Visiting Israel. Visiting Palestine.

This was the most transformational experience of my life, second only to marrying my wife and having kids.

I went to Israel. I went to Palestine.

I went because I was called to experience a reality I had only known through distant headlines and fragmented stories, through debates that felt abstract and removed from the humans living it.

With an open mind. With an open heart. To listen without agenda. To feel the weight of history beneath my feet. To hear the stories that numbers and statistics cannot hold. To witness truth, unfiltered and raw, in all its complexity.

Above all, I went to love.

I was brought to the Holy Land, where the Bible guides and ancient stones whisper prayers that echo for millennia. A land of promises kept and broken. Of miracles that defy logic, conflict that breaks the heart, and complexity that resists every easy answer we try to impose on it.

The land where crucifixion, death, and resurrection altered the course of human history forever.

I made the pilgrimage of a lifetime, walking the same paths Jesus walked, feeling the dust of centuries beneath my feet. I received communion at His tomb, at the very place where He resurrected, before I even fully understood where I was standing.

I saw the devastating aftermath of hatred made real. The human cost of extreme ideology. I heard survivors' voices tremble as they shared their trauma. I walked through places where unspeakable suffering occurred, where the air itself seems mourn.

But I also met people who refuse to let despair win. People choosing hope and reconciliation when hate would be easier. I broke bread with those building bridges across generations, determined to see a future where peace is possible.

44 souls, all cracked open by what we witnessed. All strangers brought together by God's love, leaving as family bound by a shared experience none of us will ever forget.

We confronted our biases. We were challenged by difficult truths. We were sharpened and supported. We were held through grief and confusion.

Above all, we bore witness.

I'm still processing it all, trying to make sense of what may never fully make sense. I'm learning to sit with the reality that two truths can exist at once, that the world is rarely black and white.

I carry deep love and understanding for Israel. Deep compassion and understanding for Palestine.

As my brother Jeriel said, "Listening on both sides, there's one common theme: a deep desire for dignity and peace."

I'm beyond grateful to the REALITY Impact 2025 crew. To every soul who made this possible with such care, intention, and love poured into every moment. Thank you.

Special thanks to Bauer Trails, our incredible guide and sherpa who carried us through.

To Laura Katz for leading with such grace. To Margie Dillenburg, Ph.D., Alana Kalin, Jeriel Johnson, Jeff Kirschner, Tali, Mickey, Itrek Israel, and REALITY ISRAEL for holding sacred space for our transformation.

Still reflecting.
Still grateful.

It's nuanced.