My Mama's "Back Home" - Intro

Dude, I was born in coastal California. Maybe my parents settled there because the weather couldn't get any closer to what we saw in Israel during our first visit there this year. The vegetation and climate paralleled perfectly. Looking at Tel Aviv from the Old City of Jaffa reminded me of the views from La Jolla near San Diego. But the shops and buildings were a little older, oh, say a thousand years older.

Even driving the steep hilly roads in Bethlehem reminded me of the older residential neighborhoods in Laguna Beach and San Diego. Everytime we'd head to the beach as a family and drive through the canyons, my dad would remember Lebanon. The cliffs covered with sage and buckwheat, the palm trees, and cactus all made it feel like home. Perhaps that's why we never made it back to visit their home land as a family. My parents made America their home. They embraced it and loved it. My father got his citizenship in 1976 - the bicentennial year. He was proud to earn his American identity.

At the end of April this past year, we finally visited the Holy Land. I've dreamed of this trip. My father passed away last year, so he couldn't come with us. I felt sad about this, but my mom was reunited with her family after not seeing them for a dozen years. We toured the places where Jesus walked and we prayed while standing in the Sea of Galilea. I cried as I listened to the bells of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre ringing while the deacon sang in Arabic during Orthodox Easter services in Jerusalem. 

The sounds and smells are never to be forgotten. But, there were thoughts and ideas that I couldn't handle, issues that my mind could not sift apart. In my next posts, I will take you with me to some of the moments we lived, capturing some of the more challenging aspects of visiting this land that is fought over so passionately…the land where my mother was born and where God came down to live out his ministry to the world through his Son, Jesus Christ.