Final Post from Israel

Photo link- http://bit.ly/zhP9so

This will likely be my final post from this trip, as I'm not expecting internet access in Petra. Today was a great day, we got up onto the Temple Mount for a bit and then prayed at the Western Wall. We then had some free time before going to Abu Gosh (a possible Emmaus site- Luke 24). I had the honor of celebrating the Eucharist there, which was a wonderful experience. Wednesday morning 4 of our leave for Petra, Jordan. I am looking forward to the archaeological sites and explorations there, but am also ready to be heading back home on Friday. I should be back in Greensboro by Saturday morning and would appreciate your prayers for safe travel.

I hope to see you all on Palm Sunday for worship; but also for the Forum at 9:15 am for a presentation on my trip. There is no way for me to summarize 23 days and 2,000 photos into an hour, but I plan to share my major learnings with you all, along with some of the highlights for me of the trip. I'll plan to talk for about 40 minutes, so please come with questions.

Shalom!

Final Post from Israel

Photo link- http://bit.ly/zhP9so

This will likely be my final post from this trip, as I'm not expecting internet access in Petra. Today was a great day, we got up onto the Temple Mount for a bit and then prayed at the Western Wall. We then had some free time before going to Abu Gosh (a possible Emmaus site- Luke 24). I had the honor of celebrating the Eucharist there, which was a wonderful experience. Wednesday morning 4 of our leave for Petra, Jordan. I am looking forward to the archaeological sites and explorations there, but am also ready to be heading back home on Friday. I should be back in Greensboro by Saturday morning and would appreciate your prayers for safe travel.

I hope to see you all on Palm Sunday for worship; but also for the Forum at 9:15 am for a presentation on my trip. There is no way for me to summarize 23 days and 2,000 photos into an hour, but I plan to share my major learnings with you all, along with some of the highlights for me of the trip. I'll plan to talk for about 40 minutes, so please come with questions.

Shalom!

Monday

Today was a nice day- starting with a trip to the Samaritan community at Mt. Gerizim. The Samaritans are similar to Jews, but with some differences- they believe in one God, one prophet (Moses alone), one book (the Torah, and none of the rest of the Bible), one holy mountain (Mt. Gerizim, not the mountain where the Temple was in Jerusalem), and one final day/judgement. We then went to a beautiful church at Jacob's Well. The well is still there (though it's not original, but you can still draw water from it with a bucket, and we did). The church is adorned with many beautiful icons written (painted) by the local priest. We then finished today up with a visit to St. Matthew's Episcopal Church. This is a wonderful parish in Palestine and the priest told us about the many wonderful ministries the church is doing. It said it was also wonderful to have other Christians visit, knowing that they are not forgotten. They also made us lunch, a traditional Palestinian meal- bread with olive oil and chicken, it was very tasty. Tonight we'll have a Eucharist and our closing reception.

Tomorrow is then the final day of the course, then off to Petra for a few days, then back to Greensboro. Shalom.

Heavy Day

Today we made three stops- 1) the Holocaust Museum, 2) an Israeli settlement in Palestine, and 3) a Palestinian refugee camp. It will take time to process it all, but here are a few quick takeaways: issues of truth, right/wrong, fair/unfair are impossible to sort out. Peace is not on the horizon. Much prayer is needed. There is a prayer at the Cathedral entrance at St. George's that talks about praying not for Jews or Arabs, not for Palestians or Israelis, but for people in general. Simply put- pray for the peace of Jerusalem. Tomorrow we visit a local Christian community (who also very much need prayers) and Mt. Gerizim. We then finish up on Tuesday at St. George's with a trip to the Temple Mount (Dome of the Rock area) and the Western (Wailing) Wall, and a trip to Abu Gosh (Emmaus). Wednesday morning a small group (5 of us) will depart for Petra, Jordan, then Friday I begin the trip back to North Carolina. I hope you all had a great Sunday. Blessings.

