Just a few final words.

The flight back was pretty uneventful, as I like all flights to be.  I somehow pulled a very bad seat on the flight from Tel Aviv to Frankfurt, next to the only toilets in economy class, last seat, on the aisle!  There went my only real chance for some sleep on the way home.  I also had the new experience of going through U.S. Customs in Chicago, and then needing to recheck my baggage for the remainder of the trip.  Customs was slow, and Airport Security was even slower and I though I would miss my connection to Moline for sure.  But, God detaches out for the weary ad the moline flights was an hour late taking off, but still managed to arrive in online just a few minutes later than scheduled.  Another miracle.  My ride was right on time at 4:30pm, and by 6:00, I was in bed and slept with out waking until 4:00 am, at which time I got up and unpacked.

Adieu - Palestine of Jesus - VIII

This will be my last post until I am again in Morrison.  This keyboard is definately going nuts, but I have found a way to keep it functioning about 90% of the time, and that is good enough until I can have a chat with Zagg customer service.

Last night and today have been intermittent episodes of good-bys as some more New Zealanders, the Brits and Aussies, and the Fiji and Tonga Islanders bid their farewells.  In between times, though, there were blocks of time with nothing planned.  I'm happy to say that they did not stay that way.  Right after breakfast, a group of seven organized to do the ramparts tour.  This is a hike along the top of the walls of the old city which I had in the back of my mind to do sometime,ever since my last visit.  Off we headed to the Joffa Gate where the tour begins.  We chose the south ramparts tour which mostly overlooks the Armenian Quarter and the Jewish Quarter.  The going was harder than I had anticipated with walkways very uneven and very slippery, heavily worn stones, but interesting for the perspective it affords.

As can often happen in Jerusalem, there was a surprise at the end.  It was closed, so we had to backtrack to Zion Gate to get down off the wall.  When we did, there was a pleasant surprise for me.  Before me stood a perfet shot of Saint James Cathedral, the Armenian Cathedral which is situated on the main drag of the Armenian Quarter, but situated so that anything but a partial shot is impossible.  That was the first special bonus of the day.

After another round of good-bys at the college, I was off again to investigate two sites which had my curiosity up.  The first is a set of caves, very near Gethsemane which are believed by some to be the most likely place where Jesus left his disciples before taking Peter, James and John with him as he went off a little farther.  I had seen it before, but had no idea what it represented.  It is, of course, across the street from the Garden of Gethsemane at the base of the Mount of Olives, a long way down there.  What goes down must come up, and the acsent from there, through the Lions Gate is long, hard and, in my opinion, something to avoid if at all possible.  Nevertheless, I was really curious, so I decided to make the effort, only to discover, when I got there, that the site was closed, with no explanation of course.  This also happens frequently in The Holy Land.  So, back I trekked up the Lions Gate ascent at my own pace which was very slow.  Did I mention that the temperature reached over 90 this afternoon.  These are two of the four lions guarding the Lions Gate.

Just past the Lions Gate there is a site commemorating the birth of Mary.  I had walked by it many times and always said that I would stop in and see what it was about one of these times, since the more official site for the birth of Mary is in the Grotto of Saint Anne's Church only a few feet away.  It turns out that this is an Orthodox (Russian) site commorating the same event.  This happens more often than you would suspect.  The rivalry/animosity between the Orthodox and the Romans often leads to duplicate churches, shrines, commemorative plaques, etc.  This is obviously just another of those duplications.  It was a nice chapel, Ortholdox style, but it really needed a thorough cleaning and dusting.  Maybe the Orthodox are so leery of change that they have to pray about removing dust.  Who knows?

Since I was in the area, I thought I would see about getting a picture of one of the inaccessable Stations of the Cross, # IV.  It is located in the basement of an Armenian Catholic Church, which is so strict that the sign on the door says to enter only for prayer, no pictures, to talking, no nothing.  I arrived just as about 70 Armenian pilgrims were coming up the stairs after praying, I suppose, at the station.  I and one other person went down stairs and were alone there, an unheard of situation.  Simultaniously, we looked breifly at each other, looked around and then both snapped pictures of the station, and got out as quickly as possible.  An act of rebellion, no doubt, but a coup worthy of my earlier days as an offical scamp.  I am no ashamed.  I did not include the picture because I will use it later in a Stations of the Cross presentation next Lent, but it looks pretty darn good.

Tomorrow will be spent packing and making sure I have not exceded my weight limit, and I have already decited what I am ready to leave behind for the Palestinian refugees if weight is a problem.  The Dean insists that we need to spend some time together, tomorrow.  He acts as if we are long lost buddies, when, in fact I only knew him by face (he was a big-whig) when he was in Chicago, and I'm sure that he never knew me at all until my last visit here.   Maybe he is just homesick for some gossip.  I'm afraid I will be a disappointment for him on that score.

My flight leaves at 5:00am on Thursday, but because of Isaeli airport security,  I will have to leave the college at 12:45 am to insure that I'll be on it.  Then, it will be off to Frankfurt, then to Chicago and Moline, arriving some 20+ hours later, at 4:00 pm, then Cherry Street, Morrison, and bed!

Morning Prayer is at 7:30 am, Friday, and I will be there!

Vale, 'till then.

