We have been so blessed on this trip. The visibility our first day out in the Galilee region was a bit hazy, but we were able to take the best photos that day. Subsequent days' visibility was very poor, so we were happy to have been able to take the photos we did the first day. The heat wave continued even as we traveled to Jerusalem via Tel Aviv yesterday, but this morning, as we exited our apartment, the temperature was in the seventies, and a cool breeze was blowing. We are also very grateful to have found out about Safed Inn in the North and Ariela's Place here in The Holy City, where we have had excellent, clean accommodations for a fraction of what a hotel would have cost. Our location here is especially great - just a 20-min. walk to the Jaffa Gate!
We entered the Old City there and mostly toured the Arab Quarter today. It is ironic that the most sacred place for Christians is right in the Arab Quarter - the Via Dolorosa follows through the Arab Bazaar where shopkeepers hawk, calling for your business, and once they have you in their shops, they do not want you to leave without making a purchase. At one spot I thought one of us would have to feign a heart attack to get free of the proprietor (who promised us he would still 'love' us even if we did not make a purchase). There is even a mosque just across from the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. We did not hear it, but we learned from others there are times when the meuzzin and the church bells are competing for the peoples' attention. There is an object lesson in that description.
Alan was a good guide since he has been here twice before. One shopkeeper even told him he remembered him from his trip a couple of years ago -- that's a good intro line, because it got us into his shop. (I'll bet he says that to all the boys.)
We had another scrumptious lunch at one of the Arab Quarter restaurants: lamb and multiple salads. We paid the price for walking downhill all afternoon when we walked back to our apartment - the walk was all uphill. We had asked a taxi for a price to take us back, but decided we needed the $10 more than he did (and we need the exercise).
The commercial setting and the overbearing religiosity of the various sites combined with the information I have read that indicates these sites were somewhat arbitrarily selected by Constantine's mother, Helena, combined with my own common sense that of course, it would not be possible to be walking on the same stones as King David or Jesus or the first Apostles, left me feeling spiritually untouched. One of the Greek priests actually had to ask a woman to leave one station of the cross, because, as he put it - "You cannot stay overnight here." I felt the need to sit somewhere quiet away from the worshipping throngs and read my guide book and contemplate the great sacrifice of those who have gone before us to preserve our faith.
I found my answer in one of the guidebooks I read after we returned: "It is important to remember that Jesus is not buried here; he was resurrected." As beautiful as this city is and full of all the names and places I have always read about, I know my testimony of the Gospel is not based on any icon or tangible location. So, while being here gives a context to the scriptures, the Spirit is always here for us when we open the door by prayer and studying the scriptures. "Behold I stand at the door and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him and will sup with him, and he with me." Revelations 3:20
See more photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/21984041@N08/sets/72157624041760766/
Goldenbear's Honey
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