Every now and again when our burdens are heavy and we need to adjust our sails a visit to a “holy land” can be a real lifesaver.
Some find that place in ancient monasteries, some in the holy city of Mecca, some in old Jerusalem.
But for so many their holy land is found in
- hikes in the wilderness
- sailing open waters
- visits to a special cabin in the woods
- retreats to a back yard sacred space
My friend Brendan Boyle reminded me what compels us to seek out such a place. He says it’s something his sister Bree calls a “God Moment.”
Ten years ago I stumbled into a God Moment.
It came at a time I felt the world closing in on me — a world in which I could not thrive and from which I could not escape, which I found:
- relentlessly petty
- shockingly cruel
- hopelessly selfish
Then in February of 2016 I found myself bound for the holy land that is Mother India. 
My flight would cover a distance of more than 8,000 miles over 21 hours.
I settled in with a load of reading material. One article I had bookmarked was by David Brooks, interestingly titled “The Spiritual Recession.”
“Such is life in a spiritual recession. Americans have lost faith in their own gospel. This loss of faith is ruinous from any practical standpoint. The faith bound diverse Americans, reducing polarization. The faith gave elites a sense of historic responsibility and helped them resist the money and corruption that always licked at the political system. Without the vibrant faith, there is no spiritual counterweight to rampant materialism.”
I leaned back in my seat and wondered, is this what it’s like to live in a faithless land?
Then an even more frightening thought seized me: how can I live in a world without faith?
When I landed I found myself residing in a pretty deep hole.
I resolved to be open to whatever Mother India might bring me.
In a week I was presented with my God Moment.
It happened during a visit to Pune, to my friend Mary D’Souza’s school for “India’s Left Behind Girls.”
The school was for girls who would not be educated or married because their families could afford neither schooling nor marriage dowry. Mary was determined that these girls would receive a first class education.
Indeed, most of her students matriculate on to colleges and universities.
The energy in the classroom was palpable as I watched the girls engage in the learning process, quite literally inventing their own futures.
Hope and promise and faith were alive here.
- so relentlessly positive
- so amazingly effective
- so hopeful
I could literally feel my tank being filled while my eyes were fixed on those young faces.
In taking my attention OFF of myself and putting it ON to them, these so-called Left Behind Girls help me find — me.
For whatever set of reasons my faith had shriveled up.
I found it again in Mary’s classroom. Those “Left Behind Girls” set me upon the path of faith again.
A God Moment brought light into my darkness.
I learned a holy land is really not a piece of geography but a divine presence.
Just a thought…
Pat
💐
Here Bela Varga shares his story of his time in the Holy Land.
Jerusalem and the Holy Land – Part 2 Palestine
[Verse 1]
All my life, Jerusalem and the Holy Land endlessly kept calling to me.
Saudi was another stepping stone along the winding path to my destiny,
With the desert now behind me, the land of Jordan lay straight ahead,
I set a course for Amman, with faith in wherever that journey led.
[Verse 2]
Amman and Jordan opened up a world I’d never dreamed I’d find,
Of warm-hearted people, ancient wonders, and echoes of legends lost in time.
I walked through Petra’s crimson canyons, past temples carved from desert stone,
Then Mount Nebo, where Moses saw the Promised Land but never made it home.
[Verse 3]
Fighting on the West Bank closed the border just as I finally drew near,
Jerusalem my dream for so long, would have to wait for another year.
Before catching a flight home, I climbed Mount Nebo for one last time,
Like Moses, I lamented the sight of old Jerusalem in the distant skyline.
Flying down the mountain, my driver came inches from sending us over the side,
We somehow made it back, then the border opened—as if Heaven turned the tide.
[Chorus]
Through all my journeys, four simple truths kept ringing clear,
Across every faith and scripture, every song and every prayer:
Love one another…feed the hungry…welcome the stranger too,
And treat each fellow traveler as you’d have them treat you.
Whatever road you follow, whatever faith—or none at all,
שָׁלוֹם…السَّلَامُ عَلَيْكُمْ… Go in Peace…शांति to all.
[Verse 4]
At last, I walked the streets of Jerusalem, the city that had called to me,
I followed in the footsteps of Jesus from Nazareth to the shores of Galilee.
While temple walls heard cries for peace and prayers spoken in every tongue.
In Bethlehem, armed soldiers kept their watch where angels once had sung.
Near Golgotha, on Easter Sunday at the Garden Tomb I solemnly prayed,
A Greek Orthodox priest blessed me while alone, where they say Christ was laid.
[Verse 5]
For weeks, the holy land burned with violence, gunfire, and unrest,
Then, for one fleeting week, a fragile peace and calm within the tempest.
I walked the streets of the holy prophets, my lifelong dream fulfilled at last,
Then crossed back into Jordan just before the brief ceasefire passed.
[Verse 6]
That journey left me with lasting respect for the people on each side,
Families simply longing to live in peace, with dignity, hope and pride.
I found comfort and kinship among Arab strangers everywhere I would go,
A reminder that friendship grows from every seed of kindness that we sow.
The Middle East bears countless scars from generations of struggle and pain,
While the simple answers are ignored, but the wounds of centuries remain.
[Final Chorus]
Through all my journeys, four simple truths kept ringing clear,
Across every faith and scripture, every song and every prayer:
Love one another…feed the hungry…welcome the stranger too,
And treat each fellow traveler as you’d have them treat you.
Whatever road you follow, whatever faith—or none at all,
שָׁלוֹם…السَّلَامُ عَلَيْكُمْ…Go in Peace…ॐ शान्तिः… शान्तिः… शान्तिः
May Peace be with us all.
[Outro]
From Bavaria through Holland and Greece, across deserts stretching east and west,
My Odyssey carried me to Jerusalem at last, the crowning chapter of my quest.
Like Odysseus, I returned to the Greek islands once my wandering was lain to rest.
…
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