Acsension & Beyond - Palestine of Jesus - VII

Things seem to be back to normal with my keyboard.  Thanks be to God!  Perhaps it was demons!  Saturday was a particularly interesting day here in Jerusalem and at the College.  It was Yom Kippur, the Jewish day of attonement and the Holy Day which is taken most seriously.  Large segments of the city are shut down completely and it is very quiet.  Most Jews prefer not even stepping out of the house.  At the College, this was seen at a great opportunity to go into the old city, which has a Jewish Quarter, but is also three-quarters non-Jewish.  The thinking was with few people and no commerce we would have an easy time doing the traditional Stations of the Cross, which, believe me, can be a real struggle on ordinary days.  So, out we headed, after an early breakfast, toward Herod's Gate, the most direct route to Station 1.  Just as we arrived at the entrance to the Gate, a stream of Muslim worshippers, eight across, and moving at maximum speed surged up Herod's assent and continued to come without abatement all the way to Lion's Gate Street, the location of Station 1.  It was an amazing sight and experience.  We twenty or so, hugging the wall as we moved single file against the onslought, carrying a cross, nonetheless.  The crowd was still coming when we made our turn the other direction to Station 1.  We discovered later, that Saturday was also the beginning of a very important feast for Muslims called Id al-Adha, proper celebration of which calls for much feasting and celebrating for three days.  We also later found out that the highest religious leaders in the country, both Jewish and Muslim had called on everyone to be on their best behavior to avoided conflicts.  Two different commemorations with more diverse traditions could be hard to imagine.  At any rate, the flood of people we experienced were apparently just finished with the early morning service on the Temple Mount, and were in a hurry to get started with the party.  I was not worried, except for being trampled, but some in our class thought we were in great danger of being attacked, especially since we were carrying the large cross.  Maybe they would have been more reassured if they had known that it was really just a rush to get the party going.  I doubt that we were even noticed.

A sort of continuation of this story is that Sunday, the worship schedule at Saint George's Cathedral was also changed to accommodate a special day, Thanksgiving Day.  This is the beginning of the late summer harvest and in the last few days, we have begun to see an amazing abundance of new fruits and vegetables, including bananas and oranges, apples and pears, and, of course, some of those strange looking middle-easten specialties.  The Cathedral had only one service at 10:30, a mixture of English and Arabic, with the whole altar area covered with squash, mellons and all the aformentioned varieties.  The Archbishop preached a good Thanksgiving Day service, first in Arabic and then a second time in English.  The serice finished off with a rousing rendition of "Count your blessings, name them one by one, and you'll be surprised to see what God has done," in English and Arabic, simultaniously and a final blessing after which alll the locals tore up to the altar to carry away the loot, which apparently carries some special blessing which will go home with you and probably bless your own Thanksgiving dinner.  Monday, Ha Aretz, the local English newpaper, was full of praise for how well everyone behaved, no riots, no bombings, only the usual number is kids falling off a cliff or into a pond.  I guess we can get along!

Lunch after church, of course, and then we were off to the last site directly connected our Our Lord, the Church of the Ascension, also located on the Mount of Olives, half a block from Pater Noster Church and Eleona.  It seems a little odd to even call it a Church.  The first commemorative structure on the site was built by the Byzantines, whose architect had some feeling for its theological significance.  He built a round column about 12 feet tall around the spot with a completely open top, and then at some distance, I'd say about fifty feet, he built another round building exactly concentric to the shrine building, but about thiry feet tall, also with no roof.  Apparently, this was in homage to the disciples who stood looking up as Christ ascended.  The outer circle had two columns across from each other, to represent the two young men who showed up and asked the disciples why they were looking up.  Like everything elsed in Jerusalem, it, too, has been altered to adhere to the preferences of Jerusalem varied and changing politics.  First, the Muslims turned it into a mosque, then the Crusaders turned the outside wall into an octogon, and put a dome on the shrine itself.  Somewhere along the way, no one knows, a stone with an indentation has come to be considered the footprint Jesus left behind as his last foot left the earth.  Early pilgrims report that Jesus' footprints were visible on the surface of the site, and that each year on Ascension Day, when all the Christians gathered to celebrate the feast, exactly at noon, a great wind would arise and scour the entire place, but the footprints would always remain.  You may  decide how much of that you choose to believe.  Here is what it looks like today.

Jesus' footprint (left one, I was told)

Today, we were up really early to make the trip to Caesarea Maritima, the site of the Roman Capitol during the 600+ years that Rome and Bzyantium ruled Palestine as a Roman province.  Its significance for the course is that, after Jeusalem, Caesarea Maritima was probably the most influencial city in the spread of the Gospel message to the rest of the world.  For one thing, it had the only harbor from which ships could sail to distant lands.  Pontius Pilate, as governor of Palestine lived there (he only went to Jerusalem when he had to).  Paul spent two years there in custody, and left from there to go Rome on his apeal to Caesar.  Cornelius the Centurion and his family and friends became the first gentile converts to Christianity, after Peter had a vision in nearby Joffa (our Jewish friends say that this is when Judism and Christianity split, and maybe their are right) and we know that Phillip the Deacon was transported there.   This was a massive and impressive city!  Herod the Great built it as a present and thank you to Caesar Augustus, and everything had to be perfect. It had all the necessities of the Roman city, a theatre, a hippadrome for charriot raced, gymnasium, baths, and a huge temple to Caesar, himself.  No one has any record of a synagogue.  Herod's faith was in getting and staying on top.  He didn't have much time for anything that didn't work toward that end.  

Hippodrome, today.

Some contemporary stand-ins!

Herod also had an elaborate palace there.  He strared with nothing but the ambition to provide the most lavish present that anyone could every imagine, and he succeeded.  Unfortunately, nature will prevail.  The sandy sea floor ultimately could not provide the stability needed to maintain the harbor, and earthquakes knocked down much of the rest.  Of course, Caesarea was retaken and rehabilitaed by the Crusaders who used it as a major port of entry for their campaigns and they left many distinguishing signs of their passing, including the handsome city gate seen here.

Today, Caesarea is a major recreation area, with swimming, fishing, boating, golf and all the rest.  It may have been a poor place for a habor and a show place, but it is still a great place for a resting day by the sea.

