Reflection by Nate Crary, Director of Worship
I know I talked about my time in Palestine during the most recent devotional I wrote and I’m going to talk about it some more. As Chelsey and I approached the end of our time living abroad, we had the opportunity to travel from the West Bank into Jordan with our program coordinators and four other young adult volunteers. We were to spend a couple of days in Amman, before heading to where Jesus was baptized by John in the Jordan River. The night before this visit we ate some salad and pizza together at a restaurant near the hostel where we were staying.
We had been warned to only drink bottled water while in Jordan, which we had become used to since that was not unlike our regular practice throughout the year. It didn’t take long for us to imagine the tap water that must have been used to wash the ingredients in the salad we all had enjoyed a few hours earlier when most of us became violently ill during the night. Because a few of us needed to stay within steps of the nearest water closet for 16 hours of deep contemplation, we ended up canceling our trip to the baptismal site.
I wonder if John the baptizer experienced any indigestion while he forged in the woods for bugs and wild honey. Nevertheless, this passage of scripture reminds me to notice the signs around me, signaling Christ’s approaching arrival. Some of these signs might be welcome or pleasant or breath-taking, while other signs might be disturbing or even gut-wrenching. To me, this speaks to my human incapacity to be completely ready to welcome God in our midst, no matter how I prepared I do or don’t feel.
“If in your heart you make a manger for his birth, then God will once again become a child on earth.”
– Angelus Silesius
I know I talked about my time in Palestine during the most recent devotional I wrote and I’m going to talk about it some more. As Chelsey and I approached the end of our time living abroad, we had the opportunity to travel from the West Bank into Jordan with our program coordinators and four other young adult volunteers. We were to spend a couple of days in Amman, before heading to where Jesus was baptized by John in the Jordan River. The night before this visit we ate some salad and pizza together at a restaurant near the hostel where we were staying.
We had been warned to only drink bottled water while in Jordan, which we had become used to since that was not unlike our regular practice throughout the year. It didn’t take long for us to imagine the tap water that must have been used to wash the ingredients in the salad we all had enjoyed a few hours earlier when most of us became violently ill during the night. Because a few of us needed to stay within steps of the nearest water closet for 16 hours of deep contemplation, we ended up canceling our trip to the baptismal site.
I wonder if John the baptizer experienced any indigestion while he forged in the woods for bugs and wild honey. Nevertheless, this passage of scripture reminds me to notice the signs around me, signaling Christ’s approaching arrival. Some of these signs might be welcome or pleasant or breath-taking, while other signs might be disturbing or even gut-wrenching. To me, this speaks to my human incapacity to be completely ready to welcome God in our midst, no matter how I prepared I do or don’t feel.
“If in your heart you make a manger for his birth, then God will once again become a child on earth.”
– Angelus Silesius
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