Inklings of Israel

We began the day at the  Mount of Olives  with a panoramic view of Jerusalem.  David pointed out many sites of interest, both those we had visited and historical sites we wouldn’t be visiting but were helpful in understanding the geography and history of the area.  The Mount of Olives is east of Jerusalem across the  Kidron Valley .  Jesus visited there several times in the week leading up to His crucifixion and that hill has been used as a Jewish cemetery for nearly 3 millenia.  There were many street vendors there and we took a group picture on that overlook before beginning our walk down to the  Garden of Gethsemane , the site where Jesus agonized in prayer before He was betrayed by Judas and arrested by the Sanhedrin. It was a steep walk down to the Garden and many people were making that journey to this beautiful and meaningful place.  Some of the oldest olive trees in the world are found there dat...

Today was ALL walking, no bus.  We took a few interesting detours along the way where David pointed out the tomb where King David “wasn’t” buried in.  The men and women had to enter into separate sides to view the tomb with a partition in between.  (Seen in pictures).  We also stopped at a place representing the Upper Room where Jesus ate the Passover meal with His disciples.  As we tour Jerusalem, there are several “traditional” sites that can’t be proven but are in the general vicinity.  Whenever a discovery is made, a church will try to build on that site to represent it. Next we stopped to see Oskar Schindler’s Grave.  It is a Jewish custom to put a stone on a grave marker when you visit.  Before we descended the steps to view it, David asked if we could pick out which grave might be his.  It was covered in stones.  His burial place can be seen in the final scene of the movie, “Schindler...

It's been a great first day in Jerusalem.  I will write a more thorough update when I am rested up but here are a few pictures from the day... Morning update: I slept like a rock last night and hope to get this update done while I prop my feet up a bit longer.  We walked a lot yesterday.  We were told to make sure we could walk up to 4 miles before the trip and David wisely added that if we counted walking in an air-conditioned mall as part of our preparation, that wouldn’t cut it.  We needed to add elevation.  To get ready I would take a 5 minute break every couple of hours during the work day to run up and down the back stairwell.  That served me well yesterday as there were LOTS of stairs to navigate.  My feet and ankles are crying out that they aren’t quite ready for this 2nd day in Jerusalem, but with a little TLC (Katinko ointment shared by Eleanor from the Philippines) and breakfast brought to me by Brent), I should be ready to go by our 8 am de...

As we have traveled around the relatively small country of Israel, the ruins of walls and wells have been plentiful.  When the first stone at a site was found, archaeologists must have had a burst of excitement (if funding was available).  Surely it was and is like a neon light saying, “Dig Here!”, for with a wall or a well comes a dwelling, even a whole city of dwellings.   The ruins have been fascinating to me.  Yesterday as we sat looking out over the valley from Mount Gerizim and listened to the Samaritan Woman’s encounter with Jesus at the well, I was reminded of the barriers Jesus crossed to talk with her and to ask her for a drink from the well.  She was a Samaritan, despised by the Jews, and she was a woman.  Both were very good reasons for Jesus to have treated her with disdain and to keep His distance, but that was not His response recorded in John 4.   The walls constructed around cities were critical ...

The sunset on the coast of Caesarea was breathtaking last night, but meant that we arrived at our hotel in Netanya in the dark.  I took a peek out our sliding glass door after we arrived and saw the lights of the city.  I didn’t think much more about it until Brent encouraged me to take a look this morning.  I had no idea that our hotel was right on the water!  We didn’t have time to explore but it sure was a nice way to start the day.  We got a picture with Bishara at breakfast.  He has been the one we have entrusted our lives and schedules to each day as he expertly drives our bus to each location.  I have no idea how he maneuvers that long bus through some of the tight places we have found ourselves in but he does it safely and confidently.  Bishara is an Arab Christian and truly a blessing to all of us.  We had a few stops along the way today before we made our entry into Jerusalem this evening. ...

As we made impromptu stops yesterday to see the tomb with the rolling stone and later to see the mosaic floor of the “Birds Mosaic Mansion” the thought came to me that a tour guide can’t afford to stay in a rut.  One of the things I have really appreciated about David is that he keeps learning and is alert to new discoveries around the country.  He loves God’s Word and helping those he leads to discover these treasures as well.  He also is very knowledgeable about history and current events.  He notices the little things and points out even the plants around us.  He was excited to show us a herd of wild boar running along a hillside the other day and pointing out the fruit of the Carob (Locust) tree as we passed it.  He leads more than 15 tours a year and it could easily become routine, becoming stale and joyless in the process.  It could quickly just become a job. How true that is of us as belie...