The course finishes officially with breakfast in the morning, but we had our "graduation" ceremonies and farewell dinner this evening.  Several van loads have left already, and there will be a few more tomorrow.  There are also a few, like me, who will be hanging around a little longer.  I still have a few things I need to do, and one or two curiosities, I'd like to satisfy.  For today,

Vale! 

Agony to Ecstasy - Palestine of Jesus - VI

The final day or maybe it was three days of Jesus' incarnate life are so horrible that they are difficult to contemplate.  Mostly, our minds want to get past them (it) and on to the resurrection.  But somehow the typography of Jerusalem makes that pretty impossible.  First, there is the reality of actual distance from one location to another.  That challenges our perceived time-frame.  What is covered in a sentence or two in the scriptires, had to take hours in actuality.  Some of the sites named may or may not be 100% accurate based on colateral sources.  For example, there has been a general assumption that Jesus' trial before Pilot took place in the Antonia Fortress on the north west corner of the Temple Mount whereas most scholars, today believe that Pilot would have stayed at Herod's Palace on Mount Zion, and that would be the place where the trial of Jesus took place.  A huge  difference in geography! 

Yesterday, after lunch,we went back to Mount Zion to visits the Cenaculum, site of the Last Supper and the location of the first church, the mother church of all the world's Christian churches.  From earliest times,it was acknilaged to be the location for the disciple's hangout in Jerusqalem proper, and the probable site of Pentecost as well.

In the fourth century, the Byzantines had built a hugh church which completely enclosed the Upper Room, the Pentecost "plaza" and the site remembered as the location of Mary's death, which is contained, today, next door, in the Benedictine Abbey of the Dormition.  Some people. think that it is likely also to have contained in a separate monastery, the site of Caiphas' House.

Our final stop for the day was the Church of Peter in Gallicantu which translates as something like Peter as the cock crowed.  Because other important sites like the House of Caiphas, the site of the scourging, the denial of Peter, Peter of Gallicantu has come to serve as the site for them all.  So, what this site really represents is the place where Peter wept when he heard the cock crow.

I'm sorry to report that my keyboard has suddenly gone wacky and seems only capable of writting words with every letter doubled to tripped.  I hate the IPad keyboard, so unless I can find a fix while I an here, future blogs may be considerably shorter.  For now, Vale!

O, 'Dem Jesus Slippers - Palestine of Jesus V

I think I have mentioned in previous posts that many of the traditional and highly revered Holy sites can not be authenticated.  There are a couple of good reasons for this.  In the first few centuries, there was no continuity between the time of Jesus, the writting of the Gospel texts; frequent changes of "official" attitudes of the government of the region regarding Christianity often lead to supression of cultic practices or outright persecution and the anhilation of the holders of the oral traditions; and finally, the Romans brutally supressed any Christian veneration of these sites.  It was only after the conversion of the Emperor Constantine, around 312 A.D. that sincere and "scientific" attempts were made to locate and catalogue these sites.  Constantine's searchers, including his mother, Helena, often found themselves relying on the reports of local residents about the location of these sites, some of which had not been seen above ground for over 200 years.  Once the authority of the Imperium was brought to bear, no amount of expense or inconvenience was going to stand in the way of finding and bringing  these sites to light for the veneration of pilgrims.  Hence, some major shrines are located "pretty close" to the actual location, or represent a consolidation of similar events at a single site, such as the Mutlplication of the Loaves and Fishes, reported in all four Gospels, not necessarily and the same time and in the same place.  Most pilgrims are not very troubled by this vaguery.  If we needed scientific proof and absolute verification of the facts of our Lord's life, we couldn't be Christians.  At some point in every Christian's spiritual life, there has to be the acknowledgement that facts and reasons will get you only so far.  Untimately, faith and trust are absolute necessities to "carry you home."

That is a long introduction to the special qualities which are generating this post.  There are a few places, where our Lord's presence, his very feet, if you will, are not even debatable.  Monumental structures, firm archeaological identifications, wells, sites in continuous use, without interuption, these have a special authenticity which often gives me goosebumps when I am in their presence.  We've visited several of these "authentic" sites in the last couple of days.

The first was in  Jerusalem on the Temple Mount.  Jesus' frequent visits to the Temple, from his "Presentation" until the day before his arrest are frequently cited.  His conflicts with the Priests and the officials of the temple, his teachings and healings, his arguments with the scribes and pharisees make up a good part of what we know of Jesus' ministry.  All the beautiful stones and archetecture which his disciples admired, and which Jesus predicted would be tossed down, are all gone now, replaced by a hugh plaza (the equivalent of 29 football fields) dominated by moslem shrines and mosques.  Certainly the best known and most iconic is the Dome of the Rock which covers the tip of Mount Moria and is said to be the place where God began creation, Abraham bound Isaac (or Ishmael) for sarifice, and may have been the location of the Holy of Holies for the last Temple.  It is a highly prized space on this plane of stone and masonery.

Signs leading up to the Temple Mount warn Jews that Torah Law forbids them to go up on the mount, lest they step on something, or come too near to something left over from the last Temple.  Consequently, Jews of almost any variety you can imagine use only the Western Wall as their religious focus.

