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.

The Roman Steps at Gallicantu

Today's pilgrimage went from the little grotto at the interfaith church for the burial of St Mary and ended up at the Roman stair that leads up from the Kidron to the old city. It was the day for the Palm Sunday trek. Both beginning and end of the trek was amazingly powerful.

See, the St Mary burial site is right next to the totally ancient cave of Gethsemane, and its incredibly old olive trees. This is the spot where Jesus was arrested. And the Roman Stair is -- yep, you got it -- built by Romans likely in Augustus's time, and goes right by the prison cave that Jesus spent the night after the arrest. His path would have led down from Gethsemane, across the Kidron valley, through the old city of David, and up that stair, en route to Calvary.

I figure that one of the really remarkable parts of this tour is that our guide stops at sites, whips out his bible, and has one of us read a passage that is appropriate for the site. We start getting silly and go into a shopping frenzy over all the cool glitzy things that vendors have -- and wham! there's another bible text to bring us all back into focus -- that we really ARE walking the very steps that Jesus walked.

Limestone Everywhere...

It's getting to the point where I can close my eyes and see grottos and caves, all festooned with Orthodox god-lamps by the score. It's also gotten to the point where I suddenly understand why it was that Gideon was threshing grain "under ground" -- he was really in a grotto -- and that makes sense. Not only are there caves EVERYWHERE here, but they are good sized ones. And if you want to hide your crops, you do it in a cave.

For that matter, there are GRAVES everywhere here, too. A moment ago we were descending from the Mount of Olives, and had gotten aboard the bus -- driving back to St Georges for lunch. Off to the right in one of the older districts of town was a front-end loader busy clearing a lot -- and the driver had just uncovered a pair of kokhim graves, chisled in stone -- and nobody cared. There are so MANY of this first- and second-century graves, that nobody any longer gives a rip about a new one!

Holy Sepulchre in the dawn...

Jeff and I thought a trip back in the dawn to Holy Sepulchre church would be a cool adventure. After all, yesterday afternoon, we were already pretty much on overload from the Israeli Museum and the Dome of the rock, and St Annes and the Dead Sea Scrolls and the two speaker presentations.

So at 5:15 we struck off, down through the Damascus gate and up the long long street through the main Suq -- much of which was in the dark, except for the dozens of feral kitties prowling for garbage. It was so early, that St George's gates were still locked -- and we were locked in. Fortunately we remembered the back way and the secret button to push to get that back gate open.

The church itself was already open; dozens of other folks already were there, although not nearly in the numbers we experienced yesterday. We hit as many of the chapels as were open, although several we saw yesterday were not -- including the Armenian Excavation area that somehow Nigel and our tour guide had conned our way into. That spot, which is the eastern section of the great rock of Golgotha, is entered through a locked grill, -- and apparently is so secret that even the great Holy Land guide by Fr Murphy OConner doesn't even mention it.

Oh! I'm in the garden close again -- breakfest is just over - and there is that Yellow-vented Bulbul again singing -- along with the Hooded Crows cawing. Earlier some flicker looking bird flew by, but I have no idea what that one was.

Bethlehem is on the schedule for today; morning prayer is about to start.

Bob at the Dome of the Rock

Ah. jasmine...

Give the brits lots of credit -- they surely do know how to put a little paradise --in the midst of paradise. The garden close here at St George's has a huge jasmine vine right at the base of the stairwell that we take to come down from our rooms to enter the close.

Morning we spent on the Al Aksa mount, wandering through the great Arab complex of parks and fountains and trees -- yes, trees, lots of trees ... We had a prof of anthropology lead us -- who happens to be Muslim -- and whose family ancestors are actually buried at the Cotton Market Gate at Al Aksa. Talk about finding the appropriate leader! From here we spent time at St Annes' and then a hike back to St Georges.

Afternoon was a neat presentation by the brand new canon missioner for the diocese of Jerusalem -- and then an incredible journey through the most amazing cluster of churches I've ever seen -- Holy Sepulchre. What a total warren of tunnels, odd chapels and strangenesses! More to follow -- honest!


Jeff and I had incredible experiences today -- he got to lead us in at St Anne's Crusader era church in song -- including a solo that took our breath away -- the entire group went silent, including all the other tourists thronging the building. And I got to lead noonday prayer in St George;s cathedral. Oh my.

oh my WORD -- i finally figured out how to upload a post -- it comes up in Hebrew over here normally! more soon!

Home Base at St George's

Nigel just sent this pic of where we will be staying much of the time in Jerusalem -- St George's Anglican College and Cathedral, located just north of the Old City in Jerusalem. On the right you can see a picture of the garden at St George's, with the guest house immediately to the left.

One could do worse, I suppose.... ;o)

Busy Itinerary

Bless Phil Lewis's heart -- He has allowed me to persuade him to take both Jeff and me down to SeaTac right during the rush hour on Tuesday, in order that we can get there by 10:30. Gotta have that necessary time to battle the "security" queue.

First leg of the flight leaves SEA at 12.52 our time -- arrive in Tel Aviv, via Atlanta at 5:25 p.m. the next day -- ooh -- jetlag city.... bus to Jerusalem, and to the guest house at St George's College in time for dinner at 7:00 and then an organized stroll down to the Damascus Gate "to get the feel for the distance and our surroundings," as the itinerary from Fr Nigel says.

Next day, Thursday, starts with a guided lecture tour of the Old City, starting at the Western Wall. After lunch is a trip west to the Israeli Museum and [yes!!] to the Shrine of the Book -- including that Isaiah scroll that I got to work with so long ago as a senior project in college.

More about the itinerary soon.

Getting Ready to Go....

Only a week away from arrival in Israel!

Been boning up on guidebooks:

• Jerome Murphy O'Conner, The Holy Land -- [the truly prolific Fr Jerome has been at Jerusalem's Ecole Biblique since 1967] -- fat [and heavy] black & white paperback from the Oxford Guide Series -- lots of great maps.
• Inman & McDonald, Eyewitness Travel: Jerusalem & the Holy Land -- gorgeous book with load of color pictures, but surprisingly irregular descriptions.
  
• Kay Prag, Blue Guide: Israel and the Palestinian Territories -- detailed black & white paperback -- not enough maps, and skips some important locations, but loads of detail for others -- my favorite guidebook, so far.
• oh! and let's not forget Porter's Birds of the Middle East -- oh! so heavy! but EVERY bird in the Middle East with great pix and drawings and maps and songs and all the right stuff.
  

So I'm filling up my brand-new "Rick Steves" carry-on bag with heavy books, and light clothing.
Filling up my new BlackBerry phone, too, with 2.5 gigs of music so far -- on the other hand, looks like phone calls to it are pretty pricey. Looks like I'll be using Skype instead -- look for me on Skype at "robert.g.dietel".