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October 2007
Call to prayer, and call of nature
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
(Editor’s Note: This blog is being written by three Atlantans — a Jew, a Christian and a Muslim — who are taking part in an inter-faith trip to the Holy Land to learn more about other religions).
It is evening in Amman, and much has happened in the last 24 hours. After a delicious dinner in our Hotel Larsa, punctuated with lively conversation, we headed to our rooms with our assigned roommates. What a great feeling to stretch out on an actual bed after a night in an airplane seat!
We awoke at 4 a.m. to the sound of the muezzin’s call to prayer from a near-by mosque. I use the term “we” loosely as I slept through it myself. However, our Muslim pilgrims, along with a few other pilgrims, attended the prayer ritual.
After another great meal we boarded our tour bus at 8 a.m. and sat with our “dance partners” for the day. We began with a very important ritual: counting off. Yes, we each have been assigned a number. No matter how lofty our goals are for this trip, we still need some structure to keep us from being lost, late or left.
After gathering ourselves together, we headed north to the city of Jerash, one of the best preserved Roman cities in the Middle East. On the way we passed the time by talking with our respective partners and listening to three of the pilgrims share their faith stories. (Today it happened to be our three leaders. Each pilgrim will have an opportunity to share with the group sometime during the pilgrimage).
We also stopped at the Jabbok River where, according to Genesis 32, Jacob wrestled with God (or an angel). The story in Genesis tells of Jacob’s anxiety as he returns home to face his brother Esau, whom he had cheated of his birthright many years prior. Jacob does not know if his brother will welcome him or attack him. At the river Jabbok he spends a night wrestling with a divine being. Jacob refuses to let go until he is blessed. Finally, he is blessed and God changes his name to Israel but leaves him with an injured hip and a life-long limp. His 12 sons later become the fathers of the 12 tribes of Israel.
This story is an important ones for Jews and Christians, as most everyone of faith can relate to wrestling with God at some point. Being on that ancient ground was meaningful to everyone.
Jerash was amazing. Founded in 170 BCE, it has been a Greek, Roman, Byzantine, Islamic (under the Ottoman empire) and Jordanian city. As we walked through the ancient Roman Theater, Hippodrome (where chariot racing once occurred), the Temple of Artemis, and Oval Plaza, we were awed by its size and history. It was especially moving when we heard the call to prayer from several mosques simultaneously from the town below us.
As the sun rose higher in the sky and it began to get warmer, we also started to get hot, thirsty and tired. At one point we stood around on the path, taking a break from the long walk. When one of the pilgrims, a non-Muslim women, asked some of the Muslims on the trip how they felt about the Jordanian women who covered themselves from head to toe, we struck up a conversation about the roles and rights of women in our respective religions. Various folks asked questions and shared ideas about misogyny (perceived and real) in our different faiths. We agreed to keep the discussion of gender roles going during the trip.
It was after 3 when we got lunch. Now we were getting hungry and ready for a rest. Like my dance partner said, “You really get to know a person when you see them upset or angry and see how they handle it”. (He said this after I insistently voiced my concern about finding a bathroom.)
One of the great things about these kind of trips is that we go beyond lofty idealisms and get to the nitty-gritty of being human beings together; human beings with hope and belief that there is some way to see beyond our differences and live together with respect, a sense of humor and even joy.
Pictured in photo, L-R: bloggers Audrey Galex, Jill Ulrici, Tayyibah Taylor
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Arriving in Amman
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
(Editor’s Note: This blog is being written by three Atlantans — a Jew, a Christian and a Muslim — who are taking part in an inter-faith trip to the Holy Land to learn more about other religions).
At six o’clock in the evening it is dark in Amman already. Our group of 23 Jews, Christians and Muslims has arrived via Royal Jordanian Airlines after 10 hours in the air. The hotel “Larsa” has juice waiting for us in the lobby as we get room keys, each person rooming with someone of another faith.