The next site was one of my favorites, for a number of reasons, the Church of Saint Anne on the site of what was once the Pools of Bethesda, or the Sheeps Pool, or the pool by the Sheeps Gate, it is known by all three.  This was a hugh reservoir consisting of double pools each capable of holding lots of water.  In Jesus time, it was located just outside the city walls, and had some history as a site for healing.  This is another uncontestable location since the pools are still there, along with the Byzantine, Moslem, Crusader ruins of previous owners.  Even the Romans, who destroyed nearly everything recognizable after the Bar Kokba rebellion in 130 A.D. thought it better to preserve such an important water source.  So, it is really the place where Jesus cured the lame man and incurred the ire of the Temple Priests for healing on the sabboth.  I like the site becaused of all the ruins that are there which are quite distinct, and because of the Church of Saint Anne which, today, belongs to the French, after it was conceded to them as a reward from their participation in the Crimean War.  It is dedicated to Saint Anne, Mother of the Virgin Mary, and claims to be her home, and the birthplace of Mary.  There is a grotto there which purports to be the very location in which Anna received the vision that assured her that she would bear a child.  It's proximity to the Temple Mount adds some credibility to the claim.  The Church that is there, today, is a beautifully preserved Crusader church which the Moslems (who also venerate Anne and Mary) used as a seminary, which explains why it has remained unaltered.  The main feature of this church is its unbelievable accustics.  Under its vault, any rag-tag group of six or seven can sound like the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.  Our own Maori songsters offered two or three songs which I'm sure represented a different sound than is usually heard there.  It brought one of the White Fathers who run the place out to see what was going on.  It was really sublime!

Hugh mounds of rocks and giant cicterns are not the only things that do not move around or can't easity be destroyed, so are wells.  Next we were off to Nablus, the site of ancient Sechem for a visiti to Jacob's Well.  This was an authentic anciient site even before Christ.  Scripture identifies it as a geographical location goninh back to the Patriarchs, including Jacob, of course.  Our interest was in the encounter that Jesus had with the Woman of Samaria at Sychar, which was a small village just outside of Shehem in Jesus time.  Their lengthy exchange brings from Jesus the promise of "living water", a number of Smaratan converts, and the declaration by Jesus that he is the "Son of Man."  The well, today, is located in the grotto of an Orthodox Church and still produces great water.  It is around 70 feet deep, so it takes a bit of handle-turning to bring it up, but nearly all the class had a refreshing gulp or two from a well that is at least 5,000 years old, and there can be no question that this was a spot where Jesus stood.

The final stop in our day to stand in Jesus' footprints took us to Bethany, the home of Mary, Martha and Lazarus, where Jesus was apparently always welcome as a guest.  The location of the home of Mary and Martha is disputed, but there is no dispute about Lazarus' grave.  This is a site that has been maintained, in unbroken succession  since at least the second century.  The empty grave has been reserved, along with the place outside the door of the tomb  where Jesus would have stood and shouted, Lazarus, come out! 

No Lazarus!

I just want to close this post with a small political harangue.  The Israeli security barrier has created a terrible hardship on Bethany and many other Palestinian towns and villages.  Bethany was a close-in suburb of Jerusalem not an impossible walk from the Old City, it is now cut off and its residents, most of whom have to work in Jerusalem are forced to go miles out of their way and pass through security  checkpoints, twice daily.  Many of them are not allowed to drive their cars into the city, and must take scuttles to the checkpoints, walk through the security check, and then another shuttle to their work destination.  What used to be a 15 minute commute to work now takes regularly an hour, and that's only if everything is absolutely normal.  The slightest security alert can double the time, or even close off access altogether.  While no one can denigh the rights of the Israelis to protect their territory, at some point one needs to ask: How much security is necessary, and at what expense, and at whose cost?  The security barrier cost upwards of 30 billion dollars to construct.  Most of the money came from the U.S.

Soon, back to Jesus!  I promise.

Palestine of Jesus IV

I  can't say that I just got back from a thrilling three days in Galilee.  I acturally had to take an extra day to recover from what got to be an increasingly difficult trip.  About half our group came down with, or came back with respiratory distress or Gi distress.  Not wanting to miss out on anything, I had both!

Our first day took us up the now familiar Jordan Valley straight to Tiberius, Herod  Antipater built it for his capitol, after Sepphoris had lost its glow.  I'm never quite sure why we veer from the chronological order of Jesus life, but our first stop was at a site called Mensa Christi.  It is the John's location for a post-resurretion appearance of Jesus to his disciples, who had returned to their old life style as fisherman.  It was there that  Jesus called them back into service and evangelism for the sake of the Gospel, and the Roman Catholics say, he entrusted Peter with the continuing care of the infant church.  I grew up thinking that the proof text for Peter's Primacy came from Matthew, at the time of Peter's confession that Jesus was the Messiah, the Son of God.  The story at Mensa Christi goes that Jesus was standing on the shore cooking them breakfast, hence Mensa (table) of Christ).  There are rocks there that are believed to be the ones on which Jesus served the food.

On to Capernaum!  Now we were back into the chronology of Jesus' life.  After the people of Nazareth rejected him in their synagogue Scripture tells us that Jesus moved onto Capernaum.  There he called his disciples from their fishing to be fishers of  people, calls Matthew the tax-collector, heals the Centurian's servant, heals a paralytic and teaches in the synagogue.  There are a couple of things about Caperaum that call for attention.  First, it is on the edge of the Golan Heights and its building material is basalt rock (volcanic and almost black in color.  Second, the synagogue is hugh for what was a town of not more that 300 people.  Archeaologists are still trying to figure it all out, but it is nice for us to see something from the fifth century with is still recognizable and hasn't been distroyed by earthquakes, which seems to have been the dimise of many biblical towns and villages.

 

Date season, as best I can discern, is pretty much a year round thing since there are so many varieties and colors that I've never seen before.  Since it is not a phenomonon that is familiar to most midwesterners, I thougt I'd include a picture of one of these laden palms which I saw on the way to Bethsaida, our next stop.  I think that this one is pretty well done for the season but it will give you an idea of what a favorite holiday baking fruit looks like when it is not dried and in a box.

