Chasing the Divine in the Holy Land

I am going to the Holy Land and felt this would be a good book to read to help me prepare for my trip. Ruth brings the story of a pilgrim to life and takes us along with her in a thoughtful, delightful way. Many of the emotions she describes as she goes to the holy sites I can only feel are what I would feel. She is honest and open and writes in an engaging way that makes you feel you are there with her. I highly recommend this book for anyone seeking insight to what being a pilgrim is really like and for those planning a trip in a most special place.

Much more than a travel memoir Ruth pushes us to confront our deeper, inner, spiritual selves. As she frequently prods herself to delve beneath the sights and sounds to the spiritual (perhaps simply cultural) connections western culture attaches to Christianity. It is the difference between travel and pilgrimage. Her trip was designed for spiritual leaders but takes any reader beyond the sights and sounds of a land holy for half of the world’s inhabitants to the depths of everyone’s sense of being.

The voice in this book is that of a persson keeping a diary. It is personal yet she brings you in deeper when she wants to share. Do yourself a favor, don't read it quickly...there is a lot to digest. I suggest a cup of tea when reading so one can appreciate the impact of the message.

Chasing the Divine in the Holy Land is a good book for reflecting and contemplating one's faith. The book, while chronicling events of Ruth Everhart's pilgrimage to the Holy Land, is one that allows the reader to contemplate their own spiritual pilgrimage. Indeed, pilgrimage reminds us that faith is more than just information; it is formation. And, whether we like it or not, formation requires the continual shaping and molding of our preconceived thoughts and notions.Ruth Everhart writes from her own experience, a clergy woman whose faith was shaped within the Reformed tradition. Yet, throughout the book, there is also the recognition that one can learn from those of other traditions and faiths, those with contrasting experiences. The author shows this most poignantly in a brief scene with Khalil, a Muslim worker, where the conversation shifts from pomegranates to family, life and faith. We can identify with the author's vulnerability at this point, questioning as to whether this "other" is more friend or foe, feeling some risk and, yet, still drawn into the powerful commonality of simply being human.The book reminds us that it is not what happens to us that defines who we are but how we respond. It is our ability to look at the full spectrum of our lives and see where God has been present and at work. Pilgrimage is not simply a physical journey into a foreign country; it is also a journey which makes us look into the mirror and peer inside, seeing our true self. If you are ready for that journey inward, to "know thyself" as Socrates would put it, this book can be a welcome catalyst.

I have not been to the Holy Land... However, thanks to Ruth's passionate and keen insight, it was my privilege to walk the Holy Land with Ruth. This is not an account filled with pious platitudes. It is an honest, almost confessional journey. I laughed, shed tears, smiled and puzzled along with the pilgrims as they journeyed in the footsteps of Jesus. This journal is a must if you want to see pilgrimage in the first person and are not able to go and I would imagine a wonderful preparation before taking the journey yourself. Thanks Ruth for sharing our heart, spirit and pilgrimage with us!

In less than twenty-four hours, I devoured Chasing the Divine in the Holy Land. This is a very readable and enjoyable book. Everhart's descriptions of all that she sees and experiences are heartfelt and conveyed beautifully to the reader. I have read some other books about the Holy Land and what sets this one apart for me is how Everhart not only describes the places she sees, but tells us about the connections that she makes with the Biblical story. She shares her surprises with us and the disconnects. I was able to "know" in a way that I hadn't before. I recommend this book to all.

I have never made the journey to the Holy Land but Ruth Everhart made this literary and spiritual pilgrimage a living experience. She gently welcomes the reader on the journey and gives the joys and richness, the tiring and frustrating experiences, such poetic attention that I felt included in the journey. This is a book that will enrich your mind, comfort your soul and deepen your own spiritual and religious life. A book worthy of the read.

Ruth Everhart was our pastor at Poolesville Presbuterian. I admired her intellectual honesty and her charity towards otheres who are outside her tradition and do not share her politics. I share her distress about the ethnic and religious hatreds that have caused so much tragedy in the history of the Holy Land. She wondered when she left on her pilgrimage if her experience in Israel would destroy her faith. Yet I find her book an excellent meditation on Lent. Her fellow pilgrims were from diverse Christian persuasions, but they enjoyed fellowship together. Above all, she reminds us that human beings are sacred, not tribal identities, dogmas, or ideologies. For Christians truth is a Person, Jesus. I felt like I was walking in His shoes in the vivid way Pastor Ruth described the holy sites. His world was consumed by relgious and ethnic conflict and hatreds not so unlike our own, yet He showed us a better way, whether we've been true to His way or not. I thank the author for an honest, heartfelt rendering of the Holy Land as she experienced it.

Having journeyed to Israel/Palestine several times, both as pilgrim and leader I approached this book hoping to recognise the sights and experiences - seeking some common ground. I was not disappointed!Ruth went with hopes and fears, and in her journalling has identified and tussled with the range of emotions that can be generated in this place we call Holy. Some places I recognised immediately others were clearly different to the parts I had been. Which only served to feed my desire to go again!I particularly love her honesty about struggling with how to reconcile the "holiness" and the "ordinariness" the "commercial" and the "faithful" - and like her I was astonished how that place moved me to tears on more than one occasion. usually when I least expected it.If you have been, or you are thinking about going, or you know you are going... it's definitely worth the read. Chasing the Divine sums it up exactly. Blessings on your journey.

This was a wonderful book, and I loved the way Everhart took me along on her journey of both personal and professional discovery in a very visual, funny, and personal way.