"The Mount of Beatitudes" by Steven Hoffman Shapiro
MIXED COMPANY
--Reflections on a Holy Land
My heart, my mind------------------------------- overflowing.
Like the cup of wine at our Havdallah service.
Like many hold onto the Sabbath--I hold onto this journey.
Not letting go, not drawing, not writing, not even barely uttering
its secrets,
fearing the mere mention will bring it crashing to an end.
Now finally, I stand in confrontation with my thoughts as if they
were the thoughts of others.
How does one do justice, with this inadequate voice, to the memory
of our encounter with each other ...
And that place--that worked its magic on the meaning and the challenge
of so much:
Yad Vashem--the children that will never be forgotten.
Masada--vast, spare, brown, silent place.
The ascent to Jerusalem--where all I've loved have stood before
me.
The Western Wall which pushes back on the hand that touches.
The Mount of Beatitudes--school of spirit growing in a garden.
David Hartman's tunnels of reason and passion, cutting through
the complex, elusive, troubling, and intoxicating condition of
being Jewish, of being Christian, of being human, of being present.
Meah She'arim at dusk-walking into the night, into the past,
into the memory of ancestors vanished--into the other.
A bus sailing on modern ancient roads, a crew of kindred souls
dipping oars of Bible into love and experience...
Israel and this pilgrimage--
Not a hailstorm, a gentle breeze--
Never ceasing,
Slowly transforming our hearts.
 --Steven Hoffman Shapiro
Some reflections on two of the many places which became "holy"
for me in Israel:
The Mount of Beatitudes
peace-filled, overlooking the Sea of Galilee, foreign land visible
on its not-too-distant shore...
a perspective Jesus must have had...did it shape his world view?
one of the few Christian churches in the Middle East in which
I felt at home: simple, focused, ringed with words of blessing, clear windows to natural beauty unmarred by evidence
of conflict ----but built with funds from Mussolini?!! Are even our best efforts tainted?
surrounding gardens and spring-like weather made one forget that
the blossoms were lingering into winter...fragile beauty, tenuous peace...can roots grope deep enough to
provide anchor and to draw up sustenance to survive the onslaught of harsh conditions?
conversation about the Beatitudes, Jesus' "inaugural address,"
a Gospel portion challenging illusions of control yet inviting to a surprising freedom ....
sometimes in dialogue with Jews I wonder if they wonder why anyone
would remain a Christian...we Christians are beginning to struggle with a burden of history, years of persecuting
in the name of "our" God!...listening to familiar, beloved Scripture preached but now hearing
how easily it can be interpreted as anti-Judaism, anti-Jews, anti-real people whom I have come to respect
and love...this particular dialogue offers a rare moment in which Christians share what touches them deeply about the Good News of Jesus, what gives
them hope, what fires them with enthusiam (entheos = in God)--without
claiming to be
"better than."
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