Bethsaida is up in the hills, above Caperaum and is a truly anciet city which supplied at least three of Jesus' disciples, Peter, Andrew and Philip.  There Jesus healed a blind man, fed five thousand, and was so distressed by their infidelity to YHWH that he pronounced "woes" upon it, along with Capernaum and Chorizin.  A walk through its ruined streets and buildings seems to confirm that it is best not to agrivate the big guy.  There are pagan signs which have been found, including a bas relief of the Moon Goddess afixed to the city gate.  Again, the building material is basalt which looks even more foreboding when it is in ruins.  This is definatly a street that Jesus walked.  A somewhat thrilling exxperience in itself.

A quick stop in Kursi, Gerasene as in the Gerasene demonias of Mark 5, was our final stop of the day.  We backtracked a little so that we could check-in at the guesthouse on the Mount of the Beatitudes.  This is a site built in the 1930's and the chapel has a distinctive Art Deco look, clean lines, uncluttered, which  befits the purity and simplicity of the beatitudes themselves.  No one is prepared to say exactly where Jesus preached the Sermon of the Mount, or the Sermon of the Plain, if you prefer. but this is the commemorative site and it is a most fitting tribute to "the new commandments of our Lord."  We celebrated Eucharist when we arrived, much to the relief of pilgrims who were feeling quesy because the schedule had not allowed for Sunday Mass.  The Guesthouse, run by Italian Nuns was very nice, the accomodations were excellent, but illness had begun to make itself known.

Our next destination was Caesarea Philippi, the capitol that Herod Philip built to curry favor with Caesar Augustus during Jesus' life time.  Scripture tells us that Jesus took his disciples away to Caesarea Philippi for rest and for more intenseive teaching.  It is in many ways an unusual choice.  There are no Jewish or Christian artifacts there.  This was a thoroughly pagan site, best known as the sanctuary of Pan (its current Arabic name is Banias (Pan).  It is a place unlike any other I've seen in the Holy Land, in that there is an abundance of water from springs which feed and form the upper Jordan (before it enters the Sea of Galilee.  Quite beautiful and peaceful.

There are several pagan temples there, including one to Caesar, of course.  It seems that every tourist site has to have some kind of logo or identifing symbol.  In the case of Banias, they must have looked for a image-remake specialist because the symbol that is used for Pan does not reflect mythology's assesment of him (it).  As I recall Pan was the son of Bacdhus and was not particulary cute or friendly.  As they say, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree.

We had lunch a Migdal, which is the home of Mary Magdalene, and then went for a sail on the Sea of Galilee in an "authentic" Sea of Galilee boat, supposedly modelled on the 1st century boat that was uncovered in the 90's I believe.  Assside from the fact that so many of us were under the weather, it was a pleasant time.

Everyone was suprised when the captain brought out a New Zealand flag, and hoisted it along side the Israeli  one.  A lusty singing of the New Zealand national anthem, first in Maori then in English seemed to raise everyone's spirits.  And the captian knew the wisdom of his discision when all the New Zealanders raced to buy his kitch.  Our course director told us later that we had gotten and extra 15  minutes on the cruse because of our Kiwi friends.

Our final stop of the day was at the Church of Multifplication of the Loaves and Fishes.  This is a beautifully restored Byzantine chuch commorating the Multplication story(s).  The floor is covered with stunning mosaics, some of which are original and some are replacements but done with such attention that it is not easy to tell which is which.  It also has a rock in front of its altar, which purports to be the very rock on which Jesus divided the meager offering and presented it to his disciples.  There are a number of stories about the multplication of the loaves and fishes in the gospels, and it seems that this site is meant to honor them all.  German Benedictines are in charge and do an excellent job of balancing the demands of an highly sought pilgrim site against the meditative atmosphere that such a significant site suggests.

Then it was back to the Mount of the Beatitudes for another night, followed by a short retreat morning the next day.  Our final stop on this Galilee trip was on Mount Tabor, back in lower Galilee.  Mount Tabor is the traditional pilgrim site for the Transfiguration. Some experts insist that the actural location of the Transfiguration story is Mount Hermon, up in Caesarea Philippi, where Banias is.  I  don't think it made much difference to the tired pilgrims on our bus.  We just wanted to get home  The Church of the Transfiguration is a splendid church built in the 1920's and operated by French Franciscans.  Less of it was available to pilgrims than the last time I was there.  On the other hand, I felt like I benefitted from the restricted access.  Sometimes, enough is enough.

Palestine of Jesus - III

Now that a few days and a few excursions have gone by, it might be a good time to say something about my fellow pilgrims, here at Saint George's College.  Diversity is definitely not a problem!  There are six of us from the U.S., one from Canada, thirteen from New Zealand of which ten are Moari, two from Tonga, one from Figi, and, of course, six Brits.  We range in age from fifteen to eighty-one, and seem to get on quite well.  The New Zealanders, in particular, are great fun.  They came armed with guitars and ukuleles with which they accompany their singing (hymn and secular) during long and not very interesting bus rides.

We've had a couple of those in the last few days.  Yesterday we travelled to Jericho to the Israeli site for the Baptism of Christ.  Having covered his annunciation and birth, we were ready to move on to the beginning of his ministry.   That, of course, requires a visit to the baptism site.  The traditional and probably authentic site is in Jordan, and I had an opportunity to visit it and explore the deeper traditions related to it when I was here two years ago.  But, the Jordan is pretty narrow, and getting to Jordan (the kingdom) is pretty complicated, and the Isralis have created a super facility for Christian pilgrims to visit as the Baptism site (more of less), so it was the one we went to renew our baptismal vows.  Several people seemed the think that the renewal service was pretty special.  I told them that at Saint Anne's we renew baptismal vows four time each year.  They were amazed!  It's weird how few people are acquainted with the rather explicit rubrics in the Prayer Book.  Well enough of that.

