Stations of the Cross
This morning we started out early walking the stations of the cross through the city of Jerusalem and ending up at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, which is really not that far away from the Lutheran Church of the Redeemer which is the largest Lutheran Church in the area.
If you’ve ever walked the stations of the cross and can get in the mood and mindset of it, it is a pretty powerful thing. Walking through the town of Jerusalem doing the stations was incredibly moving and special for me. Like with most of this trip, I’m not sure how to put it into words other than to say that was surely a God moment.
Temple Mount
From there, we went to the Temple Mount area which is the home to the third holiest place in the religion of Islam. We were able to see the dome of the rock from the outside and to go into a replica of what it looks like on the inside. The only thing we would not have seen is the staircase leading down to the Cave of Souls where it is thought that when the Messiah came back, the sould would fly out and be judged.
The Church of St. Anne
We then finished by going to the church of Saint Anne who is the mother of Mary Magdalene where she is thought to have been born (Mary, not St. Anne)/ We got to see some cisterns outside of her house as well as the small chapel that is there on the site she is thought to have been born.
We then ate lunch at this wonderful roadside falafel sandwich place before having some free time in the city of Jerusalem and then back at the hotel in Bethlehem.
The Wall
During our free time in Bethlehem, a group of us walked down to what is known as the Wall that separates Israelis and Palestinians. On the wall, in the video at the end, you’ll find some graffiti pictures that people have done, particularly the Palestinians to portray the occupation they feel. We then made it to the Walled Off Hotel which has a museum inside about the occupation.
It is a brutal thing and I don’t know if we liken it to segregation in the United States or not, but that was my biggest struggle today was seeing the number of Palestinians who have to get up 3 hours early to come to a checkpoint so that they can either walk, take a bus, or a taxi cab to work every day hoping that their credentials are still good, that the checkpoint is not closed, and that the guards are in a good mood today. This whole situation just blows my mind.
Add a comment