judith Sudilovsky
Religion News Service

JERUSALEM (RNS/ENInews) Israel has declined to renew a residency permit for Anglican Bishop Suheil Dawani of Jerusalem, according to the leader of the Jerusalem Inter-Church Center (ICC).

The action took place several weeks ago but the bishop's office was trying to resolve the issue without media attention, said ICC Executive Secretary Yusef Daher. Subsequent appeals and inquiries from Western diplomats have failed.

The ICC is an umbrella group sponsored by Jerusalem churches, the World Council of Churches and the Middle East Council of Churches.

Born in Nablus, Dawani, like all West Bank Palestinians, must have a special residency permit to stay in East Jerusalem, where St. George Anglican Cathedral and the bishop's offices are located.

"There is a feeling among church leaders that Israel has no respect for Christians or Christian leaders," Daher said Tuesday (March 1). "There is no respect for the request of the issuing of residency visas."

Israel's Interior Ministry revoked the residency permit after accusing the bishop of selling property to a Palestinian, according to Daher.

In a written response to a question from ENInews, the Ministry of the Interior responded, "We are talking about a sensitive issue that was presented in front of the Interior Minister and our detailed answer will be delivered in the court, in the frame of the petition that was served."

Church leaders are following the case with concern, Daher said, because many bishops and clergy serving come from abroad, including Arab countries, and must renew Israeli permits every two years to remain in Jerusalem and enter Israel to reach the West Bank.

This is a injustice.

Pace!

B