The site was pretty crowded as it always is, and I was more facinated by what was going on around me.  There was a particularly large and enthusiastic group of Ukranians who were really into it.  The Ukranianss seem to be everywhere.  But, what caught my eye was the actual baptism of an infant taking place on the Jordan side. 

The couple in white are holding what appears to be a little girl, and the whole family has turned out for the occasion.  There was a Japanese group doing baptisms right next to us, and just before we left, andother huge groups of Ukranians showed up, having donned "tourist" baptismal gowns (45 shelkels) and were preparing to take the plunge just as we were leaving.

 

After his baptism, Jesus was "driven out" into the wilderness to be tempted by Satan.  So, our next stop was a view of the Orthodow Monestary which commemorates the first temptation, turning stones in to bread.  It is high up a rather sheer mountain, perched among many caves which could certainly have served as a dwelling place for forty days and nights, if you brought your own food and water, that is.

No trip to Jericho would be compolete with out a stop at the Zacheaus sycamore, and so, even though it was out of out chronological sequence we stopped there to ponder how a small man (and a very small man was he) could shinny up such a tall tree without a ladder.  Perhaps something was omitted from the biblical narrative.

We finished off the day with a demonstration of Palestinian cooking given by our great chef, Joseph Arbeed.  He promised to give us some of his reciepts so that we can use them back home to help raise money for the Diocese of Jerusalem.  I might add that the Diocese of Jerusalem is a very worthy cause.  It operates more institutions, schools, hospitals, refugee ministries, job training facilities, than it has churches.  It is hard to imagine how Bishop Suhiel and his small staff do it.  Anyway, Joseph is giving us a means to do some charity work as well as indulge our curious culinary interests.

Today was Masada, the Herodian palace/fortress on the Dead Sea, where the last resisters to the Roman conquest on 68 A.D. made their last stand, and committed mass suicide rather than be captured by the Romans.  It is an amazing place, but difficult to photograph in any meaningful way.  I've learned through experience that ruins pretty much all look the same, and at this point, ruins are all that there is available to photograph.  I will incude one picture of the impressive mountain plateau on which Herod built his palace.  It is hard to imagine the manpower and resources that it must have taken to satisfy the paranoid leanings and the taste for luxury which characterized Herod's personality.  It had Roman-style baths and swimming pools, all supplied by a water system that could fulfill the needs of the royal entorage and military garison from the two inches of rain that fall in the regeion each year.  Amazing!  One of the things I've observed in my time in the Middle East is that these desert dwellers are far more sophisticated about water use and conservation that any of us "modern" Westerners ever thought of being.

Next stop was Qumran, the site of the community/monestary that produced the Dead Sea Scrolls.  Again, it is a desolate place with no fresh water, but they tooo had developed an elabortate system to supply their needs, which were prodigious.  The Essene community which lived there were obsessed with the idea of ritual purity.  they were required to bath twice a day!  They would have needed a lot of water and somehow they got it, because they were active there on that site for over 150 years.  A Beduin boy, looking for a goat, found the first of the scrolls in a cave, but the major find came from cave #4 (there were eleven, altogether).

What could top off a day in the hot desert better than a float in the Dead Sea?  And so that was the way the day ended.  The atached picture shows the party had by those who did not go into the chemical bath.  They made the better choice!

Tomorrow morning early, it's off to the Galilee for three days, back on the trail of Jesus, after a desert diversion which was fun but lacked much educational focus and certainly had nothing at all to do with the Palestine of Jesus.  I'm not going to try to blog during that sojourn.  The wifi is tricky enough here, I don't feel like trying to negotiate the wifi in the lobby of a guesthouse at the Mount of the Beatitudes.  I'll just have to catch you up when I return onTuesday night.

I'd like to think that I have figured out how to get these blogs published with pictures, in place where I put them as I write.  We'll see!

Vale.

Pix from Palestine of Jesus IA

Churc of the Nativity - Bethlehem

The Very Spot where Mary gave birth to Jesus

The stone manger where he was layed

Pix from Palestine of Jesus

Church of the Annunciation - Nazareth

Shoping in the Nazareth market

Stone Jar at Cana of Galilee

Elizabeth's house in Ein Kerem scene of the Visitation

The Palestine of Jesus - Part I

The course began in ernest, yesterday, with a trip to Nazareth.  Previous introductory material was really helpful in laying out the trajectory of the course.  So far as it makes sense to do, the excursions and lectures will follow the chronolological events of Jesus' life, meaning that the Annunciation, which St. Luke says, took place in Nazareth, was our first stop.  Heading out of Jerusalem, down the present-day Jericho Road is a wierd experience.  In just about twenty-five miles the elevation drops from 1500 feet above sea level to 250 feet below.  It makes one glad to be riding down rather than walking up.  A left turn at Jericho takes one along the Jordan River Valley, past the all the intensive farming activity which the Jordan River makes possible, and all of this is fraimed by the absoute desolation of the Judean wilderness immediately behind it.  As the route travels further northward, the hills of Samaria replace the desolation of the sandy wilderness with the desolation of a rocky wilderness.  Only with the turn westward into the lower Galilee does the landscape dramatically transform into verdant, high intensity farming that looks similar to what we know and would recognise.

Nazareth, which historians tell us, had probably no more than 300 people at the time of Jesus' annunciation, is now a city of 125,000, with suburbs, no less.   It seems to be a rule in Israel and Palestine that all cities must be perched on the very top of the hill, and so it is with Nazareth.  The most prominant feature in Nazareth is the Church of the Annunciation.

