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

Egypt: Victory Day

Wanted to post that on this day, Feb. 11, 2011, the Egyptian people celebrated a milestone in the country's life as it lurched toward a more democratic nation. The politics and cultural issues are thick and knotty. Nonetheless, with President Mubarak becoming the "former President" of Egypt, the people, who gathered in Tahrir Square (literally meaning Liberation Square) brought forth what terrorists and anarchists could not do: true(r) liberation.

To the people I've met in Egypt on many pilgrimages, congrats!

B

An Argument for Pilgrimage ( by Dennis Praeger)

This is sheer eloquence!

Saw it on anderwsullivan.com, by Dennis Praeger: a reason to be on pilgrimage (my paraphrase):

Enjoy!

B

It is major because all this travel has been life-changing and life-enhancing. For many years, I have urged young people to take a year off after high school to work and to take time off while in college to travel abroad, ideally alone for at least some of the time.

Nearly everyone grows up insular. The problem is that vast numbers of people never leave the cloistered world of their childhood. This is as true for those who grow up in Manhattan as it is for those who grow up in Fargo. And as for college, there are few places as insular and cloistered as the university.

Insularity is bad because at the very least it prevents questioning oneself and thinking through important ideas and convictions. And at worst, it facilitates the groupthink that enables most great evils. Although one can hold onto insular and bad ideas even after interacting with others, it is much harder to do so, especially when one interacts on the others’ terms, as must be done when traveling to other cultures (and especially when traveling alone).

It is therefore one of the most maturing things a person can do. It is also one of the most humbling. I will never forget the effect of hosting a weekly radio show in which I was the moderator among clergy of every religion. After five years, I announced this conclusion: “The moment you meet people of other faiths whom you consider to be at least as decent, as least as religious, and at least as intelligent as you think you are, you will never be the same.”

This is not to suggest that the inevitable consequence of international travel is multicultural relativism — the belief that every culture is equal, that no culture is morally or culturally superior. On the contrary, my going abroad every year for 42 years has strengthened my appreciation of both Western culture and America’s unique value system (what I call the American Trinity: liberty, in God we trust, e pluribus unum).

But there is one benefit to international travel that probably cannot be gained in any other way: Other nations and other peoples become real.

Pace!

Buen Camino!

B

Rilke and Pilgrimage

Rilke wrote on pilgrimage, there is only one journey: going inside yourself.

Pace!

B

Desert Pilgrimage 2011

I had a great session of welcoming people to the Desert Pilgrimage, 2011, at United Church of Chapel Hill (NC) this morning, and wanted to share it broadly:

DESERT PILGRIMAGE 2011!

Purpose:
This pilgrimage explores the wandering nature of the Pilgrim God. We will begin with our sojourn in Jerusalem, visiting the Holy Sites, then to the town of Bethlehem to work with Palestinian Christians. We will then strike out to the desert of the Sinai for 5 days and 4 nights on pilgrimage with Bedouins, followed by a day and night at St. Catherine's Monastery o, and a night at a resort on the Red Sea.

Dates: Nov. 10-22, 2011

Cost: Around $2,500 (depending upon everyone coming, meaning at least 15 people).

Write me at Brett@schoolofthepilgrim.com
919-444-9111

Pace!

Brett