Pilgrim, Tourist, or ?

Reflecting on his recent trip to Israel in his Christmas Eve sermon, my pastor raised the question who each of us are. The question was whether or not we were pilgrims or tourists not only in our faith, but in our everyday lives. The distinction between the two was tourists tend to see things (life?) from the surface while pilgrims can past the external to see the internal struggles and stresses of daily life.

Here in Egypt, it is easy to be tourist. Pyramids. . . camels. . . mummies. . . sphinxes. . . artifacts all are easy to see. Trinkets and souvenirs beckon at every turn. Traffic can be tuned out. The call to prayer lingers in the background.

To be a pilgrim, however, is a different journey. It is different because it challenges one's identity, and one's understanding of history, faith, and the Bible. Being a pilgrim challenges one's own understanding of self.

We've been learning alot about identity over the past couple of days: cultural, historical, religious, political, and social. We spent time with Father Sarabamon of the Egyptian Coptic Church who elaborated on the history of the Coptic Church. We heard from Dr. Hoda Ragheb about the political identity of the Middle East. I'm still trying to wrap my mind around these multiple co-existing identities (but not personalities!).

Cultural and political identity came into play tonight for us as well. Through the graciousness of Rev. Clifford Lewis (the ELCA pastor of St. Andrew's United Churchof Cairo), we were able to watch the 44th Presidential Inauguration of President Obama. Pita and pizza, tears and cheers, accompanied the fellowship as we watched a moment in American history overseas. In this moment, we claimed our identity as Americans.

In the journey of life, our answer to the question of who we are depends upon our perspective and understanding. Pilgrim? Tourist? I'll take pilgrim who is a Child of God.

Blessings and grace,

Traci Glover