On The Road to Damascus: One Group’s Journey to Find Peace in the Holy Land

News

On The Road to Damascus: One Group’s Journey to Find Peace in the Holy Land

Tree of Life Yobo Member
March 6th, 2010

On March 4, 2010, 32 members of an interfaith group traveled to Syria, Jordan, Israel and Palestine to take part in the 7th Tree of Life Journey. The purpose of the journey is to seek out and celebrate the work of Israelis and Palestinians – Jews, Muslims and Christians – who have exemplified themselves in their efforts toward peace and reconciliation. In these journeys, we have had the honor of listening to the stories and the perspectives of these voices of conscience. At the same time, these interfaith journeys have enabled us to explore the roots of our respective faith traditions and come to a deeper appreciation of the rich spiritual diversity in our human family. The Journey has afforded the opportunity to meet and learn from voices of conscience from the Jewish, Christian and Muslim communities in the holy land.

27 Hrs, 2 Buses, and 1 Plane Later…

…we have, at last, arrived at our hotel in Damascus, Syria.

For most of the group, our journey began at 2 pm on March 4^th at the First Congregational Church in Old Lyme where many people—Tree of Life participants past and present, family members, and friends—gathered to send us off with a blessing and prayer.

David spoke of the “Peace candle”, which burns every Sunday morning as a symbol to keep in mind as we travel to a place that needs so badly to find peace.

We held hands in a circle around the meetinghouse and prayed. Many offered us their kind blessings, hoping for a safe, enlightening trip and we prayed for the 9 members who had arrived in Jordan one day head of us on earlier flights. Of course, we couldn’t leave without a group picture and after capturing our smiling faces—filled with joy, excitement, eagerness and some inevitable nervousness—and exchanging hugs and “goodbyes”, 19 members of our 32-person group departed for JFK international airport.

We arrived in New York as planned and passed time wandering around the airport, getting acquainted with the rest of the group and walking in anticipation of many hours in bus and airplane seats. We met Bill, Susan and Dana before going through security but we were waiting for Lecia, who would join us on a connecting flight from Boston.

It was smooth sailing through security—an impressive feat for such a large group! Several hours later, we were more than ready to board the plane. But, wait…we were still missing one member of the group. Unfortunately, around 11 pm, the flight departed without Lecia, who’s flight from Boston did not arrive in time.

**Note: Lecia is well and she will be joining us in Damascus tomorrow where we eagerly await her arrival!

12 hours later, we had arrived at Queen Ailia Airport in Amman, Jordan! Slightly groggy, we dragged our stiff joints and sore muscles through customs and immigration to baggage claim where ALL of our bags and our good friend Jiries were waiting!

The group got on the bus, somewhat reluctantly, and drove to pick up the rest of the group at their hotel and depart On The Road To Damascus.

Despite fatigue, everyone seems to be in good spirits and we just finished a wonderful, much-anticipated dinner at a “Revolving Restaurant” with a magnificent view of the city.