No, Things are NOT Back to Normal...That's the Point

Many people wondered how long it took to adapt to normal life again. They often mean it in terms of things like how I handled adjusting to the 8-hour time difference. Some people might wonder how long it took to get caught up on things at work. Those were things that took a day or less of transition. That was nothing.

A true pilgrimage, and especially one of this magnitude and one exploring the Holy Land yields a very different experience, and it is one that makes me appreciate the ways in which I haven't even come close to adapting back to "normal" life.

Some people take part in Bible studies or other religious studies. Many of these involve a weekly meeting for an hour or two. Many studies meet 5-24 times, with many of them being around 10 times. This trip filled 10 days with learning in a more immersive experience. So one takes in one's environment--sights, sounds, smells, and feels/textures--while being told about each site and what happened there. In this way, this was many times more than any Bible study you ever took.

Some people go on religious retreats. Some are mini-retreats that might just take part of a day. More retreats last a weekend. Few people manage to experience longer retreats. By leaving work behind, and leaving behind various friends and/or family, and being focused on religious matters, this was very much like a week and a half long retreat.

Experiencing this with all sorts of people one had seen before and many people one hadn't seen before, it led to lots of time talking with others who were sharing in the experience. Between interacting with the other people and taking in so much at each stop, there wasn't much reason to use the wifi on the bus, listen to music, listen to podcasts, or any other thing people often do. We left from Iowa on the day of the Iowa Caucus and returned just days after the New Hampshire Primary. So either on the bus or more commonly in the evening, we would catch a little news and find out what was going on. Some TV channels were in English, others in Hebrew, some in Russian, a few in French, and at least one in German. But there wasn't much temptation to take in that kind of stuff.

So upon returning, there isn't as much desire to listen to music, podcasts, or other sources of noise and distraction. One wants to continue learning about the places and events one learned a little about, since we developed a daily routine of learning.

We also found ourselves not facing the daily conflicts and negativity that are too common in social media and in personal interactions with people. Upon returning, one encounters people who seem to engage in unnecessary opposition of others, rudeness, etc.

In contrast, I found the daily Masses bringing about unity. I would see the two priests who went on this pilgrimage serving so well together. Many people only see a single priest for a given parish. Sometimes we see more priests concelebrating Mass, but that often involves many others, like we see pictured in the image below. I'll note that I rarely take photos during a Mass, so I think I managed this photo just before the High Mass in the Holy Sepulchre. One priest celebrating a Mass is what we normally see and he does each part. Large numbers of priests ends up with one doing most of the work with others helping. But there is truly something remarkable about having two who work well together. When dressed in similar garments, one celebrating and the other having the humility of concelebrating, and then swapping roles for other Masses, it was beautiful to see. Sometimes we would see them interact with one other, since they aren't in their own parish. Whether that was a priest in charge at each site, or whether it was the priest that celebrated the last Mass, we would see the two interact with a third at times. For people considering religious vocations, I think it's beneficial to see a 2-priest duo like this at some point.


The land had more hills than many of us expected, even though Jerusalem is built upon hills/mountains, it's not as level as people so often assume. With the cold and the rain that made the trip more difficult, we exerted great efforts at time, while that hasn't been necessary after the trip.

When attending Mass or reading from the Bible, now I have an idea of the lay of the land of the places mentioned. I know the places as they are today, with churches dedicated to the events that took place. But one also tries to bring to mind what things may have been like at the time of the events. The same is true when praying the rosary.

I find I want some time to relax after the trip. But a more lasting desire seeks more quiet time and time to learn. I don't want things to be exactly as they were before the trip. Otherwise, what was the point in going?

I have some responsibilities taking up some of my time, which will delay telling more about the whole trip. But I will try to spread some stories out over the next several weeks or months.


Comments