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description=A McCabe Pilgrimage led by The Very Revd Andrew Nunn, Dean Emeritus of Southwark;

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Text of the page (random words):
ture tells us how our father abraham set out not knowing where he was going hebrews 11 8 but as the writer of the letter to the hebrews is at pains to point out he like the others he mentions abel enoch noah sarah rahab etc all lived and travelled by faith they placed their destiny in god s hands and that at the end of the day is all you can do pilgrimage teaches us surprising lessons we didn t know that this would be the lesson that we would be learning on this pilgrimage to jordan which would take us where we did not know we were going tomorrow god willing inshallah as they say here we travel home in three groups but more of that tomorrow now we rest from our travels before we step out again god guide every step we take as you have guide those who have walked the path before us amen flight into egypt on march 3 2026 march 3 2026 by andrew nunn 1 comment it felt almost biblical we had to leave jordan in some haste well we had time to pack and prepare but instead of continuing the pilgrimage which would have meant leaving the desert camp at 8am and driving all the way to the baptismal site close to the dead sea we left half an hour later and headed south to aqaba the situation in the region was getting worse we had to leave jordan and the only way was to take a ferry from the port and cross to sinai from there we travelled the three and half hour journey to the sun kissed resort of sharm el sheik all big resort hotels sitting uncomfortably and incongruously alongside the harsh hard landscape of sinai leaving aqaba leaving jordan but we have a bed for the night thanks be to god and at the moment we have a flight tomorrow to cairo and then god willing we will fly from cairo to heathrow on thursday this was not what we had planned and prepared for and people are obviously disappointed but we are also realistic what other option was there as flights were cancelled and air space closed so here we are in egypt two things come to mind the first is the flight of the holy family under threat from a capricious narcissistic despotic leader sounds familiar jospeh took mary and the child jesus and made their way to safety it is st matthew who tells us the story the flight into egypt by fra angelico now after they had left an angel of the lord appeared to joseph in a dream and said get up take the child and his mother and flee to egypt and remain there until i tell you for herod is about to search for the child to destroy him then joseph got up took the child and his mother by night and went to egypt and remained there until the death of herod this was to fulfill what had been spoken by the lord through the prophet out of egypt i have called my son matthew 2 13 15 it is an all too familiar story and this was our second reflection we had it all laid on a boat a coach visas somewhere to stay we were anxious but we knew that people were sorting things out for us so that we could be safe but millions of people are refugees escaping war terror poverty seeking a new safe life for their family like joseph maybe not prompted by an angel but by necessity and we demonise them and force them into small boats to take even further risks to secure a future even in extreme situations we still have it all tomorrow is another day and another hotel in another city but not for all our brothers and sisters in this war torn region or this world which lacks the peace ands justice that is god s will for all jesus mary and joseph be alongside all who flee their old home for a place of safety and bring them to their new home surrounded by love amen camel trains on march 2 2026 by andrew nunn it has been quite a day we are now in the desert camp in wadi rum we have seen camels and we have seen trains this has excited the pilgrims in a variety of ways i wonder why clergy are often so excited by trains after all wilbert awdry the creator of thomas the tank engine was himself a clergyman thomas jordanian cousin so we have seen the ships of the desert and the desert train ships of the desert this is a short blog but i wanted to keep in touch we are fine and mccabe s our pilgrimage company have a plan we are praying for you please pray for us happy pilgrims lord continue to bless us as we continue to travel amen like father like son on march 1 2026 by andrew nunn what do they say the apple doesn t fall far from the tree well here at least it s the case just about 6 miles outside petra is what is commonly known as little petra but it s real name is al beidha it is a little version of what we saw yesterday and for those who paid a return visit to petra today to enter little petra though you have to walk through siq al barid meaning cold canyon today there was no wind but i can imagine that this narrow gap in the rocks could be as real wind tunnel but you have to walk there are no horses no golf buggies here arriving in little petra once through the space opens out and in the surrounding rocks are carved temples burial places and a number of triclinia which were banqueting halls in big petra you can find all these things but more of them here you benefit by being able to get up close and there are not the crowds of people around the beautifully carved temples we had begun the day by celebrating the eucharist in the hotel today is sunday lent 2 the hotel staff had created a little chapel for us where we could share in the eucharistic meal but as we looked at these 1st century banqueting halls we were reminded that it was in a similarly designed space that the disciples gathered with jesus to celebrate the last supper it was a place designed for reclining as one ate not sitting at a table in the da vinci style of imagining the upper room on maundy thursday some of the triclinia were large others smaller but all were carved out of the rock by the nabateans who created this little version of the big city this son this daughter of petra an apple from the same tree our sunday morning chapel one of the triclinia notice the benches on three sides for reclining the eucharist had been an opportunity to pray for peace in the region we have been grateful for all the messages of love and concern that we have been receiving we are just having to stay vigilant and monitor the situation the local people are very calm and we are sharing that sense of calm even though we know that terrible things are occurring not so many miles away staircases up to painted frescoed halls so it was good to get out again amongst the rocks amongst the caves in a place where so many years ago people made their homes and offered hospitality we are enjoying the hospitality we are receiving whether that be at the table of the eucharist or at the many meals in which we are sharing we break bread alongside each other knowing that the lord is with us lord jesus you call us to the table to eat and be satisfied strengthen us by your grace and bless us with your continuing presence amen a rose red city half as old as time on february 28 2026 by andrew nunn john william burgon s poem petra captures what is at the heart of the place for those who visit it it seems magical hardly possible that the buildings and memorials we see were carved by human hand they are all one with the rock around them carved from the living rock itself from top to bottom walking into the siq the sight of the treasury building at the end of the long siq is always