Occupation

Alternative Pilgrimage

/ Rozella Haydée White / 1 Comment

I am leading a group of young adults who are tasked with the responsibility of leading other young adults on trips to Israel and Palestine in the next year and a half. These travelers will use their trips as starting points to engage in issues of peace and justice back home as it pertains to the ongoing occupation and violation of human rights happening in Israel and Palestine. Each night, we hold reflections and devotions as we consider what we have experienced throughout the day and how it not only impacts our knowledge, but more importantly how it impacts our calling as people of faith who are seeking to be change agents.

The other night, the young adults leading devotions last spoke about Christian pilgrimage and they got me thinking about this question – What does it mean to reclaim Christian Pilgrimage from being viewed as an internal spiritual experience to an external prophetic journey? Don’t get me wrong, I believe that we are called to deepen in faith and do soul work that better informs our spirituality. However, it seems as though Christian pilgrimage has become mainly about visiting sites and growing in personal faith and less about connecting with a historic narrative that informs how one’s faith should impact their life in the world. Continue reading →

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Shrines and Stones

/ Rozella Haydée White / 1 Comment

I am beginning my second journey in the Middle East as I type this post. I was first here in June of 2013 with a group of young adults who were traveling from the Metro DC Synod of the ELCA. I was able to join them on their journey as an observer and what I saw, heard and felt, changed my life.

The Holy Land has long been a mythical place to me. I am a person of Christian faith and thinking about modern day cities like Bethlehem, Nazareth and Jerusalem conjures up images of Jesus and the disciples sharing the radical message that would become the basis of my faith. I am someone who values interfaith dialogue and relationships and the Holy Land always seemed like a utopic place; where those descendants of Abrahamic faith live together. Before coming in June, I was overwhelmed with the thought of walking where Jesus walked, seeing what Jesus saw and of meeting people who were descendants of the heroes and sheroes of my faith. This whimsical, and quite frankly, naive way of viewing my experience was fundamentally altered when I touched down in Israel, Palestine and Jerusalem. Continue reading →

Canaries in a Coal Mine

/ Rozella Haydée White / Leave a comment

Sunday was a day that answered my ongoing question of, “Why is it important for this place and this conflict to be recognized by Christians and what is our role is supporting the peace process?” The answer came in the form of a mining story dealing with canaries in a coal mine…

Before mines had ventilation systems and we had the technology to detect high levels of carbon monoxide and other gases that can kill a miner, canaries played an important and sacrificial role in alerting miners to the dangers around them. A canary would be brought into the mine in a cage and as they are created to do, would sing. When a canary stopped singing, because they were dead or very close to dying, miners would know that they needed to get out of the mine because of the dangerous levels of CO2. Canaries served as a warning of the impending danger but they also provided songs while miners worked in a very dangerous setting. Stay with me because I am going to connect it all very soon… Continue reading →

Checkpoints and Guns and Walls…Oh My!

/ Rozella Haydée White / 1 Comment

I’ve never been in an occupied territory, at least not knowingly. I’ve heard stories about apartheid in South Africa. I’ve seen images from Nazi Germany and the Holocaust. I’ve studied slavery and heard the stories passed down from one generation to the next about what it meant to be considered less than. But I’ve never experienced occupation and restriction of movement as a personal reality. Today my story changed.

I arrived first to Tel Aviv. I had about a two hour wait for the rest of the group to arrive and spent time people watching. It’s always interesting being in airports around the world. Aside from the languages spoken and bathrooms (more on the second topic later), one airport looks like any other. I didn’t feel like I was in Israel, though I’m not sure what that was supposed to feel like. Continue reading →