Bethlehem and Nazareth
I didn't post last night as we had to get up for a 5 AM departure time this morning, and I ended up getting maybe 3 hours of sleep. So this post will not be an academic masterpiece.
On Friday we journeyed in the West Bank (that is the west bank of the Dead Sea in order to visit Tekoa, the mount on which the prophet Amos made his home. It was a climb up a rather steep hill to get to a barren, rocky area. Looking out, there wasn't much to see, not even a cave - unless you looked with very good eyes. Indeed there was a cave, which we climbed down into - every member of the group - young and not so young, able and unable (we have 2 people in walking casts). The revelation is that it was such a cave in which Jesus was born. And the manger, a shepherd's watering trough, is STONE, not wood.
From there we traveled to Bethlehem, where we shopped at a Christian Co-op (very important to support Palestinian Christians, as they are only 2% of the population). We had THE BEST LUNCH at Ruth's Restaurant, and then made our way up to the Church of the Nativity, which is shared by the Greek Orthodox, Armenians and Romans. That church is built over the site where the church remembers where Jesus was born. And, we made our way down to a grotto (that has been "sanitized" by the Church, so it looks more like a chapel than the rough cave we had been in that morning). Again, there was an altar under which was a hole in which to stick your hand to touch the stone where Jesus was born. Our group did pause to read the nativity narrative, which was quite powerful.
Originally, we has scheduled a stop at the Wall (or the Separation Barrier, as some call it, since part of it is fence), that the government of Israel has erected between Israel and the West Bank, but due to it being the first Friday of Ramadan, the traffic was essentially gridlocked. So we made our way back to Jerusalem, which was also incredibly crowed. (Fortunately we will not be here for the last Friday of Ramadan, when close to 450,000 Muslims will go to Jerusalem to pray!)
Saturday morning we were on the bus at 4:49 AM, heading out to the Wadi Qelt to see the sun rise over the Judean dessert, on the road from Jericho to Jerusalem that figures into the story of the Good Samaritan. We spent some time in silence and then shared the Eucharist. It was magnificent. From there we traveled down to Jericho - one of the oldest cities in the world - 10,000 years old! And, as it is right next to the Dead Sea, it is also part of the lowest place on earth - and very HOT! We had breakfast al fresco, where we were introduced to a local favorite of drained yogurt with a mixture of crushed thyme, sesame seeds and olive oil (and the ever present pita bread). For one who is not a big fan of yogurt I was pleasantly surprised of how good it was.
We then took a cable car up to the Mount of Temptation overlooking the Jericho Valley, and climbed up the stairs to a Greek Orthodox monastery built into the side of the hill. This where the church remembers the devil tempting Jesus during is 40 days in the wilderness. The view was amazing and scary. There are only 2 monks at the monastery now. Most of the order was killed by invaders many centuries ago. I can only imagine that being at the place Jesus was tempted for many years has to be taxing on one's psyche.
We returned to the bus for our longest journey north (90 minutes) to go to Nazareth, where we will be for three days. Even though we had already had a full day by lunch time, we were off again to the Greek Orthodox of St. Gabriel at the northern most part of the ancient city. Modern Nazareth is actually the largest Palestinian (Muslim) city in Israel, as it was where so many came after they were removed from their homes. The city is sprawling over the hills, and with Ramadan, the fireworks were going off well into the night.
Back to the church. Nazareth is where Mary was when the Angel Gabriel came to tell Mary she would bear God's holy child. The Greek Orthodox church refers to a extra-canonial book called the book of St. James that says the Annunciation took place at a well. St. Gabriel's is built over that well, which is still flowing today. The church is beautifully and elaborately (as only the Greeks can do) with icons painted all over the church, telling the story of Jesus, and especially that of the Annunciation.
We than walked down to the Basilica of the Annunciation, the Roman Catholic church that is built over what is considered to be Mary's home. That church is probably 20 times larger than the Greek Orthodox church, and very modern - it was built in the 1960s (and it shows). There are depictions of Mary, the Mother of God from all over the world. It is incredible to see the interpretation of Mary by so many cultures, yet with so many similarities - the Queen of Heaven, the mother of us all, the sword that pierced her heart. It was awesome.
We are in Nazareth for the next 3 days, traveling around to the sites up here. We are staying at the Sisters of Nazareth, a beautiful convent right up the road from the Basilica.
We have done so much in such a short period of time, it is hard to process all we have experienced. I look forward to doing some of that work with the people of St. Barnabas.