Holy Week Sites

Photo link- http://bit.ly/zhP9so

Yesterday we did Palm Sunday and Holy Week sites- starting on the Mount of Olives on the east side of the Old City. We then walked down past the old Roman road that Jesus would have used to get down to the city. We talked about going through the Beautiful Gate (now closed) and how Jesus surprised everyone by going left after entering the city (to cleanse the Temple) instead of going right (to the Roman headquarter to overthrow the government as the Messiah was expected to do). We then went to Dominus Flevit (Latin for Jesus wept), then further down to the Church of All Nations in Gethsemane Garden, and to the Tomb of Mary. We then went to Mount Zion after lunch; this is the site of the Last Supper and Pentecost. I was very surprised that neither of these events had churches built for them, but this was actually a nice break. Instead, we were in an open field next to the Church of the Dormition (site where Mary would have gone into eternal rest and assumed into heaven). Then we went to the other church on Mt. Zion- the Church of St. Peter Gallicantu (referring to Peter and the cock crowing. This was one of the most fascinating sites we've seen so far. It is built on the site of the High Priest's house and had three levels to it- a modern church, then below it, the place where Jesus would have been tried by the High Priest, then below that, the jail/torture chamber. There is good and recent archaeological evidence for these sites, and it was fascinating to see the layout, on top of each other.

Today we began with a trip to the Church of the Resurrection (also called the Church of the Holy Sepulchre- but Christians proclaimed the life of the Risen Lord, not the tomb, so in Jerusalem, Christians focus on Resurrection over Sepulchre). It is a very interesting church, this was my third trip there, and I'm starting to be able to see past the feuding denominations, past the tourists, past the layout (it's really a series of chapels, not really a single nave as most churches in the US have). In the Church, we have the sites of the crucifixion, annointing of Jesus' body (where I annointed/blessed as stole which I purchased here), and the tomb. There are also side chapels to Mary Magdelene in the Garden, Longinus (the Roman soldier who said "truly this man was the Son of God"), the chapel of Adam (over which the site of the crucifixion is, symbolizing that Christ's dead took away Adam's original sin), the chapel of Mary's suffering, and many others as well. We then had some free time, so I just wandered the Old City with no purpose, which was nice to just walk the streets. I did find my way to the top of the tower at the Lutheran Church and got some great photos of the city from a bird's eye view. I plan to wake up early and go back to the Church of the Resurrection around 5:30 am on Sunday to see some of these sites without lines and tourists (there are a few places I haven't been able to get to yet). Tonight we also had a brief lecture on Episcopal ministry in the Holy Land- a short summary is "pray for the peace of Israel."

Tomorrow should be a moving and powerful day- starting with the aforementioned trip to the Holy Sepulchre, then a visit to the Yad Vashem Museum (Hebrew for "name;" this is the Holocaust Museum), then visiting a settlement, and a Palestinian refugee camp. I'm sure it will be a heavy day, but one that will be important to understanding the modern struggles in this holy land.

I hope that you all are doing well- I look forward to seeing you all in just about a week on Palm Sunday. Blessings and shalom.

Back in Jerusalem

Photo link- http://bit.ly/zhP9so

So the trip to Galilee was wonderful- learned and experienced a lot that you all will hear in sermons and classes for a while I'm sure. Some new photos are up from yesterday and today. Today we went to the Church of the Transfiguration, which was quite beautiful, as being on top of Mt. Tabor, it had a wonderful view of the surrounding area. We then had a surprise stop at the point of the Jordan River where it is possible/likely that Jesus was baptized. This was a great treat, as this area had been debated between Israel and Jordan for a while, and it has only be opened to the public within the last few months. They have found remains of Byzantine churches nearby, suggesting that it was a holy site in the 4th century. It's also a straight shot across the wilderness to where Jesus is believed to have been tempted on a high mountain. Whether or not it was THE place or not doesn't matter, but it was a place similar to where Jesus might have been baptized. The Bishop of Arizona is with us on the pilgrimage and led us in a reaffirmation of our Baptismal vows, which was moving. We then went to Jericho for a stop before coming back to Jerusalem. Friday is an early day- we start at 5:30 am for the Way of the Cross (via Dolorosa) in the Old City, we'll then go to the Mount of Olives, and Mt Zion. The course is coming to a close, and it's been amazing- good prayers, good sites, good fellowship, good food, good reflections, good weather, good relaxation. Shalom.

