I'm finding myself in a bit of an odd space right now. I'm torn between two worlds, and yet they flow perfectly together, feeding off each other. It sounds like a contradiction, but let me explain.
We've been back from Israel for a week and a half, but my thoughts keep going back to the trip. In my spare moments, I find myself drifting back to some of the sights we saw, experiences we felt, the listeners I met who I now consider friends, and our guide Raffi and fearless driver David. It's a bit like living in a constant nostalgic state, thankful for our fantastic trip but missing it at the same time. I think of Raffi and David specifically because I don't know if I will ever see them again, in this or the next life. With the listeners on the trip, we've agreed to keep in touch and do a reunion, and if we do lose touch years down the road at least we'll be reunited one day up above. I wish I could say the same for Raffi and David, and it breaks my heart that (for now) I can't. And that is the biggest part of the nostalgia to me, friends I will never see again and who won't share in our joys. Hence, they will remain in my prayers.
And while I'm wresting down the nostalgia, I'm being thrust into the Christmas season. I say 'thrust' because 1) it's happening so fast, and 2) I'm a bit stuck in the past three weeks as explained above. Nonetheless, I'm getting really excited as I hear the Christmas music and see decorations going up.
So those are the my two worlds right now, how are they flowing perfectly together? I'm finding more and more that my trip to Israel has set the perfect backdrop for Christmas. As I read through the Christmas story (I was reading the first few chapters of Luke this morning) I better understand the text. Names that I normally would have glossed over suddenly jump off the page as I recognize their significance. The words and places have so much more context, and the story seems so much more real. The more I read in the bible, the more I think about the trip. And the more I think about our trip, the more I want to read my bible.
It's a vicious cycle, but one I don't mind being caught in.
We've been back from Israel for a week and a half, but my thoughts keep going back to the trip. In my spare moments, I find myself drifting back to some of the sights we saw, experiences we felt, the listeners I met who I now consider friends, and our guide Raffi and fearless driver David. It's a bit like living in a constant nostalgic state, thankful for our fantastic trip but missing it at the same time. I think of Raffi and David specifically because I don't know if I will ever see them again, in this or the next life. With the listeners on the trip, we've agreed to keep in touch and do a reunion, and if we do lose touch years down the road at least we'll be reunited one day up above. I wish I could say the same for Raffi and David, and it breaks my heart that (for now) I can't. And that is the biggest part of the nostalgia to me, friends I will never see again and who won't share in our joys. Hence, they will remain in my prayers.
And while I'm wresting down the nostalgia, I'm being thrust into the Christmas season. I say 'thrust' because 1) it's happening so fast, and 2) I'm a bit stuck in the past three weeks as explained above. Nonetheless, I'm getting really excited as I hear the Christmas music and see decorations going up.
So those are the my two worlds right now, how are they flowing perfectly together? I'm finding more and more that my trip to Israel has set the perfect backdrop for Christmas. As I read through the Christmas story (I was reading the first few chapters of Luke this morning) I better understand the text. Names that I normally would have glossed over suddenly jump off the page as I recognize their significance. The words and places have so much more context, and the story seems so much more real. The more I read in the bible, the more I think about the trip. And the more I think about our trip, the more I want to read my bible.
It's a vicious cycle, but one I don't mind being caught in.
No comments:
Post a Comment