The Holiest Spot in Christendom...

Guidebooks for Jerusalem are fond of saying that this place, the Church of the Holy Supulchre, is the holiest spot in Christendom. Actually, there's much truth in that, as this is the only church that celebrates not just a regular tomb, but an empty one. Shared by umpteen different denominations and traditions, the interior is a blur of semi-balanced tensions and shadows. The light comes mostly from the glow of the thousands of pilgrims who flock here, some to gape at the mixture, but most to touch the ancient stone and feel the message of that vacant tomb.

The view in the picture I've included above is very difficult to see, as the church has been there so long, that it is surrounded by crowds of buildings. Jeff and I discovered this spot, however, on our final dawn foray into the old city. We wanted to shoot pictures of the Stations of the Cross along the Via Dolorosa, as we had deliberately left cameras behind when the whole group went to celebrate the Stations the previous morning.

One of the Stations, Number Nine, is tough to find, as it requires finding an unmarked staircase that wanders up on top of things near the north side of Holy Sepulchre. In fact, our guide for the Via Dolorosa journey for the whole group actually missed finding the spot! Once at Station Nine, which is a single broken Roman-era column set into a corner next to the entrance gate at the Ethiopian Patriarchate, we found another open door. Couldn't resist entering!

Once inside we found a huge open space left over from a ruined cathedral -- and lo! Off to our right was this view of the East end of Holy Sepulchre, lambent in the early sunlight.

And this was just the beginning of the day's adventures! More to come....

Dawn at Wadi Qelt

I have to laugh at the profile pic I used -- an old pic in a rainstorm wearing a parka up in the cascades. I did bring a parka here -- thought I'd never use it -- until this morning. The plan was to get up at 4:00 and head out shortly thereafter to Wadi Qelt, the main route from Capernaum to Jerusalem back in Jesus's day. There we would read passages from scripture about the Good Samaritan who help the poor guy assaulted by bandits in Wadi Qelt so long ago. And then watch the sun come up over the mountains of Moab -- which today, of course, conceal Amman, Jordan.





Brisk breezes convinced me to pull out that parka -- and I did wear it for the first half hour or so. Dawn was stunning -- witness the pic above -- and the moments we spent were profound.







Then the Bedouin folks started drifting in -- first a one-armed guy in a white caftan, and then a couple of cute black donkeys, and finally camels -- vide supra. Nearly all of us succumbed to offers of one souvenir or other -- I, even I, bargained for a arab-style scarf for five bucks. American dollars go a LONG way stll here -- I have yet to change any money into shekels.

Following the Wadi Qelt Bedu, we headed off to fabled Qumran, to wander amongst the ruins a while -- MUCH too briefly for my taste, as I had hoped to climb up to one of the other caves, Cave Four is plainly visible from much of Qumran's ruins, but Cave One is a kilometer away, and the powers that be wouldn't let us take the time to run up to it.

Afternoon in Jerusalem ended with a most pleasant pot of coffee and scoops of ice cream in the garden of the fabled American Colony Hotel, just a block or so north of St Georges. Couldn't resist checking out the shops there, although most of us resisted temptation -- having already spent a bunch at Abraham's shop right across from St G's campus. Also got to spend a half hour with the new Canon of the diocese, Bob Edmund.

LOTS more detail at...

IsraelPilgrimage08.blogspot.com

This is the group log that Fr Nigel has been keeping. VERY cool.

More at the Dead Sea...

The trip up and down that mountain was certifiably one of the ten best roller coaster trips in the world, the way our driver went. 14 switchbacks, and the guy was so fast, he actually passed another taxi!

Mt Tabor has a stunning view of course, and is honored as the site of the Transfiguration. Oddly, the giant basilica at the summit boasts three big chapels -- in spite of the request of Jesus.

From there it was a trip to Jericho to see the oldest city on the planet, and the invasion point of the children of Israel back in the day. Alas! about ten miles out, the bus suddenly came to a halt, the driver having somehow managed to swerve into the one and only store for miles. Seems the idler wheel for the serpentine belt on the bus engine had vanished -- leaving nothing but a threaded hole behind.

Miracles continued -- a few phone calls by our Number One Guide, and another bus showed up, hauled us to Jericho -- while another driver came down from Jerusalem with a spare idler wheel. It Was Only One Hundred Degrees Outside. Two hours later, we were on our way back up the long long grade to Jerusalem, bus all repaired, and all folks aboard eagerly anticipating showers at St Georges Guest House.

Adventure at the Dead Sea...

With no internet at hand -- except EXPENSIVE Blackberry time--I omit for the time being discussion of fascinating Nazareth, and the things we visited there. Having left this morning the Sisters of Nazareth Convent -- built over the ruins of the oldest Christian church in existence! -- we headed to Mt Tabor.

Right away we saw things would be different -- Mt Tabor is a VERY steep and tall peak, rising out of the middle of the Jezreel Valley. Buses simply cannot make it up the single lane, multiple switchback road. So we transferred to eight-person vans at the bottom.

Meanwhile back at the computer...

So far the ONLY fly in the ointment of this wonderful trip has been computer stuff. Like the Blackberry -- which handled my email just great for three days, and then disconnected itself from the net. So it's become a really expensive alarm clock...sheesh. I REALLY should have brought the laptop instead. Getting internet access is ... um ... erratic, as I keep having to mooch time from other people -- often because the office where the common computer is gets locked up too often at night, and even getting up early in the morning won't help. Sigh....

And then sometimes the pc's will recognize my camera -- and sometimes they won't, like tonight. Had all these really great pix to upload, like the one with Jeff on the donkey, but she no be do!

Time for compline -- more tomorrow, the good Lord willing. Heading for Nazareth, via the coast. Ya can't get straight through to Nazareth from Jerusalem these days, any more than Jesus could in His time.