Jerusalem - The Holy City
Greetings
An amazing day in an amazing land. We all have those visions from childhood and on with regard to the Last Supper, the agony at Gethsemane, the Way of the Cross, Golgotha, etc. Today those images met reality or at least 21st century reality.
One does have to use their imagination when visiting Jerusalem with regard to what it may have looked like and sounded like. However, there is NO denying that it all took place right here in Jerusalem.
We started our day on the Mount of Olives where it all started for Christ. From there we walked to the Garden of Gethsemane, which may have been the most powerful part of the day for me. This area is still an olive tree laden area, much like what it would have looked like at the time of Christ's crucifixion. It was very easy to visualize Christ in such intense pain and trying to figure out a way for this cup to pass from him. (Picture below)
From there we pretty much followed his path toward the gate he entered into Jerusalem, the Gate of Mercy (picture above). From there we walked the stations of the cross called the Via Dolorosa leading us to the modern day church of the Holy Sepulchre built on top of Golgotha where Christ was crucified. Not far away we visited the area in which Joseph of Arimathea took his body for burial. All very surreal. (picture above of my wife Jane praying at the site of Golgotha).
Honestly though, amidst shops, noise, and folks who quite frankly treat it more like the Smithsonian than a holy place, it was tough to find the right space today to truly experience what took place here. I constantly found myself pulling back from all of the "hub-bub" and trying to visualize all that was going on- the sights, sounds, shouts, etc.
Tomorrow Jane and I are not accompanying the tour group to the Dead Sea, instead we are staying behind to take in more of Jerusalem. Our top priority is to make it to the Holocaust Museum, which comes highly recommended to us. For our intention on this day we will remember all the people who lost their lives during this unforgivable massacre/genocide during WW II.
God bless you all!
An amazing day in an amazing land. We all have those visions from childhood and on with regard to the Last Supper, the agony at Gethsemane, the Way of the Cross, Golgotha, etc. Today those images met reality or at least 21st century reality.
One does have to use their imagination when visiting Jerusalem with regard to what it may have looked like and sounded like. However, there is NO denying that it all took place right here in Jerusalem.
We started our day on the Mount of Olives where it all started for Christ. From there we walked to the Garden of Gethsemane, which may have been the most powerful part of the day for me. This area is still an olive tree laden area, much like what it would have looked like at the time of Christ's crucifixion. It was very easy to visualize Christ in such intense pain and trying to figure out a way for this cup to pass from him. (Picture below)
From there we pretty much followed his path toward the gate he entered into Jerusalem, the Gate of Mercy (picture above). From there we walked the stations of the cross called the Via Dolorosa leading us to the modern day church of the Holy Sepulchre built on top of Golgotha where Christ was crucified. Not far away we visited the area in which Joseph of Arimathea took his body for burial. All very surreal. (picture above of my wife Jane praying at the site of Golgotha).
Honestly though, amidst shops, noise, and folks who quite frankly treat it more like the Smithsonian than a holy place, it was tough to find the right space today to truly experience what took place here. I constantly found myself pulling back from all of the "hub-bub" and trying to visualize all that was going on- the sights, sounds, shouts, etc.
Tomorrow Jane and I are not accompanying the tour group to the Dead Sea, instead we are staying behind to take in more of Jerusalem. Our top priority is to make it to the Holocaust Museum, which comes highly recommended to us. For our intention on this day we will remember all the people who lost their lives during this unforgivable massacre/genocide during WW II.
God bless you all!
Comments
Post a Comment