The Holy Land! I was fortunate to spend 8 days in February in Israel with my parents and a group from their church in Colorado Springs. It was an incredible experience to see Jewish men with their curls and prayer shawls, walking down the street beside young Muslim girls in their head coverings, old Orthodox priests in their black robes and Catholic nuns with their simple brown dresses. I was impacted by the contrast of the beauty of the landscape (mountains, desert, oases, rivers) with the ugliness of the great concrete wall being constructed through the country.
We were able to visit Bethlehem, Nazareth, Capernaum, the Sea of Galilee, Jerusalem, the Mount of Olives, the Dead Sea, Masada and Jericho. Unfortunately, every place where something "holy" may have happened is now dominated by elaborate churches, tourist groups and flashing cameras. It made it a bit difficult to meditate on the significance of being in those places,while we were there, but since being back, as I read about places I have seen with my own eyes, I have found time to make those connections.