— Midweek Meditations:
thoughts, inspiration and encouragement
from ACF community members —
It was in the beginning of 2023 when I talked to Christine about my stay in Israel. She asked me to write about it, and after a long time I am now able to do.
Writing about my stay means answering questions to:
Why did you go?
What did you do?
Where did you go there?
How was it?
Is there anything special about it that you took with you?
First, I would like to start with one word. In Hebrew it is …
Shalom. It is Hebrew and means peace. Coming from a religious family and remembering my parents being part of the German Protestant Church Congress, or my mother always telling me “Peace!” when my sister and me were having a fight, I knew the word, but I had never understood what it really means unless I went to Israel last year. Please, keep in mind this word while reading.
Why did you go?
Part of my studying at the university of Tübingen is to travel to other countries and to have a closer look at their education system. They offered a journey to Israel. I took that chance, and I took my son with me. Going to Israel had always been on my list because I remembered that my grandfather and grandmother went there too. And I remembered that they had been on a cruise trip through the Mediterranean Sea. I also remembered that they wanted to go ashore but they couldn’t due to political uncertainty. There it was: My own doubt if it had been a good decision. What if anything happens to me or my son? Still, I wanted to go and see what it feels like. I wanted to go to find peace.
What did you do?
On day trips, we visited different places that represent the education system. For example:
IGA (Israeli Garage Association)
Ministry of Education
Ginsburg High School in Yavne
So, we met a lot of interesting and important people, asked questions and got answers. It was great but it wasn’t what I finally found. This was job. I was seeking for peace.
Where did you go?
From Tel Aviv we went to Yavne, two times to Jerusalem (to see Old Jerusalem and Yad Vashem), the Death Sea and Roman Masada. More interesting is the answer to the question: How was it?
How was it?
As I said in the beginning, I wanted to find peace. So, I wasn’t sure about these last words that I saw written on an aircraft. Although these words were opposed to what I was looking for, I wasn’t afraid. After I had made my decision about going to Israel, I took it as a chance to find and start something new. It had something to do with peace, but it took time to understand.
I wrote about the different places we went to, but this isn’t really important. More important were the people I met. Wherever we went to there was something to eat.
After a while I understood that it had something to do with guest-friendship. But was guest-friendship what I was looking for? No. Yes.
Is there anything special about it that you took with you?
Special about my stay wasn’t the guest-friendship only the message transported with it. We were welcomed with warm hearts everywhere. I could feel a kind of kindness that I hadn’t felt before and didn’t expect. My grandparents were part of the generation that caused World War II. For years, I felt guilty for what they had done. Therefore, I was surprised that people we met did not say I was guilty. I thought that they would blame us, me. They didn’t do this at all.
But I had the chance to say:
“I am sorry!
I am sorry for what my grandparents had done.”
After so many years of living with a feeling of guiltiness, it was the first time in my life that I felt and understood what peace really means. Finding peace doesn’t mean that there no guns, no “hot war”. Peace is a feeling that you bear inside and that can grow from here into something greater.
Shalom, peace, Frieden – it isn’t a state / condition but a special feeling.
I finally left all the guilty feelings in Israel. It was my chance for a new start. It was a chance that I took feeling stronger than ever before. I didn’t know how much I would need it after being back in Germany. There is a greater meaning for me now, and Shalom in my heart.
The ACF Midweek Meditations
are written by a diverse group of our church members with the intention to seek God’s fingerprints in our lives. They range from somber to humorous and are inspired by all facets of live and faith. Written by ordinary people from all walks of life, they reflect a wide range of Christian backgrounds and spiritualities.
Each week’s text portrays the individual viewpoint of its author. They might not always resonate with everyone, and are not meant to be understood as representing the Anglican Church Freiburg as a whole. Yet, as a church that is aiming to ‘Build a Community of Grace’ we seek to practice learning from and listening to one another.
We pray that these humble ponderings add a small spark of blessing to your week.
Freiburg Anglican Church 