The Promised Land Tour

It was a HOT one

6/27/24

Blessings to All Y’all People of Conscience, 

We’ve just returned from our first (and perhaps our only!) multi-city Lapidus & Myles “tour.” We kicked off the tour in Atlanta with an evening performance at a favorite BBQ spot (Wood’s Chapel in Summerhill), then hopped over to Jackson, Mississippi for the Southern and Jewish Conference hosted by the Institute of Southern Jewish Life. Our tour wrapped up at the 3rd annual Multifaith Ending Mass Incarceration un-conference hosted by Friendship-West Baptist Church in Dallas, Texas. Thankfully the “airline gods” were kind to us, and our travel was smooth albeit HOT. 

Living, as we do, in the midst of Taylor Swift’s “Eras” Tour, we thought it would be appropriate to give our tour a name as well. We’ve decided to call it the “Promised Land” Tour. 

The “Promised Land” Tour

At some point in our hot and humid journey through Georgia, Mississippi, and Texas we found ourselves reflecting on the idea of “spiritual geography.” What you might fairly ask, is spiritual geography? It’s the idea that certain places exist not only as literal/ physical realities with zip codes, Whataburgers, conference centers, and traffic jams, but also as ideas. For example, “Jerusalem”. Jerusalem is a physical city that we can all locate on a map, but it’s also an idea. Part of the power of Jerusalem can be accounted for in the fact that Jerusalem is both physical and spiritual geography, both place and idea. 

For students of the Bible (and there’s an argument to be made that we are all students of the Bible whether we want to be or not), the “Promised Land” is perhaps the ultimate example of both physical and spiritual geography. The Promised Land is, in fact, part of a Biblical trinity of physical/spiritual geography. Egypt, The Wilderness, and The Promised Land-- that’s the spiritual geography that we encounter in the Exodus narrative, the story of the Ancient Israelites’ journey from slavery to freedom. 

In a neat and tidy world (think Marie Kondo), our ideas would be like our clothing, perfectly folded and kept in discrete, dedicated, and efficiently organized spaces, accessible as needed, even seasonally appropriate. Egypt would be Egypt, The Wilderness would be The Wilderness, and The Promised Land would be The Promised Land. But we don’t live in a neat and tidy world. We live in a world where most of us are in Egypt, The Wilderness, and The Promised Land all at once. We experience the enslavement, oppression, and abuse of Egypt, the terrifying, revelatory, harsh and potential-laden vastness of The Wilderness, and the redemptive liberation of The Promised Land, to varying degrees, all at once. Some days and some lives are more “Egypt heavy” while others may be more “Wilderness.” And it is our fervent prayer that each and every one of us that has been brought into this world and given the gift of life, might know moments of Promised Land-- of freedom, bliss, ease, and fulfillment. 

During our “Promised Land” Tour we felt deeply, the spiritual geography, of our travels. We felt that ecstatic joy of gathering in community, especially for those that have to travel greater distances in order to experience that joy. We felt the undeniable power of spiritual and religious truth as conveyed by gifted preachers and teachers from Jewish, Christian, and Muslim traditions. We felt the transcendent beauty of voices joining together in song, singing in harmony. We felt the grace of vulnerability as people shared their life stories (many including decades of incarceration) thoughts, feelings, hopes, and fears. We felt the uplifting presence of hundreds of people who are DOING THE WORK that needs to be done in order to transform our country and our world into The Promised Land it can be. We felt the deep pain of knowing that, for all of us, the promise is not yet fulfilled. And we certainly felt the anxiety of wondering if coming weeks, months, and years will move us further or closer to that Promised Land.

It was a privilege for the two of us, in the course of a few short days, to be in such diverse physical geographies. Not everyone is able to travel with the ease and comfort that we were afforded. But our main takeaway isn’t the fact that the heat in Dallas is just as unpleasant as the heat in Jackson and Atlanta. Our main takeaway is that People of Conscience are gathering, here, there, and in many places in between. We are gathering to learn, to listen, to witness, to be inspired, to join forces, and to love and embrace one another. We feel truly blessed to be a part of the soundtrack of this ever present and ever growing movement of People of Conscience and hope that you will join us should the “Promised Land Tour” ever find itself knocking at your door. 

Action Items

Scroll up, click on the links for ISJL and Multifaith EMI and get involved with those orgs and the orgs they parnter with!!!! And… stay cool y’all!

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Till We Meet Again,

Lapidus & Myles