To continue our story from yesterday, our bus driver is Arabic. As we traveled into the Palestinian city of Jericho, Joad became more of a co-leader as we were in his land. It was quite comforting to be taken care of in a place where not all Jews and Christians might be so welcomed.
Following lunch (note the barbed wire in the pic below) we ascended to Jerusalem. The Israelis do not "go" to Jerusalem they "ascend" to it. This is both a spiritual and a physical meaning since Jerusalem is high above sea level.
I don't think Margie nor I were ready for the what was to come. We first went the mount of Olives which is located along the mountain ridge east of Jerusalem's old city. It is named for the olive groves that once covered the slopes. The mount has been used as a Jewish cemetery for over 3000 years. Looking down at the cemetery, across the valley of David to Jerusalem is something spectacular to say the least.
On down the mountain we went to our best stop, Gethsemane. As Christians we know this is where Jesus and his disciples are said to have prayed the night before he was arrested. As we have learned over the past few days, wherever there is something important, someone builds a Church, synagog, or Mosque over it. We found a Franciscan Church built over the rock believed to be where Jesus laid his head and prayed. The Church itself was beautiful with beautiful Mosaics. The rock is located in front of the Alter and accessible for believers to touch and say prayers. We were lucky today. Very few people were there and we were able to touch the rock and feel His prescience.
Our Jewish traveling partners got to experience the same overwhelming emotions as we moved on to the Western
Wall or as the British named it, The Wailing Wall. Women and men go to separate areas of the wall to offer prayers to God. You can write a prayer on a small piece of paper and place it inside the cracks of the wall. A Jewish lady from Brooklyn, NY that is on our trip had a whole envelope of prayers that friends of hers (Jewish, Catholic, Methodist, Lutheran, Episcopal, and Baptist she said) to place inside the wall.
After we checked in to our five star hotel, my first overseas, we had another amazing buffet dinner. I finally found a salad I love...avocado salad, aka Guacamole!
Tonight we went to see Jerusalem at night. It is a light show at the Tower of David inside the walled city. I wish I could describe how beautiful it was but there are no words. All I tell you is it was amazing musical and art tale of the history of the city.
No comments:
Post a Comment