Day One: Jerusalem

Day One:  Jerusalem

After a fairly exhausting travel day--nearly 18 hours--I arrived with Rev. Margaret Gramely, at Ben Gurion airport last night and a few hours later (!) we finally made it to the hotel.  It is a bright and sunny  Tuesday morning in Jerusalem and I am looking forward to walking to the Old City and going to the Western Wall in few minutes. The Wall is my first stop on this visit because I want to return to the spot where only 6 months ago I was blessed to see my children look up in awe and amazement at the holy sight.  It was so great to see them so excited about being at the Wall.   They knew they were standing on holy ground.

I want to return to the Wall first thing because it there where I felt God's presence rest between Kyle and Nathan as I watched them speaking and praying together.

Also, 6 months ago I was at the Wall with members of my congregational family, Beth Am and we prayed, sang and shared together as we welcomed in Shabbat and it was a beautiful time for all of us.

Today I am with out my family by my side, and with out my congregation and I miss both.   I want to get to the Wall first thing because I will use this time of quiet and solitude to say thank You.  Thank You for all that is mine.  The blessings include both the great moments and the challenging ones and I want to reflect on it all.   The western wall is of course part of sacred Jewish history and it also holds with it the words and prayers of my children and extended family.  I will return there today to continue the prayer-conversation that has existed for millennia, to return to the conversation that I began 6 months ago.

I'll keep you posted.