 It is a twentieth century building standing on the foundation of a Byzantine church which was first build in the fifh century.  It contains the grotto which purports to be the remains of the house where Mary was living when she received that Ave from the Angel Gabriel, which changed her life, and I guess I should add, all of ours as well.  It is the largest church in Israel.

This was a return visit for me, and I believe I have already shared some of the pictures I took on previous visits to this magnificent shrine church.  It has pictures and artwork from all over the world depicting Mary in the manner which is more of less native to the country of origin.  I found the experience to be very moving, as I did on previous visits, and I was not at all bored while others viewed its many facinating exibits for their first time.

There were two or maybe three completely new sitess for me to take in.  The first was the Church of Saint Joseph, near the Church of the Annunciation, of which I had never heard.  Joseph often gets overlooked in the praise and adoration poured out on Mary.  But, especially in St. Matthew's Gospel, his role is absolutely essential.  It was nice to see that there was also a shrine chruch dedicated to him.  Some nice artwork, a lovely garden/plaza and a handsome church add a necessary acknowledgement of his considerable role in salvation history.

Our visit took a leap into Jesus' future and outside the course timeline so that we could see another site in Nazareth of importance to the Jesus narrative.  The synagogue in Nazareth where Jesus was rejected by his own townsfolk is only a fairly short trip through the Nazareth market, to what is, today, a Marcionite parish called the Synagogue Church, an active Christian congregation who have maintained this chapel for centuries.

Nazareth has one of the largest Arab Christian communiies in Israel, and is one of the Israeli cities which has an Arab majority, and an Arab member of the Kennesset (I don't seem to have any spell check, which is a problem, since I also have no dictionary!)

We left Nazareth for the archeological site of Sepphoris which is only about five miles from Nazareth, and which was the capital of the Galilee during the time of Jesus' childhood.  It is sometimes postulated that Joseph may have been working in Sepphoris, since there was a lot of building and construction going on at that time.  Perhaps even Jesus himself may have apprenticed there.  Unfortunately, the park was closed because it was the day before Rosh Hashanna.  This happens in Israel fairly often.  A Jewish holiday will close any site which is run by the state.  It was not planned, but since we were in the area and had the time, we diverted to Cana, of Galilee, another important location in the later part of Jesus' life.  Here is where Jesus turned the water which had been drawn into the stone jars for purification into top drawer wine.  A nice garden, still used for weddings, (in fact one was going on while we were there) two nice churches, one Roman Catholic, one Othodox, and replicas, or maybe original stone jars (but not wine, although the shops all around offered "Cana Wine" for sale to any wishing to partake.  (I don't think it is the same wine)

It was a long, hot and tiring day, and I was relieved to get back to St. George's and into a shower and some fresh clothes.  I know that I wasn't alone.

I can't seem to get this post out of Israel, so I'll have to scrap some pictures. More to come.

Palestine of Jesus - Part IA

Today, we were back on couse with the chronology of Jesus life.  We gathered this morning for our class photo, then boarded the bus for Ein Kerem, the traditional site of the Visitation, when Mary came to see Elizabeth, her cousin, who was having a late-in-life pregnancy with John the Baptist, and the two women met, and John the Baptist, leaped in utero at the presence of his Lord.  The Bible does not name Ein Kerem as the town in the hill country, but the two churches and the fountain located there, have been pilgrimage sites since the eariest days of pilgrimages.

Not too many yards away in Ein Kerem, is the Church of Saint John the Baptist, which purports to mark the birth place of John the Baptist.  No one asked why he would have been born in a different location from his mother's house (where the Visitiation shrine is said to be).  Such questions are irrelivant in the Holy Land.  It also is a beautiful church with appropriate artwork reflecting Luke's telling of John's Birth and the restoration of Zechariah's vocal abilities.  One of the items I will always try to remember is the exhibit of the rock (the very rock) which protected the infant J the B and his mother from the soldiers of Herod, who were killing all babies under two years of age, at the time, by opening up and completely engulfing them.  It looks like an ordinary rock.... who knew.  If you are not familiar with the story (and I certainly was not) it can be verified in the Gospel of James, also known as the Protoevangelium, the very book which gives us the birth of Mary, her parents names, Anne and Joachim, her growing-upyears, and her post birth gynocological exam!

Next, we were off to Bethlehem, to the Church of the Nativity.  This is one of Saint Helena's churches from the fouth century, and while it has been tampered with and rebuilt a couple of times, it is one of the only churches to have remained more or less intact.  That is stirring, but also means that it is under almost constant repair.  This time we could not even use the main door because there is extensive work being done on the roof (eight million eros worth, our guide told us).  Usually, and by that I mean always, the place is packed and the cave/grotto, which is the place where Mary gave birth, and layed baby Jesus in the stone manger about ten feet away is so packed and hot with burning candles, lamps and bodies that any sense of devotion and awe is suplanted by the need to survive.  But, because of all the construction, the authorities are allowing only guided tours, which means that huge groups of pilgrims are milling around in Nativity square, waiting for their turn in the holy place.  Fortunately, our course director, Rodney Aist has a friend among the Palestinian tour guides who found us rather quickly and ushered us directly to the cript/grotto, and kept all others out for about 15 minutes, giving our group ample opportunity, and space to pray, admire, offer thanks and take pictures with little distraction of fear ofasphyxiation!

As an added bonus, we were able to tour the other caverns and grottos under the complex including the work and living space of Saint Jerome and his monks and admirers.  Saint Jerome, in case your soteriology is slipping, was the sith century translator of the Bible from  the original ancient languages into Latin and was the standard text for the Roman Church until Vatican II in the last century.  In any case, we had to make our way through another wedding in the adjacent church, used for the annual Roman Catholic Mass from Bethlehem which is broadcast all over the world on Christmas eve each year.  The wedding party was not really happy with our presence.  But apparently, no one gets to tell an official guide where he can go, or not.