a breathtaking moment however many times you see it it never fails to excite the imagination and thrill the senses this morning the sun shone brightly upon it a real blessing half way through the walk from the hotel to the place we were to have lunch and then back to the hotel is about 6 5 miles many of the group went off after lunch to see some of the sights not found on the main route the byzantine church the monastery and the royal tombs so in one way or another we all got our steps in the pilgrims outside the treasury burgon is right it does feel as though the place is half as old as time a once lost now found city in which history has been lived and we can still sense it around us taking a break amongst the ancient stones the story of this region is a complicated one an understatement i know and this site and its history is equally complex but modern life bore down on us today whilst we were walking through the ancient stones israel and the usa began an attack on iran iran has retaliated none of us knows what this means for our pilgrimage but whilst our concern might be for the group and our safety even more so our concern must be for the stability of this region the remains of the colonnaded walk we saw some ancient arches not carved out of the stone but built from blocks of quarried stone there at the centre was the keystone holding it all together remove that stone and the arch collapses make the corners weak and the building can t survive jesus is described as the cornerstone sometimes the keystone and in his pentecost sermon this is exactly how st peter describes him for some a horse was the way to travel we pray that the fragile nature of this region may not collapse but that peace may be restored with justice for all and built for its future on strong foundations god of peace grant to this region peace with justice for all people amen north and south on february 27 2026 by andrew nunn east and west in 1854 mrs gaskell published her famous novel not cranford but north and south something of a social commentary on how life could be lived so differently in different parts of the same country today we have travelled in jordan from north to south and experienced contrasts ourselves the cloud cleared and we saw the view we checked out of our hotel in amman the roads were for once quiet it is friday and so the weekend for the muslim population who are also keeping ramadan so we made good time in travelling across the country to mount nebo the mountain stands on the edge of the jordan valley the clouds and fog yes fog cleared so that we could see what moses saw the valley below the judean hills beyond the dead sea to the south and jericho directly ahead of us it was incredible the air clear the sunlight as it were spotlighting the view before us this was as far as moses could travel it was in this area that he died here the hebrews mourned his death for thirty days and then joshua took up the baton of leadership and led the people across the jordan and into the promised land celebrating the eucharist in former times when abram and lot arrived in the area the lord said to abram raise your eyes now and look from the place where you are northward and southward and eastward and westward for all the land that you see i will give to you and to your offspring forever genesis 13 14 15 with the precision of the compass the people looked around in the days of abram and in the days of moses and saw the land that god had promised we know that the implications of that promise and legacy still resound in local and international politics today it is heartbreaking to look on so much beauty and know that it is scarred by so much pain a mosaic image of moses looking from mount nebo we celebrated the eucharist in the chapel of elias at the top of the mountain and remembered unfinished tasks and the wisdom that comes with having to hand on a task to another it was our first opportunity to break bread together since we embarked on this journey a diverse ecumenical group from the four corners of the british isles st george s madaba from there we went to see a map this time in madaba the floor of the greek orthodox church of st george built on the footprint of an earlier byzantine church contains fragments of a map showing the lands around the holy land with jerusalem at its heart it was amazing to see places we had heard of places we had visited places that we will head for as we continue the pilgrimage the map of jerusalem finally came the long journey south inhabited land giving way to wilderness but with a gentle bloom of green grass evidence of the rain that the land has been enjoying then rejoining the kings highway we will see more of that we eventually came to the rose city of petra where we will be staying for the next three days the view across wadi musa to petra the south is certainly different to the north but all of it is blessed by god and all of it bears witness to the persistent travels of the hebrew people following their leader moses because before arriving in petra we entered wadi musa the valley of moses on his journey on their journey north south east west they had been here before us loving god as we travel in the footsteps of others may we finally enter into the land of your promise amen crossroads on february 26 2026 february 26 2026 by andrew nunn it was an iconic 60 s tv show perhaps the most iconic crossroads was loved by some but pilloried by others it was still an object of fun when the late great victoria wood parodied it in acorn antiques the wobbly sets unforgettable credits and of course the standard of acting but there stands crossroads as a symbol of its time crossroads wherever we find them are important jericho was a land of highways and crosswords of fords and journeys pilgrims beside the jabbok today began at the jabbok river the place where jacob wrestled with god through the night and discovered his new identity and vocation no longer jacob but israel then with this new name he crossed the river an so began much of the history of the people who would take his name as theirs looking from gadara towards galilee we went from there further north almost as far north as one can travel in jordan the town now called umm qays we know from the gospels as gadara the land of the garasene and the place where jesus healed the man living among the tombs and sent the evil spirits that possessed him into a herd of swine it is a fascinating story and a fascinating place a graeco roman city part of the decapolois that triangle of cities built by the romans that surrounded isreal jesus however was not constrained by borders or boundaries we saw in the distance the sea of galilee and the modern city of tiberius jesus crosses the sea and enters foreign territory different languages were spoken different traditions followed swine were kept this was a city of philosophers competing ideas ethics and understandings in conflict and debate one inscription see below that has survived from a memorial reads that sense of crossroads and journeys is part of the place jesus crosses over and enters a different place and in doing so encourages us to step outside our comfort zone and meet people where they are the pilgrims outside hadrian s triumphal entrance at jerash gadara was of course built on the classic roman model of town planning the main street the cardo literally the heart the main artery of the city which went from north south and was crossed by the decumanus the other main street which went east west where they met was one of the principal places of encounter in the city a ...