Everything, Nothing, and I'm a Middle Child

We're going on pilgrimage! Many of the people joining us (roughly 200) may start traveling today, so our 'trip' will be to head up into the Merkaz (city center), plop ourselves down at a comfy cafe and read, read, read in preparation.

I am sooooo excited to be going on pilgrimage - mainly because it is so very special, but a small part is relieved to have 2 weeks of vacation. We were originally scheduled to leave the Baha'i World Centre now and I think we just really need this break before we dive back in for another year of work here.

A little bit about Baha'i pilgrimage: at its very essential, pilgrimage consists of visiting the Shrine of Baha'u'llah, just outside of Akka, Israel. However, there has developed, over the years, a formal program of pilgrimage which graciously allows us to visit the shrines and other holy places over a period of 9 days with the help of a guide, who may know a few more details than ourselves (hence the reading!). There are a number of guides, so we don't do everything with all 200 other people (i.e. no hoards of people crushing us). The places we are visiting are all associated with the Baha'i Faith due to the banishment of Baha'u'llah from Adrianople (Edirne, Turkey) to the 'prison-city' of Akka as it was at the time. So we will visit the prison as well as the eventual residences that Baha'u'llah lived in during the gradual relaxation of His imprisonment, as well as the Shrine where Baha'u'llah, His Son and His Forerunner are buried - not to mention the site where His wife, daughter, daughter-in-law and other son are also buried - which is on the grounds of our workplace.