Until next time, may God bless you and all who you love today and always.
On Friday we journeyed in the West Bank (that is the west bank of the Dead Sea in order to visit Tekoa, the mount on which the prophet Amos made his home. It was a climb up a rather steep hill to get to a barren, rocky area. Looking out, there wasn't much to see, not even a cave - unless you looked with very good eyes. Indeed there was a cave, which we climbed down into - every member of the group - young and not so young, able and unable (we have 2 people in walking casts). The revelation is that it was such a cave in which Jesus was born. And the manger, a shepherd's watering trough, is STONE, not wood.
From there we traveled to Bethlehem, where we shopped at a Christian Co-op (very important to support Palestinian Christians, as they are only 2% of the population). We had THE BEST LUNCH at Ruth's Restaurant, and then made our way up to the Church of the Nativity, which is shared by the Greek Orthodox, Armenians and Romans. That church is built over the site where the church remembers where Jesus was born. And, we made our way down to a grotto (that has been "sanitized" by the Church, so it looks more like a chapel than the rough cave we had been in that morning). Again, there was an altar under which was a hole in which to stick your hand to touch the stone where Jesus was born. Our group did pause to read the nativity narrative, which was quite powerful.
Originally, we has scheduled a stop at the Wall (or the Separation Barrier, as some call it, since part of it is fence), that the government of Israel has erected between Israel and the West Bank, but due to it being the first Friday of Ramadan, the traffic was essentially gridlocked. So we made our way back to Jerusalem, which was also incredibly crowed. (Fortunately we will not be here for the last Friday of Ramadan, when close to 450,000 Muslims will go to Jerusalem to pray!)
Saturday morning we were on the bus at 4:49 AM, heading out to the Wadi Qelt to see the sun rise over the Judean dessert, on the road from Jericho to Jerusalem that figures into the story of the Good Samaritan. We spent some time in silence and then shared the Eucharist. It was magnificent. From there we traveled down to Jericho - one of the oldest cities in the world - 10,000 years old! And, as it is right next to the Dead Sea, it is also part of the lowest place on earth - and very HOT! We had breakfast al fresco, where we were introduced to a local favorite of drained yogurt with a mixture of crushed thyme, sesame seeds and olive oil (and the ever present pita bread). For one who is not a big fan of yogurt I was pleasantly surprised of how good it was.
We then took a cable car up to the Mount of Temptation overlooking the Jericho Valley, and climbed up the stairs to a Greek Orthodox monastery built into the side of the hill. This where the church remembers the devil tempting Jesus during is 40 days in the wilderness. The view was amazing and scary. There are only 2 monks at the monastery now. Most of the order was killed by invaders many centuries ago. I can only imagine that being at the place Jesus was tempted for many years has to be taxing on one's psyche.
We returned to the bus for our longest journey north (90 minutes) to go to Nazareth, where we will be for three days. Even though we had already had a full day by lunch time, we were off again to the Greek Orthodox of St. Gabriel at the northern most part of the ancient city. Modern Nazareth is actually the largest Palestinian (Muslim) city in Israel, as it was where so many came after they were removed from their homes. The city is sprawling over the hills, and with Ramadan, the fireworks were going off well into the night.
Back to the church. Nazareth is where Mary was when the Angel Gabriel came to tell Mary she would bear God's holy child. The Greek Orthodox church refers to a extra-canonial book called the book of St. James that says the Annunciation took place at a well. St. Gabriel's is built over that well, which is still flowing today. The church is beautifully and elaborately (as only the Greeks can do) with icons painted all over the church, telling the story of Jesus, and especially that of the Annunciation.
We than walked down to the Basilica of the Annunciation, the Roman Catholic church that is built over what is considered to be Mary's home. That church is probably 20 times larger than the Greek Orthodox church, and very modern - it was built in the 1960s (and it shows). There are depictions of Mary, the Mother of God from all over the world. It is incredible to see the interpretation of Mary by so many cultures, yet with so many similarities - the Queen of Heaven, the mother of us all, the sword that pierced her heart. It was awesome.
We are in Nazareth for the next 3 days, traveling around to the sites up here. We are staying at the Sisters of Nazareth, a beautiful convent right up the road from the Basilica.
We have done so much in such a short period of time, it is hard to process all we have experienced. I look forward to doing some of that work with the people of St. Barnabas.
Until next time, may God bless you and all who you love today and always.
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