by Alan Dorway

Happy Mother’s Day

Jesus answered, “Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to me.”
Pilate asked him, “What is truth?” (John 18:37b-38a, NRSV)

As I spent today visiting the upper Galilee, the phrase Pilate asks Jesus, “What is the truth?”, resonated through my mind. Is the truth Palestinians walked away from their villages willingly or that 531 Palestinian villages where destroyed? Is the truth we visited a national park today looking at second century ruins or that today I visited the bombed out home (one among many) of Elias Chacour?

Wall still standing in the destroyed village of Bir’am, home of Abuna Chacour.

Is the truth Jesus actually multiplied the loaves and the fishes here?

Church of the Multiplication of the Loaves and Fish, Tabgha on the Shore of the Sea of Galilee.

Is the truth that Jesus actually blessed Peter on this rock found in the Primacy of Peter Church?

Church of the Primacy of St. Peter.

Is this beautiful vista where Jesus took some time to give the sermon in the mount?

View from the location of the preaching of the Sermon on the Mount

The answer to me is that it’s complicated. I know my faith guides me to believe and even celebrate the many areas in upper Galilee our group visited today. I know my reading of scripture will never be the same as now when I read of Jesus asking the disciples to recast their nets or when Jesus walks on the water toward the boat buffeted by the winds, I will have a sense of “yes, this really happened, I was there”.

Yet, as I visit Israel, I am finding more questions than answers. I am hearing stories of Palestinian Christians who have been persecuted throughout their lives. I know later in this pilgrimage I will hear stories of faithful Jewish and Muslim believers striving for peace and freedom in this Holy Land.

I’m wondering if Jesus did not answer Pilate because he too knew it was complicated and only through digging and learning and seeking and seeing and praying, will we be able to peel away enough of the layers to get to the truth. We on this trip know Jesus is the truth. We are listening to Jesus and still finding it complicated.

Jesus knew how to love God with his entire being and love his neighbor. I find that getting frustrated at the layers of story move me away from this truth: I am a follower of Christ loving God with my entire being and loving my neighbor. Today, this radical call to love deeply is all I could hold on to as walking where Jesus walked and riding on a boat where Jesus called neighbors to be fishers of humanity was getting swallowed up. This land needs hope, so do I. We all need hope. Jesus tells us to listen to him. Lord, I am trying my best. Help me to love and in your truth learn to have hope for all of your children.

Peace, Alan Dorway