{"id":2236,"date":"2019-10-26T23:22:18","date_gmt":"2019-10-26T20:22:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.livingstonespilgrimage.org\/?p=2236"},"modified":"2021-03-16T13:22:09","modified_gmt":"2021-03-16T11:22:09","slug":"hope-is-a-verb","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.livingstonespilgrimage.org\/lsp-archive\/2019\/10\/hope-is-a-verb\/","title":{"rendered":"Hope is a Verb"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Saturday, October 26, 2019 ~ Deb Gamble & Jayne Smith<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hope inspires the good to reveal itself. ~ Emily Dickenson<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

As we near the end of our pilgrimage it seems fitting to reflect on what we have seen. The best analogy I can think of is a roller coaster. We have had so many highs \u2013 the places we have been privileged to visit and the people, oh, the wonderful people we have been blessed to meet. This seems to be followed (sometimes way too quickly!) by the sobering reality of the politics of this land and the devastating effects on its people. But no matter where we were on the roller coaster, there was always hope present. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today was most certainly a pinnacle of the highs. Visiting the students at Mar Elias Middle School was pure delight. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Deb with her student group, selfie time<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The children\u2019s enthusiasm in engaging in conversation with us, wanting to know about our families and where we live, telling us about theirs, was infectious. I talked with a future engineer, teacher, computer scientist, biologist and even a future professional swimmer and soccer player. And the English class! Wow! What intensity and eagerness to learn. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Students we talked with<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

And the inspiration we received from Nabila Espanioly at the Al Tufula Center for Women and Children. Being a political activist could have been enough. Starting the school could have been enough. Being a resource and inspiration to young women could have been enough. But she somehow dug deeper to write children\u2019s books full of history and inspiration and once again, hope. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Student mosaic on display at Mar Elias <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Coming here I thought of hope as a noun, but I have learned that hope, used wisely, is a verb, a very active verb. That is a lesson I won\u2019t forget.
~ Deb Gamble<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After visiting Mar Elias School and Al Tufula Center for Women and Children we walked to the Liwan Culture Caf\u00e9 <\/a>and delighted in a marvelous lunch and traditional lute music. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sally Azzam, one of the owners, told her story of why they decided to open the Caf\u00e9. The hope in her story was that after their Caf\u00e9 opened it brought in other businesses to a formerly deserted part of town. Wonderful local art was available for purchase and several of us shopped!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Musicians in Nazareth<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

We visited the Basilica of the Annunciation and St. Joseph\u2019s Church and that visit was made more special because of a wedding being held there. Beautiful children so excited to be in the wedding! The band leading them into the church was something to watch for sure. Thanks to Haifa for talking me into getting very close! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Happening on this wedding was a bonus!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Our before-dinner time with Abuna Elias Chacour\u2026.I have heard him speak years ago but the impact of his story was only made clearer by the sights and stories we have heard. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Abuna Elias Chacour shared his story with us<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It made me hopeful again about the fate of Palestine and Israel by Abuna’s words:
\u201cThe closest road to Jerusalem runs through Washington D.C.\u201d Reminding me to write politicians.
\u201cMen from Galilee don\u2019t make appointments\u2026we make appearances.\u201d Reminding me to use every opportunity.
\u201cAre you ready to raise hell for peace?\u201d Reminding me to always strive for peace.
~ Jayne Smith<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Saturday, October 26, 2019 ~ Deb Gamble & Jayne Smith Hope inspires the good to reveal itself. ~ Emily Dickenson As we near the end of our pilgrimage it seems fitting to reflect on what we have seen. The best … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2236","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-2019-october-pilgrimage"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.livingstonespilgrimage.org\/lsp-archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2236","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.livingstonespilgrimage.org\/lsp-archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.livingstonespilgrimage.org\/lsp-archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.livingstonespilgrimage.org\/lsp-archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.livingstonespilgrimage.org\/lsp-archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2236"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.livingstonespilgrimage.org\/lsp-archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2236\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2250,"href":"https:\/\/www.livingstonespilgrimage.org\/lsp-archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2236\/revisions\/2250"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.livingstonespilgrimage.org\/lsp-archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2236"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.livingstonespilgrimage.org\/lsp-archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2236"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.livingstonespilgrimage.org\/lsp-archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2236"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}