To Walk Where They Walked

After a hectic day of preparations I now find myself with several hours to spare before we board a plane to Newark, New Jersey—from which we will board a long flight to Tel Aviv, Israel. This journey has been a faraway dream of mine since I was a child. I remember listening to my grandmother tell stories of her journey to the Holy Land with my grandfather in the summer of 1980. She’d pick up a delicate glass container filled with rocks carefully labeled from each place they visited during their own pilgrimage and we’d spend countless hours discussing her journey.

A few days ago one of my aunts emailed me pages from my grandfather’s own journal while he stayed in the Holy Land. One in particular stands out to me, and left me feeling more connected than ever to his spirit as it remains in this world. On June 26, 1980 he wrote about rising at 4:30 a.m. to be able to watch the sun rise. For those of you who follow me on social media, you know I have my own fascination with sun rises and sunsets. His words flow like poetry in that familiar hard to read script of blue ink and I now know he watched those delicate moments between light and darkness with the same spiritual pull that I do.

In just hours from now I will set foot on the ground and begin taking the same steps as my grandfather, step by step I will walk where he walked. I have safely tucked in my suitcase several photographs from their trip(see their picture in front of the Dome of the Rock); I cannot tell you what it will mean to really stand where they stood all those years ago. I anticipated this journey to be deeply spiritual but I was not prepared for the vast range of emotions as I relive the journey of my grandparents through their writings and photographs.

 
I often wonder if my grandfather, a minister himself, thought as he held me all those years ago; ‘she will walk where I walked’ ? Did he ever think, ‘God will call her, too' ? It seems surreal that he’s been gone from this earth for most of my life, yet God continues to bring our spirits together. This trip to the Holy Land is another coming together of sorts for us. What else does God have in store for me during this pilgrimage? I cannot wait to find out!

It doesn’t seem right to end this blog post just as our trip is beginning, so until next time…

Blessings and Peace,

Caitlin