The First Step

They say every journey begins with the first step. I suppose this is particularly true of a pilgrimage. Our trip is organized through Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary. As you might expect from and institution of higher education, the trip begins not with ariline tickets, but with a reading assignment. Since our goal is not merely to see ancient biblical sights, but rather to grow in our faith, the reading is not so much biblical/historical as it is spiritual. We have been assigned Belden Lane's book, The Solace of Fierce Landscapes. For those of you who would like some insight in to what this book is about, here is a good review of it:
http://www.hermitary.com/bookreviews/lane.html



I have found this to be a fascinating book. More on it later.


Of course, I have to remember not to take myself or my spirituality so seriously that I become a humbug, or more of one than I already am. To that end I am reading a very different travel log about a trip taken to the Holy Land over 100 years ago by a famous American. Mark Twain has written The Innocents Abroad (sometimes known as The New Pilgrim's Progress) about his trip. You can even read it here:
http://www.mtwain.com/Innocents_Abroad/index.html
I have rarely read a book that makes me laugh out loud so often, but then, I have a quirky sense of humor that appreciates Twain's satire. For example, they can never pronounce the names of all their guides, so they adopt the practice of calling them all Ferguson. No reason. They just can't remember or can't pronounce Ali Muhammahd Snickerdoodle,or whatever. When ever they go to visit some great shrine or tomb, and hear all about the person there interred, they always ask, "But, is he dead?" if only to exasperate the guide.

One point Twain makes which I will have to bear in mind is how different reality is from our preconceived notions. First of all, in terms of scale. He points out that we always think of Israel as a great kingdom, and perhaps it was, but he also says that you could make three Holy Lands out of the state of Missouri and have some left over to start a fourth. He says that many things have been a disappointment to him because they have ruined forever his Sunday School picture of people and places in the Bible. This may happen to me as well, but I think I would rather have a picture of the real thing than some fanciful humbug (as Twain might say).

I will keep you all posted on further progress.