We Belong Together

Beloved in Christ,

Last week, I had an extraordinary opportunity to join nine other Episcopal bishops on a pilgrimage of solidarity with our Christian siblings in the Holy Land. We travelled there at the invitation of Archbishop Hosam Naoum of the Province of Jerusalem and the Middle East. You can read more about our trip here. While we did meet with Jewish and Muslim faith leaders, most of our time was spent praying with and listening to Anglican and Orthodox Christian communities in East Jerusalem, Nazareth, and the West Bank. Because the Gaza Strip is the epicenter of the current conflict, it is not possible to travel there, though we did hear stories of the amazing work our Anglican siblings in the Diocese of Jerusalem are doing to be agents of healing, relief, reconciliation, and justice there and throughout the whole region. We were the first group of pilgrims the diocese has welcomed in more than fifteen months.

One of the highlights of our time was the opportunity to celebrate Orthodox Christmas with the Greek, Syrian, and Coptic communities at the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, built on the traditional site of Jesus' birth. I think the photo below from that night, taken by my colleague Bishop Jeff Mello of Connecticut, best captures and summarizes my experience. The space is festive, crowded, noisy, and chaotic, as the various Christian groups chant, sing, and process in the same space at the same time. As best I can tell, the man in the blue coat is an older sibling or otherwise a caretaker for the man in the red sweater. The latter was clearly agitated in some way by the overwhelming stimulation in the space. His brother kept his hand on his back like this through almost the whole evening. A beautiful and tender reminder that he is not alone in the chaos, that he is seen, connected, and held in love.

That’s what I experienced from the Palestinian Christians we spent the majority of our time with. Across major historic differences and divisions, that in another era may have engendered hostility, they generously embraced one another, holding a gentle hand on each other’s backs, assuring one another they are connected, held, and not alone.

Their effusive gratitude for our presence, after a long stretch when contact with the wider Christian world came to a halt, was overwhelming. They told us they felt our hands on their backs. But they also put their hands on ours. We, guests in these ancient communities, were often embraced as if we were core members of the family. It can be a lonely thing to be human. The heart of this pilgrimage was, for me, the mutual reminder that, in Jesus, none of us gets to be alone. In the face of suffering, injustice, chaos, and separation, we belong to one another, gently and tenderly holding one another, as we are drawn together more and more into the one light of God’s love.

Grace and Peace,

The Right Rev. Craig Loya