Before we left JFK, our group gathered in a section of the gate area. Rabbi Ron Segal, Rev. Gerald Durley and Iman Plemon El-Amin each offered a prayer, setting a spiritual intention for our trip. I can’t recall their exact words but they asked us to remember we were making a pilgrimmage, not only to visit sites of historic importance to each faith, but into our own souls, and into the lives of our fellow travelers.
I wondered what the other air travelers thought as they eavesdropped openly on our group — black, white, veiled, hair uncovered, Jewish, Christian and Muslim, men and women, holding hands, eyes closed, praying for each other and for the loved ones we left at home. Maybe we amused them. Perhaps we confused them. Perhaps one among them saw something they’d only dreamt about — people coming together across racial and religious divides to support and celebrate each other.
That support was tested midway into the flight, when one of our Muslim sisters began hyperventilating. Another Muslim woman gave her cold compresses for her forehead. One of our Christian brothers fanned her. A Jewish woman put a cold compress on the back of her neck. Another Christian woman said, “get a bag and have her breathe into it.” A Jewish doctor came to her assistance. Our religious differences might have led each of us to participate in this pilgrimmage, but it is our shared humanity that shines through.
Photo: Imam Plemon El-Amin recites a prayer as members of the World Pilgrims group traveling to Jordan prepare for the flight from New York to Amman.
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World Pilgrims of Atlanta: Starting out
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
A group of 23 religiously mixed pilgrims from metro Atlanta — Christians, Jews and Muslims — head off Sunday night on a trip of a lifetime. They’re going to Jordan, and some will be going on to Israel, but it’s the traveling arrangements that make this an unusual trip to the Holy Land.
The sponsoring organization, World Pilgrims of Atlanta, is throwing the Georgians of different religions together and getting them outside their comfort zone. The pilgrims live together, changing roommates and meal partners every few days. They follow each other to mosques, churches, synagogues and holy sites of the three faiths. And they discuss their religious traditions while traveling in places where faith is often a flash point for violence.
The trips began as a way to inspire understanding among Jews, Muslims and Christians in Atlanta after the 9/11 attacks, said Jan Swanson, the program director of World Pilgrims, in an AJC story by Christopher Quinn.
Before the World Trade Center attack, she was working for the Christian Council, an Atlanta ecumenical group. While there, she used to get a few calls a year from churches asking her to find a speaker from another faith. “After 9-11, I started getting about 40 calls a month,” she said. People were looking for answers, for understanding.
“If we want to create a world where there is peace, we have to understand each other and have to be able to step with ease from one matrix to another. We have to be able to relate to people who are different from us without judgment and enmity,” said Tayyibah Taylor, one of the pilgrims
As part of the trip, three pilgrims - a Muslim, a Jew and a Christian - have been invited to send in reports from the road to this blog. Our three intrepid (and fledgling) bloggers will be:
Tayyibah Taylor, who lives in the North Druid Hills area and is editor of Azizah, a national magazine for Muslim women.
Rev. Jill Ulrici, pastor at Covenant Presbyterian Church in Buckhead and a PhD candidate at Columbia Theological Seminary in Decatur.
Audrey Galex, a member of Bet Haverim synagogue, director of volunteer services for the William Bremen Jewish Home, and an Atlanta mother of three.
We don’t know yet what they will find. It’s an experiment for everyone involved. Call it a leap of blogging faith. Come back regularly for reports from our pilgrims about where they are what they are doing.
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Farewell to the Delta Queen?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Delta Queen may retire after it’s 2008 season because of federal regulations that declare ships with a wooden superstructure unsafe for overnight passengers. The Queen has been granted exemptions from the 1966 law up til now, but looks like another one won’t be issued.
What do you think? Should the historic paddleboat be given another exemption or do you think it’s unsafe to operate it on overnight excursions? Have you ever cruised the Mississippi River on the Delta Queen? What was the highlight of the trip? Will you be booking a cruise for the Queen’s last season?
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