Catching Up

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I haven't posted in a few days, and they have been full and wonderful days:

Sunday- Started early (6am) with a trip to the Church of the Resurrection (Holy Sepulchre). It was wonderful to be there on a Sunday morning, so many different worship services going on at the same time (Armenian, Greek, Latin, etc.). It was also nice to be there before our "tour" there later in the course to take it all in. We then had Sunday worship at the Cathedral at St. George, and then went to the Israel Museum in Jerusalem. It's a huge complex, but we were there to see two things. The first was a collection of Dead Sea Scroll artifacts, but the real gem was a huge replica of Jerusalem in the period of the Second Temple (as Jesus would have known it). It was about the size of 2 tennis courts and was extremely helpful in understanding the Jerusalem that Jesus knew to compare to the Jerusalem I've been seeing.

Monday- We headed north for the Galilee region starting with Caesarea Maritima, where Paul was tried. It was a city that Herod set up to be the "hip" young city, a hippodrome and other interesting archaeological finds. Then we went to Mount Carmel, where Elijah battled the prophets of Baal in 1 Kings 18. Next went went to a real special place, the Sister of Nazareth have a very special church. After the purchased it, they did some excavations in the 1880s and found a 1st century house. This site isn't open to the public, but they have a connection with the College, so were able to see it, an it was amazing. There was a house, a cistern, and some tombs. Scholars estimate that at Jesus' time, there were about 40 houses in Nazareth, so this place has a 1/40th chance of being the house that Jesus grew up in, but at the least, since Jesus lived in Nazareth for about 30 years, he likely would have known this house, and perhaps even visited it. So many of the places here, we don't know for sure if it's "the" place or not, such as the Church of the Annunciation or Nativity, but this was a real sort of site. It was also nice to get away from the tourists; St. George's is very intentional about this being a pilgrimage, not a tour. We then went to the beautiful Church of the Annunciation in Nazareth that had some wonderful mosaics from all around the world. Then we stayed in Nazareth for the night

Tuesday- Today has been the best day yet. We started in Cana, which is one of my favorite stories from the Gospel, and saw a nice church and had a reflection on commitments. The Bishop of Arizona is in our course, and he led us in a reaffirmation of wedding vows, which was nice to participate in at that spot where Jesus would have attended a wedding. Next we went to Mount Beatitudes, which is a lovely church on the Sea of Galilee. Then we talked down to Tabgha. The walk was amazing, we walked through a field on an ancient "shortcut" road, that we are certain that Jesus and his disciples walked along. It was amazing because I literally saw so many parables before my eyes. Our guide showed us wheat and weeds, and the look almost the same, we see in this in a parable. We heard the birds of the air and saw the lilies of the field (which are in full bloom in Galilee), which was amazing to see. Then we went to Tabgha (the miracle of the loaves and fishes) which was a very simple, but wonderful chapel, one of my favorites so far. Next was Mensa Christi (table of Christ), where Jesus met his disiples after the Resurrection on the shore of the Sea of Galilee and cooked them fish. Then we went to the ruins of Capernaum, which served as the "homebase" for Jesus during his 3 years of public ministry. We're staying at an amazing pilgrims house right on the Sea of Galilee. Our group sat on a porch overlooking the sea at dusk, sipping wine. It was a great close to a great day.

The guide and leadership from St. Georges is amazing, the fellow pilgrims are great company, and the food is wonderful. Tomorrow we head to Banias (the headwaters of the Jordan), Golan Heights, Kursi, and then we'll take a boat ride of the Sea of Galilee. We are them coming back to this pilgrim's hostel for one more night before heading back to Jerusalem. Again, thank you all for your prayers and financial gifts that made this trip possible- words cannot describe the experience, learning, joy, awe, and blessedness that I've encountered. I hope all is well with you. Blessings.