Guest Commentary

By Eric McKeirnan

Special To the East Washingtonian

If you read my stuff, you might remember that a group of people, some from Waitsburg, Tekoa, Pomeroy and the Tri-Cities joined about an equal amount from the wrong side of the state and went on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land in 2018. I will give you the” Boys in the Boat” version of that journey.

If you saw the movie the “Boys in the Boat”, you probably watched a young man go to college, get a scholarship by rowing for the U of W, then go to Germany and win an Olympic Gold medal. “Yea!” If instead you read the book first and then watched the movie as I did, you probably said, “that sucked”. I wondered if George Clooney read the book? My impression of the story was a man’s ability to exclude hatred from his soul despite great tribulations and abandonment.

I would love to hear the stories of my traveling companions about the things that moved their souls the most on our adventure. We entered the tomb of Lazarus and crawled our way out. It was not an easy task and we were not just freshly made alive.

Have you ever been to the top of Steptoe Butte? We went to the top of Mt. Tabor which is almost as tall as Steptoe. Jesus met with Moses and Elijah at the summit and was transfigured. We did not celebrate Mass there unfortunately, but I gathered a few rocks near the top and carved upon them back home. Our parish priest Fr. Steve Werner rode up the mountain in the same small bus that Linda and I and a couple of young women from our group and another gal near my age. The gal my age cried most of the way up to the top. She was certain we would go flying off the road and plummet to our death. I, on the other hand felt we had a 14% chance of not dying. The young girls acted like it was an amusement ride and laughed most of the way to the top. Fr. Steve just smiled and held tight as did Linda and I.

We went to where Jesus performed his first miracle, and we renewed our marriage vows. It was one of my favorite things, as I listened to the words more closely this time and surprisingly, she said “yes” again, knowing all the flaws and goofiness that she may not have been fully briefed of the first time around.

Capernaum was a fishing village and home to Peter and other disciples. So much happened here, only a Bible could hold the stories. The Mt. of Beatitudes was a gentle slope overlooking the Sea of Galilee and it was breathtaking under blue skies and sunshine. I would have liked to have spent many days in this area as it looked on this day as it would have looked two thousand years before. We went to the oldest city in the world, Jericho and spent time at the Jordan River where water was gathered to later to be poured upon my youngest granddaughter’s head when it was her time to join the rest of us Christians.

On our last day in the Holy Country of Israel, inside the Holy City of Jerusalem, we were scheduled to celebrate our last Mass from Calvary, the hill our Savior was to die upon. A change of plans reached us. It would be possible for us to celebrate that last Mass from the tomb of Jesus Christ. We had to bail out of bed early this day. We followed the Stations of the Cross and made the path believed that Jesus took upon his last day inside a living human body. When we ended up at the Holy Sepulcher, the sun was not yet risen. We took our places just in front of the tomb of Christ, when our group leader, Mikhail asked if I would read the second reading?

Generally, I am a Eucharistic Minister and not a reader so I said, “Yes”. For a few moments my voice would be the audible sound in front of the open door of Jesus Christ’s tomb. Sadly, for me there was a last-minute change of plans and I was not able to perform this cherished opportunity. However, I was able to join my friends and my Priest in the most Holy place this earth will ever know. After our Mass and a long-standing wait, we were allowed to enter the tomb in groups of 4. Cindy and Butch and Linda and I were able to enter and kneel at the slab, the body’s final rest of our Savior. Emotions and words, thoughts and images flashed rapidly before a peaceful word of thanks.

He would endure so much for me? Are we worth such sacrifice?