My Bahá'í Pilgrimage During a Crazy Global Pandemic
March 17, 2020
Post 14: Home Again
[Post 13]
Guess where I am? Not Haifa, unfortunately. But I am back in the United States!
Compared to the rollercoaster craziness of our entire trip, our last few days in Athens were fun and relaxing. Our flight to the U.S. didn’t get cancelled (thank goodness!!) and we made it smoothly back to Chicago.
I think Switzerland was my favorite part of the trip. I can see now why Shoghi Effendi went there for nine months to prepare for his unexpected role as Guardian of the Faith. Such a powerful place...
We arrived just in time; shortly after we left the airport, thousands upon thousands of Americans flew in from all over the world! Apparently we weren’t the only ones who had panicked after hearing the president’s announcement that the U.S. would be closing its borders to all international flights. Some people had paid up to 5,000 dollars for last-minute plane tickets back to the U.S.! We saw in the news that everyone was packed in the airport like sardines for hours as they waited for their health screenings to leave. What a nightmare. I feel terrible for those people—and very fortunate that we were spared from all that. It really felt like our guardian angels were guiding us home.
My view this morning. :) I missed the quiet of the country. I also missed Katie's angelic poodle puppy, Finnley.
Katie reunited with her baby Finn. :)
Now I’m at my Mom’s little farmhouse in Washington state for a 14-day self-quarantine with Katie and Travis. Dad made it safely back to his home in the mountains of Idaho. Fortunately, we all seem to be COVID-free so far. But we’re exhausted after a long, stressful, and amazing trip.
When we left for pilgrimage, we thought that COVID-19 was a virus that would only last a few weeks. We never imagined it would turn into a full-fledged global pandemic! If we had known, we probably wouldn’t have flown halfway across the world—but I’m so glad we did. Even though we didn’t make it to the holy land, our travels to Switzerland and Greece were an amazing spiritual experience. All the challenges we faced—re-routing our entire trip twice, waiting for hours to cancel and rebook flights, staying in a sewer-gas Airbnb, and ultimately not making it to pilgrimage despite all our efforts—gave us an invaluable lesson in perseverance, patience, detachment, and faith. This Hidden Word from Bahá'u'lláh kept coming to mind:
“O SON OF BEING! Busy not thyself with this world, for with fire We test the gold, and with gold We test Our servants.”
— Arabic 55
We definitely felt like the travel tests had our sanity going up in flames at times, lol. But we all feel that our souls are shining a little brighter from it. We have no regrets.
I couldn't have asked for better travel companions. We made a fabulous team.
When Dad, Travis, Katie, and I do reach Haifa one day, I think our pilgrimage will be even more meaningful. I can see us now, standing at the top of the terrace steps I dreamed of climbing as a little kid, gazing with tear-filled eyes at the Shrine of the Báb. I don’t know when this pandemic will end, but when it does, you’ll know where to find us. :)
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