Israel/Palestine

We ascended to Jerusalem last Friday evening as the sun was setting. Sabbath begins. It's an internal call to prayer, different from what we are used to in Cairo-land.

I've been avoiding my blog this week, trying to figure out what to write about our trip. I'm so naive, and that embarrasses me. Our tour was both religious and political, but I think those two are always going to go together there. Listening to any of our speakers throughout the week assured me of one thing: politics and history are driven by perspective. Our Israeli guide had a very different version of current events than our Palestinian bus driver. They both think they are right, and they both think they know the truth.

All of that aside, Israel is a very beautiful region. Having lived in the desert now for over a year, I can understand, at least geographically, why it was called the promised land. Pomegranates were everywhere, and the nature was incredible. (Either that, or I've just been living in the desert too long).


Walking the streets of old Jerusalem gives new context to my faith. It is irrelevant to me whether or not a lot of the places were the exact location where certain things happened. But I can picture things that I could not previously.