Its about time I reflected on people...

It was impossible to get a shot of the whole group - well nearly impossible. Our last corporate act at the end of the second Saturday was to stand on the steps outside the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and have a photo taken.

This is a picture of some of us gathered by one of the sources of the River Jordan where we renewed our baptism vows. This was early in the week, Monday, but we were already beginning to 'gel' as a group. Each of us had the sign of the cross marked on our forehead with water from the river.

Pam was our resident artist! Her little sketches were colour washed each evening on return to our hotel. A brilliant record of the places we had been and somehow so much more personal than photos... a unique interpretation.

We saw so many different people wearing so many different styles of clothing but it somehow felt like an invasion of their privacy to photograph them. However, this gentleman was by the coach stop on our last day and I just loved his 'laid back' approach to life - literally!

I guess what I do want to say about the people is that the group were amazingly diverse, from 13 to 90 in age and from a range of backgrounds - professional and social - that would suggest we'd struggle to mix. In any other circumstances I am sure that would be true but on a pilgrimage all sorts of barriers come tumbling down. Maybe its because we're all on a journey that encourages or even forces us to abandon our normal way of being... Who knows, but we all became very firm friends, we went through so much together.

Its strange coming back... you really miss that closeness...