I am here, at 1:30 am, with so much in my heart and so few words. After 18 months in the Holy Land, I leave to go back to the United States in a few hours. Desperately finishing packing (a word of advice: definitely don’t leave this kind of thing to the last minute).
Serving in Haifa was a blessing, and I am overwhelmed by the love and friendship that I have experienced. You all know who you are. You have affected me in so many ways, and I treasure every moment we have had together, and look forward to seeing you again. I have no doubt that we will.
I will be home on Wednesday, after a brief stop in Turkey, which I will write more about after my travels. For now, I want to share an excerpt from something by Hand of the Cause William Sears, which I found while writing my farewell email to the staff at the Baha’i World Centre. It touched my heart in exactly the right way, and explained so well how I am feeling.
I can no longer wait,
The time grows short, the world moves on,
The sun goes down and the hour is late.
Far off I hear His onward marching legions
Drawing nearer
With me, unmoved,
Still standing here.
The trumpet sounds, the sweet beat
Of the distant drums
Rings clear.
I see them now.
With banners flying
And in my heart I fear
They’ll pass me by.
My torch unlit
This winter, spring
This fall, this year.
O God Forbid!
This crisis finds me
Still waiting here.
Some chances, we are told
Come once in life.
Some, every hundred years
And, some like this, of ours
Comes only once
Then never reappears.
6 thoughts on “My last post from Haifa”
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i remember my last week, evening, hours, minutes, every move, the train ride to ben gurion (i couldn’t bear to have anyone see me off), the security check, sitting at the gate, getting on the flight..
so hard.
inexplicable experience.
soo few know it.
it is amongst the hardest things i’ve ever done in life.
hope yours is as meaningful and less painful.
happy travels, look forward to upcoming posts.
Nicely written. All that time, I knew that you are a good bloger, but i never made the effort to see what you write about. I am not into this whole blogging thing, but I must admit, that your blog is one of the better ones, I like the topic, the layout, the colours and the pics. keep it up 🙂
I can’t believe your time there is already up. Thanks for sharing with the rest of us glimpses of your service and life in the Holy Land.
Be good to yourself… and to the world. See you on the other side.
welcome back to the mainland 🙂
i know how it feels…what a blessed time, serving…
love!
I’ve never been to Haifa or Israel, or any Baha’i-related year of service. But in some ways I’ve stood where you’re now standing, though a different context and a different time. You may be leaving Haifa, but I sense that it will never leave you. My guess is that your experiences will resurface at unexpected and interesting times, and then you’ll realize how much your year in Haifa has changed you. Just treasure the moment and the journey to the next phase of your life. (Are you going to be back in our beloved Midwest?) In any case, I offer you my best wishes and prayers as you make the transition…