Back on the square, we hopped on the bus headed for home, but not before we stopped at a large and very impressing gift shop operated by Palestinian Christians with authentic Palestinian-made goods.  It was filled with an impressive selection olive wood carvings and statuary, and of course, the usual Holy Land kitch.  

Over all it was an excellent day and a very educational and inspirational experience.  The weather is beautiful, a little hot in the daytime, but cool enough in the evenings to suggest that maybe a light jacket would be in order.  The food at Saint George's and on the road has been truely excellent, and those of you who dine with me from time to time, know that that means, pretty darn good!  I spent some of my bus time today, (there wasn't really that much of it) thinking that I have the makeings of a pretty good Nativity of our Lord in situ program.  If so, Advent, or maybe even a fifth Wednesday in December time may be possible.

I'm sorry that I can't seem to include more pictures this time.  For some reason, these blog posts seem to fail, today, with pictures attached.  I'll try to make some additional picture posts tomorrow.

UNEXPECTED BLESSINGS AMID THE DISAPPOINTMENTS

My second and third day have had their share of curious events.  Sunday began with church at Saint George's Cathedral, followed by a little reading time while I waited for the next planned event of the day, Solemn Vespers at the Armenian Patriarchate Church of Saint James.  The Armenians rightly claim  status as the first Christian nation, back in the fourth of fifth century, if memory serves me right.  But, the history of their devotion is so full of tragedy, persecution and repression that it is a miracle that they hang so tenaciously on in the face of so much sadness and hardship.  One of the abiding places of hope for them has been their hold on a section of the old city of Jerusalem.  When their churches were suppressed and their people slaughtered, they found a foothold in the Holy City.  Today, as I understand it, their main theological seminary for training priests is in the Armenien Quarter, and it is primarily the young seminarians who compose the choir for their vesper service which is spectacularly  beautiful, musically and visually.  They do this service every day.  However, it is especially elaborate on Sundays and Holy Days.  Yesterday was both.  Sunday and the Feast of Saint Matthew.  I was prepared for the best.  I arrived at 2:40 pm just to make sure I would have a good seat for the daily 3:00 pm service.  Others began to gather with me in anticipation of the doors opening shortly before the service.  Three o'clock came and went and there was no activity.  About 3:15 a particularly assertive German nun declared that she was going to find out what was up.  She returned a short time later with the report that she was told that it was Armenien Independence Day and there was no service.  As unlikely an explanation as that seems, to call for some clarification.  But, I've been around  Jerusalem long enough to know that there is no alternative to simple acceptance of whatever one is told because there will be no other!  Everyone immediately dispersed, probably because they had also learned that no other information would ever be available.   So, off it was to the next thing.

Wandering back toward the Damascus Gate, I decided to see what was happening in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher.  Much to my surprise, it was not terribly packed.  I decided to take advantage of the situation and see if I could make contact with the two holiest (and most popular) shrines in the church.  Golgotha's line was only about fifteen feet long, and after some Russian pilgrims who thought that they would monopolize the place for a devotional service, were sent packing by a tough Orthodox nun, the line moved pretty quickly, and I got my turn to touch the stone on which the cross stood, as pilgrims have done for centuries.  Almost the same scenario played out at the Holy Sepulcher.  Fairly short line, along only one side, and a tough Orthodox monk who made sure that no one took advantage and tried to stay in the tomb for more that thirty seconds.  For me, it was enough.  I doubt that I will feel compelled to wait in line for either site again this trip.

Today's plan was to visit the City of David archeological digs in the area below the southern wall and into the Kidron Valley.  They are actually looking for evidence of the City of David, which they are sure has to be in that place.  But, it is an area that has been destroyed and built over many, many times.  So far they've found only Canaanite ruins as a few artifacts from Hezekiah's time, late 8th century, B.C.  However, the main attraction is Hezekiah's tunnel, which the king ordered to be built to increase the city's security against the Assyrians.  It diverted water from the Gihon Spring, outside the walls, to the Pool of Siloam, inside the walls by cutting through bedrock for half a mile.  I walked through Hezekiah's tunnel, today.  There is no light except flashlights, and the passage is very narrow and low in several places, and the Gihon Spring is still putting out a prodigious amount of water, so mostly the water is knee deep and up to mid-thy level occasionally, and did I mention that it is spring water, but the excitement of making it through a twenty-eight year old, biblically identified construction site is still pretty exciting.  Talk about touching history.  The way to the City of David is through the Dung Gate, which might help to explain why it's taken so long for any serious archeology to be undertaken there!

Tonight we had our first class meeting.  This is going to be an interesting social experience.  We have at least ten people from New Zealand, most of the Maori, three from the Pacific Islands: Figi, Togo, etc. a couple of Canadians a smattering of Americans and about half a dozen English.  We see how all this plays out!

I'm including some pictures to illustrate my adventures.  I'm going to try to label them, but just in case they are: entrance to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher; the Anointing Stone, the crucifixion shrine and the edicule housing the tomb of Jesus in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher; the entrance and exit to the Hezekiah tunnel, and the remains of the Siloam pool, and the Dung Gate of Jerusalem.

 

         Church of the Holy Scepulcher

The Anointing Stone - Station 13 - Church of the Holy Sepulcher

Calvary Shrine - Stations 12 - Church of the Holy Sepulcher

 

The Edicule of the Tomb - Station 14 - Church of the Holy Sepulcher

Entrance to the Gihon Spring

Exit from Hezekiah's tunnel

Pool of Siloam??

The Dung Gate - Old City of Jerusalem