Pilgrimage

We're in the Istanbul Airport transferring to our flight to Tel Aviv. We're anticipating our arrival at one of the world's most tightly secured airports, and the questions from the customs officials. Our intention is to describe the purpose of our visit as a "pilgrimage" to holy sites, and not mention the context which will involve our travel in the West Bank. We plan to tell the truth, but in broad strokes.

Is it true to call what we are doing a pilgrimage? It may seem more justifiable for Kathleen, who identifies as a Christian UU, than for Wayne, who identifies as a UU and a Buddhist. But that UU part that we hold in common is what makes this trip a pilgrimage, rather than denies it. The UU in us not only wants to honor the holy sites and land of the Jewish and Christian heritages from which our faith comes, but also recognizes the power of the holy sites of the world faiths that we know less well: Judaism, Islam, and Bah'ai (which has a major pilgrimage shrine in Haifa).

Here in Istanbul Airport, we have become immediately aware of the power of pilgrimage. Even before we got off the plane, we could see through the airport windows hundreds of people dressed in white robes waiting for planes. As we entered and saw them from a closer distance, we saw that many of them were men with full beards all dressed alike in white toga-like robes and sandals, pulling carry on bags. We both had the same thought at the same time - "it's the Haj"!

The Haj is one of the five pillars of Islam, a requirement every observant Muslim seeks to fulfill at least once in a lifetime, to join in the annual pilrimage to Mecca. As we sat ourselves near the gates for the flights boarding for Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, we saw a cross section of the world pass by us: not just men, but women too; not just Turks or Europeans, but Africans and Asians; not just the well-off who can afford the trip, but people who have saved their whole lives to make this possible.

We felt welcomed and inducted into the fellowship of pilgrims. When we arrived at the gate for our flight, the white robes were no more, replaced by seats filled with men in black Hasidic hats and suits, waiting for their flight, and ours. It's a different kind of pilgrimage that awaits us.








- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad