:: in.a.mirror.dimly ::

I’ve been rereading Tamara Park’s book Sacred Encounters: a chronicle of her pilgrimage from Rome to Jerusalem. Park set out with two friends while she interviewed people in each town and city they visited, asking them to describe God.

This is a book thick with stories, personal reflections, fascinating people, and stirring insight into scripture. Park shares her own anxieties about traveling, being a good pilgrim, and even defining “success” at the conclusion of her journey.

Eric, one of her traveling companions, was the hall director at my “dorm” during my semester at Jerusalem University College. He possessed a tremendous capacity to study, often sitting in his room surrounded by an army of books. At key points in the narrative, Eric offers some excellent points of Biblical interpretation and brings these ancient texts alive. It’s good to know all of that study has really paid off!

The opening story about Eric calling his parents from the airport at Tamara’s behest to inform them that he’d be taking a little journey with his friends had a ring of truth to it.

Part travel diary, part devotional, and part meditation, Sacred Encounters will suck you in to this age-old journey to the holy land. I can think of no better book to pack along for a day at the beach or a warm afternoon at a lake.