The Promised Land

As we crossed over the King Hussein’s bridge from Jordan into the Land of Milk and Honey; the difference in scenery, in the azure blue sky, the green of the fields and in the clean fresh air, WERE all so breath-takingly beautiful.

Even nature has succumbed to the imagination of men.

Across the border in Jordan, as we drive through the villages and backroads, we see destitute and poverty. The air is filled with sand and dust particles and even breathing feels laboriously uncomfortable; to the point of suffocation.

More disconcerting is to see the youths hanging out on the road-shoulders . Most of them come across as aggressive and rowdy. Perhaps it is not right to prejudge but first impressions are truly very strong. And as we drive through the streets, we see more and more of them just killing time with some very aggressive and rowdy antics.  It is rude to stare, but it is even more difficult not to. To see behavior that is so different from home and quite contrary to civil society, BEGETS THE QUESTION OF ‘ARE WE ALL THAT DIFFERENT?’. Even the young children run around in such an unruly manner; in what we would call a ‘cowboy’ town, back home.

But the smiles on the children’s faces are truly heartwarming – from ear to ear. When did the smiles fade? When we look at the children and the youths; what happened to them along the way of adolescence?

As we neared Israel, there were these rays of sunlight breaking through the grey clouds. The rays looked as if they were shining over the promised land and in my mind, I saw white doves descending on the far away land and heard ‘this is the land promised to Abraham and his descendants’. Is it an omen? Is it a sign? But something touched deep within me.

The sites that we visited from Nazareth to Jerusalem, from Haifa to Tiberias, from Capernaum to Jericho, from the old to the new, all these just reinforces that the word lives in this land. A beautiful land that throughout history is filled with bloodshed and violence, but it was here, on the plains of Galillee, on the calm waters of the lake, in the clear blue of the sky, on the toothless  smile of the old lady at the corner shop, in the cry of the baby in his mother’s arms, that the Son of Man came and brought peace for one and all.

We rave over Picasso and Van Gogh and Rembrandt, but the one true great artist who gives us such rich, vibrant, beautiful hues, goes unnoticed, unappreciated. How fickle we humans are!

When we started the journey, it was not a pilgrimage for me but more of an adventure, a holiday. Only a Malaysian Christian or Muslim on pilgrimage is allowed the entry visa into JERUSALEM. So at that time, it seemed a good opportunity to see THE LAND OF MILK AND HONEY. But as the days progressed; I felt as if my Creator was extending his hand and inviting me along to see a part of me I have not seen before.

Enjoy the one great journey of life

Copyright © Belinda Ong, June 2011. All rights reserved.

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