Welcome to "Ascending with Songs!"

Greetings Pilgrims, Families, and Friends!

You have reached the official blog of Salem Lutheran Church's 2015 Holy Land Pilgrimage. The intention of this blog is to create a space for our nearly forty pilgrims to offer reflections, insights, prayers and meditations inspired by our trip to the land where Abraham and Sarah, the prophets, and even Jesus himself have lived and walked. Some of us are widely traveled, and some have never left the United States. A few have been to many of the places we intend to visit, and many have not. What unites us is our trust that new wisdom and perspective will come when we step out of our comfort zone and let God show us new things. We hope to share some of that with you here.

The title of this blog--"Ascending With Songs"--is a reference to Psalms 120-134. These were songs written by people of faith in days long past, written especially for the journey to the Jerusalem temple for holy festivals. These words have been in the mouths of prophets and priests, and likely were even sung by Jesus and his family as they "ascended" up hill to Mount Zion: the high ground on which the temple once stood. To this day, these words are still used by Jews and Christians the world over, in many languages, as they prepare to make their pilgrimage to the holy city. Our hope is that the "songs" we sing here--songs of anticipation, of challenge, of frustration, of outrage, and of hope--may give you some sense of walking and riding with us on what promises to be a journey infused with God's presence. Thank you for joining us.